Dietary docosahexaenoic acid plays an opposed role in ferroptotic and non-ferroptotic acute kidney injury.

Ferroptosis due to polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) peroxidation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury (AKI), suggesting the risk of dietary intake of PUFA for people susceptible to AKI. Clinically, however, in addition to ferroptosis, other mechanisms also contribute to different types of AKI such as inflammation associated necroptosis and pyroptosis. Therefore, the role of PUFA, especially ω3 PUFA which is a common food supplement, in various AKIs deserves further evaluation. In this study, rhabdomyolysis- and folic acid-induced AKI (Rha-AKI and FA-AKI) were established in mice fed with different fatty acids Histology of kidney, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, lipid peroxidation, and inflammatory factors were examined. Results showed that these two types of AKIs had diametrically different pathogenesis indicated by that ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1), a lipid antioxidant, can attenuate FA-AKI rather than Rha-AKI. Further, dietary DHA (provided by fish oil) reduced tubular injury and renal lesion by inhibiting peroxidation and inflammation in mice with Rha-AKI while increasing cell death, tissue damage, peroxidation and inflammation in mice with FA-AKI. In human renal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2, MTT assay and DHE staining showed that both myoglobin and ferroptosis inducers can cause cell death and oxidative stress. Ferroptosis inducer-induced cell death was promoted by DHA, while such result was not observed in myoglobin-induced cell death when adding DHA. This study illustrates that the mechanisms of AKI might be either ferroptosis dependent or -independent and the deterioration effect of dietary DHA depends on whether ferroptosis is involved.

Medicinal plant-based drug delivery system for inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic recurrent intestinal disease. The incidence rate of IBD is increasing year by year, which seriously endangers human health worldwide. More and more studies have shown that medicinal plants or their main phytochemicals have great potential in the treatment of intestinal diseases. However, the disadvantages of low oral absorption rate, low biological distribution and low systemic bioavailability limit their clinical application to a certain extent. In recent years, the application of nanotechnology has made it possible to treat IBD. Nanoparticles (NPs) drug delivery system has attracted special attention in the treatment of IBD due to its small size, low immunogenicity, surface modification diversity, targeting and other advantages. Synthetic nanoparticles and extracellular vehicles (EVs) can deliver drug components to colon, and play a role in anti-inflammation, regulation of oxidative stress, improvement of intestinal flora, etc. In addition, some medicinal plants can secrete EVs by themselves, and carry biological molecules with therapeutic effects to act on the intestine. Some clinical trials to evaluate the safety, tolerance, toxicity and effectiveness of EVs-loaded drugs in IBD are also progressing steadily. This review introduces that synthetic nanoparticles and medicinal plants derived EVs can play an important role in the treatment of IBD by carrying the effective active phytochemicals of medicinal plants, and discuss the limitations of current research and future research needs, providing a scientific and reliable basis and perspective for further clinical application and promotion.

Interplay between transglutaminase treatment and changes in digestibility of dietary proteins.

The changes in digestibility of TG-treated myofibrillar protein (MP), soybean protein isolate (SPI) and mixed proteins were evaluated by measuring liberation of primary amino groups, monitoring structural changes and investigating peptide fingerprints. TG treatment generally increased gastric digestion of treated proteins, possibly due to the structural changes occurred during TG treatment. In contrast, the initial intestinal digestion was suppressed by TG treatment. Compared with MP, the digestibility and peptide composition of SPI were affected by TG treatment to a larger degree, possibly due to the higher level of glutamine in SPI. Peptidomics analysis indicated that the changes in peptide composition of digests of TG-treated samples were related with the loss of Lys residues during TG treatment. Larger quantities of bioactive peptides KIEFEQFLPM, EVHEPEEKPRPK and TVKEDQVFPMNPPK were released after digestion of TG-treated MP. These results highlighted the complex and substantial influence of TG treatment on the digestibility of dietary proteins.

The effectiveness of cupping therapy on chronic fatigue syndrome: A single-blind randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: and purpose: We investigated the effectiveness of cupping therapy with three different pressures in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants were randomly assigned to three groups, as follows: cupping pressure of -0.02 mpa (n = 38), -0.03 mpa (n = 38), or -0.05 mpa (n = 36). Each group received cupping treatment that consisted of 10 sessions over 5 weeks (2 sessions per week). The primary outcomes were Fatigue Scale (FS-14) score and Fatigue Assessment Instrument (FAI) score after 5 and 10 sessions. The secondary outcomes were the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score, the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) score, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score. RESULTS: There were 91 participants who completed the trial. After five sessions of treatment, the primary outcome of FS-14 score decreased by 3.20 (2.19, 4.21) in the -0.02 mpa group, by 2.39 (1.51, 3.27) in the -0.03 mpa group, and by 3.40 (2.28, 4.52) in the -0.05 mpa group (P = 0.667). After 10 sessions of treatment, the outcome of FS-14 score decreased by 5.00 (3.79, 6.21) in the -0.02 mpa group, by 4.06 (3.07, 5.05) in the -0.03 mpa group, and by 4.77 (3.52, 5.94) in the -0.05 mpa group (P = 0.929). And, the results were statistically different between 5 sessions and 10 sessions of treatment (P < 0.01). However, there were no statistical differences in FAI, SAS, SDS, and PSQI scores between the three groups after 5 sessions and 10 sessions of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, cupping therapy has significantly relieved fatigue symptoms and improved emotion and sleep condition of CFS patients, and 10 sessions of treatment had superior results compared with 5 sessions in each group. Moreover, in 5 sessions of treatment, cupping with high pressure showed better improvement in fatigue syndromes and sleep condition according to effective rates. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese clinical trial registry (ChiCTR1800017590); Ethical approval number: ChiECRCT-20180085.

[Phosphorus forms of the suspended particulate matter in the Yellow River downstream during water and sediment regulation 2008].

Suspended particulate matter samples were collected from Lijin Station on the Yellow River during the 2008 water and sediment regulation. Using water elutriation method, samples were physically separated according to grain size, and phosphorus forms were detected by the improved SEDEX technology. Results show that authigenic apatite phosphorus and organic phosphorus are the dominant forms of the particulate phosphorus. During water and sediment regulation, concentrations of total particulate phosphorus, loosely adsorbed phosphorus, organic phosphorus and refractory phosphorus are lower than those in other time of the year, while the concentration of detrital fluorapatite phosphorus is higher than that in other time. Grain size is the primary variable in the determination of the content of various particulate phosphorus forms. In fine particles, loosely adsorbed phosphorus, organic phosphorus and refractory phosphorus concentrations are high, while detrital fluorapatite phosphorus concentration is high in coarse particles. About 28.3% of the total particulate phosphorus is in the form of bio-available phosphorus, of which organic phosphorus is the major component. During the water and sediment regulation, the fluxes of sediment, particulate phosphorus and particulate bio-available phosphorus are 6.63 x 10(7) t, 3.42 x 10(4) t, and 8.30 x 10(3) t, which are 83.2%, 78.6%, and 80.2% each of the total fluxes in 2008.

The effect of noise-induced sloping high-frequency hearing loss on the gap-response in the inferior colliculus and auditory cortex of guinea pigs.

Gap detection has been used as an evaluation tool for temporal processing in subjects with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). However, the results from other reports are varied making it difficult to clearly define the impact of SNHL on the temporal processing ability of the auditory system. Specifically, we do not know if and how a high-frequency hearing loss impacts, presumably through off-channel interaction, the temporal processing in low-frequency channels where hearing sensitivity is virtually normal. In this experiment, gap-evoked responses in a low-frequency band (0.5-8 kHz) were recorded in the inferior colliculus (IC) and auditory cortex (AC) of guinea pigs through implanted electrodes, before and after a slopping high-frequency hearing loss, which was induced by over-stimulation using a 12-kHz-tone. The results showed that the gap thresholds in the low-frequency region increased gradually and became significantly higher 8 weeks after the induced high-frequency hearing loss. In addition, the response latency was slightly increased in the IC but this was not true for the AC. These results strongly indicate that a high-frequency hearing loss exerted an off-channel impact on temporal processing in the low-frequency region of the auditory system.