Soil legacy nutrients contribute to the decreasing stoichiometric ratio of N and P loading from the Mississippi River Basin.

Human-induced nitrogen-phosphorus (N, P) imbalance in terrestrial ecosystems can lead to disproportionate N and P loading to aquatic ecosystems, subsequently shifting the elemental ratio in estuaries and coastal oceans and impacting both the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The N:P ratio of nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin increased before the late 1980s driven by the enhanced usage of N fertilizer over P fertilizer, whereafter the N:P loading ratio started to decrease although the N:P ratio of fertilizer application did not exhibit a similar trend. Here, we hypothesize that different release rates of soil legacy nutrients might contribute to the decreasing N:P loading ratio. Our study used a data-model integration framework to evaluate N and P dynamics and the potential for long-term accumulation or release of internal soil nutrient legacy stores to alter the ratio of N and P transported down the rivers. We show that the longer residence time of P in terrestrial ecosystems results in a much slower release of P to coastal oceans than N. If contemporary nutrient sources were reduced or suspended, P loading sustained by soil legacy P would decrease much slower than that of N, causing a decrease in the N and P loading ratio. The longer residence time of P in terrestrial ecosystems and the increasingly important role of soil legacy nutrients as a loading source may explain the decreasing N:P loading ratio in the Mississippi River Basin. Our study underscores a promising prospect for N loading control and the urgency to integrate soil P legacy into sustainable nutrient management strategies for aquatic ecosystem health and water security.

Efficacy and safety of total glucosides of paeony in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Total glucosides of paeony (TGP), extracted from the Chinese medicine Paeonia lactiflora Pall., have been proven to be effective in various autoimmune diseases. We aim to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of TGP combined with different conventional therapeutic agents in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Eight databases were searched for randomized controlled studies of TGP for SLE. The search time was set from the establishment of the databases to March 2022. The risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane Evaluation Manual (5.1.0), RevMan 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis, and the certainty of the evidence was assessed by the GRADE methodology. Results: A total of 23 articles were included, including 792 patients overall in the treatment group and 781 patients overall in the control group. The meta-analysis results showed that TGP combined with conventional treatments was superior to the conventional treatments in reducing the SLE disease activity and the incidence of adverse reactions (SMDTGP+GC+CTX = -1.98, 95% Cl = [-2.50, -1.46], p < 0.001; SMDTGP+GC+HCQ = -0.65, 95% Cl = [-1.04, -0.26], p <0.001; SMDTGP+GC+TAC = -0.94, 95% Cl = [-1.53, -0.34], p < 0.05; SMDTGP+GC = -1.00, 95% Cl = [-1.64, -0.36], p < 0.05; and RRTGP+GC+CTX = 0.37, 95% Cl = [0.21, 0.64], p < 0.001). The results also showed that TGP helped improve other outcomes related to SLE disease activity, such as complement proteins (C3 and C4), immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM and, IgG), ESR, CRP, 24 h urine protein, and recurrence rate. In addition, TGP may also be effective in reducing the average daily dosage of glucocorticoids (GCs) and the cumulative dosage of cyclophosphamide (CTX). The certainty of the evidence was assessed as moderate to low. Conclusion: TGP is more effective and safer when used in combination with different conventional therapeutic agents. It helped reduce the disease activity of SLE and the incidence of adverse reactions. However, we should be cautious about these conclusions as the quality of the evidence is poor. Future studies should focus on improving the methodology. High-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will be necessary to provide strong evidence for the efficacy of TGP for SLE. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier CRD42021272481.

Renoprotective effect of Chinese chive polysaccharides in adenine-induced chronic renal failure.

In this work, we investigated the effect of Chinese chive polysaccharides (CCP) on renal function in mice with adenine-induced chronic renal failure (CRF). Results exhibited that adenine treatment caused serious renal pathological damages and elevation of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen of mice. However, these changes could be significantly reversed by the administration of CCP in a dose-dependent manner. When CCP dosage reached 200mg/kg/day, the area of renal pathological damage was decreased by 59.2%, and the levels of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were decreased by 23.9% and 34.7% compared to those of model group. Moreover, it was found that renal oxidative damage, inflammation and fibrosis of adenine-induced CRF mice could also be significantly inhibited by CCP. These results suggested that CCP could improve the kidney functions of adenine-induced CRF mice and the renoprotective effect might be associated with its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrosis activities.

A new kinetic model of ultrasound-assisted extraction of polysaccharides from Chinese chive.

Chinese chive, a famous green vegetable, is widely cultivated in the Asia. In the present study, we found that ultrasound caused the degradation of Chinese chive polysaccharides (CCP) in the process of extraction. Since lacking the consideration of polysaccharide degradation, the traditional kinetic models can not reflect the real extraction process of CCP. Therefore, a modified kinetic model was thus established by introducing a parameter of degradation coefficient based on the Fick's second law, suggesting the diffusion and degradation of CCP is highly dependent on the ultrasonic power, extraction temperature and solid-liquid ratio. According to this modified model, the maximum CCP yield was obtained under an optimal extraction condition including extraction temperature 37°C, ultrasonic power 458 w, extraction time 30min and solid-liquid ratio 1:32. The objective polysaccharides responding to ultrasound were shown to be four different fractions, contributing to the increased diffusion and degradation of CCP by ultrasound treatment.