Electroacupuncture alleviates intestinal inflammation via a distinct neuro-immune signal pathway in the treatment of postoperative ileus.

BACKGROUND: The induction of intestinal inflammation as a result of abdominal surgery is an essential factor in postoperative ileus (POI) development. Electroacupuncture (EA) at ST36 has been demonstrated to relieve intestinal inflammation and restore gastrointestinal dysmotility in POI. This study aims to elucidate the neuroimmune pathway involved in the anti-inflammatory properties of EA in POI. METHODS: After intestinal manipulation (IM) was performed to induce POI, intestinal inflammation and motility were assessed 24 h post-IM, by evaluating gastrointestinal transit (GIT), cytokines expression, and leukocyte infiltration. Experimental surgery, pharmacological intervention, and genetic knockout mice were used to elucidate the neuroimmune mechanisms of EA. RESULTS: EA at ST36 significantly improved GIT and reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and leukocyte infiltration in the intestinal muscularis following IM in mice. The anti-inflammatory effectiveness of EA treatment was abolished by sub-diaphragmatic vagotomy, whereas splenectomy did not hinder the anti-inflammatory benefits of EA treatment. The hexamethonium chloride (HEX) administration contributes to a notable reduction in the EA capacity to suppress inflammation and enhance motility dysfunction, and EA is ineffective in α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) knockout mice. CONCLUSIONS: EA at ST36 prevents intestinal inflammation and dysmotility through a neural circuit that requires vagal innervation but is independent of the spleen. Further findings revealed that the process involves enteric neurons mediating the vagal signal and requires the presence of α7nAChR. These findings suggest that utilizing EA at ST36 may represent a possible therapeutic approach for POI and other immune-related gastrointestinal diseases.

Genipin Attenuates Sepsis-Induced Splenocyte Apoptosis via the Inhibition of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) dysfunction is characterized by ER stress, which can be triggered by sepsis. Recent studies have reported that lessening ER stress is a promising therapeutic approach to improving the outcome of sepsis. Genipin is derived from gardenia fruit, which is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb for anti-inflammation. Here, mice were treated with genipin (2.5 mg/kg) intravenously to assess its biological effects and underlying mechanism against polymicrobial sepsis. Furthermore, the present study focused on detecting the levels of ER stress-related proteins, including protein kinase R-like ER kinase (PERK), glucose-regulated protein of 78 kDa (GRP78), phosphorylated-eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (p-eIF2α), and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) homologous protein (CHOP). The results demonstrated that genipin significantly decreased the serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6, alleviated histopathological damage to the lungs, livers and spleens, and even improved the survival rates of septic mice. Moreover, sepsis significantly upregulated the protein expression levels of splenic GRP78, PERK, p-eIF2α and CHOP, but their levels were significantly suppressed by genipin. Furthermore, genipin also significantly downregulated cleaved caspase-3 expression levels and reduced sepsis-induced splenocyte apoptosis. In conclusion, genipin potentially improved the survival rate of sepsis and attenuated sepsis-induced organ injury and an excessive inflammatory response in mice. The effects of genipin against sepsis were potentially associated with decreased splenocyte apoptosis via the attenuation of sepsis-induced ER stress to further inhibit ER stress-induced apoptosis.

Insights into the interaction of CaCl2 and potato starch: Rheological, structural and gel properties.

High viscosity of starch greatly limit its application in some specific foods, in this work, a novel low-viscosity potato starch (PS) was developed via crosslinking between PS (3 %, w/v) and Ca2+ to investigate the effect of CaCl2 concentration (0.1-5 % CaCl2, w/v) on the rheological behaviors, structural and gel properties of PS. The results showed that peak viscosity (PV), trough viscosity (TV), final viscosity (FV), and breakdown viscosity (BD) of pasting curves of CaCl2-treated PS were significantly reduced compared with the native PS. The CaCl2 treatment also decreased the firmness of the PS gel and increased its pasting temperature (PT) and gelatinization enthalpy (∆H). Moreover, The CaCl2 treatment also led to more organized crystallites in the PS granules as affected by the slight increase in the ratio of 1044/1015 cm-1 in the FT-IR analysis, reduced the homogeneity of ordered structures inside granules as indicated by the increase in conclusion temperature (Tc)-onset temperature (To) in DSC analysis, and decreased relatively crystallinity revealed by XRD analysis. The findings of this study indicated CaCl2-treated PS could serve as food ingredients with reduced paste viscosity and regulated paste stability under shear during heating.

Effect of local mild hypothermia on regional cerebral blood flow in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage assessed by 99mTc-ECD SPECT imaging.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to observe the effect of local mild hypothermia on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) after acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and to evaluate its relation to clinical outcome in patients with ICH. METHODS: 36 CT proven ICH patients with Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score of 5 or more were randomly assigned to 2 group: local mild hypothermia with conventional mannitol (Group A) or conventional mannitol (Group B). SPECT study was performed at day 7 after therapy. The SPECT images were semi-quantitatively analyzed, and the radioactivity ratios of lesion to normal tissue (L/NT) were calculated. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) were used in evaluation at days 14 and 21 after therapy. RESULTS: There were significant differences in NIHSS score at days 14 and 21, and the L/NT ratios between the groups A and B (P < 0.05). Based on GCS, more patients in the group A showed favorable outcomes than patients in the group B (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the L/NT ratios significantly increased in patients with favorable outcomes compared to poor outcomes. Changes in NIHSS score at days 14 and 21 were closely negatively correlated with the L/NT ratios in the groups A and B (r= -0.58, -0.61, and -0.52, -0.75, respectively, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Local mild hypothermia could significantly increase rCBF and improve clinical outcome in ICH patients as evaluated by ^{99m}Tc-ECD SPECT study.

Effect of microfluidisation on antioxidant properties of corn bran.

The microfluidisation process was used to reduce the particle size and loosen the tight microstructure of corn bran. This process significantly increased corn bran's antioxidant activity exhibited through a surface reaction phenomenon and the extractability of phenolic compounds after alkaline and acid hydrolysis. For corn bran microfluidised through an 87 µm interaction chamber for 5 passes, the two most largely increased phenolic acids released after alkaline hydrolysis were p-coumaric acid (51.1%) and ferulic acid (45.1%). On the other hand, high shear stress during microfluidisation caused partial dispersion or dissolution of free phenolic compounds in water which was lost after the process. It was also found that bran residues after alkaline and acid hydrolysis still exhibited strong antioxidant activity via a surface reaction phenomenon, probably indicating the conventional method based on solvent extraction and relatively mild alkaline and/or acid hydrolysis underestimates the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of corn bran.

Novel rhamnogalacturonan I and arabinoxylan polysaccharides of flax seed mucilage.

The viscous seed mucilage of flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a mixture of rhamnogalacturonan I and arabinoxylan with novel side group substitutions. The rhamnogalacturonan I has numerous single nonreducing terminal residues of the rare sugar l-galactose attached at the O-3 position of the rhamnosyl residues instead of the typical O-4 position. The arabinoxylan is highly branched, primarily with double branches of nonreducing terminal l-arabinosyl units at the O-2 and O-3 positions along the xylan backbone. While a portion of each polysaccharide can be purified by anion-exchange chromatography, the side group structures of both polysaccharides are modified further in about one-third of the mucilage to form composites with enhanced viscosity. Our finding of the unusual side group structures for two well-known cell wall polysaccharides supports a hypothesis that plants make a selected few ubiquitous backbone polymers onto which a broad spectrum of side group substitutions are added to engender many possible functions. To this end, modification of one polymer may be accompanied by complementary modifications of others to impart functions to heterocomposites not present in either polymer alone.