Insights into the interaction of CaCl2 and potato starch: Rheological, structural and gel properties.

High viscosity of starch greatly limit its application in some specific foods, in this work, a novel low-viscosity potato starch (PS) was developed via crosslinking between PS (3 %, w/v) and Ca2+ to investigate the effect of CaCl2 concentration (0.1-5 % CaCl2, w/v) on the rheological behaviors, structural and gel properties of PS. The results showed that peak viscosity (PV), trough viscosity (TV), final viscosity (FV), and breakdown viscosity (BD) of pasting curves of CaCl2-treated PS were significantly reduced compared with the native PS. The CaCl2 treatment also decreased the firmness of the PS gel and increased its pasting temperature (PT) and gelatinization enthalpy (∆H). Moreover, The CaCl2 treatment also led to more organized crystallites in the PS granules as affected by the slight increase in the ratio of 1044/1015 cm-1 in the FT-IR analysis, reduced the homogeneity of ordered structures inside granules as indicated by the increase in conclusion temperature (Tc)-onset temperature (To) in DSC analysis, and decreased relatively crystallinity revealed by XRD analysis. The findings of this study indicated CaCl2-treated PS could serve as food ingredients with reduced paste viscosity and regulated paste stability under shear during heating.

Investigation of the antidepressant mechanism of combined Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba treatment using proteomics analysis of liver tissue.

Depression is a chronic, common mental illness characterized by depressed mood, anxiety, insomnia, cognitive impairment, and even suicidal tendency. In traditional Chinese medicine theory, the cause of depression is deemed to be "stagnation of liver qi". So relieving "stagnation of liver qi" is effective for depression. The combination of Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba, which is used to soothe the liver and relieve depression, has antidepressant effects, but the mechanisms of the effects are still unclear. In this study, a rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress was established as a model of depression, and proteomics analysis was used to explore the potential mechanisms of this combination in alleviating depression. Biological information analysis was performed on the selected differential proteins, and the enriched pathways mainly included the Jak-STAT signaling pathway, valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation, and oxidative phosphorylation. The expression of key proteins included metallothionein-1, cyclin-dependent kinase, ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase-1, and Cryab was further verified by western blotting, and the results which were consistent with the proteomics results, confirmed the reliability of the proteomic analysis. The antidepressant mechanism of combined Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba treatment may be related to the oxidative stress response, neuroplasticity, the immune response, and neuroprotection.

Acupoint for angina pectoris: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with angina pectoris (AP) often experience heavy psychological distress, especially anxiety and depression, which results in poorer quality of life, shorter survival time. Acupoint therapies, including massage, acupuncture, acupoints injection, acupressure, and moxibustion, showed clinical and long-lasting benefits for AP, but the efficiency of acupoint therapies was poorly evaluated. The current review is attempted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the different acupoint-based therapies for AP. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A literature search will be conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, Wan Fang Data Knowledge Service Platform, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP database), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Observational studies regarding the association between liver cancer and depression and anxiety written in English or Chinese will be included. Study inclusion, data extraction, and quality assessment will be performed independently by 2 reviewers. We will use RevMan V.5.0 and STATA V.12.0 software for statistical analysis. The I2 test will be used to identify the extent of heterogeneity. Publication bias will be assessed by generating a funnel plot and performing the Begg and Egger test. The quality of the systematic review will be evaluated using the Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) and Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. With the permitted numeric data, we will carry out a meta-analysis. RESULTS: This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of pain VAS and functional disability or the quality of life, the success treatment rate, the recurrent rate and the complications rate to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupoint for AP patients. This systematic review will provide evidence to judge whether acupoint is an effective intervention for patients with AP. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide evidence to judge whether acupoint is an effective intervention for patients with AP and provide evidence for designing early targeted interventions for high-risk survivors that can attenuate negative reactions. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: 10.17605/OSF.IO/VNXWE.

Characterizing metabolites and potential metabolic pathways changes to understanding the mechanism of medicinal plant Phellodendri Amurensis cortex against doxorubicin-induced nephritis rats using UPLC-Q/TOF-MS metabolomics.

Phellodendri Amurensis cortex (PAC), a famous traditional Chinese herb with good anti-inflammatory efficacy, is used to treat various liver and kidney sickness in clinical practice. However, the potential mechanisms protecting against nephritis of PAC have not been comprehensively elucidated. The aim of this research was to explore the mechanism of PAC against doxorubicin- induced nephritis in rats by characterizing metabolites and potential metabolic pathways changes. The rat models of nephritis were established using 6.5 mg/kg doxorubicin injection from caudal vein for five weeks. The rats in the treatment group were respectively received PAC extract at the dose of 216, 432, and 864 mg/kg once a day during the experiment. Then, urine metabolomics strategy based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q/TOF-MS) has been employed to discover the possible significant metabolites and metabolic pathway of nephritis rats. At the end of the experiment, serum, urine and kidney tissue were collected for biochemical and pathological examination. The results showed that PAC treatment notably decreased urinary protein, serum Cr content and renal tissue lesions, and increased serum TP and ALB content. A total of potential twenty- eight metabolites such as 5'-methylthioadenosine, cGMP, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, salbuta, 2-phenylaminoadenosine contributing to nephritis rat model were selected and identified in the urine samples. Compared with the model group, the high-dose PAC group can recall 18 metabolites level, the medium-dose group can recall 13 metabolites level, and the low-dose PAC group can recall 8 metabolites level, which were involved in nine primary metabolic pathways such as steroid hormone biosynthesis, alanine,aspartate and glutamate metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism as well as glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism. The protein expressions of key enzymes involving methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (Mtap), cytidine deaminase (Cda), thymidine kinase (Tk), argininosuccinate synthase (Ass) in metabolic pathways were further verified by Western blot. The results showed that Phellodendron chinense up-regulated the protein expressions of Cda and Tk and down-regulated the protein expressions of Mtap and Ass. In conclusion, PAC possesses renoprotective effect against doxorubicin-induced nephritis, which may be mediated via regulating differential metabolites, reducing oxidative stress response, improving renal function, enhancing the ability of the immune system, regulating the role of key enzymes.

An integrative metabolomics and network pharmacology method for exploring the effect and mechanism of Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba on anti-depression.

Depression is a common mental illness, which is caused by 'liver qi stagnationin in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory. Thus, relieving "liver qi stagnation" is considered to be effective at treating depression. The Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair is the most classic compatible drug pair for mitigating a great variety of depression symptoms. However, its mechanisms remain largely unclear. In this study, metabolomics and network pharmacology methods were used to explore the potential mechanism of antidepressant-like effects of the Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair. Analysis of metabolomics results showed that the drug pair can significantly improve CUMS-induced depression. The underlying mechanism of its antidepressant effect involves regulating the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factors, inhibiting neurotoxicity, and regulating the HPA axis. Network pharmacology showed that drug pairs screened a total of 23 active ingredients and 63 targets, participated in the regulation of protein metabolism, Metabolism, Energy pathways, Cell growth and / or maintenance and other biological processes (BP), and mainly involved multiple signaling pathways and metabolic pathways to jointly exert antidepressant effects. Four related metabolic pathways regulated by the Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair were input into the KEGG database to obtain the key genes of the related metabolic pathways. The predicted target of the network pharmacology was compared with the key genes of the metabolic pathway, and the common genes were screened: CYP1A1, CYP1A2; Western blot results showed that the drug pair up-regulated the protein expression of CYP1A1, CYP1A2. The medicine has an antidepressant effect by regulating the action of key enzymes. Metabolomics combined with network pharmacology research strategy revealed that antidepressant-like effects of the Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba drug pair are characterized by multi-component, multi-target and multi-path mechanism of action.

Two new glycosides from the fruits of Morinda citrifolia L.

To study the chemical constituents of the fruits of noni (Morinda citrifolia L.), and find novel compounds, an n-butanol extract of the ethanol soluble fraction was subjected to repeated silica gel and ODS column chromatography and HPLC. Two new glycosides were isolated and their structures elucidated by NMR and HRFAB-MS spectrometry as (2E,4E,7Z)-deca-2,4,7-trienoate-2-O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-ß-D-glucopyranoside and amyl-1-O-ß-D-apio-furanosyl-1,6-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside, respectively.