Huoxue Jiangtang Decoction Alleviates Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by Regulating the Oral Microbiota and Food Preferences.

Purpose: As a formula of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Huoxue Jiangtang Decoction (HJD) has positive effects on diabetes mellitus (DM) through improving of the metabolism of glycolipid and the function of ß-cell. Hence, this research aims to explore the potential therapeutic effects of HJD on diabetes and reveal its underlying mechanisms. Methods: Diabetic rat models induced by high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ) were included in this study. Following successful modeling, diabetic rats were treated with HJD, and then its therapeutic effects in eight weeks were evaluated. In addition to biochemical indicators, two-bottle preference tests were carried out to examine the rats' preferences for fat and sugar, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to disclose the differences of oral microbiota among groups. Finally, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to explore the correlation between oral microbiota and the preferences for fat and sugar. Results: It was found that HJD significantly improved the levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), glucose tolerance, and dyslipidemia. Additionally, HJD contributed to decreasing preferences for fat and sugar in diabetic rats, which plays an important role in food intake. Furthermore, HJD regulated the abundance, distribution, and structure of oral microbiota in diabetic rats, serving as one of the underlying mechanisms of its antidiabetic effects. Conclusion: Taken with other formulas, HJD functions to improve the metabolism of glycolipid and the function of ß-cell by inhibiting preferences for fat and sugar, as well as regulating the oral microbiota of diabetic rats. Furthermore, a potential correlation between the oral micro-environment and preferences for fat and sugar in STZ-induced diabetic rats is likely to exist.

Flower-Like Nickel Phosphide Microballs Assembled by Nanoplates with Exposed High-Energy (0 0 1) Facets: Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

The fabrication of low-cost and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) over a broad pH range is attractive. In this work, a facile precursor route is developed to synthesize flower-like nickel phosphide microballs with a diameter of approximately 12 µm. With a controlled phosphorization temperature, flower-like nickel phosphide microballs with different crystalline structures (Ni5 P4 and Ni2 P) were obtained easily. Flower-like Ni5 P4 microballs possessed two advantageous features for enhanced HER: fast vectorial electron transfer path along the building block nanoplates and enhanced inherent catalytic activity of each active site for high-energy (0 0 1) facets. The flower-like Ni5 P4 microballs electrocatalyst thus displayed excellent activity for the HER with a low overpotential (η) of 35.4 mV to reach current densities of 10 mA cm-2 and a small Tafel slope of 48 mV dec-1 in acid solution. In addition, it showed excellent activity in 1 m KOH with η=47 mV at 10 mA cm-2 . DFT studies indicated that the free energy of hydrogen adsorbed on the Ni site of Ni5 P4 was 0.152 eV, which is smaller than that of the Ni site of Ni2 P (0.182 eV). Therefore, flower-like Ni5 P4 microballs exhibited better HER activity than Ni2 P, which is consistent with our HER data. This hierarchical structure with exposed high-energy (0 0 1) facets paves the way to design and synthesize low-cost, high-performance catalysts for the HER.