Efficacy of polysaccharide iron complex in IDA rats: A comparative study with iron protein succinylate and ferrous succinate.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common nutrient-related health problem in the world. There is still a lack of comprehensive comparative study on the efficacies of commonly used iron supplements such as polysaccharide iron complex (PIC), iron protein succinylate (IPS) and ferrous succinate (FS) for IDA. In this study, we compared the PIC, IPS and FS efficacies in IDA rats via intragastric administration. The results showed that the three iron supplements had similar efficacies. PIC/IPS/FS at a dose of 15 mg Fe/kg/d for 10 d increased the hematological and serum biochemical parameters to 2.15/2.12/2.18 (Hb), 1.71/1.67/1.69 (RBC), 2.10/2.11/2.12 (HCT), 1.26/1.22/1.22 (MCV), all 1.34 (MCH), 1.15/1.15/1.14 (MCHC), 1.94/1.82/1.91 (SF), 9.75/9.67/9.53 (SI), and 23.30/22.68/21.64 (TS) times, and reduced TIBC to 0.42/0.43/0.44 times, compared to untreated IDA rats. PIC performed slightly better than IPS and FS in restoring MCV level. Meanwhile, the heart, spleen and kidney coefficients reduced to 67%/74%/65% (heart), all 59% (spleen) and 87%/88%/88% (kidney), and the liver coefficient increased to 116%/115%/116%, compared to untreated IDA rats. The liver iron content was found to be more affected by IDA than the spleen iron content. PIC/IPS/FS at 15 mg Fe/kg/d increased organ iron contents to 4.20/3.97/4.03 times (liver) and 1.36/1.24/1.41 times (spleen) within 10 d compared to untreated IDA rats, and PIC-H and FS were slightly better than IPS in restoring spleen iron content. The results of this study can provide useful data information for the comparison of three iron supplements, PIC, IPS and FS.

Efficacy of Faecal Microbiota Transplantation for the Treatment of Autism in Children: Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.

Objective: Evidence-based research methods were applied to assess the efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for the treatment of autism in children. Methods: We searched the Chinese Biomedical Literature, CNKI, Wanfang, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases to collect randomised controlled trials on faecal microbiota transplantation for the treatment of autism in children. The search included studies published from the creation of the respective database to 5 April 2022. Literature screening, data extraction, and quality evaluation were implemented by three investigators according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.1 software. Results: Nine studies with population-based subjects and four studies with animal-based subjects were included. Five papers were screened for the meta-analysis. The results showed that FMT markedly reduced Autism Behaviour Checklist (ABC) scores in children with autism spectrum disorder (weighted mean difference (WMD) = -14.96; 95% confidence intervals (CI), -21.68 to -8.24; P < 0.001; I 2 = 0%). FMT also reduced Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scores (WMD = -6.95; 95% CI, -8.76 to -5.14; P < 0.001; I 2 = 28.1%). Conclusion: Our results indicate that FMT can benefit children with autism by reducing ABC and CARS scores, but more high-quality studies are needed to verify these results.

Using molybdenum carbiding to induce digestion of carbon in H2O2: A sustainable approach to eliminate radioactivity for hazardous graphite waste inherited from nuclear enterprise.

To properly manage nuclear wastes is critical to sustainable utilization of nuclear power and environment health. Here, we show an innovative carbiding strategy for sustainable management of radioactive graphite through digestion of carbon in H2O2. The combined action of intermolecular oxidation of graphite by MoO3 and molybdenum carbiding demonstrates success in gasifying graphite and sequestrating uranium for a simulated uranium-contaminated graphite waste. The carbiding process plays a triple role: (1) converting graphite into atomic carbon digestible in H2O2, (2) generating oxalic ligands in the presence of H2O2 to favor U-precipitation, and (3) delivering oxalic ligands to coordinate to MoVI-oxo anionic species to improve sample batching capacity. We demonstrate > 99% of uranium to be sequestrated for the simulated waste with graphite matrix completely gasifying while no detectable U-migration occurred during operation. This method has further been extended to removal of surface carbon layers for graphite monolith and thus can be used to decontaminate monolithic graphite waste with emission of a minimal amount of secondary waste. We believe this work not only provides a sustainable approach to tackle the managing issue of heavily metal contaminated graphite waste, but also indicates a promising methodology toward surface decontamination for irradiated graphite in general.

Conjugated Polymer-Ferrocence Nanoparticle as an NIR-II Light Powered Nanoamplifier to Enhance Chemodynamic Therapy.

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is a promising therapeutic modality with transition metal ions and endogenous H2O2 as reagents, but its efficiency is impaired by low endogenous H2O2 levels and nonregeneration of metal ions. Most intracellular H2O2 supplement strategies use oxidases and are intensively dependent on oxygen participation. The hypoxia microenvironments of solid tumors weaken their performance. Here, we develop a near-infrared II light powered nanoamplifier to improve the local oxygen level and to enhance CDT. The nanoamplifier CPNP-Fc/Pt consists of ferrocene (Fc)- and cisplatin prodrug (Pt(IV))-modified conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNPs). CPNP has a donor-acceptor structure and demonstrates a good photothermal effect under 1064 nm light irradiation, which accelerates blood flow and efficiently elevates the local oxygen content. In response to intracellular glutathione, Pt(II) is released from CPNP-Fc/Pt and triggers enzymatic cascade reactions with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NADPH oxidase) and superoxide dismutase to convert oxygen into H2O2. The enhanced oxygen level results in efficient intracellular H2O2 supply. Fc is reacted with H2O2 and converted to Fc+ via the Fenton reaction, with the generation of hydroxyl radicals for CDT. Unlike free metal ions, the Fe(III) in Fc+ is reduced to Fe(II) by intracellular NAD(P)H, which achieves the regeneration of Fc. The sufficient intracellular H2O2 supply and efficient Fc regeneration effectively enhance the Fenton reaction and demonstrate good in vivo CDT results with tumor growth suppression. This design offers a promising strategy to enhance CDT efficiency in the hypoxia microenvironment of solid tumors.

Fatty Acid Stable Carbon Isotope Ratios Combined with Oxidation Kinetics for Characterization and Authentication of Walnut Oils.

Walnut oil is vulnerable to oxidation due to its high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and adulteration due to its high price. This study investigated 12 typical walnut oils from six main walnut-producing areas in China, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Rancimat test, gas chromatography (GC), elemental analyzer-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS) and GC-IRMS combined with oxidation kinetic analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA). The melting and crystallization profiles using DSC indicated that walnut oils with a relatively high crystal onset temperature tended to be more stable against oxidation. Oleic acid was found to be the most characteristic fatty acid in walnut oil, with a content ranging from 13.84 to 35.08%. Two walnut oils with the highest oleic acid contents of 35.08 and 32.78% had the highest activation energies in nonisothermal DSC. Their predicted shelf lives based on the Rancimat test were 3.5-4.0 times longer than that of the oil with the highest α-linolenic acid at 4 °C and 3.1-3.5 times longer at 25 °C. The δ13C values of walnut oils were determined by EA-IRMS, and the δ13C values of fatty acids were determined by GC-IRMS. Fatty acid stable carbon isotope ratios combined with PCA were successfully applied to intuitively discriminate different walnut oils. The results suggested that fatty acid δ13C values determined by IRMS combined with chemometrics and lipid compositions are promising as a powerful means of vegetable oil authentication and discrimination.