Effect of Fermented Milk Supplemented with Nisin or Plantaricin Q7 on Inflammatory Factors and Gut Microbiota in Mice.

Lactic-acid-bacteria-derived bacteriocins are used as food biological preservatives widely. Little information is available on the impact of bacteriocin intake with food on gut microbiota in vivo. In this study, the effects of fermented milk supplemented with nisin (FM-nisin) or plantaricin Q7 (FM-Q7) from Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Q7 on inflammatory factors and the gut microbiota of mice were investigated. The results showed that FM-nisin or FM-Q7 up-regulated IFN-γ and down-regulated IL-17 and IL-12 in serum significantly. FM-nisin down-regulated TNF-α and IL-10 while FM-Q7 up-regulated them. The results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis suggested that the gut microbiome in mice was changed by FM-nisin or FM-Q7. The Firmicutes/Bacteroides ratio was reduced significantly in both groups. It was observed that the volume of Akkermansia_Muciniphila was significantly reduced whereas those of Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae were increased. The total number of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the mouse feces of the FM-nisin group and FM-Q7 group was increased. The content of acetic acid was increased while the butyric acid content was decreased significantly. These findings indicated that FM-nisin or FM-Q7 could stimulate the inflammation response and alter gut microbiota and metabolic components in mice. Further in-depth study is needed to determine the impact of FM-nisin or FM-Q7 on the host's health.

Effects of dietary vitamin E supplementation on growth performance, slaughter performance, antioxidant capacity and meat quality characteristics of finishing bulls.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of vitamin E (VE) on growth performance, slaughter performance, antioxidant capacity and meat quality characteristics of finishing bulls. Twenty Yanbian cattle (bulls) with initial body weight (BW) 485 ± 42 kg were randomly divided into two groups (control and treatment groups) and participated in a100-day finishing trial. The control group (CON) was fed a basal diet (total mixed ration, TMR). The treatment group was fed a basal diet supplemented with VE (provided as α-tocopherol acetate, 700 IU/bull/day). VE supplementation significantly increased the average daily gain (ADG) of finishing bulls, the beef marbling score, meat color parameters (a* [redness]), intramuscular fat content, the concentration of catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), VE and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-13) in the serum and muscle tissue (P < 0.05). VE supplementation significantly decreased drip loss and cooking loss of the beef, the concentration of nitric oxide (NO) in the serum and muscle tissue, the concentration of malondialdehyde in the muscle tissue (P < 0.05), and tended to decrease the feed: gain (P = 0.077) and shear force (P = 0.062) of the beef. In conclusion, VE supplementation can improve the meat quality parameters of finishing bulls, especially the improvement of beef tenderness. The improvement of beef tenderness by VE supplementation may be related to the increase of MMPs concentration, and a potential mechanism for the secretion of MMPs by VE supplementation may be related to its antioxidant capacity.

Natural Products-Based Botanical Bactericides Discovery: Novel Abietic Acid Derivatives as Anti-Virulence Agents for Plant Disease Management.

The discovery of natural product-based pesticides is critical for agriculture. In this work, a series of novel tricyclic diterpenoid derivatives decorated with an amino alcohol moiety were elaborately prepared from natural abietic acid, and their antibacterial behavior was explored. Bioassay results indicated that compound C2 exhibited the most promising bioactivity (EC50 = 0.555 µg mL-1) against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), about 73 times higher than the effect of commercial thiodiazole copper (TC). Results of in vivo bioassays showed that compound C2 displayed significantly higher control of rice bacterial leaf blight (curative activity: 63.8%; protective activity: 58.4%) than TC (curative activity: 43.6%; protective activity: 40.8%), and their bioactivity could be improved maximally 16% by supplementing the auxiliaries. Antibacterial behavior suggested that compound C2 could suppress various virulence factors. Overall, these findings suggested that new botanical bactericide candidates could control intractable plant bacterial diseases by suppressing virulence factors.

Research trends in the field of the gut-brain interaction: Functional dyspepsia in the spotlight - An integrated bibliometric and science mapping approach.

Objectives: This study aims to perform a bibliometric analysis of functional dyspepsia (FD), which includes visualizing bibliographic information, in order to identify prevailing study themes, topics of interest, contributing journals, countries, institutions, and authors as well as co-citation patterns. Methods: The Web of Science™ Core Collection Database was used to retrieve all peer-reviewed scientific publications related to FD research. The validated search terms were entered into the "title" and "author keywords" fields, and the results were sorted by publication year from 2006 to 2022. There were no restrictions on language. On 12 February 2023, a manual export of the complete metadata for each original publication and review article was performed. CiteSpace was used to reveal co-authorship, publication, and co-citation patterns to find prominent authors, organizations, countries, and journals in FD research as well as to identify author keywords with strong citation bursts, which could indicate an emerging research area. VOSviewer was used to build the co-occurrence indicator (co-word) to identify the main author keywords on which previous studies focused and to induce clustered scientific landscape for two consecutive periods to identify intriguing areas for future research. Results: A search of the database retrieved 2,957 documents. There was a wave-like pattern in the number of publications until 2017, after which there was a spike in publication volume. The USA, China, and Japan provided the majority of contributions. In terms of institution, Mayo Clin, Univ Newcastle, and Katholieke Univ Leuven were found to be the prolific institutions. Additionally, the results indicate that eastern Asian researchers contributed significantly to the global knowledge of literature that led other countries; however, Canada, the USA, Australia, England, and Germany were found to have the highest degree of betweenness centrality. Nicholas J. Talley, Jan Tack, Gerald Holtmann, Michael Camilleri, Ken Haruma, and Paul Moayyedi occupied the top positions based on productivity and centrality indicators. Six thematic clusters emerged (Helicobacter pylori infection; pathophysiological mechanisms of FD; extraintestinal co-morbidities and overlap syndromes associated with FD; herbal medicine in FD; diabetic gastroparesis; and dietary factors in FD). "Acupuncture," "duodenal eosinophilia," "gut microbiota," and others were among the author keywords with rising prevalence. Conclusion: In FD research, eastern Asian countries have established themselves as major contributors with the highest publishing productivity; however, research has primarily been driven by North America, Europe, and Australia, where cooperation is generally more active and highly influential scientific results are produced. Our analysis suggests that increased investments, training of human resources, improved infrastructures, and expanded collaborations are essential to improving the quality of FD research in Asia. The emerging author keyword analysis suggests that eosinophil-mast cell axis, gut microbiota, mental disorders, and acupuncture are the key areas that attract researchers' attention as future research boulevards. There is a highly skewed distribution of research output across Asia, with most focus on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) coming from Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean centers. However, CAM remains an underexplored area of research in the context of FD, and it deserves greater research efforts in order to obtain quality scientific evidence. Furthermore, we propose that the research framework of CAM should not be limited to dysmotility; rather, it could be interpreted within a more holistic context that includes the brain-gut-microbiota axis, as well as novel concepts such as duodenitis, increased mucosal permeability, and infiltration and activation of eosinophils and mast cells, among others. Overall, we provided bibliometrics-based overviews of relevant literature to researchers from different backgrounds and healthcare professionals to provide an in-depth overview of major trends in FD research.

Chinese herbal compound prescriptions combined with Chinese medicine powder based on traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation for treatment of chronic atrophic gastritis with erosion: a multi-center, randomized, positive-controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: In this study, Chinese herbal compound prescriptions combined with Chinese medicine powder were evaluated for the treatment of chronic atrophic gastritis with erosion. METHODS: This multi-center, randomized, positive drug control clinical trial randomly assigned 216 patients with chronic atrophic gastritis with erosion to three groups: (1) control group: aluminum plus magnesium suspension thrice per day for 4 weeks; (2) test group 1: Chinese herbal compound prescriptions twice a day plus Sanqi (Panax notoginseng) powder twice a day for 4 weeks; (3) test group 2: Chinese herbal compound prescriptions twice a day plus Sanqi (Panax notoginseng) powder and Zhebeimu (Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.) powder twice a day for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint (improvement of gastric mucosal erosion; improvement of gastric mucosal pathology) and secondary endpoints (improvement of clinical symptoms scores; improvement of the patient-reported outcome [PRO] instrument for chronic gastrointestinal diseases) were assessed using endoscopy at week 4 following the treatment. Drug-related adverse events (AEs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were also compared. RESULTS: The final analysis included 202 patients (control group, 63; test group 1, 69; test group 2, 70). At week 4, using within-group comparison, gastric mucosal erosion improved in each group following treatment with a significant difference (P < 0.05); there were no statistically significant differences in gastric mucosal erosion scores among the groups after treatment (P > 0.05); in terms of improvement of gastric mucosal erosion, the efficacy rate of the control group was 69.12%, the efficacy rate of the test group 1 was 73.24%, and the efficacy rate of the test group 2 was 69.01% and efficacy rate among the groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). As determined by acute inflammation, chronic inflammation, atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia, the pathological score (total score and the highest score) did not differ statistically among groups following treatment (P > 0.05); within the control group, the total scores of acute inflammation, chronic inflammation, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), but there was no significant improvement in dysplasia (P > 0.05); in the test group 1, chronic inflammation, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia scores were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), but acute inflammation did not improve (P > 0.05); there was a significant reduction in the atrophy score in test group 2 (P < 0.05), but no improvement in the scores of acute inflammation, chronic inflammation, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia was observed (P > 0.05). Similarly, within the control group, the highest scores of acute inflammation, chronic inflammation, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), but there was no significant improvement in dysplasia (P > 0.05); there was a significant reduction in highest scores of atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia (P < 0.05) in test group 1, but the highest scores didn't not improve with acute inflammation and chronic inflammation (P > 0.05); there was a significant reduction in the highest atrophy score in test group 2 (P < 0.05), but no improvement in the highest scores of acute inflammation, chronic inflammation, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia was observed (P > 0.05). Compared to the control group, the main symptom scores and total symptom scores in the test groups were lower following treatment, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05); the analysis of covariance with center, erosion type, and group as factors was applied, and the comparison among the groups in dyspepsia, defecation, and total PRO instrument scores were statistically significant (P < 0.05). In the study period, AEs were reported in 3 (4.23%) patients in the test group 1 and 3 (4.41%) patients in the control group; ADRs were confirmed in 3 (4.23%) patients from the test group 1 and 2 (2.94%) from the control group. AEs and ADRs were not statistically significantly different among groups (AE, P = 0.2213; ADR, P = 0.2872). No serious AE or ADR was reported. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that both aluminum plus magnesium suspension and Chinese herbal compound prescriptions together with Panax notoginseng powder are capable of improving gastric mucosal erosion and reducing gastric mucosal pathological scores, and there were no statistically significant differences among the groups in primary endpoints, indicating that Chinese herbal therapy can achieve similar efficacy than antacids in terms of primary outcomes. The aluminum plus magnesium suspension is comparable to Chinese herbal therapy in improving atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, and is inferior to Chinese herbal therapy in improving dysplasia. In addition, the Chinese herbal therapy significantly outperforms the aluminum plus magnesium suspension in improving symptoms. Therefore, the overall clinical outcome of Chinese herbal compound prescriptions together with Panax notoginseng powder based on TCM syndrome patterns in the treatment of erosive gastritis is superior to that of antacids. Trial registration ChiCTR, ChiCTR-IPR-15005905. Registered 22 January 2015, https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=10359.

Shenqi Yanshen Formula (SQYSF) protects against chronic kidney disease by modulating gut microbiota.

In this study, we make an elucidation toward both the therapeutic effect and the mechanism of Shenqi Yanshen Formula (SQYSF) to chronic kidney disease (CKD). CKD mouse model was established and achieved in a way of adenine (200 mg/kg) perfusion. Six weeks later, those mice in the model group were fed with SQYSF (3.60 g/kg/day) every day (the captopril group was given 12.5 mg/kg/day by gavage every day, and control group and the model group were both given the gavage of equal volumes of normal saline); 4 weeks after the administration, we had our detection to physiological indicators of mice, performed ELISA assay to detect inflammatory factor expressions, then assay of 16S sequencing was used to reveal the difference of intestinal flora. Our results showed that after SQYSF treatment, both the expressions of serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) came with a significant decline, indicating the outstanding performances of SQYSF in alleviating impairment in renal function and elevating mice's physiological function. SQYSF significantly reduced the degree of renal fibrosis in CKD mice, and remarkably down-regulated the expressions of toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κb), p65, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1ß and IL-6. Additionally, SQYSF has more than ability in significantly changing the composition in mice's intestinal flora, but also in greatly increasing the abundance of Succinivibrionaceae and Aeromonadales in the mouse intestine. This study clarified the therapeutic effect of SQYSF on CKD and regulation of inflammatory factors and intestinal flora, and provided new ideas for treatment on CKD.

Mutation and Expression of Gene YY1 in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors and Its Clinical Significance.

OBJECTIVE: The clinical significance of the YY1 gene mutation and expression in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to comprehensively analyze the somatic mutation of YY1 in the different subtypes of PNETs. METHODS: A total of 143 PNETs were assessed by Sanger sequencing to identify the somatic mutation of YY1 gene in various subtypes of PNETs. YY1 protein expression was examined in 103 PNETs by immunohistochemical staining and western blot. Gene mutation and its protein expression were correlated with clinicopathologic features. RESULTS: A recurrent mutation (chr14:100743807C>G) in the YY1 gene was identified in 15 of 83 insulinomas (18%) and in only 1 of 60 noninsulinoma PNETs (1.7%) (P = .0045). The YY1 mutation was not found in MEN1-associated insulinomas. The YY1 mutation in insulinomas was correlated with older age and lower serum glucose levels (age, 57 vs 42.5 years, P = .006; blood glucose, 25.2 vs 33.6 mg/dL, P = .008). YY1 protein expression was found in 100 of 103 PNETs, although expression was weaker in metastases than in localized tumors (P = .036). The stronger expression of YY1 protein was associated with favorable disease-free survival of patients with PNETs (log-rank, P = .011; n = 70). Multivariable statistical analysis showed that YY1 protein expression could be an independent predictor of prognosis. CONCLUSION: The hotspot YY1 mutation mostly occurred in insulinomas and rarely in noninsulinoma PNETs. The stronger YY1 protein expression was correlated with the better prognosis of PNETs patients.

[Allelopathic interactions between Borreria latifolia and two common Asteraceae species]. / 阔叶丰花草与2种菊科植物之间的化感作用.

Borrelia latifolia is an annual herb suitable to be used as cover crop for weed control in orchards in southern China. To understand the competition between B. latifolia and common weeds in orchards, we investigated the allelopathic interactions between B. latifolia and two Asteraceae species, Ageratum conyzoides and Bidens alba. The results showed that the aqueous extracts of B. latifolia at 10-50 mg·mL-1 significantly inhibited seed germination and seedling growth of A. conyzoides and B. alba, with the radicle length of A. conyzoides and B. alba being reduced by 57.4%-90.2% and 57.3%-62.3%, respectively. The aqueous extracts of A. conyzoides and B. alba also had strong allelopathic effects on seed germination of B. latifolia. Under the treatment of 50 mg·mL-1 aqueous extracts, the two Asteraceae species almost entirely inhibited the germination of B. latifolia. After treated with 10 mg·mL-1 aqueous extract of B. latifolia for 30 d, net photosynthesis, plant height and biomass of A. conyzoide were reduced by 15.2%, 20.6% and 41.5%, respectively, compared with the control, while the biomass of B. alba also showed a decreasing trend. Instead, the growth of B. latifolia was not affected. Under mixed culture, biomass of B. latifolia was comparable to that under monoculture, whereas those of A. conyzoides and B. alba were reduced by 86.0% and 27.1%, respectively. Compared with A. conyzoides and B. alba, the allelopathic advantage of B. latifolia is that it can inhibit growth of the two Asteraceae species as well as inhibit seed germination.

Prognostic and predictive value of a five-molecule panel in resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: A multicentre study.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a devastating prognosis. The performance of clinicopathologic parameters and molecules as prognostic factors remains limited and inconsistent. The present study aimed to construct a multi-molecule biomarker panel to more accurately predict post-resectional prognosis of PDAC patients. METHODS: Firstly, a novel computational strategy integrating prognostic evidence from omics and literature on the basis of bioinformatics prediction (CIPHER) to generate the network, was designed to systematically identify potential high-confidence PDAC-related prognostic candidates. After specimens from 605 resected PDAC patients were retrospectively collected, 23 candidates were detected immunohistochemically in tissue-microarrays for the development cohort to construct a multi-molecule panel. Lastly, the panel was validated in two independent cohorts. FINDINGS: According to the constructed five-molecule panel, disease-specific survival (DSS) was significantly poorer in high-risk patients than in low-risk ones in development cohort (HR 2.15, 95%CI 1.51-3.05, P<0.0001; AUC 0.67). In two validation cohorts, similar significant differences between the two groups were also observed (HR 3.18 and 3.31, 95%CI 1.89-5.37 and 1.78-6.16, All P<0.0001; AUC 0.72 and 0.73). In multivariate analyses, this panel was the sole prognosticator that was significant in each cohort. Furthermore, its predictive power for long-term survival, higher than its individual constituents, could be largely enhanced by combination with traditional clinicopathological variables. Finally, adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) correlated with better DSS only in high-risk patients, uni- and multi-variately, in all the cohorts. INTERPRETATION: The novel prognostic panel developed by a systematically network-based strategy presents strong ability in prediction of post-resectional survival of PDAC patients. Furthermore, panel-defined high-risk patients might benefit more from ACT.

[Vertical variation in stoichiometric relationships of soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in five forest types in the Maoershan region, Northeast China.] / 帽儿山5ç§æž—åž‹åœŸå£¤ç¢³æ°®ç£·åŒ–å­¦è®¡é‡å ³ç³»çš„åž‚ç›´å˜åŒ–.

Five forests under diverse site conditions but under identical climate in the Maoershan region of Northeast China were sampled for measuring contents of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), soil bulk density, and soil thickness by soil profile horizons. The stands included two plantations (i.e., Pinus koraiensis and Larix gmelinii plantations) and three broadleaved forests (i.e., Quercus mongolica stand, Populus davidiana Betula platyphylla mixed stand, and hardwood stand). Our aim was to examine vertical distribution of the content, density, and stoichio metry of soil C, N and P for the five forest types. The results showed that the contents and densities of soil C, N and P differed significantly among the forest types, with the maxima of the soil C and N at both O and A horizons occurring in the hardwood stand. The contents of C and N decreased significantly with increasing soil depth in all the stands. P content decreased significantly only in the broadleaved stands, and P content had no significant difference among different soil layers in the coniferous stands. The soil C/N at the A horizon, N/P at the O horizon, and the C/P at A and B horizons were significantly different among the forest types. The soil C and N linearly correlated significantly across all the forest types without significant differences in the slopes and intercepts, and the soil N and P, or the soil C and P correlated significantly only in the broadleaved stands. This result suggested that the C-N coupling relationship tended to converge across the forest types, and the N-P and C-P relationships varied with forest types.

[Effects of stabilization treatment on migration and transformation of heavy metals in mineral waste residues].

Different forms of heavy metals in soil will produce different environmental effects, and will directly influence the toxicity, migration and bioavailability of heavy metals. This study used lime, fly ash, dried sludge, peanut shells as stabilizers in the treatment of heavy metals in mineral waste residues. Morphological analyses of heavy metal, leaching experiments, potted plant experiments were carried out to analyze the migration and transformation of heavy metals. The results showed that after adding stabilizers, the pH of the acidic mineral waste residues increased to more than neutral, and the organic matter content increased significantly. The main existing forms of As, Pb, and Zn in the mineral waste residues were the residual. The contents of exchangeable and organic matter-bound As decreased by 65.6% and 87.7% respectively after adding fly ash, dried sludge and peanut shells. Adding lime, fly ash and peanut shells promoted the transformation of As from the Fe-Mn oxide-bound to the carbonate-bound, and adding lime and fly ash promoted the transformation of Pb and Zn from the exchangeable, Fe-Mn oxide-bound, organic matter-bound to the residual. After the early stage of the stabilization treatment, the contents of As, Pb and Zn in the leachate had varying degrees of decline, and adding peanut shells could reduce the contents of As, Pb and Zn in the leachate further. Among them, the content of As decreased most significantly after treatment with fly ash, dried sludge and peanut shells, with a decline of 57.4%. After treatment with lime, fly ash and peanut shells, the content of Zn decreased most significantly, by 24.9%. The addition of stabilizers was advantageous to the germination and growth of plants. The combination of fly ash, dried sludge and peanut shell produced the best effect, and the Vetiveria zizanioides germination rate reached 76% in the treated wasted mineral residues.

[Determination of Trace Elements in Different Parts of Boju and Root Soil by ICP-MS].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the contents and enrichment status of the trace elements in Boju by using ICP-MS. METHODS: Trace elements of the different parts of Boju and the soil near the roots were determined by microwave digestion-ICP-MS and the correlation of the data obtained was tested by using the statistical software. RESULTS: There were differences among the contents of the eight elements in the different parts of Boju and the soil; there were obvious differences in the enrichment factor of eight elements in the different parts of Boju, which ranged from 0.0054 to 0.9205; there was a significant positive correlation between Fe and Mg in the inflorescence and the contents of Fe was positively correlated with the soil; for Al, Ba and Mg, there were significant positive correlations between its soil contents and leaves contents. CONCLUSION: Boju absorbs the inorganic elements selectively,the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal materials can be improved by improving the cultivation.

[The role of perioperative enteral and parenteral nutrition treatment in pancreatic cancer: a multicenter, prospective randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the two different nutritional supports, enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition in the aspects of nutritional conditions, immune status, the incidence of perioperative complications and quality of life impacts in pancreatic cancer. METHODS: For the pancreatic cancer patients which pancreaticoduodenectomy were performed from January 2007 to December 2008 in five high-volume medical centres, prospective, randomized controlled study was carried out. The enrolled patients were randomly divided into enteral nutritional group (EN group) and parenteral nutritional group (PN group). Related indicators, such as nutritional conditions, immune status, incidence of complications, general status and quality of life were assessed. RESULTS: The 200 patients were enrolled, while 178 cases which 90 patients in EN group and 88 patients in PN group were qualified to evaluate. The 22 cases were dropped out. For the mean hospital stay ((23 ± 13) days and (27 ± 24) days respcectively), Karnofsky score and the life quality scoring, there are no statistical differences between the two groups. In post-operation day 7 and day 10, the prealbumin was (69 ± 16) mg/L and (80 ± 22) mg/L in EN group and it was (67 ± 19) mg/L and (70 ± 11) mg/L in PN group, which are all significantly decreased than preoperational levels ((186 ± 38) mg/L for enteral group and (179 ± 37) mg/L for parenteral group, t = -2.24, -2.13, -2.23, -2.20, all P < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). Other general indicators such as the albumin, hemoglobin, total bilirubin, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, serum potassium and serum sodium, revealed no statistical differences in the 2 groups (P > 0.05); The total lymphocytes, CD(+)3CD(+)4 and CD(+)3CD(+)8 lymphocytes in PN group was (0.687 ± 0.065)×10(9)/L, (0.363 ± 0.029)×10(9)/L, and (0.183 ± 0.018)×10(9)/L respectively in post-operation day 10, which they are significantly decreased than in preoperational levels of PN group and the respective counterpart of EN group in post-operation day10 (t = -2.04-2.83, P < 0.05). The 35 patients were suffered from different complications in the 2 groups, but there was no statistical differences among them (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Enteral nutritional support could not decrease the incidence of perioperative complications in pancreatic cancer patient, but it can improve the immunonutrition status in comparison with parenteral nutrition.

Modified Wu-Zi-Yan-Zong prescription, a traditional Chinese polyherbal formula, suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced neuroinflammatory processes in rat astrocytes via NF-κB and JNK/p38 MAPK signaling pathways.

Neuroinflammation plays an important role in several neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of modified Wu-Zi-Yan-Zong prescription (MWP), a traditional Chinese polyherbal formula, in primary cultured rat astrocytes treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The results showed that MWP significantly inhibited release of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E (PGE), as well as expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in LPS-induced rat astrocytes. Mechanism study indicated that MWP significantly inhibited nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) inflammatory signaling pathway through attenuating inhibitor of nuclear factor-κB (IκB) degradation and down-regulating IκB kinases (IKKs) phosphorylation level. Moreover, MWP also decreased c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK)/p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation, which play an important role in the induction of proinflammatory gene expressions. At last, MWP protected neurons from LPS-activated astrocytes in neuron-astrocyte co-culture system. Taken together, our results suggest that MWP may act to suppress neuroinflammatory response in LPS-stimulated rat astrocytes via NF-κB and JNK/p38 MAPK signaling cascades, and MWP may be a useful agent for prevention and treatment of neuroinflammatory disease.

A novel and selective assay for the quantitative analysis of molybdenum(VI) at nanogram level by resonance light scattering quenching technique.

A novel method is designed for the direct determination of trace amounts of molybdenum(VI) in tap water, human hair, and Chinese herbal medicine by means of decreasing resonance light scattering (RLS) technique. The characteristics of RLS spectra, the effective factors, and optimum conditions of the reaction were studied. In the medium of hydrochloric acid (pH 2.38), Mo(VI), dibromohydroxyphenylfluorone (DBHPF), and Triton X-100 react to form a complex, resulting in significant decreasing RLS signals of DBHPF-Triton X-100. The decreasing RLS intensity at 583.0 nm is proportional to the concentration of Mo(VI) up to 8.0 ng mL(-1). The detection limit is 0.013 ng mL(-1). The method is simple, reproducible, with reaction rapidity and stability of complexes formed. Moreover, the high selectivity and sensitivity of this method permits its direct determination of molybdenum(VI) in tap water, human hair, and Chinese herbal medicine and the results are in agreement with those obtained by the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) method.

[The international communication and cooperation of prevention and treatment of epidemics in the Republican period of China].

During the Republican period of China, either the Northern Warlords Government or the National Government at Nanking, to different extent, all conducted international communication and cooperation in the prevention and treatment of epidemics. Firstly, they communicated and cooperated with International League in epidemic information, establishment of new health organization, health investigation and prevention and treatment of epidemics. Secondly, with WHO in epidemic information, live prevention and treatment of epidemics and personnel training. In addition, with international medical academic society by the initiative means of selecting and sending returned students abroad, dispatching overseas staff to study and attend international academic meeting. These communications and cooperations not only created good circumstances of international society for the prevention and treatment of epidemics in the Republican period of China, but also open a special window for the mutual understanding between China and the world, at the same time, promoted and reinforced independent research and development forces of prevention and treatment technology of infectious disease of our nation. Unfortunately, the inherent defects of the society of Republic of China greatly detracted from the effects of these endeavor.

[A type analysis of the statutory infectious diseases in the Republican period].

In the current academic circle, there are different opinions about the types of the statutory infectious diseases in the Republican period, including the nine-, ten-, eleven- and thirteen-type hypotheses being the most popular. They are different not only on the diseases types, but also about the time of its announcement. This article argues that there were eight kinds of statutory infectious diseases in 1916, i.e. cholera, dysentery, typhoid, smallpox, diphtheria, scarlatina,plague, and typhus; nine in 1928, with cerebrospinal meningitis being added; ten in 1944, with relapsing fever being added; after that, there were no changes. The appointed infectious diseases were initially relapsing fever and malaria; when the relapsing fever became the statutory one, then the appointed ones were the malaria and kala-azar. The establishment of the statutory and the appointed infectious diseases signified that the government of the Republican period had intervened in the administration of infectious diseases.

[Protective effect of ligusticum chuanxiong phthalides on focai cerebral ischemia in rats and its related mechanism of action].

OBJECTIVE: To study the protective effect of ligusticum chuanxiong phthalides on cerebral ischemia in rats and its related mechanism of action. METHOD: Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model, thrombosis formation, platelet aggregation and hemorrheological parameters were measured to evaluate the protective effect of ligusticum chuanxiong phthalides. RESULT: Ligusticum chuanxiong phthalides could markedly decrease the infarct size and behavior deficits score, inhibit the thrombus formation and platelet aggregation, ameliorate hemorrheological parameters with a dose-dependent manner in rats. CONCLUSION: Ligusticum chuanxiong phthalides has protective effects on focal cerebral ischemia in rats, and its mechanism may be relevant to its inhibition of platelet-dependent thrombosis and amelioration of hemorrheological parameters.