Characterization and biological function analysis of endogenous peptides derived from donkey colostrum proteins.

Donkey colostrum, due to its abundance of active ingredients, including lysozyme, proteins, and peptides, is essential for the growth and immune defence of newborns. However, research on endogenous peptides in donkey colostrum is inadequate. This study analysed the profiles of endogenous peptides, their potential bioactivity, and the enzymes that generated these peptides using two different strategies. A total of 6202 endogenous peptides were characterised through a database search, while an additional 2997 peptides were identified de novo. Among the 1142 proteins identified, trypsin and plasmin demonstrated the highest bioactivities. Furthermore, a bioinformatics-based screening identified antioxidant peptides, angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides, and dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitory peptides as the three most active peptides. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were conducted. These findings enhance our knowledge of endogenous peptides in donkey colostrum and provide crucial information regarding these peptides as nutritional factors for the future development of functional foods derived from donkey sources.

Optimization of Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Active Components and Antioxidant Activity from Polygala tenuifolia: A Comparative Study of the Response Surface Methodology and Least Squares Support Vector Machine.

Dried roots of Polygala tenuifolia (YuanZhi in Chinese) are widely used in Chinese herbal medicine. These components in YuanZhi have significant anti-oxidation properties owing to high levels of 3,6'-disinapoylsucrose (DISS) and Polygalaxanthone III (PolyIII). In order to efficiently extract natural medicines, response surface methodology (RSM) and least squares support vector machine (LSSVM) were used for the modeling and optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction of DISS and PolyIII together to determine the antioxidant activity of the extracts obtained from YuanZhi. For the optimal combination of the comprehensive yield of DISS and PolyIII (Y), the Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used to improve extraction time (X1), extraction temperature (X2), liquid-solid ratio (X3), and ethanol concentration (X4). The optimal process parameters were determined to be as follows: extraction time, 93 min; liquid-solid ratio, 40 mL/g; extraction temperature, 48 °C; and ethanol concentration, 67%. With these conditions, the predictive optimal combination comprehensive evaluation value is 13.0217. It was clear that the LS-SVM model had higher accuracy in predictive and optimization capabilities, with higher antioxidant activity and lower relative deviations values, than did RSM. Hence, the LS-SVM model proved to be more effective for the analysis and improvement of the extraction process.

Hydrogen peroxide combined with surfactant leaching and microbial community recovery from oil sludge.

The remediation effects of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) oxidation and surfactant-leaching alone or in combination on three typical oilfield sludges were studied. The removal efficiency of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) of Jidong, Liaohe and Jiangsu oil sludges by hydrogen peroxide oxidation alone was very poor (6.5, 6.8, and 3.4 %, respectively) but increased significantly (p < 0.05), especially of long-chain hydrocarbons, by combining the use of H2O2 with surfactants (80.0, 79.8 and 82.2 %, respectively). Oxidation combined with leaching may impair microbial activity and organic manure was therefore added to the treated sludges for biostimulation and the composition and function of the microbial community were studied. The addition of manure rapidly restored sludge microbial activity and significantly increased the relative abundance of some salt-tolerant and alkali-tolerant petroleum-degrading bacteria such as Corynebacterium, Pseudomonas, Dietzia and Jeotgalicoccus. Moreover, the relative abundance of two classic petroleum-degrading enzyme genes, alkane 1-monooxygenase and catechol 1, 2-dioxygenase, increased significantly.

A traditional herbal formula, Deng-Shi-Qing-Mai-Tang, regulates TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway to reduce inflammatory response in PM2.5-induced lung injury.

BACKGROUND: Studies revealed that particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) enters the lung through the respiratory tract and can damage lung tissue resulting in lung injury primarily via imbalance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. Moreover, TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathways are reported to play a role in PM2.5-induced inflammation and lung injury, which is closely related to the inflammatory responses. Therefore, the traditional herbal formula, Deng-Shi-Qing-Mai-Tang (DSQMT), has been applied to improve patients' clinical symptoms with lung injury induced by PM2.5. It can reduce inflammatory reactions in lung injury and relieve cough and phlegm. However, the underlying mechanism of DSQMT treatment is still exclusive. PURPOSE: To clarify the preventive and therapeutic effects of DSQMT on PM2.5-induced lung injury and explore its underlying mechanism. STUDY DESIGN: PM2.5-induced lung injury rat model was established, and DSQMT was administered. METHODS: First, PM2.5 was collected, and PM2.5 suspension was prepared. Then, a rat model with PM2.5-induced lung injury was established, and the effects of DSQMT were evaluated in vivo. Finally, the roles of DSQMT in inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway were investigated in vitro using the NR8383 cell line via Western blot analysis, real-time PCR, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), and immunofluorescence staining, respectively and analyzed. RESULTS: We found that DSQMT significantly attenuated pathological lung tissue damage and inflammatory responses in PM2.5-induced lung injury. We also found that after PM2.5 stimulation in vitro, DSQMT regulates the expression of TLR4, MyD88, IKK, IκB-α, NF-κB p65 in the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. It also constrains activated NF-κB entry into the nucleus and further limits its binding to target DNA. In addition, we revealed that DSQMT down-regulated interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-10, THF-α, NO, PGE2 to reduce the inflammatory response. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that DSQMT has preventive and therapeutic effects on PM2.5-induced lung injury by down-regulation of the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. Therefore, the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in PM2.5 lung injury can be taken into consideration and may be improved in the future through further researches.

Comparison between acupuncture and antidepressant therapy for the treatment of poststroke depression: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: In this paper, a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to compare the efficacies of acupuncture and antidepressant therapy for the treatment of poststroke depression (PSD). METHODS: The research team searched RCTs published on PubMed; Medline; Cochrane library; Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI); Wanfang; Embase; Scopus, and Sinomed from their respective establishments to January 2019. We evaluated the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores, Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) scores, National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, and total clinical efficacy using fixed effects models. RESULTS: Fourteen RCTs, representing a total of 1124 patients, were studied. Results showed that acupuncture was more effective in improving HAMD scores at 3 weeks after administration (mean difference [MD] = -1.17, 95%CI = -2.18 to -0.16), at 4 weeks (MD = -4.44, 95% CI = -5.64 to -3.23), at 6 weeks (MD = -1.02, 95% CI = -1.68 to -0.36), and at 8 weeks (MD = -4.33, 95% CI = -4.96 to -3.70). Similarly, acupuncture more dramatically decreased NIHSS scores (MD = -2.31, 95% CI = -2.53 to -2.09), and TESS scores (MD = -4.70, 95% CI = -4.93 to -4.48) than conventional Western medicinal therapy. Further, the total clinical efficacy in the acupuncture group was significantly higher than in the antidepressants group (risk ratio [RR] = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.08-1.21). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that acupuncture not only can reduce the severity of PSD, but also has significant effects on decreasing the appearance of other adverse events.

Applications of Network Pharmacology in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research.

Human diseases, especially infectious ones, have been evolving constantly. However, their treatment strategies are not developing quickly. Some diseases are caused by a variety of factors with very complex pathologies, and the use of a single drug cannot solve these problems. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) medication is a unique treatment method in China. TCM formulae contain multiple herbs with multitarget, multichannel, and multilink characteristics. In recent years, with the flourishing development of network pharmacology, a new method for searching therapeutic drugs has emerged. The multitarget action in network pharmacology is consistent with the complex mechanisms of disease and drug action. Using network pharmacology to understand TCM is an emerging trend.

Longshengzhi Capsules Improve Ischemic Stroke Outcomes and Reperfusion Injury via the Promotion of Anti-Inflammatory and Neuroprotective Effects in MCAO/R Rats.

Stroke is the leading cause of death in the elderly. Traditional Chinese medicine provides an exciting strategy for treating stroke. Previous reports indicated that Longshengzhi capsules (LSZ), a modified Chinese formula, reduced formed thrombi and oxidative stress and were promising in the clinical treatment of ischemic stroke. However, the specific therapeutic effect and mechanism of LSZ are still ambiguous. This study aimed to define the effects of LSZ on proinflammatory mediators and neuroprotective effects on middle cerebral artery occlusion and refusion (MCAO/R) rats. Rats were treated with different doses of LSZ (0.54, 1.62, and 4.32 g/(kg·d)) in a week after model building. LSZ could improve the survival rate, ischemic stroke outcome, and infarct volume. In addition, significant decrease was observed in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and inflammatory factor levels in LSZ-treated groups, concomitant with increase in activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), neurosynaptic remodeling, and decrease in brain edema. It is proposed that LSZ has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects resulting in downregulating matrix metalloproteinase 2/9 (MMP-2/9) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and upregulating microtubule-associated protein-2 (Map-2) and growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43) via p38 MAPK and HIF-1α signaling pathways in MCAO/R rats. This study provides potential evidences that p38 MAPK and HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathways play significant roles in the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of LSZ.

Simultaneous Optimization for Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction and Antioxidant Activity of Flavonoids from Sophora flavescens Using Response Surface Methodology.

The ultrasonic-assisted extraction process and antioxidant activity of flavonoids from Sophora flavescens were investigated in this study. In order to optimize the extraction of flavonoids from Sophora flavescens, the influence of extraction time, methanol concentration, ultrasonic temperature, and solvent-to-material ratio was analyzed. Results showed that the extraction yields reached a maximum with the extraction time of 30 min, methanol concentration of 80%, temperature of 80 °C, and solvent-to-material ratio of 26 mL/g. The flavonoids were determined by HPLC, and the mean yields of trifolirhizin, formononetin, isoxanthohumol, maackiain, and kurarinone under the optimal conditions were 2.570, 0.213, 0.534, 0.797, and 3.091 mg/g, respectively. The evaluation of vitro antioxidant activity exhibited Sophora flavescens flavonoids had a strong 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical-scavenging ability with IC50 of 0.984 and 1.084 mg/g, respectively. These results indicate that ultrasonic-assisted extraction is an efficient approach for the selective extraction of flavonoids, and response surface methodology further optimized the extraction.

[The effect and mechanism of Yiqi Tongluo Jiedu capsule against cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury].

To observe the effect and mechanism of Yiqi Tongluo Jiedu capsule aganist cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury, the SD rats were randomly divided into following groups: sham-operated group, model group, the group of low, medium and high dose of Yiqi Tongluo Jiedu capsule, and nimodipine group. Using focal middle cerebral artery embolization (MCAO) model, following items were observed: symptoms of neurological deficit score; infarct volume; activity of SOD, content of MDA and NO, activity of NOS of ischemic brain tissue; Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression; content of IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNFalpha in serum; IL-1beta mRNA expression of ischemic brain tissue. Results showed that Yiqi Tongluo Jiedu capsule could significantly reduce the symptoms of neurological deficits, promote the recovery symptoms of neurological deficits; narrow infarct volume of brain tissue obviously, reduce the percentage of infarct volume; raise activity of SOD, reduce content of MDA and NO, reduce activity of NOS; increase Bcl-2 protein, reduce Bax expression; reduce content of IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNFa in serum; reduce IL-1beta mRNA expression of ischemic brain tissue. Yiqi Tongluo Jiedu capsule has significant protective effects against ischemic brain injury, it has significant anti-apoptotic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.