Vitamin D3 promotes fish oocyte development by directly regulating gonadal steroid hormone synthesis†.

Vitamin D receptors and vitamin D3-metabolizing enzymes have been found to be highly expressed in the ovaries and spermatophores of fish. However, the role of vitamin D3 on fish gonadal development has rarely been reported. In this study, 2-month-old female zebrafish were fed with different concentrations of vitamin D3 diets (0, 700, 1400, and 11 200 IU/kg) to investigate the effects of vitamin D3 on ovarian development. The diet with 0 IU/kg vitamin D3 resulted in elevated interstitial spaces, follicular atresia, and reproductive toxicity in zebrafish ovaries. Supplementation with 700 and 1400 IU/kg of vitamin D3 significantly increased the oocyte maturation rate; upregulated ovarian gonadal steroid hormone synthesis capacity; and elevated plasma estradiol, testosterone, and ovarian vitellogenin levels. Furthermore, the current study identified a vitamin D response element in the cyp19a1a promoter and demonstrated that 1.25(OH)2D3-vitamin D response directly activated cyp19a1a production through activating the vitamin D response element. In conclusion, this study shows that an appropriate concentration of vitamin D3 can promote zebrafish ovarian development and affect vitellogenin synthesis through the vdr/cyp19a1a/er/vtg gene axis.

Multi-omics approach to study the dual effects of novel proteins on the intestinal health of juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) under an alternate feeding strategy.

Introduction: In an effort to minimize the usage of fishmeal in aquaculture, novel protein diets, including Tenebrio molitor, cottonseed protein concentrate, Clostridium autoethanogenum, and Chlorella vulgaris were evaluated for their potential to replace fishmeal. Nevertheless, comprehensive examinations on the gut health of aquatic animals under an alternate feeding strategy when fed novel protein diets are vacant. Methods: Five isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets containing various proteins were manufactured, with a diet consisting of whole fishmeal serving as the control and diets containing novel proteins serving as the experimental diets. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) with an initial body weight of 4.73 ± 0.04g employed as an experimental animal and given these five diets for the first 29 days followed by a fishmeal diet for the next 29 days. Results: The results of this study demonstrated that the growth performance of novel protein diets in the second stage was better than in the first stage, even though only the C. vulgaris diet increased antioxidant capacity and the cottonseed protein concentrate diet decreased it. Concerning the intestinal barriers, the C. autoethanogenum diet lowered intestinal permeability and plasma IL-1ß/TNF-α. In addition, the contents of intestinal immunological factors, namely LYS and sIgA-like, were greater in C. vulgaris than in fishmeal. From the data analysis of microbiome and metabolome, the levels of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), anaerobic bacteria, Lactococcus, and Firmicutes were significantly higher in the C. autoethanogenum diet than in the whole fishmeal diet, while the abundance of Pseudomonas, aerobic bacteria, Streptococcus, and Proteobacteria was lowest. However, no extremely large differences in microbiota or short chain fatty acids were observed between the other novel protein diets and the whole fishmeal diet. In addition, the microbiota were strongly connected with intestinal SCFAs, lipase activity, and tight junctions, as shown by the Mantel test and Pearson's correlation. Discussion: Taken together, according to Z-score, the ranking of advantageous functions among these protein diets was C. autoethanogenum diet > C. vulgaris diet > whole fishmeal diet > cottonseed protein concentrate > T. molitor diet. This study provides comprehensive data illustrating a mixed blessing effect of novel protein diets on the gut health of juvenile largemouth bass under an alternate feeding strategy.

Recent advances in carbon dots: synthesis and applications in bone tissue engineering.

Bone tissue engineering (BTE), based on the perfect combination of seed cells, scaffold materials and growth factors, has shown unparalleled potential in the treatment of bone defects and related diseases. As the site of cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation, scaffolds composed of biomaterials play a crucial role in BTE. Over the past years, carbon dots (CDs), a new type of carbon-based nanomaterial, have attracted extensive research attention due to their good biocompatibility, unique optical properties, and abundant functional groups. This paper reviews recent research progress in the use of CDs in the field of BTE. Firstly, different preparation methods of CDs are summarized. Then, the properties and categories of CDs applied in BTE are described in detail. Subsequently, the applications of CDs in BTE, including osteogenesis, fluorescence tracing, phototherapy and antibacterial activity, are presented. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives of CDs in BTE are briefly discussed to give a comprehensive picture of CDs. This review provides a theoretical basis and advanced design strategies for the application of CDs in BTE.

Withaferin a Attenuates Retinal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury via Akt-Dependent Inhibition of Oxidative Stress.

Background: Retinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury often results in intractable visual impairments. The survival of retinal capillary endothelial cells is crucial for the treatment of retinal I/R injury. How to protect retinal endothelia from damage is a challenging work. Withaferin A, a small molecule derived from plants, has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects and has been used for about millennia in traditional medicine. The present study aimed to investigate the potential protective effect of withaferin A on retinal I/R injury. Methods: The drug-likeness of withaferin A was evaluated by the SwissADME web tool. The potential protective effect of withaferin A on the I/R-induced injury of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) was investigated using multiple approaches. RNA sequencing was performed and associated mechanistic signaling pathways were analyzed based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes data. The analytical results of RNA sequencing data were further validated by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Results: Withaferin A reduced the I/R injury-induced apoptotic death of HRMECs in vitro with a good drug-like property. RNA sequencing and experimental validation results indicated that withaferin A increased the production of the crucial antioxidant molecules heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and peroxiredoxin 1 (Prdx-1) during I/R. In addition, withaferin A activated the Akt signaling pathway and increased the expression of HO-1 and Prdx-1, thereby exerting an antioxidant effect, attenuated the retinal I/R injury, and decreased the apoptosis of HRMECs. The blockade of Akt completely abolished the effects of withaferin A. Conclusions: The study identified for the first time that withaferin A can protect against the I/R-induced apoptosis of human microvascular retinal endothelial cells via increasing the production of the antioxidants Prdx-1 and HO-1. Results suggest that withaferin A is a promising drug candidate for the treatment of retinal I/R injury.

High dose of dietary vitamin D3 modulated the yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) splenic innate immune response after Edwardsiella ictaluri infection.

Vitamin D3 (VD3) has been shown to modulate the innate immune response in mammals but this has been rarely reported in fish. The current study found that increasing dietary VD3 content can reduce the density of yellow to dark brown pigmented macrophage aggregates (PMAs) in the spleens of yellow catfish infected with Edwardsiella ictaluri. The results of next-generation sequencing showed that a high dose of dietary VD3 (16,600 IU/kg) mainly affected the splenic immune response during Edwardsiella ictaluri infection via negative regulation of 'NF-κΒ transcription factor activity', 'NIK/NF-κΒ signaling' and the 'i-kappab kinase/NF-κΒ signaling' pathways. Follow-up qPCR showed that dietary VD3 increased the expression of NF-κΒ inhibitor iκb-α, decreased the expression of nf-κb p65, il-6, il1-ß and tnf-α, and down-regulated the expression of nik, ikks and nf-κb p52 in the NIK/NF-kappaB signaling pathway. The above results indicate that dietary VD3 can modulate the splenic innate immune response of yellow catfish after Edwardsiella ictaluri infection by inhibiting the NF-κB activation signaling pathways.

Recent developments in stigma maydis polysaccharides: Isolation, structural characteristics, biological activities and industrial application.

Stigma maydis, an ingredient of pharmaceuticals and healthy foods, has a long history of usage in China and some occidental countries. Polysaccharide (SMP) is supposed to be one of the major bioactive compounds in stigma maydis, which possesses immune-enhancement, antitumor, antioxidant, anti-fatigue, diuretic, liver protection, antihyperglycaemic and hypolipidemic activities. In this review, the current advancements on extraction, purification, structural characteristics and biological activities of polysaccharides were summarized. Their biological activities were introduced on the basis of vivo experiments, and some possible mechanisms were listed. Furthermore, industrial application of SMPs were reviewed and discussed. New perspectives for the future work of stigma maydis polysaccharide were also proposed.

Characterization of the isoforms of type IIb sodium-dependent phosphate cotransporter (Slc34a2) in yellow catfish, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, and their vitamin D3-regulated expression under low-phosphate conditions.

In this study, two isoforms slc34a2 genes (type IIb sodium-dependent phosphate cotransporter), slc34a2a2 and slc34a2b, were cloned from intestine and kidney of yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), with rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The structure differences and the regulation effects of dietary VD3 under low phosphorus were compared among three isoforms of slc34a2 in yellow catfish. The predicted Slc34a2a2 and Slc34a2b proteins match 65 % and 53.8 % sequence identity, with Slc34a2a1, respectively. The membrane-spanning domains were different among these three isoforms. Intestinal Slc34a2a1 and Slc34a2a2 proteins had eight and eleven transmembrane domains, while renal Slc34a2b protein had nine. The tissue distribution study showed that same as slc34a2a1, slc34a2a2 mRNA was mainly distributed in intestine and slc34a2b mRNA in kidney. The effect of vitamin D3 (VD3) level on slc34a2 subfamily expression under low-phosphate conditions, induced by the addition of 0 (VD0), 324 (VD1), 1243 (VD2), 3621 (VD3), 8040 (VD4), or 22700 (VD5) IU VD3/kg feed, was assessed by qPCR. The dose-responsive expression of intestinal slc34a2a2 and high expression of intestinal slc34a2a2 in VD5 together with peak expression of kidney slc34a2b in VD3 coincided with the accumulation of body phosphate content. These data suggested that appropriate level of dietary VD3 up-regulated slc34a2a1, slc34a2a2, and slc34a2b mRNA levels, which increased phosphate retention. In conclusion, the current study provided another possible approach to improve dietary phosphate utilization by adding appropriate level of VD3 to a low-phosphate diet to regulate intestinal and renal slc34a2 gene expression and thus minimize the excretion of phosphorus in yellow catfish.

Characterizing and evaluating the expression of the type IIb sodium-dependent phosphate cotransporter (slc34a2) gene and its potential influence on phosphorus utilization efficiency in yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco).

A sodium-dependent phosphate cotransporter gene, NaPi-IIb (slc34a2), was isolated from yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) intestine through homology cloning and the rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The full-length cDNA of slc34a2 consisted of 2326 bp with an open reading frame encoding 621 amino acids, a 160-bp 5' untranslated region, and a 300-bp 3' untranslated region. The deduced amino acid sequence showed 79.0 and 70.9% sequence identity to Astyanax mexicanus and Pundamilia nyererei, respectively. The membrane-spanning domains based on the hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties of the deduced amino acids were predicted, and results showed that the putative protein had eight transmembrane domains, with the intracellular NH2 and COOH termini. Two functional regions including first intracellular loop and third extracellular loop as well as the six N-glycosylation sites in second extracellular loop were found. The slc34a2 mRNA in the tested tissues was examined through semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and quantitative real-time PCR, with the highest level found in the anterior intestine, followed by the posterior and middle intestines. The slc34a2 mRNA expression in the whole intestine under different dietary phosphorus (P) treatments was detected using qPCR. The results showed that the slc34a2 expression levels in the low-P groups (0.33 and 0.56%) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than levels in the sufficient-P (0.81%) and high-P (1.15, 1.31, and 1.57%) groups. High expression of slc34a2 mRNA in low-P groups stimulated P utilization efficiency, indicating the close relationship between genotype and phenotype in yellow catfish. In contrast with conventional strategies (formula and feeding strategies), this study provided another possible approach by using molecular techniques to increase the P utilization in yellow catfish.

Music therapy improves sleep quality in acute and chronic sleep disorders: a meta-analysis of 10 randomized studies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of music therapy for acute and chronic sleep disorders in adults. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search of publications in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library without language restriction was performed. REVIEW METHODS: Studies with randomized controlled design and adult participants were included if music was applied in a passive way to improve sleep quality. Subgroup analysis was conducted to explore the sources of heterogeneity. RESULTS: Ten studies involving 557 participants were identified. The sleep quality was improved significantly by music (standard mean difference: -0.63; 95% CI: -0.92 to -0.34; p<0.001), with significant heterogeneity across studies. Subgroup analysis found heterogeneity between subgroups with objective or subjective assessing methods of sleep quality, and between subgroups with difference follow-up durations. No evidence of publication bias was observed. CONCLUSION: Music can assist in improving sleep quality of patients with acute and chronic sleep disorders. For chronic sleep disorders, music showed a cumulative dose effect and a follow-up duration more than three weeks is necessary for assessing its efficacy.

Dietary available phosphorus affected growth performance, body composition, and hepatic antioxidant property of juvenile yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco.

An 8-week feeding trial was carried out with juvenile yellow catfish to study the effects of dietary available phosphorus (P) on growth performance, body composition, and hepatic antioxidant property. Six pellet diets were formulated to contain graded available P levels at 0.33, 0.56, 0.81, 1.15, 1.31, and 1.57% of dry matter, respectively. Triplicate tanks with each tank containing 60 juveniles (3.09 ± 0.03 g) were fed one of the six experimental diets for 8 weeks. Specific growth rate, feeding rate, and protein efficiency ratio were significantly higher at 0.81% dietary available P. Efficiency of P utilization distinctly decreased with increasing P level. Body lipid content significantly decreased while body ash and feces P content significantly increased with increasing P level. Quadratic regression analysis indicated that vertebrae P content was maximized at 1.21% dietary available P. Fish fed 1.57% dietary available P had highest activity of hepatic superoxide dismutase and catalase and malonaldehyde content. In conclusion, decreasing dietary available P increased P utilization efficiency and body lipid content while decreased vertebrae P content. Juvenile yellow catfish were subjected to oxidative damage under the condition of high dietary P content (1.57%), and the damage could not be eradicated by their own antioxidant defense system.

Clinical observation on treatment of 32 patients with measles by qingzhen decoction.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of Qingzhen Decoction (QZD) on measles. METHODS: Adopting the randomizing digital table, 62 patients with measles were assigned to two groups, 32 in the treated group and 30 in the control group. All patients were treated with routine therapy, but QZD was given to the treated group additionally for 5 days. Changes of clinical symptoms, blood routine and liver function before and after treatment were observed, and the medical cost was calculated. RESULTS: After the 5-day treatment, the normalization rate of irritative cough in the treated and the control group was 88.9% (24/27) and 56.0% (14/25) respectively, that of conjunctival congestion was 90.0% (27/30) and 65.5% (19/29) respectively, showing significant differences between groups (P<0.05). The liver function normalization rate in the two groups was 28.6% (2/7) and 25.0% (2/8), and the average medical cost yen 740.7 and yen 749.3, respectively. The total effective rate in the two groups was 96.9% and 93.3% respectively, showing insignificant difference between groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: QZD could actively improve the respiratory symptoms like irritative cough and the inflammatory symptoms of eye like conjunctival congestion in patients with measles.

Molecular insights of SAH enzyme catalysis and implication for inhibitor design.

Biological transmethylation reaction is a key step in the duplication of virus life cycle, in which S-adenosylmethionine plays as the methyl donor. The product of this reactions, S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) inhibits the transmethylation process. AdoHcy is hydrolysed to adenosine and L-homocysteine by the action of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAH). Thus the virus life cycle should be cut off once the action of SAH is inhibited. Our study was focussed on the discovery of potential inhibitor against SAH. We performed a similarity search in Traditional Chinese Medicine Database and retrieved 17 hits with high similarity. After that we virtually docked the 17 compounds as well as the natural substrates to the hydrolase using Autodock 3.0.1 software. Then we discussed about the mechanism of the inhibition reaction, followed by proposing the potential inhibitors by comparing best docked solutions and possible modification for the best inhibitors.