Comparative physiological and transcriptomic analysis of two salt-tolerant soybean germplasms response to low phosphorus stress: role of phosphorus uptake and antioxidant capacity.

BACKGROUND: Phosphorus (P) and salt stress are common abiotic stressors that limit crop growth and development, but the response mechanism of soybean to low phosphorus (LP) and salt (S) combined stress remains unclear. RESULTS: In this study, two soybean germplasms with similar salt tolerance but contrasting P-efficiency, A74 (salt-tolerant and P-efficient) and A6 (salt-tolerant and P-inefficient), were selected as materials. By combining physiochemical and transcriptional analysis, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which soybean maintains high P-efficiency under salt stress. In total, 14,075 differentially expressed genes were identified through pairwise comparison. PageMan analysis subsequently revealed several significantly enriched categories in the LP vs. control (CK) or low phosphorus + salt (LPS) vs. S comparative combination when compared to A6, in the case of A74. These categories included genes involved in mitochondrial electron transport, secondary metabolism, stress, misc, transcription factors and transport. Additionally, weighted correlation network analysis identified two modules that were highly correlated with acid phosphatase and antioxidant enzyme activity. Citrate synthase gene (CS), acyl-coenzyme A oxidase4 gene (ACX), cytokinin dehydrogenase 7 gene (CKXs), and two-component response regulator ARR2 gene (ARR2) were identified as the most central hub genes in these two modules. CONCLUSION: In summary, we have pinpointed the gene categories responsible for the LP response variations between the two salt-tolerant germplasms, which are mainly related to antioxidant, and P uptake process. Further, the discovery of the hub genes layed the foundation for further exploration of the molecular mechanism of salt-tolerant and P-efficient in soybean.

Epidemiological Investigation of 387 Individuals Over 65 Years Old With Osteoporotic Fractures.

Context: With the rapidly aging population globally, osteoporosis (OP) has become a major public health problem, and fracture is a common complication of OP. Older adults, especially postmenopausal women, have a higher incidence of OP. Objective: The study intended to analyze the clinical information, epidemiological characteristics, treatments, and follow-up results of patients with osteoporotic fractures (OPFs) in adults over 65 years old, to provide data support for the prevention, treatment, and use of OPF focus groups in clinical practice. Design: The research team performed a retrospective analysis using electronic medical records and related imaging data of patients. Setting: The study took place at Hebei General Hospital in Hebei, China. Participants: Participants were 387 patients over 65 years old with osteoporotic fractures who had been admitted to the hospital between July 2012 and July 2018. Outcome Measures: The research team recorded participants' ages, genders, fracture causes, and fracture sites. The team performed a follow-up analysis on refractures, treatment with anti-osteoporotic drugs, exercise, and survival status within the 3 years after surgery. Results: The study's male-to-female ratio was 1:3.1, and the rate of osteoporotic fracture for females was significantly higher than that of males. The mean age of participants with fractures was 75.6 ± 8.5 years, and most fractures occurred in participants 78 to 85 years old. Of the 387 participants, 169 participants had hip fractures (43.67%); 98 had vertebral compression fractures (25.32%); 51 had distal radius and ulna fractures (13.18%); 42 had proximal humerus fractures (10.85%); and 27 had other fractures (6.98%). The number of women with fractures at each site was greater than the number of men, but the differences weren't statistically significant (P > .05). The main causes of injury were falls (71.58%), and the main place of the occurrence of injury was at home (65.6%). Of the 387 participants, 346 had surgical treatment (89.41%), and the effective rate of surgical treatment was 99.42%. Three years after surgery, the research team followed up with 235 participants, for a follow-up rate of 60.72%. Within the 3 years of the follow-up period, 61 participants had refractures (25.63%), 29 received treatment with regular anti-osteoporotic drugs (12.34%), 36 exercised twice or more a week (15.32%), and 32 had died for various reasons (13.62%). Conclusions: The study preliminarily described the epidemiological characteristics of 387 osteoporotic fractures in adults over 65 years old. More women had fractures than men; the hip was the most common fracture site, and falls were the main cause of injury. Most of the fractures occurred in the place of residence, and the refracture rate was 25.96% at three years after surgery.

Targeting NAD+: is it a common strategy to delay heart aging?

Heart aging is the main susceptible factor to coronary heart disease and significantly increases the risk of heart failure, especially when the aging heart is suffering from ischemia-reperfusion injury. Numerous studies with NAD+ supplementations have suggested its use in anti-aging treatment. However, systematic reviews regarding the overall role of NAD+ in cardiac aging are scarce. The relationship between NAD+ signaling and heart aging has yet to be clarified. This review comprehensively summarizes the current studies on the role of NAD+ signaling in delaying heart aging from the following aspects: the influence of NAD+ supplementations on the aging heart; the relationship and cross-talks between NAD+ signaling and other cardiac aging-related signaling pathways; Importantly, the therapeutic potential of targeting NAD+ in delaying heart aging will be discussed. In brief, NAD+ plays a vital role in delaying heart aging. However, the abnormalities such as altered glucose and lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and calcium overload could also interfere with NAD+ function in the heart. Therefore, the specific physiopathology of the aging heart should be considered before applying NAD+ supplementations. We believe that this article will help augment our understanding of heart aging mechanisms. In the meantime, it provides invaluable insights into possible therapeutic strategies for preventing age-related heart diseases in clinical settings.

Chlorogenic Acid Improves PTSD-like Symptoms and Associated Mechanisms.

Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, abundant in honeysuckle and eucommia, and has a wide range of biological activities, and pharmacological effects. Previous studies have shown that CGA can regulate learning, memory, cognitive ability, coupled with improvement to anxiety, depression, and other post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms. This article explores the protective effects of CGA on neurons through its anti-apoptotic effect, inhibition of neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, which may be the mechanisms of its improvement of PTSD-like symptoms. It may provide a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of PTSD and its comorbidities.

Active constituents and mechanisms of Respiratory Detox Shot, a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, for COVID-19 control and prevention: Network-molecular docking-LC-MSE analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Lung-toxin Dispelling Formula No. 1, referred to as Respiratory Detox Shot (RDS), was developed based on a classical prescription of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the theoretical understanding of herbal properties within TCM. Therapeutic benefits of using RDS for both disease control and prevention, in the effort to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have been shown. However, the biochemically active constituents of RDS and their mechanisms of action are still unclear. The goal of the present study is to clarify the material foundation and action mechanism of RDS. METHODS: To conduct an analysis of RDS, an integrative analytical platform was constructed, including target prediction, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and cluster analysis; further, the hub genes involved in the disease-related pathways were identified, and the their corresponding compounds were used for in vitro validation of molecular docking predictions. The presence of these validated compounds was also measured in samples of the RDS formula to quantify the abundance of the biochemically active constituents. In our network pharmacological study, a total of 26 bioinformatic programs and databases were used, and six networks, covering the entire Zang-fu viscera, were constructed to comprehensively analyze the intricate connections among the compounds-targets-disease pathways-meridians of RDS. RESULTS: For all 1071 known chemical constituents of the nine ingredients in RDS, identified from established TCM databases, 157 passed drug-likeness screening and led to 339 predicted targets in the constituent-target network. Forty-two hub genes with core regulatory effects were extracted from the PPI network, and 134 compounds and 29 crucial disease pathways were implicated in the target-constituent-disease network. Twelve disease pathways attributed to the Lung-Large Intestine meridians, with six and five attributed to the Kidney-Urinary Bladder and Stomach-Spleen meridians, respectively. One-hundred and eighteen candidate constituents showed a high binding affinity with SARS-coronavirus-2 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), as indicated by molecular docking using computational pattern recognition. The in vitro activity of 22 chemical constituents of RDS was validated using the 3CLpro inhibition assay. Finally, using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in data-independent analysis mode, the presence of seven out of these 22 constituents was confirmed and validated in an aqueous decoction of RDS, using reference standards in both non-targeted and targeted approaches. CONCLUSION: RDS acts primarily in the Lung-Large Intestine, Kidney-Urinary Bladder and Stomach-Spleen meridians, with other Zang-fu viscera strategically covered by all nine ingredients. In the context of TCM meridian theory, the multiple components and targets of RDS contribute to RDS's dual effects of health-strengthening and pathogen-eliminating. This results in general therapeutic effects for early COVID-19 control and prevention.

Active constituents and mechanisms of Respiratory Detox Shot, a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, for COVID-19 control and prevention: Network-molecular docking-LC-MS analysis / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE@#Lung-toxin Dispelling Formula No. 1, referred to as Respiratory Detox Shot (RDS), was developed based on a classical prescription of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the theoretical understanding of herbal properties within TCM. Therapeutic benefits of using RDS for both disease control and prevention, in the effort to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have been shown. However, the biochemically active constituents of RDS and their mechanisms of action are still unclear. The goal of the present study is to clarify the material foundation and action mechanism of RDS.@*METHODS@#To conduct an analysis of RDS, an integrative analytical platform was constructed, including target prediction, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and cluster analysis; further, the hub genes involved in the disease-related pathways were identified, and the their corresponding compounds were used for in vitro validation of molecular docking predictions. The presence of these validated compounds was also measured in samples of the RDS formula to quantify the abundance of the biochemically active constituents. In our network pharmacological study, a total of 26 bioinformatic programs and databases were used, and six networks, covering the entire Zang-fu viscera, were constructed to comprehensively analyze the intricate connections among the compounds-targets-disease pathways-meridians of RDS.@*RESULTS@#For all 1071 known chemical constituents of the nine ingredients in RDS, identified from established TCM databases, 157 passed drug-likeness screening and led to 339 predicted targets in the constituent-target network. Forty-two hub genes with core regulatory effects were extracted from the PPI network, and 134 compounds and 29 crucial disease pathways were implicated in the target-constituent-disease network. Twelve disease pathways attributed to the Lung-Large Intestine meridians, with six and five attributed to the Kidney-Urinary Bladder and Stomach-Spleen meridians, respectively. One-hundred and eighteen candidate constituents showed a high binding affinity with SARS-coronavirus-2 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL), as indicated by molecular docking using computational pattern recognition. The in vitro activity of 22 chemical constituents of RDS was validated using the 3CL inhibition assay. Finally, using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in data-independent analysis mode, the presence of seven out of these 22 constituents was confirmed and validated in an aqueous decoction of RDS, using reference standards in both non-targeted and targeted approaches.@*CONCLUSION@#RDS acts primarily in the Lung-Large Intestine, Kidney-Urinary Bladder and Stomach-Spleen meridians, with other Zang-fu viscera strategically covered by all nine ingredients. In the context of TCM meridian theory, the multiple components and targets of RDS contribute to RDS's dual effects of health-strengthening and pathogen-eliminating. This results in general therapeutic effects for early COVID-19 control and prevention.

[Spectrum-effect relationships on enriching blood activities of fresh and dry roots of Angelica sinensis].

Ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(LC-MS) was used to establish the chromatography fingerprint for fresh(FRAS) and dry(RAS) roots of Angelica sinensis from 10 different places. The rat model of blood deficiency was established by acetyl-phenyl-hydrazine(APH) and cyclophosphamide(CTX). Then grey relational analysis(GRA) and partial least squares regression(PLS) were used to investigate the spectrum-effect relationship between the relative contents and the data of enriching blood pharmacodynamics efficacy. The results showed that the FRAS and RAS had certain enriching blood activities(P<0.05). The contribution degree of the FRAS and RAS to enriching blood activities of each common peaks were determined by regression coefficient. Among them, 4 common peaks contributed significantly to the effect of enriching blood activities, P1(unknown), P2(unknown), P7(ferulic acid), and P11(senkyunolide A) respectively. This paper investigated the spectrum-effect relationship between enriching blood activities and LC-MS chromatography fingerprint of RAS and FRAS, and determined the effective compositions of RAS and FRAS with enriching blood activities. It lays a theoretical foundation for the comprehensive development and utilization of A. sinensis.

[A new phenolic glycoside from honey-fried Eriobotrya japonica].

A total of twelve compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate of the water extract of honey-fried Eriobotrya japonica through column chromatography over silica gel,Sephadex LH-20,RP-18,and preparative HPLC. Their structures were established by MS,1 D NMR and 2 D NMR data as japonicanoside A( 1),nerolidol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-( 1→2)-ß-D-glucopyranoside( 2),nerolidol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-( l→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-( 1 → 2)-[α-L-( 4-trans-feruloyl)-rhamnopyranosyl-( 1 → 6) ]-ß-D-glucopyranoside( 3),( +)-catechin( 4),(-)-epicatechin( 5),kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside( 6),quercitrin( 7),quercetin-3-O-ß-D-galactopyranoside( 8),quercetin-3-O-ß-glucopyranoside( 9),vanillin( 10),protocatechuic aldehyde( 11),and maltol( 12). Among them,1 is a new phenolic glycoside.

[Spectrum-effect relationships on enriching blood activities of aerial parts of Angelica sinenis].

Ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was used to establish the chromatography fingerprint for aerial parts of Angelica sinenis(AAS) from 10 different places. Acetyl-phenyl-hydrazine(APH) was used to duplicate the mouse model of blood deficiency. Then partial least squares regression was used to investigate the spectrum-effect relationship between the relative contents and the data of enriching blood pharmacodynamics efficacy. The results showed that the three groups of high, medium and low doses of AAS had certain enriching blood activities(P<0.05), and the high dose group had the best effect(P<0.01). The contribution degree of the AAS to enriching blood activities of each common peaks were determined by PLS regression coefficient. Among them, 7 common peaks, including P17(unknown), P18(unknown), P19(unknown), P28(alisol B 23-acetate or its isomer), N5(luteolin), N11(1-caffeoylquinicacid,1-O-caffeoylquinic acid) and N14(unknown), contributed significantly to the effect of enriching blood activities. This paper dealed with the investigation on the spectrum-effect relationship between enriching blood activities and LC-MS chromatography fingerprint of AAS, and determination of the effective compositions of AAS with enriching blood activities. It provided theoretical foundation for the comprehensive development and utilization of AAS.

Anti-nociceptive effect of patchouli alcohol: Involving attenuation of cyclooxygenase 2 and modulation of mu-opioid receptor.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the anti-nociceptive effect of patchouli alcohol (PA), the essential oil isolated from Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Bent, and determine the mechanism in molecular levels. METHODS: The acetic acid-induced writhing test and formalin-induced plantar injection test in mice were employed to confirm the effect in vivo. Intracellular calcium ion was imaged to verify PA on mu-opioid receptor (MOR). Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and MOR of mouse brain were expressed for determination of PA's target. Cellular experiments were carried out to find out COX2 and MOR expression induced by PA. RESULTS: PA significantly reduced latency period of visceral pain and writhing induced by acetic acid saline solution (P<0.01) and allodynia after intra-plantar formalin (P<0.01) in mice. PA also up-regulated COX2 mRNA and protein (P<0.05) with a down-regulation of MOR (P<0.05) both in in vivo and in vitro experiments, which devote to the analgesic effect of PA. A decrease in the intracellular calcium level (P<0.05) induced by PA may play an important role in its anti-nociceptive effect. PA showed the characters of enhancing the MOR expression and reducing the intracellular calcium ion similar to opioid effect. CONCLUSIONS: Both COX2 and MOR are involved in the mechanism of PA's anti-nociceptive effect, and the up-regulation of the receptor expression and the inhibition of intracellular calcium are a new perspective to PA's effect on MOR.

[Relationship between vegetation C, N, P stoichiometry and species diversity in sand land.] / æ²™åœ°æ¤è¢«ç¢³æ°®ç£·åŒ–å­¦è®¡é‡ç‰¹å¾ä¸Žç‰©ç§å¤šæ ·æ€§çš„å ³ç³».

Vegetation stoichiometry represents plant nutrition limitation status. Whether it can affect the species diversity of plant community remains to be explored. In this study, we examined plant carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) concentrations and stoichiometry, and further analyzed the relationship between stoichiometry and species diversity in Artemisia ordosica community and Salix psammophila community in sand land of the Ningxia Habahu National Nature Reserve. The results showed that, for the S. psammophila community growing in mobile and semi-fixed sand dunes, there was a significant negative correlation between Simpson index and vegetation C/N ratio, but no significant correlation between Simpson index and vegetation N/P ratio. For A. ordosica community distributed in semi-fixed and fixed dunes, the Shannon index had a significant positive correlation with vegetation N/P ratio and a significant negative correlation with vegetation C/N ratio. Combined the vegetation stoichiometry with the results of regression analysis (RDA), P concentration and thus N/P ratio had different influences on the species diversity for A. ordosica community and S. psammophila community. Our results showed that vegetation stoichiometry has an important influence on species diversity of plant community in sand land.

Pomegranate leaf attenuates lipid absorption in the small intestine in hyperlipidemic mice by inhibiting lipase activity.

Pomegranate leaf (PGL) has a definite role in regulating lipid metabolism. However, pharmacokinetic results show the main active ingredient, ellagic acid, in PGL has lower oral bioavailability, suggesting that the lipid-lowering effect of PGL may act through inhibiting lipid absorption in the small intestine. Our results demonstrated that pomegranate leaf and its main active ingredients (i.e., ellagic acid, gallic acid, pyrogallic acid and tannic acid) were capable of inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity in vitro. In computational molecular docking, the four ingredients had good affinity for pancreatic lipase. Acute lipid overload experiments showed that a large dosage of PGL significantly reduced serum total cholesterol (TG) and triglycerides (TC) levels in addition to inhibiting intestinal lipase activity, which demonstrated that PGL could inhibit lipase activity and reduce the absorption of lipids. We also found that PGL could reverse the reduced tight-junction protein expression due to intestinal lipid overload, promote Occludin and Claudin4 expression in the small intestine, and enhance the intestinal mucosal barrier. In conclusion, we demonstrated that PGL can inhibit lipid absorption and reduce blood TG and TC by targeting pancreatic lipase, promoting tight-junction protein expression and thereby preventing intestinal mucosa damage from an overload of lipids in the intestine.

Mechanism underlying berberine's effects on HSP70/TNFα under heat stress: Correlation with the TATA boxes.

Heat stress can stimulate an increase in body temperature, which is correlated with increased expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα). The exact mechanism underlying the HSP70 and TNFα induction is unclear. Berberine (BBR) can significantly inhibit the temperature rise caused by heat stress, but the mechanism responsible for the BBR effect on HSP70 and TNFα signaling has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between the expression of HSP70 and TNFα and the effects of BBR under heat conditions, using in vivo and in vitro models. The expression levels of HSP70 and TNFα were determined using RT-PCR and Western blotting analyses. The results showed that the levels of HSP70 and TNFα were up-regulated under heat conditions (40 °C). HSP70 acted as a chaperone to maintain TNFα homeostasis with rising the temperature, but knockdown of HSP70 could not down-regulate the level of TNFα. Furthermore, TNFα could not influence the expression of HSP70 under normal and heat conditions. BBR targeted both HSP70 and TNFα by suppressing their gene transcription, thereby decreasing body temperature under heat conditions. In conclusion, BBR has a potential to be developed as a therapeutic strategy for suppressing the thermal effects in hot environments.

PPy@MIL-100 Nanoparticles as a pH- and Near-IR-Irradiation-Responsive Drug Carrier for Simultaneous Photothermal Therapy and Chemotherapy of Cancer Cells.

A medical nanoplatform with small size, low cost, biocompatibility, good biodegradability, and, in particular, multifunctionality has attracted much attention in the exploration of novel therapeutic methodologies. As an emerging material of self-assembled porous structure, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have high expectations because of their special properties compared to traditional porous materials. Therefore, integration of MOFs and functional materials is leading to the creation of new multifunctional composites/hybrids. Photothermal therapy (PTT), using near-IR (NIR) laser-absorbing nanomaterials as PTT agents, has shown encouraging therapeutic effects to photothermally ablate tumors. However, the most of widely used PTT agents are inorganic materials and nonbiodegradable. Herein, uniform polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles (NPs) with good biodegradability were synthesized by a microemulsion method. The PPy NPs were further coated with the mesoporous iron-based MOF structure MIL-100 by interaction between PPy NPs and MIL-100 precursors at room temperature. As a multifunctional nanoplatform, an anticancer drug could easily be loaded into the mesopores of the MIL-100 shell. The PPy core, as an organic photothermal agent, is able to photothermally ablate cancer cells and improve the efficacy of chemotherapy under NIR irradiation. The composites showed an outstanding in vivo synergistic anticancer capacity. Our work could encourage further study in the construction of a synergetic system using MOFs and organic PTT agents.

Effects of Angelica dahurica on obesity and fatty liver in mice.

Angelica dahurica (A. dahurica) is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant being used in clinical practice. The present study demonstrated that A. dahurica could reduce white-fat weight in high-fat-diet hyperlipidemic mice, decrease total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in the livers of both high-fat-diet and Triton WR1339 induced hyperlipidemic mice, and enhance the total hepatic lipase activities of them. These findings were further supported by the results derived from the experiments with HepG2 cells in vitro. In addition, the proteins related to lipids metabolism were investigated using LC-MS/MS, indicating that genes of lipid metabolism and lipid transport were regulated by A. dhurica. The results from LC-MS/MS were further conformed by Western blot and real time PCR assays. A. dahurica could down-regulate the expression of catalase (CAT) and sterol carrier protein2 (SCP2) and up-regulate the expression of lipid metabolism related genes-lipase member C (LIPC) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). In the Triton WR1339 mouse liver and HepG2 cells in vitro, A. dahurica was able to increase the expression of LIPC and PPARγ, confirming the results from in vivo experiments. Imperatorin showed the same activity as A. dahurica, suggesting it was one of the major active ingredients of the herb. In conclusion, our work represented a first investigation demonstrating that A. dahurica was able to regulate lipid metabolism and could be developed as a novel approach to fighting against fatty liver and obesity.

Brazilein inhibits neuronal inflammation induced by cerebral ischemia and oxygen-glucose deprivation through targeting NOD2 expression.

Brazilein is reported to have immunosuppressive effect on cardiovascular and cerebral-vascular diseases. The essential roles of innate immunity in cerebral ischemia are increasingly identified, but no studies concerning the influence of brazilein on the innate immunity receptors have been reported. The present study was designed to investigate the regulation of NOD2 (Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2) by brazilein for its protection of neuron in cerebral ischemia in vivo and oxygen-glucose deprivation in vitro. The results showed that brazilein could reverse the elevated expression of NOD2 and TNFα (tumor necrosis factor alpha) elicited by cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. This reduction could also be detected in normal mice and C17.2 cells, indicating that this suppressive effect of brazilein was correlated with NOD2. The results from GFP reporter plasmid assay suggested brazilein inhibited NOD2 gene transcription. In conclusion, brazilein could attenuate NOD2 and TNFα expression in cerebral ischemia and NOD2 may be one possible target of brazilein for its immune suppressive effect in neuro-inflammation.

Reproductive toxicity of brazilein in ICR mice.

Brazilein is an active small molecular compound extracted from Caesalpinia sappan L. with favorable pharmacological properties on immune system, cardiovascular system, and nervous system. C. sappan has been used as a traditional medicine in China for hundreds of years for various diseases. However, the general reproductive toxicity of brazilein is still unknown. The purpose of the present study was to thoroughly evaluate the general reproductive toxicity of brazilein in ICR mice to support the future drug development and modernization of this potent traditional Chinese medicine. The results showed that, although no apparent toxicity on the reproducibility of the male was observed, brazilein might cause considerable risks to the fetuses and females as indicated by the ratios of dead fetuses and reabsorptions. In conclusion, our results from the present study provided some useful insights about the safety profile of brazilein, suggesting that brazilein should be used with caution in pregnant women.

[Effects of Hydrothermal Treatment Time on the Transformations of N, P, K and Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge].

Hydrothermal treatment (HTT) of sewage sludge was conducted, focusing on the influence of HTT time on the dewaterability of sludge and transformations of elements N, P, K and heavy metals. The results showed that at a hydrotherma temperature of 160°C, with HTT time increasing from 30 to 120 min, the sludge dewatering performance was significantly improved. The transfer rate of N element in the sludge transferring to aqueous product increased gradually. Almost all of P element remained in the solid phase, and most of K element (57%-62%) was still in the solid phase although it was more easily transferred to the liquid phase than P element. The transferring behavior of heavy metals during the HTT related to their own properties, and their transferring behaviors were different with the increase of HTT time. Compared with the raw sludge, the contents of Cu, Zn, Cr and Pb in the dewatered sludge increased significantly, As increased slowly, while Ni and Cd were first lower than those in raw sludge, and then increased with the prolonging HTT time.

Studies on Chromatographic Fingerprint and Fingerprinting Profile-Efficacy Relationship of Saxifraga stolonifera Meerb.

This work investigated the spectrum-effect relationships between high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints and the anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia activities of aqueous extracts from Saxifraga stolonifera. The fingerprints of S. stolonifera from various sources were established by HPLC and evaluated by similarity analysis (SA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). Nine samples were obtained from these 24 batches of different origins, according to the results of SA, HCA and the common chromatographic peaks area. A testosterone-induced mouse model of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was used to establish the anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia activities of these nine S. stolonifera samples. The model was evaluated by analyzing prostatic index (PI), serum acid phosphatase (ACP) activity, concentrations of serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT), prostatic acid phosphatase (PACP) and type II 5α-reductase (SRD5A2). The spectrum-effect relationships between HPLC fingerprints and anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia activities were investigated using Grey Correlation Analysis (GRA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR). The results showed that a close correlation existed between the fingerprints and anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia activities, and peak 14 (chlorogenic acid), peak 17 (quercetin 5-O-ß-d-glucopyranoside) and peak 18 (quercetin 3-O-ß-l-rhamno-pyranoside) in the HPLC fingerprints might be the main active components against anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia. This work provides a general model for the study of spectrum-effect relationships of S. stolonifera by combing HPLC fingerprints with a testosterone-induced mouse model of BPH, which can be employed to discover the principle components of anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia bioactivity.

Protection of Gastrointestinal Mucosa from Acute Heavy Alcohol Consumption: The Effect of Berberine and Its Correlation with TLR2, 4/IL1ß-TNFα Signaling.

The purpose of the present study is to confirm the protective effect of berberine (BBR) on gastrointestinal injury caused by acute heavy alcohol exposure, an effect that has not been reported previously. Our research details how BBR protects against gastrointestinal injuries from acute alcohol exposure using both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Acute high alcohol concentrations lead to obvious damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa, resulting in necrosis of the intestinal mucosa. Oral administration of BBR was able to significantly reduce this alcohol-induced damage, inhibit increases of alcohol-induced TNFα and IL-1ß expression in gastrointestinal mucosa as well as their upstream signals TLR2 and TLR4, and regulate cytokines that modulate tight junctions. Alcohol consumption is a popular human social behavior worldwide, and the present study reports a comprehensive mechanism by which BBR protects against gastrointestinal injuries from alcohol stress, providing people with a novel application of BBR.