Wuweixiaoduyin regulates TAZ-mediated immunoregulatory properties of Treg/TH17 cells in chronic osteomyelitis.

Wuwei xiaoduyin (WWXDY) is a prescription for Chronic osteomyelitis (COM) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, its specific mechanism remains unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the mechanism of WWXDY in COM treatment. To clarify the potential role of TAZ in the treatment of COM by WWXDY via regulatory CD4+ T cells differentiation. The expressions of TAZ, RORγt and Foxp3 were determined by Quantitative Real-time PCR and Western blot. Besides, levels of IL-21, IL-17 and IL-10 in peripheral blood were detected by using ELISA. Molecular dynamics simulations and docking were further utilized to explore the binding mechanism. COM resulted in abnormal cell differentiation and an imbalance of Treg/Th17. In comparison with the control group, the percentage of Treg cells, Foxp3 expression and secretion of IL-17 and -21 cytokines decreased (P < 0.001), while the proportion of Th17 cells, the levels of TAZ and RORγt and concentration of IL-10 in PBMCs increased in the COM group (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the above abnormal differentiation and function of Treg/Th17 cells in COM were suppressed after treatment with WWXDY in vivo and in vitro. In addition, TEAD1 inhibited the therapeutic effect of WWXDY in terms of Treg/Th17 cells with COM. it was found that the main active ingredients were cichoric acid and isocarlinoside. WWXDY regulates immunoregulatory properties of Treg/Th17 cells in COM mainly by mediating TAZ expression. By inhibiting the chronic inflammation in COM, WWXDY is potentially used to inhibit the progression of COM into bone tumors.

Protective effects of Wuwei Xiaodu Drink against chronic osteomyelitis through Foxp3+CD25+CD4+ Treg cells via the IL-2/STAT5 signaling pathway.

To explore the effectiveness and safety of a Chinese medicinal decoction Wuwei Xiaodu Drink (WWXDD) in inhibiting chronic osteomyelitis via regulatory T cells signaling. The effective constitutes of WWXDD and osteomyelitis related genes were screened. Target proteins were cross-validated using the Venny database. GO function and KEGG pathway analysis were performed for target proteins, while pharmacological network was constructed. The bone properties were analyzed by HE staining and the concentrations of immune factors were measured by ELISA. The expression of CTLA-4 and Foxp3 mRNA and STAT5, p-STAT5, CTLA-4 and Foxp3 protein were detected using Real-time PCR and Western blot, respectively. FACS was used to analyze the percentages of cells. A total of 117 genes overlapped between 785 target genes of the active compounds of WWXDD and 912 osteomyelitis related genes. Inflammation-related genes, including IL-6, TNFα, IL-1ß and IL-2 showed high connection degree in the drug-compound-disease-target network. GO function and KEGG pathway analysis revealed that 117 intersection genes mainly enriched in virus infection related pathways, immune related pathways and chemokine signaling pathway. Furthermore, the development of chronic osteomyelitis was suppressed in model rats after treatment with WWXDD. Meanwhile, the concentrations of IL-2 and CD4+CD25+Foxp3 Treg percentages together with the levels of p-STAT5, CTLA-4 and Foxp3 were also down-regulated. Furthermore, IL-2 and WWXDD drug-containing serum exhibited opposite effects on regulating IL-2, IL-10, TGF-ß1, Foxp3, CTLA4 and STAT5. In addition, a STAT5 phosphorylation inhibitor suppressed the expression of Foxp3 and CTLA-4. WWXDD can treat chronic osteomyelitis through suppressing the main regulating factors of Tregs and interfere its immunodepression. Our results bring a new solution for chronic osteomyelitis.

A critical review on microbial degradation of petroleum-based plastics: quantitatively effects of chemical addition in cultivation media on biodegradation efficiency.

Petroleum-based plastics (PBP) with different properties have been developed to suit various needs of modern lives. Nevertheless, these well-developed properties also present the double-edged sword effect that significantly threatens the sustainability of the environment. This work focuses on the impact of microbial cultivating conditions (the elementary compositions and temperature) to provide insightful information for the process optimization of microbial degradation. The major elementary compositions in cultivation media and temperature from the literature were radically reviewed and assessed using the constructed supervised machine learning algorithm. Fifty-two literatures were collected as a training dataset to investigate the impact of major chemical elements and cultivation temperature upon PBP biodegradation. Among six singular parameters (NH4+, K+, PO43-, Mg2+, Ca2+, and temperature) and thirty corresponding binary parameters, four singular (NH4+, K+, PO43-, and Mg2+) and six binary parameters (NH4+/K+, NH4+/PO43-, NH4+/Ca2+, K+/PO43-, PO43-/Mg2+, Mg2+/Temp) were identified as statistically significant towards microbial degradation through analysis of variance (ANOVA). The binary effect (PO43-/Mg2+) is found to be the most statistically significant towards the microbial degradation of PBP. The concentration range, which locates at 0.1-0.6 g/L for Mg2+ and 0-2.8 g/L for PO43-, was identified to contribute to the maximum PBP biodegradation. Among all the investigated elements, Mg2+ is the only element that is statistically and significantly associated with the variations of cultivation temperature. The optimal preparation conditions within ± 20% uncertainties based upon the range of collected literature reports are recommended. Five representative cultivation elementary compositions (NH4+, K+, PO43-, Mg2+, and Ca2+) and temperature were reviewed from fifty two different literature reports to investigate their impacts on the microbial degradation of PBP using supervised machine learning algorithm. The optimal cultivation conditions based upon collected literature reports to achieve biodegradation over 80% were identified.

Enhanced visible light photo-Fenton-like degradation of tetracyclines by expanded perlite supported FeMo3Ox/g-C3N4 floating Z-scheme catalyst.

In the conventional Fenton system, the relatively low efficiency of Fe (II) regeneration is a significant drawback. To address this shortcoming, a novel floating Z-scheme photo-Fenton catalyst FeMo3Ox/g-C3N4/EP was prepared by a facile dip-calcination method, in which iron and molybdenum oxides with mixed valence states (FeMo3Ox) and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) were loaded on the expanded perlite. The removal efficiencies reached the maximum at 98.0%, 93.1% and 97.1% for tetracycline, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline, respectively, after 60 min dark adsorption and 60 min photo-Fenton process. The aid of dual ion (Fe and Mo) synergy system and photoreduction by Z-scheme photocatalyst enhanced the Fe (II) regeneration, resulting in the excellent performance. Radical scavenger experiment, electron spin resonance spectra (ESR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were used to confirm the mechanism of free radicals' formation and Fe/Mo redox cycling. ·OH, ·O2- and 1O2 played important roles in the pollutant's degradation, while the generation of ·O2- was enhanced due to the floatability in this system. The possible degradation pathways of TC were put forward according to the results of mass spectrum and Orbital-Weighted Fukui Function. Overall, this work provides new insights on the cooperation between iron-based mix oxides and semiconductor in the photo-Fenton system.

Remediation of artificially contaminated soil and groundwater with copper using hydroxyapatite/calcium silicate hydrate recovered from phosphorus-rich wastewater.

Excessive copper (Cu) in contaminated soil and groundwater has attracted continuous attentions due to the bioaccumulation and durability. In this study, the feasibility of remediation of heavy metal pollution in soil and groundwater was investigated using hydroxyapatite/calcium silicate hydrate (HAP/C-S-H) recovered from phosphorus-rich wastewater in farmland. The results show that the pH has a strong effect on copper removal from Cu-contaminated groundwater but the impact of ion strength on the removal is weak. In general, high pH and low ion strength give better results in copper removal. Kinetic and isotherm data from the study fit well with Pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of HAP/C-S-H (138 mg/g) was higher than that of C-S-H (90.3 mg/g) when pH value, temperature, and ionic strength were 5, 308 K, and 0.01 M, respectively. Thermodynamics results indicate that Cu removal is a spontaneous and endothermic process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the mechanism of copper removal involves physical adsorption, chemical precipitation and ion exchange. For the remediation of Cu-contaminated soil, 76.3% of leachable copper was immobilized by HAP/C-S-H after 28 d. Acid soluble Cu, the main contributor to biotoxicity, decreased significantly while reducible and residual Cu increased. After immobilization, the acid neutralization capacity of the soil increased and the dissolution of copper was substantially reduced in near-neutral pH. It can be concluded that HAP/C-S-H is an effective, low-cost and eco-friendly reagent for in-situ remediation of heavy metal polluted soil and groundwater.

Research on the clinical efficacy of the combination of Chinese traditional medicine and western medicine on the chronic traumatic tibial osteomyelitis.

The research investigation is carried to observe the clinical efficacy of the combination of Chinese traditional medicine (TCM) and Western medicine on the traumatic chronic tibial osteomyelitis (CO). A total of 80 patients who were admitted to this hospital between January 2012 and January 2017 were randomly divided into two groups, i.e. the control group and the observation group, with 40 patients in each group. In the control group, patients underwent the surgery to eliminate the lesion plus the antibiotics, while those in the observation group received the surgery, antibiotics administration and the wuwei xiaodu drink. In the observation group, patients had lowered erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cells (WBC) and neutrophils in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). The total effectiveness rate of patients in the observation group was 92.5%, significantly higher than 80.0% in the control group (p<0.05). Combination of the TCM and Western medicine can mitigate the local lesion of traumatic CO and ameliorate the general status, with significant efficacy. Thus, it is worthy of being promoted in clinical practice.

Surface transfer doping induced effective modulation on ambipolar characteristics of few-layer black phosphorus.

Black phosphorus, a fast emerging two-dimensional material, has been configured as field effect transistors, showing a hole-transport-dominated ambipolar characteristic. Here we report an effective modulation on ambipolar characteristics of few-layer black phosphorus transistors through in situ surface functionalization with caesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3), respectively. Cs2CO3 is found to strongly electron dope black phosphorus. The electron mobility of black phosphorus is significantly enhanced to ~27 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) after 10 nm Cs2CO3 modification, indicating a greatly improved electron-transport behaviour. In contrast, MoO3 decoration demonstrates a giant hole-doping effect. In situ photoelectron spectroscopy characterization reveals significant surface charge transfer occurring at the dopants/black phosphorus interfaces. Moreover, the surface-doped black phosphorus devices exhibit a largely enhanced photodetection behaviour. Our findings coupled with the tunable nature of the surface transfer doping scheme ensure black phosphorus as a promising candidate for further complementary logic electronics.

[Effects of acetoacetate extract of Radix Aconite on hepatic contents of LA, LDH, PA, Gn and ATPase activities in deficient cold model rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe different effects of acetoacetate extract of Radix Aconite and Radix Aconite Decoction on the energy metabolism in deficient cold model rats. METHODS: Wistar rats were randomly divided into the blank control group (n=10) and the deficient cold model group (n=30). The deficient cold rat model was established using decoction consisting of gypsum, Radix Gentianae, Cortex Phellodendri, and Rhizoma Anemarrhenae. The decoction was given to rats of the deficient cold model group by gastrogavage for 5 days. Then these rats were randomly divided into the acetoacetate extract of Radix Aconite group (n=10), the Radix Aconite Decoction group (n=10), and the model group (n=10). Rats in the model model group were administered with the decoction by gastrogavage. Rats in the other two groups were administered with the acetoacetate extract of Radix Aconite or Radix Aconite Decoction by gastrogavage for 5 days. The contents of lactic acid (LA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), pyruvate (PA), glycogen (Gn) and activities of Na(+) -K(+) -ATPase and Ca(2+) -Mg(2+) -ATPase in the hepatic tissue were detected. RESULTS: Compared with the blank control group, the PA content, activities of Na(+)-K(+) -ATPase and Ca(2+) -Mg(2+) -ATPase decreased in the model group. Compared with the model group, the PA content increased in the other two groups. Compared with the control group, the contents of LDH and PA, and activities of Na(+) -K(+) -ATPase increased in the the acetoacetate extract of Radix Aconite group with statistical difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The febricity of acetoacetate extract of Radix Aconite was slightly higher than that of Radix Aconite Decoction, seemingly generating more energy. But the final conclusions and concrete mechanisms of action need further studies.