Insufficient evidence to support the clinical efficacy of selenium supplementation for patients with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis.

BACKGROUND: This study critically reappraises the documentation on the clinical efficacy of selenium supplementation in chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) with the goal of improving the normalization of the treatment of this disease. METHODS: A literature search was performed in the Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. Twenty-three trials conducted in adults with AIT comparing the efficacy of selenium with or without levothyroxine (LT4) versus placebo and/or LT4 were eligible. The assessed outcomes were primarily pooled using a random- or fixed effects model based on the results of the heterogeneity test. The quality of evidence was assessed per outcome. RESULTS: In LT4-treated populations, patients receiving selenium demonstrated lower thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) levels at 3 months (mean difference [MD], -236.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], -353.35 to -120.41; p < 0.0001), 6 months (MD, -407.17; 95% CI, -623.60 to -190.73; p = 0.0002), and 12 months (MD, -327.03; 95% CI, -613.78 to -40.28; p = 0.0254), while thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) levels only decreased at 12 months. In non-LT4-treated population, the selenium group demonstrated significantly lower TPOAb levels after 3 months (MD, -203.07; 95% CI, -395.44 to -10.70; p = 0.0385) and 6 months (MD, -322.27; 95% CI, -597.50 to -47.04; p = 0.0217) but not after 12 months, while TgAb levels only decreased at 3 months. There was no significant change in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Lower thyroid echogenicity was observed in all patients receiving selenium at 3, 6, and 12 months. However, these participants had a significantly higher risk of reported adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence does not justify the emerging use of selenium supplementation in the treatment of AIT, despite it resulting in a decrease in autoantibody levels.

The complete chloroplast genome of Epimedium wushanense T. S. Ying. (Berberidaceae), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb.

Epimedium wushanense is a well-known medicinal plant in Berberidaceae in China. In this study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of E. wushanense. The results showed that the cp genome of E. wushanense was 157,283 bp in length, which is composed of a large single-copy region (LSC, 88,579 bp) and a small single-copy region (SSC, 17,082 bp) that were separated by a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb, 25,811 bp). The chloroplast genome of E. wushanense contains 112 unique genes, of which are 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. The overall GC content was 38.78%. The phylogenetic tree analysis showed that E. wushanense was closely related to E. pseudowushanense, E. lishihchenii, and E. sagittatum.

The complete chloroplast genome of Epimedium brevicornu (Berberidaceae), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb.

Epimedii Folium has been used as a common traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2000 years in China. In this study, we assembled the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of Epimedium brevicornu. The whole cp genome of E. brevicornu is 158,658 bp in length, comprising a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (27,699 bp) separated by a large single copy (LSC) region (86,558 bp) and a small single copy (SSC) region (16,702bp). The E. brevicornu cp genome contains 129 genes, of which 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis shows that E. brevicornu is closely clustered with E. wushanense, E. lishihchenii, and E. sagittatum. The published E. brevicornu chloroplast genome will provide useful information for the phylogenetic and evolutionary study on Epimedium family of Berberidaceae.

[Effects of light quality on growth and icariin flavonoid content of Epimedium pseudowushanense under different light intensity].

In this study, the growth index including plant height, compound leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf water content, number of branches, and leaf biomass per plant and the icariin flavonoids such as epimedin A, epimedin B, epimedin C and icariin of Epimedium pseudowushanense were determined on 30 d and 60 d under light intensity(18.2±2.5) µmol·m~(-2)·s~(-1)(L1) and(90.9 ±2.5) µmol·m~(-2)·s~(-1)(L2), and white light as control, red light, blue light and yellow light were used as three light quality treatments, to study the effect of light quality on the growth and flavonoids accumulation of E. pseudowushanense. The E. pseudowushanense was sui-table for growth under L1 light intensity, the blue light treatment significantly reduced the leaf area, but had little effect on the stem height, the red light treatment and the yellow light treatment had no obvious effect on the stem height and leaf area, but the yellow light treatment significantly increased the germination of new branches, and had a sustained promoting effect, and the biomass was significantly higher than the white light treatment at 60 d. The content of icariin flavonoids in red light, blue light and yellow light treatment was higher than that in white light treatment at 30 d and 60 d under L1 light intensity, while yellow light treatment promoted the synthesis of icariin flavonoids to the largest extent, which was 1.8 and 1.9 times of white light treatment(30 d and 60 d).Under L2 light intensity, the effect of strong light on promoting stem germination became the main factor, while the yellow light treatment showed no significant effect on promoting stem germination, and the red light treatment exhibited a significant effect on reducing leaf area. Icariin flavonoids under red light, blue light and yellow light treatment were all lower than that under white light treatment, that is, the effect of white light treatment on the synthesis of icariin flavonoids is better than red light, blue light and yellow light treatment. When the time of strong light treatment was longer, the degradation range of icariin flavonoids in other light treatment appeared, while red light treatment promotes the synthesis of icariin flavonoids. Therefore, the influence of light quality on E. pseudowushanense is quite different under different light intensity, no matter from growth index or flavonoid content index. The results support that the biomass and icariin flavonoid content can be increased by providing appropriate red and yellow light.

Yellow light promotes the growth and accumulation of bioactive flavonoids in Epimedium pseudowushanense.

The plant species of the genus Epimedium L. are well-known traditional Chinese medicinal herbs with special therapeutic effects on human beings and animals in invigorating sexuality and strengthening muscles and bones. In large-scale cultivating Epimedium that is a typical shade plant species, they are arbitrarily covered with black colored shade nets. However, their optimal growth conditions, especially light, are still less understood. During the investigation of different light qualities on the growth of Epimedium pseudowushanense, it was found that, all the values of plant growth characteristics (except shoot number) and photosynthetic characteristics were lower under red, yellow, or blue light treatment than under white light treatment. However, yellow light treatment had beneficial effects on shoot number, dry biomass (per plant) as well as net photosynthesis rate (Pn) and maximal apparent quantum efficiency (AQY) in E. pseudowushanense when compared with red or blue light treatment. More importantly, we found that E. pseudowushanense accumulated higher levels of bioactive flavonoids under yellow light treatment than under white, red, or blue light treatment. Furthermore, both RNAseq and qPCR analyses revealed that yellow light could highly up-regulate the expression levels of flavonoid biosynthetic genes, in particular CHS1, F3H1, PT_5, and raGT_5 that possibly contributed to the enhanced accumulation of bioactive flavonoids in E. pseudowushanense. Taken together, our study revealed that yellow light is the optimal light for the growth of E. pseudowushanense. Our results provided key information on how to improve the cultivation condition and concurrently enhance the accumulation of bioactive flavonoids in E. pseudowushanense.

The complete chloroplast genome of Epimedium sagittatum (Sieb. Et Zucc.) Maxim. (Berberidaceae), a traditional Chinese herb.

Epimedium sagittatum is an important traditional medicinal plant in China. In this study, we assembled the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of E. sagittatum. The whole cp genome of E. sagittatum is 157,114 bp in length, comprising a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (25,775 bp) separated by a large single copy (LSC) region (88,507 bp) and a small single copy (SSC) region (17,057 bp). The E. sagittatum cp genome contains 133 genes, of which 82 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, 8 rRNA genes and 5 pseudogenes. Phylogenetic analysis shows that E. sagittatumis closely clustered with E. lishihchenii. This genome provides a wealth of information for distinguishing of Epimedium species.

Antimicrobial Activities of Nisin, Tea Polyphenols, and Chitosan and their Combinations in Chilled Mutton.

Antimicrobial activities of nisin, tea polyphenols (TPs), and chitosan, and their combinations were evaluated against both Gram-positive bacteria (GPB) and Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) by the agar dilution method. Results showed that the MIC of nisin was 2.44 to 1250 mg/L for GPB and reached 5000 mg/L for GNB. The MICs of TPs and chitosan were 313 to 625 mg/L and 469 mg/L for GNB, and 156 to 5000 mg/L and 234 to 938 mg/L for GPB, respectively. These results indicated that TPs and chitosan exhibited inhibitory effects against both GPB and GNB, whereas nisin inhibited the growth of GPB only. Based on the orthogonal test of their MICs, and evaluation of preservative effect and sensory attributes in chilled mutton, the optimum combination was chosen as 0.625, 0.313, and 3.752 g/L for nisin, TPs, and chitosan, respectively. By using the optimum treatment, the shelf life of chilled mutton was extended from 6 to 18 d at 4 °C in the preservative film packages. These results indicate that the combination of nisin, TPs, and chitosan could be used as preservatives to efficiently inhibit the growth of spoilage microorganisms and pathogens in meat, thus improving the safety and shelf life of chilled mutton.

[Research progress on pharmacological effects and their differences among the flowers, stems and leaves of Lonicera japonica].

It's a common phenomenon that two kinds or more than two kinds of herbs belong to different parts of the same plant. Lonicera Japonica Flos, Lonicera Japonica Caulis and Lonicera Japonica Folium are the typical representative of this phenomenon. They belong to different parts of the Lonicera japonica Thunb. This paper reviewed the research progress on pharmacological effects and their differences among them. It was found that the research mainly concentrated on Lonicera Japonica Flos, and the others were ignored. However, some pharmacological effects in leaves are stronger than that of flowers and stems, such as antibacterial, anti-bird flu and antioxidant activity.Lonicera Japonica Flos is mainly used for the treatment of respiratory tract virus infection while Lonicera Japonica Caulis is mainly used for the treatment of hepatitis virus infection, respectively. Finally, main problems and suggestions on pharmacological effects among them were also discussed.

[Research progress on chemical constituents and their differences between Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos].

The dried flower buds or initial flowers of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos, which belong to different species of Lonicera or Caprifoliaceae, are usually taken to clear away heat and toxic material and treat the exopathogenic wind-heat. They are two different herbs, and due to various reasons, there are far more controversies. This paper reviews the research on the chemical constituents and their differences between Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos. Both of them contain the similar chemical constituents, such as organic acids, flavonoids, triterpenoidal saponins, iridoids, volatile oils and trace elements. But there are also differences between them. The main differences：Lonicerae Japonicae Flos contains a wealth of iridoids and flavonoids, while Lonicerae Flos contains more kinds of triterpenoidal saponins; the content of chlorogenic acid in Lonicerae Flos is significantly higher than that of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos; the content of rutin, luteoloside,luteolin-7-O-ß-D-galactoside and lonicerin in Lonicerae Japonicae Flos is much higher than that of Lonicerae Flos; the content of Fe and Ni in Lonicerae Japonicae Flos is higher, while the content of Mn is higher in Lonicerae Flos. Finally, main problems and suggestions on chemical composition between Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos were also discussed.