[Role of NLRP3 inflammasome in prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment-related diseases and traditional Chinese medicine intervention: a review].

Alzheimer's disease(AD), vascular dementia(VD), and traumatic brain injury(TBI) are more common cognitive impairment diseases characterized by high disability and mortality rates, imposing a heavy burden on individuals and their families. Although AD, VD, and TBI have different specific mechanisms, their pathogenesis is closely related to the nucleotide-binding oligome-rization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3). The NLRP3 inflammasome is involved in neuroinflammatory responses, mediating microglial polarization, regulating the reduction of amyloid ß-protein(Aß) deposition, neurofibrillary tangles(NFTs) formation, autophagy regulation, and maintaining brain homeostasis, and synaptic stability, thereby contributing to the development of AD, VD, and TBI. Previous studies have shown that traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) can alleviate neuroinflammation, promote microglial polarization towards the M2 phenotype, reduce Aß deposition and NFTs formation, regulate autophagy, and maintain brain homeostasis by intervening in NLRP3 inflammasome, hence exerting a role in preventing and treating cognitive impairment-related diseases, reducing psychological and economic pressure on patients, and improving their quality of life. Therefore, this article elucidated the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in AD, VS, and TBI, and provided a detailed summary of the latest research results on TCM intervention in NLRP3 inflammasome for the prevention and treatment of these diseases, aiming to inherit the essence of TCM and provide references and foundations for clinical prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment-related diseases with TCM. Meanwhile, this also offers insights and directions for further research in TCM for the prevention and treatment of cognitive impairment-related diseases.

The chronic effects of oil pollution on marine phytoplankton in a subtropical bay, China.

To evaluate the effects of crude oil water accommodated fraction (WAF) on marine phytoplankton community, natural phytoplankton collected seasonally from the Yueqing bay were exposed to eight groups of crude oil WAF for 15 days under laboratory conditions. Chlorophyll a and cell density were measured, and species of phytoplankton were identified every 24 h to reflect the change of phytoplankton community. The results showed that (1) High concentrations (≥ 2.28 mg l(-1)) of oil pollution would greatly restrain phytoplankton growth (p<0.001), decrease chlorophyll a content and cell density, whereas low concentrations (≤ 1.21 mg l(-1)) did not restrain its growth but rather promoted the phytoplankton growth. (2) The biodiversity, evenness, and species number of phytoplankton were all significantly influenced by crude oil WAF in all seasons (p<0.001). (3) The dominant species changes were different under different pollutant concentrations in different seasons. Different species had different tolerances to the oil pollution, thus leading to abnormal succession.