Investigation of Obesity-Alleviation Effect of Eurycoma longifolia on Mice Fed with a High-Fat Diet through Metabolomics Revealed Enhanced Decomposition and Inhibition of Accumulation of Lipids.

The metabolic and bioactivity effects of Eurycoma longifolia (Eucalyptus longifolia) in obesity treatment were studied in mice fed with a high-fat diet using a metabolomics approach. Aqueous extracts of E. longifolia were obtained via grinding, dissolving, and freeze-drying. The hepatic steatosis effect of E. longifolia was characterized by hematoxylin and eosin histological staining. External performance of the obesity-alleviation effect was monitored by measuring body and food weight. In addition, the metabolomics analysis of the E. longifolia-mice interaction system was performed using the established platform combining liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with statistical analysis. The presence and spatial distribution patterns of differential molecules were further evaluated through desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry imaging. The results showed that E. longifolia played a vital role in downregulating lipid accumulation (especially triacylglycerols) and fatty acids biosynthesis together with enhanced lipid decomposition and healing in Bagg albino mice. During such a process, E. longifolia mainly induced metabolomic alterations of amino acids, organic acids, phospholipids, and glycerolipids. Moreover, under the experimental concentrations, E. longifolia induced more fluctuations of aqueous-soluble metabolites in the plasma and lipids in the liver than in the kidneys. This study provides an advanced alternative to traditional E. longifolia-based studies for evaluating the metabolic effects and bioactivity of E. longifolia through metabolomics technology, revealing potential technological improvement and clinical application.

[Causes of and risk factors for failure in catheter removal after transurethral resection of the prostate].

OBJECTIVE: To find the causes of the failure in the first catheter removal (CR) after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and the related risk factors. METHODS: We collected the clinical data on 285 BPH patients treated by TURP from June 2015 to May 2018. We divided the cases into a successful CR (SCR) and a failed CR (FCR) group and investigated the risk factors for the first CR after TURP by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: CR was successfully performed in 246 and failed in 39 of the 285 cases. In the FCR group, post-CR urinary retention occurred in 15 cases immediately after, severe urinary tract irritation in 13, massive gross hematuria in 7 and urinary incontinence in 4 within 1 month. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors for CR failure included IPSS (OR = 5.106, P = 0.013), preoperative urinary tract infection (OR = 3.835, P = 0.041), prostate volume (OR = 4.160, P = 0.011) and catheter compression time (OR = 4.051, P = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: The common causes of the failure in catheter removal after TURP included early postoperative urinary retention, urinary infection, secondary hematuria and urinary incontinence.

Dissolved organic matter and aluminum oxide nanoparticles synergistically cause cellular responses in freshwater microalgae.

This study investigated the impact of dissolved organic matters (DOM) on the ecological toxicity of aluminum oxide nanoparticles (Al2O3NPs) at a relatively low exposure concentration (1 mg L-1). The unicellular green alga Scenedesmus obliquus was exposed to Al2O3NP suspensions in the presence of DOM (fulvic acid) at various concentrations (1, 10, and 40 mg L-1). The results show that the presence of DOM elevated the growth inhibition toxicity of Al2O3NPs towards S. obliquus in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the combination of DOM at 40 mg L-1 and Al2O3NPs resulted in a synergistic effect. The relative contribution of Al-ions released from Al2O3NPs to toxicity was lower than 5%, indicating that the presence of the particles instead of the dissolved ions in the suspensions was the major toxicity sources, regardless of the presence of DOM. Furthermore, DOM at 10 and 40 mg L-1 and Al2O3NPs synergistically induced the upregulation of intercellular reactive oxygen species levels and superoxide dismutase activities. Analysis of the plasma malondialdehyde concentrations and the observation of superficial structures of S. obliquus indicated that the mixtures of DOM and Al2O3NPs showed no significant effect on membrane lipid peroxidation damage. In addition, the presence of both DOM and Al2O3NPs contributed to an enhancement in both the mitochondrial membrane potential and the cell membrane permeability (CMP) in S. obliquus. In particular, Al2O3NPs in the presence of 10 and 40 mg L-1 DOM caused a greater increase in CMP compared to Al2O3NPs and DOM alone treatments. In conclusion, these findings suggest that DOM at high concentrations and Al2O3NPs synergistically interrupted cell membrane functions and triggered subsequent growth inhibition toxicity.