Safety of different concentrations of glycerine enema for meconium evacuation in preterm infants: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Various approaches are employed to expedite the passage of meconium in preterm infants within the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with glycerine enemas being the most frequently used. Due to the potential risk of high osmolality-induced harm to the intestinal mucosa, diluted glycerine enema solutions are commonly used in clinical practice. The challenge lies in the current lack of knowledge regarding the safest and most effective concentration of glycerine enema. This research aims to ascertain the safety of different concentrations of glycerine enema solution in preterm infants. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study protocol is for a single-centre, two-arm, parallel-group, double-blind and non-inferiority randomised controlled trial. Participants will be recruited from a NICU in a teriary class A hospital in China, and eligible infants will be randomly allocated to either the glycerine (mL): saline (mL) group in a 3:7 ratio or the 1:9 ratio group. The enema procedure will adhere to the standardised operational protocols. Primary outcomes encompass necrotising enterocolitis and rectal bleeding, while secondary outcomes encompass feeding parameters, meconium passage outcomes and splanchnic regional oxygen saturation. Analyses will compare the two trial arms based on an intention-to-treat allocation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This trial is approved by the ethics committee of the Medical Ethics Committee of West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2300079199.

Postharvest melatonin treatment enhanced antioxidant activity and promoted GABA biosynthesis in yellow-flesh peach.

The effects of postharvest melatonin treatment on antioxidant activity and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) biosynthesis in yellow-flesh peach fruit stored at 4 °C and 90% RH for 28 d were explored. Results showed that melatonin treatment was effective in maintaining firmness, total soluble solids content and color in peach fruit. Melatonin treatment significantly reduced H2O2 and MDA contents, enhanced high level of non-enzymatic antioxidant system (ABTS∙+ scavenging capacity), and increased the activity or content of antioxidant enzymes including CAT, POD, SOD and APX. Melatonin treatment increased the contents of total soluble protein and glutamate, while reducing total free amino acid content. Moreover, melatonin treatment up-regulated the expression of GABA biosynthesis genes (PpGAD1 and PpGAD4) and suppressed the expression of GABA degradation gene (PpGABA-T), resulting in the accumulation of endogenous GABA. These findings indicated that melatonin treatment exerted positive effects on improving antioxidant activity and promoting GABA biosynthesis in yellow-flesh peach fruit.

Colorimetric detection of 2-tert-butyl-1,4-benzoquinone in edible oils based on a chromogenic reaction with commercial chemicals.

2-tert-butyl-1,4-benzoquinone (TBBQ) is the major oxidative product of tert-butylhydroquinone which is a widely used antioxidant in edible oils. The biotoxicity of TBBQ is a risk to human health, that the rapid and accurate monitoring of TBBQ is needed. Herein, a specific chromogenic reaction between TBBQ and polyethyleneimine (PEI) could generate adducts with maximum absorption at 478 nm. Amine groups of PEI are prone to link with TBBQ through Michael addition to form colored adducts. A colorimetric method for detecting TBBQ in edible oils was developed based on the aforesaid chromogenic reaction. The linear range for TBBQ was from 3.0 to 100.0 µg g-1, having a limit of detection of 1.8 µg g-1. Recoveries results ranged from 88.4 % to 93.1 %, which had a good agreement with that of high-performance liquid chromatography. Our study provides a rapid and simple strategy for the sensitive detection of TBBQ using commercial chemicals.

Taurine Treatment Alleviates Intestinal Mucositis Induced by 5-Fluorouracil in Mice.

Taurine (Tau), a ß-amino acid, exists in red goji fruit (Lycium barbarum L.). It exerts many cellular physiological functions such as anti-inflammation and oxidation resistance. The chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU) can cause intestinal mucositis. However, current therapeutic approaches for mucositis have limited efficacy and are associated with various side effects. It is still unknown whether Tau can alleviate intestinal mucositis. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of the Tau in a mucositis mouse model and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. The intestinal mucositis symptoms were alleviated by the Tau administration as evidenced by decreased body weight loss, histopathological score, oxidative stress, and improved glutathione (GSH). The Tau supplementation strengthened intestinal epithelial tight junction and reduced serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels in intestinal mucositis mice. Moreover, the 5FU-induced inflammatory responses were alleviated by Tau treatment via the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 (Nrf2/HO-1) and nuclear factor kappa-B/inducible nitric oxide synthase (NF-κB/iNOS) signaling pathway. Tau administration modulated short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the colon of mice. The results indicated that the Tau might be a new dietary strategy for intestinal mucositis caused by 5FU.

Rapid determination of capsaicin concentration in soybean oil by terahertz spectroscopy.

Capsaicin is the key composition of pepper and can be used as a marker of gutter oil for detection. The feasibility of rapid detection of capsaicin concentration in soybean oil was studied by terahertz spectroscopy. Genetic algorithm (GA) and principal component analysis (PCA) as the pretreatment method were used to obtain the best spectral features. Least square-support vector machine (LS-SVM), back propagation neural network (BPNN), and partial least squares (PLS) were combined with the pretreatment method to obtain the best determination model. The BPNN was combined with GA to obtain the best quantitative prediction results with the correlation coefficient of prediction (RP ), prediction root mean square error (RMSEP), the ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD), and range error ratio (RER) were 0.9309, 0.4030 µg/kg, 17.0421, and 2.4813, respectively. Furthermore, the detection limit of capsaicin could achieve 1.25 µg/kg in soybean oil and the accuracy of discrimination was up to 100% in the prediction set using the LS-SVM combined with GA pre-treatment. The results suggested that terahertz spectroscopy together with chemometric methods would be a promising technique for rapid determination of capsaicin concentration in soybean oil. Meanwhile, it is necessary to perform further experiments with real gutter oil samples before applying the method in practice. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The combination of terahertz spectroscopy technology and chemometrics is a promising method for the rapid determination of capsaicin concentration in soybean oil with high efficiency.

Effects of postharvest cysteine treatment on sensory quality and contents of bioactive compounds in goji fruit.

Effects of cysteine (Cys) treatments (0, 0.01%, 0.05% and 0.10%) on sensory quality and bioactive compounds in goji fruit stored at 4 °C and 90% RH for 10 d were investigated. Results indicated that 0.05% Cys treatment significantly reduced decay ratio and weight loss, and maintained total soluble solid content in goji fruit. Furthermore, 0.05% Cys treatment increased the contents of total phenolic, ascorbic acid and total glutathione, and the ratio of glutathione/oxidized glutathione, resulting in the higher antioxidant capacity. Determination of five free amino acids showed that 0.05% Cys treatment increased the Pro and Tau contents, while had no significant effect on the Cys, Glu and GABA contents. The increase in Tau content might be due to the up-regulation of two key genes involved in the Tau synthesis including CDO and CSAD. These findings suggested that Cys treatment could improve the storage quality in goji fruit.

Coix lacryma-jobi Seed Oil Reduces Fat Accumulation in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Inhibiting the Activation of the p-AMPK/SePP1/apoER2 Pathway.

The lipid metabolism disorder is the key role of Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Selenoprotein P plays an important role in the pathological process of lipid accumulation. Coix lacryma-jboi seed oil (CLSO) is an active component extracted from Coix lacryma-jobi seed (CLS) which has been found to be effective of reducing blood fat and antioxidative. But the effect and mechanism of CLSO on NAFLD are not clear. The aim of this study was to explore the therapeutic effect and mechanism of CLSO in the treatment of NAFLD. Our result showed that CLSO decreased the liver/body weight ratio, lowered the total cholesterol (TC) and triacylglycerol (TG), and elevated the high density lipoprotein (HDL) in serum. CLSO reduced the lipid deposition in the liver of NAFLD rats. In addition, CLSO could bring down the abnormal expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Moreover, CLSO significantly declined the liver apolipoprotein E (apoE), apolipoprotein E receptor (apoER) and selenoprotein P 1 (SePP1) expression. In vivo, CLSO decreased the lipid droplets and TG level, reduced the protein expression of SePP1, apoER, phosphor-adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK) in the cytoplasm of HepG2 cells induced by oleic acid and palmitic acid (OP). At the same time, lipid accumulation was observed in the Sepp1 high expression cells induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) activator tunicamycin (Tm). CLSO could identically reduce the protein expression of SePP1, apoER, p-AMPK in the cytoplasm of HepG2 cells induced by Tm. This result not only proved the CLSO had therapeutic effect on NAFLD, but also confirmed its mechanism associated with degrading the phosphorylation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) which led to the decrease of the expression SePP1/apoER2 in order to reduce lipid accumulation. The study suggests CLSO has great medicinal value in treating NAFLD besides its edibility.

UV-C treatment enhances organic acids and GABA accumulation in tomato fruits during storage.

Tomato fruits contain much organic acids and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) during ripening which are beneficial to human health. The effects of 4 kJ/m2 UV-C treatment on the contents of organic acids and GABA, and the expression of related genes in tomato fruits during storage at 13 °C were investigated. The results showed that UV-C treatment significantly increased the organic acids and total soluble protein contents, whereas decreased the free amino acids and glutamate contents. Besides, UV-C treatment enhanced GAD activity while reduced GABA-T activity, which resulted in accumulation of GABA. Moreover, the genes involved in the biosynthesis of organic acids and GABA were up-regulated, including CS, PEPC1, PEPC2, mMDH, cMDH, GAD1, GAD2, and GAD3, while GABA-T1 and GABA-T3 which involved in GABA degradation were obviously decreased by UV-C treatment. These results indicated that UV-C treatment might be an effective approach to accumulate organic acids and GABA during tomato fruits ripening.

Effects of melatonin treatment on the enzymatic browning and nutritional quality of fresh-cut pear fruit.

The effects of exogenous melatonin treatment on the enzymatic browning and nutritional quality of fresh-cut pear fruit were investigated. Fresh-cut fruit soaked with 0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 mM melatonin were stored at 4 °C. Our results showed that 0.1 mM melatonin treatment was optimal for reducing the surface browning and maintaining the titratable acidity of the fresh-cut fruit, which significantly decreased MDA and H2O2 contents and the growth of microorganism, enhanced total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity, and delayed the reduction of ascorbic acid. Furthermore, melatonin treatment at 0.1 mM decreased the expression of genes involving in enzymatic browning pathway including POD, PPO1, PPO5 and LOX1, and reduced PPO activity. Moreover, this treatment increased the expression of PAL and CHS, and enhanced PAL and CHS activities. These results showed that melatonin treatment might be a promising strategy to alleviate browning and improve the nutritional quality of fresh-cut pear fruit.

Rapid determination of aflatoxin B1 concentration in soybean oil using terahertz spectroscopy with chemometric methods.

Soybean oil is often contaminated by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) which is regarded as a class I carcinogen. The feasibility of rapid determination of AFB1 in soybean oil with terahertz spectroscopy was examined. t-SNE, as the pre-treatment method was used to get the best features and combined with different chemometrics including least squares-support vector machines (LS-SVM), back propagation neural network (BPNN), random forest (RF) and partial least squares (PLS) to find the best determination model. The excellent prediction results could be obtained using BPNN combined with t-SNE with correlation the coefficient of prediction (Rp) was 0.9948 and the root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP) was 0.7124 µg/kg. Besides, THz spectroscopy was proved to be feasible to detect AFB1 at 1 µg/kg in soybean oil (over 90% accuracy). It was concluded that THz spectroscopy together with chemometrics would be a promising technique for rapid determination of the AFB1 concentration in soybean oil.

Herbal Medicine for Anxiety, Depression and Insomnia.

The prevalence and comorbidity of psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and insomnia are very common. These well-known forms of psychiatric disorders have been affecting many people from all around the world. Herb alone, as well as herbal formula, is commonly prescribed for the therapies of mental illnesses. Since various adverse events of western medication exist, the number of people who use herbs to benefit their health is increasing. Over the past decades, the exploration in the area of herbal psychopharmacology has received much attention. Literatures showed a variety of herbal mechanisms of action used for the therapy of depression, anxiety and insomnia, involving reuptake of monoamines, affecting neuroreceptor binding and channel transporter activity, modulating neuronal communication or hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) etc. Nonetheless, a systematic review on herbal pharmacology in depression, anxiety and insomnia is still lacking. This review has been performed to further identify modes of action of different herbal medicine, and thus provides useful information for the application of herbal medicine.

FFA4 receptor (GPR120): A hot target for the development of anti-diabetic therapies.

Free Fatty Acid 4 receptor (FFA4 receptor or GPR120), a rhodopsin-like G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) subfamily member, is a receptor that senses specific fatty acids such as ω-3 fatty acid in fish oil or the endogenous signaling lipid, PHASA. FFA4 receptor is enriched in lung, colon and adipose tissue but is also detected in many other tissues and cells. The activation of FFA4 receptor has multiple effects, including but not limited to inhibition of inflammation, improving insulin sensitivity and adipogenesis, and regulating hormone secretion from the gastro-intestinal system and pancreatic islets. The important role of FFA4 receptor in maintaining metabolic homeostasis strongly indicates the great potential of selective FFA4 receptor agonizts to treat diabetes and inflammation. In this review, we summarize recent research progress in the physiological and biochemical studies of FFA4 receptor and highlight its underlying signaling mechanisms and ligand identification to assist future research to exploit FFA4 receptor as a drug target.

Role of 5-HT3 receptor on food intake in fed and fasted mice.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown that 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor subtypes are involved in the regulation of feeding behavior. However, the relative contribution of 5-HT3 receptor remains unclear. The present study was aimed to investigate the role of 5-HT3 receptor in control of feeding behavior in fed and fasted mice. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Food intake and expression of c-Fos, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and 5-HT in the brain were examined after acute treatment with 5-HT3 receptor agonist SR-57227 alone or in combination with 5-HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetron. Food intake was significantly inhibited within 3 h after acute treatment with SR 57227 in fasted mice but not fed mice, and this inhibition was blocked by ondansetron. Immunohistochemical study revealed that fasting-induced c-Fos expression was further enhanced by SR 57227 in the brainstem and the hypothalamus, and this enhancement was also blocked by ondansetron. Furthermore, the fasting-induced downregulation of POMC expression in the hypothalamus and the TH expression in the brain stem was blocked by SR 57227 in the fasted mice, and this effect of SR 57227 was also antagonized by ondansetron. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Taken together, our findings suggest that the effect of SR 57227 on the control of feeding behavior in fasted mice may be, at least partially, related to the c-Fos expression in hypothalamus and brain stem, as well as POMC system in the hypothalamus and the TH system in the brain stem.

Non-destructive determination of total polyphenols content and classification of storage periods of Iron Buddha tea using multispectral imaging system.

Total polyphenols is a primary quality indicator in tea which is consumed worldwide. The feasibility of using near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy (800-2500nm) and multispectral imaging (MSI) system (405-970nm) for prediction of total polyphenols contents (TPC) of Iron Buddha tea was investigated in this study. The results revealed that the predictive model by MSI using partial least squares (PLS) analysis for tea leaves was considered to be the best in non-destructive and rapid determination of TPC. Besides, the ability of MSI to classify tea leaves based on storage period (year of 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013) was tested and the classification accuracies of 95.0% and 97.5% were achieved using LS-SVM and BPNN models, respectively. These overall results suggested that MSI together with suitable analysis model is a promising technology for rapid and non-destructive determination of TPC and classification of storage periods in tea leaves.

[Effects of cetylpyridinium chloride buccal tablets on halitosis induced by oral conditions].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of cetylpyridinium chloride buccal tablets on halitosis induced by oral conditions. METHODS: With Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia and Fusobacterium nucleatum as the testing bacteria, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cetylpyridinium chloride buccal tablets was determined using minute amount serial dilution test. The production of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) was measured using sulfide detector halimeter in the anaerobic bacteria culture at 4 and 8 h after addition of the tablets. The effect of the tablets in suppressing odor production by mouth-borne halitosis bacteria was assessed using cysteine challenge test in healthy volunteers, and the effectiveness was evaluated by measuring the reduction in VSCs production and the duration of the effect. RESULTS: Cetylpyridinium chloride buccal tablets inhibited the growth of all the 3 bacteria. The tablets obviously inhibited VSCs production by the 3 bacteria with a effect similar to chlorhexidine. Compared with distilled water gargle, the buccal tablets significantly reduced cysteine-induced VSCs production level in the healthy volunteers (P<0.05), and the effect lasted for 230 min. CONCLUSION: Cetylpyridinium chloride tablets can obviously suppress bacteria responsible for oral halitosis and produce good effects in the treatment of halitosis induced by oral conditions.

[Microstructure analysis of the machinable infiltrated ceramic fracture surface].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the fracture surface of the machinable infiltrated ceramic (MIC) prepared in different conditions, and to relate its strength and toughness to the differences in their microstructures. METHODS: The Al2O3 matrix were prepared, infiltrated by the machinable glass and crystallized. Based on sintering and infiltrating time and conditions, the specimens were divided into three groups: Perfect group, insufficiently infiltrated group, mal-sintered substrate group. Specimens were fabricated, three point flexural strength and elastic modulus were tested, and the microstructure of the MIC fracture surfaces was analyzed by means of scanning electron micrograph (SEM) observation. RESULTS: The strength of the insufficiently infiltrated group and mal-sintered substrate group were lower than that of the perfect group, and faults in the microstructure of these two groups also proved this. The foreland of glass infiltrating in the Al2O3 and the interface of glass and complex demonstrated that the Al2O3 surface was smoother than the complex and there was a big crack in the glass but not in the complex which proved the crack resistibility of glass and Al2O3 were smaller than that of the complex (MIC). CONCLUSION: Correct preparing process could make the glass infiltrate into properly sintered Al2O3 sufficiently which ensured best mechanical properties of the complex.

Fast transient thermal analysis of gold nanoparticles in tissue-like medium.

Gold-nanoparticle-based hyperthermia has attracted considerable attention in the recent ten years in cancer treatment. In hyperthermia-based cancer treatment, in order to produce efficient thermal therapy yet without excessive heat damage to human body, besides the steady-state thermal condition, the transient thermal response is of vital importance. As part of theoretical research associated with nanoparticle-mediated hyperthermia therapy for cancer treatment, the transient heat transfer process of laser interacting with gold nanoparticle in tissue-like medium is investigated. Within the framework of dual-phase-lag (DPL) model, this paper focuses on the microscopic heat transfer performance of a gold nanoparticle in a surrounding medium. A semianalytical solution of 1-D nonhomogenous DPL equation in spherical coordinates is presented for a heat transfer process with a constant laser heat source and a short-pulsed laser heating source. Results show that the transient temperature calculated by DPL model greatly exceeds that predicted by the classical diffusion model, with either a constant source or a pulsed source. This phenomenon is mainly attributed by the phase lag of heat flux in the surrounding tissue.

Energy absorption of gold nanoshells in hyperthermia therapy.

The unique optical characteristics of a gold nanoshell motivate the application of nanoshell-based hyperthermia in drug delivery and cancer treatment. However, most of our understanding on energy absorption and heat transfer is still focused on individual particles, which may not be accurate for nanoshell aggregates in a real application due to the strong optical interaction of nanoshells. This paper investigates the relationship between the optical interaction and the interparticle distance in the visible and near-infrared regions by means of a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The objective is to explore the energy transportation mechanism, which is critical for hyperthermia therapy. From the numerical simulation results of different forms of nanoshell aggregates, including individual nanoshells, 1-D chains, 2-D arrays, and 3-D clusters, it was found that the interparticle distance plays a crucial role from the maximal absorption point of view. The interparticle distance affects both field enhancement and surface plasmon resonance position. The accurate prediction of energy absorption also helps the way nanoshells are populated in the tumor cell so as to prevent heat damage to healthy tissues in clinic applications. In the case of 3-D clusters, the laser energy decays exponentially along the wave propagation, and the penetration depth greatly depends on the interparticle distance. The closer the nanoshells are placed, the shorter the penetration depth is. The maximal total length for the laser penetration through the shell of gold nanoparticles is about a few hundred to several nanometers. The actual penetration depth primarily depends not only on the interparticle distance, but also on the size of the nanoshells as well as other factors. Since the absorption energy is concentrated on the surface clusters of nanoparticles, heat transfer mechanisms in metal-nanoparticles-based hyperthermia will differ from that in other hyperthermia. The information obtained from this paper will serve as a basis for further study of heat transfer in metal-nanoparticles-based hyperthermia.

[Investigation of the function of the glass colorant on the machinable infiltrated ceramics color].

OBJECTIVE: To investigae the function of the glass colorant on the color of the machinable infiltrated ceramics(MIC). METHODS: Five kinds of glass with different colorant were infiltrated through the aluminous matrix by heating the components to 1 100 degrees C for 2 hours. The specimens surface was polished, and their thickness was 0.5 mm. RESULTS: The refractive index of the MIC infiltration glass was 1.59691 (587.6 nm, nd) . The most different parameter of the MIC color were L*, then a*, and b* had little difference . The parameters of the color space of MIC were: L*(64.55-71.46), a*(3.35-7.38), b*(10.00-12.41), Ca*b*(11.38-13.95), ha*b*(54.07-73.00). These were almost close to the color parameters of Vita In-ceram. CONCLUSION: This experiment proved that the glass colorant was changed the MIC color parameters, and the main function was on L*, then a*. The ceramic color was up to the requirement of clinic.