pH Responsive Poly(Amino Acid) Nanoparticles as Potent Carrier Adjuvants for Enhancing Cellular Immunity.

Adjuvants are widely used in vaccine to improve the protection or treatment efficacy. However, so far they inevitably produce side effects and are hard to induce cellular immunity in practical application. Herein, two kinds of amphiphilic poly(glutamic acid) nanoparticles (α-PGA-F and γ-PGA-F NPs) as nanocarrier adjuvants are fabricated to induce an effective cellular immune response. Amphiphilic PGA are synthesized by grafting phenylalanine ethyl ester to form biodegradable self-assembly nanoadjuvants in a water solution. The model antigen, chicken ovalbumin (OVA), can be loaded into PGA-F NPs (OVA@PGA-F NPs) with the high loading ratio >12%. Moreover, compared with γ-PGA-F NPs, the acidic environment can induce the α-helical secondary structure of α-PGA NPs, promoting membrane fusion and more fast antigen lysosomal escape. Hence, the antigen presenting cells treated with OVA@α-PGA-F NPs show higher secretion of inflammatory cytokines, and higher expression of major biological histocompatibility complex class I and CD80 than those of OVA@γ-PGA-F NPs. Overall, this work indicates that pH responsive α-PGA-F NPs as a carrier adjuvant can effectively improve the ability of cellular immune responses, leading to it being a potent candidate for vaccine applications.

Effect of different processing methods of hawthorn on the properties and emulsification performance of hawthorn pectin.

Five types of hawthorns were obtained using hot air drying (HH), vacuum freeze-drying (FH), Parched processing (PH), Charred processing (CH), and blackening (BH). Five types of pectins (HHP, FHP, PHP, CHP, BHP) were extracted and characterized based on a series of characterization methods. The results indicated that the esterification and molecular weight of BHP were the lowest, which were 30.92 % and 73.67 × 103 (g/mol), respectively. FHP had the highest apparent viscosity and molecular weight (464.42 × 103 g/mol). PHP and CHP differ in galacturonic acid, molecular weight, and monosaccharide composition depending on the time of processing. The emulsion of HHP had the best stability, and the emulsification properties of FHP, PHP, and CHP also showed better performance compared to BHP. In conclusion, our results showed that different processing methods of hawthorn affected the physicochemical properties of pectin, and pectin with specific properties could be obtained by choosing the appropriate processing method.

Coagulants put phosphate-accumulating organisms at a competitive disadvantage with glycogen-accumulating organisms in enhanced biological phosphorus removal system.

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process is susceptible to the changed operation condition, which results in an unstable treatment performance. In this work, long-term effect of coagulants addition, aluminum salt for the reactor R1 and iron salt for the reactor R2, on EBPR systems was comprehensively evaluated. Results showed that during the initial 30 days' coagulant addition, effluent chemical oxygen demand and phosphorus can be reduced below 25 and 0.5 mg·L-1, respectively. Further supply of metal salts would stimulate microbial extracellular polymeric substance excretion and induce reactive oxygen species accumulation, which destroyed the cell membrane integrity and deteriorated the phosphorus removal performance. Moreover, coagulants would decrease the relative abundance of Candidatus Accumulibacter while increase the relative abundance of Candidatus Competibacter, leading phosphors accumulating organisms in a disadvantage position. The results of this work might be valuable for the operation of chemical assisted biological phosphorus removal bioreactor.

Natural ingredients from Chinese materia medica for pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe pathophysiological condition characterized by pulmonary artery remodeling and continuous increases in pulmonary artery pressure, which may eventually develop to right heart failure and death. Although newly discovered and incredible treatment strategies in recent years have improved the prognosis of PH, limited types of effective and economical drugs for PH still makes it as a life-threatening disease. Some drugs from Chinese materia medica (CMM) have been traditionally applied in the treatment of lung diseases. Accumulating evidence suggests active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) derived from those medicines brings promising future for the prevention and treatment of PH. In this review, we summarized the pharmacological effects of APIs derived from CMM which are potent in treating PH, so as to provide new thoughts for initial drug discovery and identification of potential therapeutic strategies in alternative medicine for PH.

The effect of Xiaobi decoction on minimal erythema dose of irradiation with 308 nm excimer lamp in guinea pigs.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. The main clinical manifestation of this complex condition is scaly erythema. Excimer 308-nm light can be used to selectively and safely treat skin lesions. In clinical practice, the combination of Xiaobi decoction combined with 308-nm excimer light therapy has been found to have a beneficial effect on advanced psoriasis vulgaris. However, the effect of Xiaobi decoction on light sensitivity in psoriasis patients has not been explored. Therefore, this study aimed to observe the effect of Xiaobi decoction on the minimal erythema dose (MED) value in guinea pigs. METHODS: Eighty guinea pigs were divided into a Xiaobi decoction group and a control group according to the serial number: guinea pigs with odd numbers were assigned into the Xiaobi decoction group, and those with even numbers were assigned into the control group. The Xiaobi decoction group was administrated Xiaobi decoction by gastric lavage, while the control group was given distilled water by gastric lavage. The back skin of the guinea pigs in the two groups was irradiated with a 308-nm excimer lamp before gavaging, and after 10, 20, and 30 days of gavaging. The MED values 24 hours after irradiation were recorded. RESULTS: The average MED in the Xiaobi decoction group was (800±126.5) mJ/cm2, compared with (780±107.7) mJ/cm2 in the control group, and the difference was not significant (P>0.05). After 10 days, 20 days, and 30 days of gavaging, the MED values of the guinea pigs in the Xiaobi decoction group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). Blood tests showed that the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (164.5±25.7 vs. 145.3±27.4, P=0.002) and interleukin-23 (1.8±0.7 vs. 1.5±0.5, P=0.030) were significantly lower in the Xiaobi decoction group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Xiaobi decoction can reduce the MED value of guinea pigs, and increase the sensitivity of skin lesions to 308-nm excimer light and the amount of light absorbed by skin lesions. These results may represent the mechanisms of action of Xiaobi decoction in the treatment of psoriasis.

Xiao-ai-ping injection adjunct with platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Xiao-ai-ping injection (XAPI), as patented Chinese medicine, has shown promising outcomes in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. This meta-analysis investigated the efficacy and safety of XAPI in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies in Pubmed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wangfang Database, VIP Database, and Chinese Biology Medical Database from the date of their inception to September 2018. The RevMan 5.3 software was applied to calculate the risk ratio (RR) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: We included and analyzed 24 randomized controlled trials. The meta-analysis showed that XAPI adjunctive to platinum-based chemotherapy had better outcomes in objective tumor response rate (ORR) (RR: 1.27, 95% CI, 1.14-1.40); improved Karnofsky performance scores (KPS) (RR: 1.70, 95% CI, 1.48-1.95); reduction in occurrence of grade 3/4 leukopenia (RR: 0.49, 95% CI, 0.38-0.64), anemia (RR: 0.63, 95% CI, 0.46-0.87) and thrombocytopenia (RR: 0.53, 95% CI, 0.38-0.73), nausea and vomiting (RR: 0.57, 95% CI, 0.36-0.90); and enhanced immune function (CD8+ [MD: 4.96, 95% CI, 1.16-8.76] and CD4+/CD8+ [MD: 2.58, 95% CI, 1.69-3.47]). However, it did not increase dysregulated liver and kidney function, diarrhea, constipation, and fatigue. Subgroup analysis of ORR and KPS revealed that dosage, treatment duration, and methodological quality did not affect the outcome significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analyses demonstrated that XAPI in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy had a better tumor response, improved the quality of life, attenuated adverse side effects, and enhanced immune function, which suggests that it might be used for advanced NSCLC. Moreover, low dosage (< 60 ml/d) and long-term treatment of XAPI might be a choice for advanced NSCLC patients.