Clinical treatment of lumbar disc herniation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of radiofrequency ozone and injection of anti-inflammatory analgesic solution into the internal orifice of nerve root combined with traditional Chinese medicine hook operation in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. METHODS: Patients with lumbar disc herniation who were admitted to our hospital on December 20, 2017 and June 19, 2019 were selected as the main research objects, and the included patients were divided into control group, basic group and comprehensive group by random number table method. Control group was treated with radiofrequency ozone therapy, basic group was treated with injection of anti-inflammatory analgesic solution into the internal orifice of nerve root in addition to the control group, comprehensive group was treated with traditional Chinese medicine hook operation in addition to the basic group. The clinical treatment effects were observed. RESULTS: A total of 153 patients were included in this study, including 40 in the control group, 40 in the basic group, and 73 in the comprehensive group. The results showed that the NRS scores of control group were 3±0.98, 2±0.93 and 2±0.85 at 1 month, 3 months and 1 year after treatment, respectively. NRS scores in the basic group were 3±0.18, 2±0.33, and 2±0.15, respectively. NRS scores in the comprehensive group were 2±0.78, 1±0.54, and 1±0.77, respectively. Compared with the control group, there were significant differences in basic group and comprehensive group at each time point (P < 0. 05). At the same time, compared with the basic group, the NRS score of the comprehensive group was statistically different (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Radiofrequency ozone and injection of anti-inflammatory analgesic solution into the internal orifice of nerve root combined with hook operation can obtain good short-term and medium-term effects in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. It is a safe and effective minimally invasive treatment method. KEY WORDS: Internal orifice of nerve root, Lumbar disc herniation, Ozone.

Putrescine Treatment Delayed the Softening of Postharvest Blueberry Fruit by Inhibiting the Expression of Cell Wall Metabolism Key Gene VcPG1.

The postharvest shelf life of blueberries is very short at room temperature owing to softening, which reduces their edible value. Putrescine (Put) plays an important role in maintaining the firmness and prolonging the storage time of fruits. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between Put and the cell wall metabolism and their roles in the postharvest softening of blueberry. Harvested blueberry fruit was immersed in 1 mM Put aqueous solution for 10 min. After treatment, the blueberries were stored at 20 ± 0.5 °C and 80% relative humidity for 10 days. The results show that Put delayed the softening of the blueberries. Compared to the control, the blueberry fruit treated with Put showed higher levels of firmness and protopectin. Moreover, the activity and expression levels of the cell wall metabolism enzymes were markedly inhibited by the Put treatment, including polygalacturonase (PG), ß-galactosylase (ß-Gal), and ß-glucosidase (ß-Glu). The Put treatment promoted the expression of the Put synthesis gene VcODC and inhibited the expression of the Put metabolism gene VcSPDS. Further tests showed that the fruit firmness decreased significantly after the overexpression of VcPG1, which verified that VcPG1 is a key gene for fruit softening. The key transcription factors of fruit softening were preliminarily predicted and the expressions were analyzed, laying a foundation for the subsequent study of transcriptional regulation. These results indicate that Put delays the softening of postharvest blueberry by restraining the cell wall metabolism and maintaining the fruit firmness.

Glycine betaine treatment alleviates loss of aroma-related esters in cold-stored 'Nanguo' pears by regulating the lipoxygenase pathway.

Glycine betaine (GB) is known to alleviate chilling injury in many fruit species. Therefore, we studied how GB affects the biosynthesis of esters in 'Nanguo' pears. Based on the kinds of esters, total esters, and the quantity of the main esters, it was evident that aroma losses were alleviated by GB treatment. In addition, unsaturated fatty acids contents (linoleic and linolenic acid) and the activities of lipoxygenase (LOX) and alcohol acyltransferase (AAT) enzymes were also increased. Meanwhile, comparing with the control fruit, the genes directly involved in ester synthesis were up-regulated in the GB-treated fruit. In addition, an increase in the activities and gene expression of antioxidant enzymes was observed in the treated samples. Thus, GB treatment promotes the synthesis of esters by regulating the LOX pathway and increasing antioxidant capacity, thereby effectively improving the quality of esters in cold-stored fruit.

Ethylene plays an important role in the softening and sucrose metabolism of blueberries postharvest.

We studied the effects of ethylene on softening and sucrose metabolism in postharvest blueberry fruit by examining the responses of fruit firmness, cell wall polysaccharides, cell wall enzymes, four key genes of cell wall degradation and metabolism, enzyme activities, and five key genes of sucrose metabolism to exogenous ethylene treatments. Ethylene was found to accelerate blueberry softening, as it promoted the degradation of pectin and expression of pectinesterase (PE) and polygalacturonase (PG). Sucrose catabolism was accelerated with fruit softening, while sucrose content, sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) activity were positively correlated with the loss of fruit firmness. Exogenous ethylene treatments promoted sucrose metabolism by inhibiting the expression of VcSPS1 and VcNIN2 and stimulating the expression of VcSS1 and VcCWINV1. These results indicate that ethylene plays an important role in fruit softening and sucrose metabolism of blueberry at 20 °C, and there may be a link between sucrose metabolism and fruit softening.

Exogenous glycine betaine treatment alleviates low temperature-induced pericarp browning of 'Nanguo' pears by regulating antioxidant enzymes and proline metabolism.

The effect of glycine betaine (GB) on chilling injury (CI)-induced pericarp browning in 'Nanguo' pears was investigated during shelf life at 20 °C after storage at 0 °C for 120 d. GB treatment alleviated the severity of browning in 'Nanguo' pears as represented by lower browning index (BI) and browning incidence. Membrane lipid peroxidation in GB-treated fruit was lower than that in the control, and membrane integrity was maintained in good condition. The activities and expression of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were higher in GB-treated fruit than in control fruit. Furthermore, significantly higher proline content, proline synthesis key enzyme activities, and gene expression were observed in the treated fruit, including ornithine d-aminotransferase (OAT) and Δ1-pyrroline-5-carbox-ylate synthetase (P5CS), which were consistent with the browning tendency. In a nutshell, GB treatment can effectively alleviate pericarp browning of cold-stored 'Nanguo' pears by regulating antioxidant enzymes and proline metabolism.

The effect of ethylene absorbent treatment on the softening of blueberry fruit.

The potential of ethylene absorbent (EA) to delay softening of 'Lanfeng' blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) fruit in conjunction with cold storage was evaluated. The fruit quality was evaluated after 60 days of storage at 0 °C again kept at 20 °C, with or without EA. Changes in quality attributes and ethylene biosynthesis and fruit softening indicators were assessed. The results indicated that EA treatment inhibited fruit softening, reduced weight loss and decay, and prevented the loss of total phenolic content. It also decreased the fruit ethylene production by inhibiting 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid oxidase and 1-aminocyclopropane-1- carboxylic acid synthase activities, whilst maintaining firmness by hampering cell wall-degrading enzyme activities, especially after more than 30 days of cold storage. In conclusion, EA treatment can inhibit the softening of harvested blueberry fruit during storage at 0 °C and shelf life after cold storage. After being refrigerated for more than 30 days at 0 °C, the EA has a good effect on blueberries storage.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate attenuates cerebral cortex damage and promotes brain regeneration in acrylamide-treated rats.

Acrylamide (ACR) is a neurotoxic industrial chemical intermediate, which is also present in food and water. We investigated the neuroprotective effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant polyphenol in green tea, on ACR-treated rat brain. Rats were pre-treated with EGCG for 4 d and then administered ACR and EGCG for 14 d. EGCG increased acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and the rate of Nissl-positive cells in ACR-treated rats. Senescence-associated ß-galactosidase (SA-ß-gal) staining indicated that EGCG attenuated ACR-induced senescence. Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) protein expression indicated that EGCG inhibited ACR-induced inflammation. In addition, immunohistochemical analysis of nestin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) revealed that EGCG promoted brain regeneration in ACR-treated rats. Altogether, our results suggest that EGCG can attenuate ACR-induced brain damage and promote regeneration in the cerebral cortex of rats. Therefore, we hypothesized that EGCG may alleviate ACR-related nerve injury.

The inhibitory effects of γ-glutamylcysteine derivatives from fresh garlic on glycation radical formation.

The effects of three reactive peptides, γ-glutamylmethylcysteine (γ-GMC), γ-glutamylpropylcysteine (γ-GPC), and γ-glutamylbutylcysteine (γ-GBC) on the suppression of reactive radicals during the heating of l-lysine in the presence or absence of glucose was studied by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. γ-GMC and γ-GPC were extracted from fresh garlic, and γ-GBC was a synthetic peptide. The results showed that γ-GMC and γ-GPC effectively suppress formation of l-lysine radicals, but that γ-GBC exhibits low radical inhibition. The origin of the short peptides, and the length of their side chain, influenced their surface hydrophobicity and subsequent radical inhibition. In addition, the oxidation of l-lysine was inhibited by the peptides in a similar manner to their inhibition of the Maillard reaction (MR), and their radical inhibition was consistent with similar activity towards N(ε)-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML).

Decreased glycation and structural protection properties of γ-glutamyl-S-allyl-cysteine peptide isolated from fresh garlic scales (Allium sativum L.).

The antiglycative effect of γ-glutamyl-S-allyl-cysteine (GSAC) peptide isolated from fresh garlic scales was investigated in the bovine serum albumin (BSA)/glucose system. GSAC inhibited the increase of fluorescence intensity at about 440 nm in a concentration-dependent manner and reduced reacted free lysine side chains by 10.9%, 24.7% and 37.7%, as the GSAC concentrations increased from 0.1 to 2.5 mg mL(-1). Glycation-specific decline in BSA α-helix content (from 61.3% to 55.6%) and increase in ß-sheet (from 2.1% to 5.4%) were prevented by GSAC (2.5 mg mL(-1)) in vitro, implying its stabilisation effect. GSAC treatment (2.5 mg mL(-1)) suppressed protein crosslinking to form polymers. Additionally, GSAC (10, 40, and 160 µg mL(-1)) showed radical-scavenging and metal-chelating capacities. In conclusion, GSAC has an antiglycative effect, which may involve its radical-scavenging and metal-chelating capacities.

Rhodamine B induces long nucleoplasmic bridges and other nuclear anomalies in Allium cepa root tip cells.

The cytogenetic toxicity of rhodamine B on root tip cells of Allium cepa was investigated. A. cepa were cultured in water (negative control), 10 ppm methyl methanesulfonate (positive control), and three concentrations of rhodamine B (200, 100, and 50 ppm) for 7 days. Rhodamine B inhibited mitotic activity; increased nuclear anomalies, including micronuclei, nuclear buds, and bridged nuclei; and induced oxidative stress in A. cepa root tissues. Furthermore, a substantial amount of long nucleoplasmic bridges were entangled together, and some nuclei were simultaneously linked to several other nuclei and to nuclear buds with nucleoplasmic bridges in rhodamine B-treated cells. In conclusion, rhodamine B induced cytogenetic effects in A. cepa root tip cells, which suggests that the A. cepa root is an ideal model system for detecting cellular interactions.