[Research progress on pathogenic mechanism of sepsis-induced liver injury and treatment with traditional Chinese medicine and its active components].

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by infection, with high morbidity and mortality. Sepsis-induced liver injury(SILI) is one of the manifestations of sepsis-induced multiple organ syndrome. At present, there is no recommended pharmacological intervention for the treatment of SILI. traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), based on the holism and dialectical treatment concept, shows the therapeutic characteristics of multi-target and multi-pathway and can comprehensively prevent and treat SILI by interfering with inflammatory factors, inflammatory signaling pathways, and anti-oxidative stress and inhibiting apoptosis. This article reviewed the experimental studies on the treatment of SILI with TCM to clarify its pathogenic mechanism and therapeutic characteristics, so as to provide more ideas and directions for the development or preparation of new drugs.

Mutation breeding of Aspergillus niger by atmospheric room temperature plasma to enhance phosphorus solubilization ability.

Background: Phosphorus (P) is abundant in soils, including organic and inorganic forms. Nevertheless, most of P compounds cannot be absorbed and used by plants. Aspergillus niger v. Tiegh is a strain that can efficiently degrade P compounds in soils. Methods: In this study, A. niger xj strain was mutated using Atmospheric Room Temperature Plasma (ARTP) technology and the strains were screened by Mo-Sb Colorimetry with strong P-solubilizing abilities. Results: Compared with the A. niger xj strain, setting the treatment time of mutagenesis to 120 s, four positive mutant strains marked as xj 90-32, xj120-12, xj120-31, and xj180-22 had higher P-solubilizing rates by 50.3%, 57.5%, 55.9%, and 61.4%, respectively. Among them, the xj120-12 is a highly efficient P solubilizing and growth-promoting strain with good application prospects. The growth characteristics such as plant height, root length, and dry and fresh biomass of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) increased by 33.5%, 43.8%, 43.4%, and 33.6%, respectively. Besides available P, the chlorophyll and soluble protein contents also vary degrees of increase in the P-solubilizing mutant strains. Conclusions: The results showed that the ARTP mutagenesis technology can improve the P solubilization abilities of the A. niger mutant strains and make the biomass of peanut plants was enhanced of mutant strains.

Development of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of epigallocatechin-3-gallate, silibinin, and curcumin in plasma and different tissues after oral dosing of Protandim in rats and its application in pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution studies.

Protandim is an over-the-counter herbal dietary supplement. The key components of Protandim, i.e., epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), silibinin (SIL), and curcumin (CUR) were simultaneously analyzed through a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method in plasma and different tissues after administration of Protandim in rats. The developed and validated method was employed to assess the pharmacokinetic profiles and the accumulation of EGCG, SIL, CUR in rat plasma and tissue homogenates. The plasma and tissue homogenates were subjected to liquid-liquid extraction and separated on a Hypurity C18 column (50 × 4.6 mm) with a gradient elution of water and acetonitrile. Mass spectrometric detection was performed in the multiple reaction monitoring mode (MRM) following the transitions: m/z 457.3/169.3, m/z 481.3/125.0, m/z 367.3/149.3 and m/z 609.4 /300.2 for EGCG, SIL, CUR, and RU (rutin), respectively. The concentrations of all the analytes in the range from 2 to 1000 ng/mL showed linear relationships with respective peak areas in different matrices. For all matrices, the values of inter-day and intra-day precisions and accuracies were less than 10.3% of the nominal concentration. The matrix effect, extraction recovery, dilution integrity, and stability values were all within acceptable levels. This method was successfully applied for determining the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of the components in rats after the intragastrical administration of a single-dose (364.5 mg/kg) or multiple-doses (1458 mg/kg) of Protandim. The data showed that EGCG, SIL, and CUR did not accumulate in rats after multiple doses of Protandim, and the three main components were distributed mainly in the small intestine.

Impact on L-carnitine Homeostasis of Short-term Treatment with the Pivalate Prodrug Tenofovir Dipivoxil.

Pivalate-generating prodrugs have been suggested to cause clinically significant hypocarnitinaemia. Tenofovir dipivoxil, a novel ester prodrug of tenofovir, can be used for treatment for hepatitis B and HIV infection and it was necessary to evaluate the effect of its treatment on carnitine homeostasis. We sought to investigate the effect of Class 1 drug tenofovir dipivoxil on endogenous L-carnitine level during a 72-hr test in healthy Chinese volunteers and to establish a suitable dose of L-carnitine nutritional supplement for patients who were administered short-term tenofovir dipivoxil tablets for treatment for hepatitis B and herpes simplex virus infection. Tenofovir dipivoxil was administered in one of eight dosing regimens (single dose 150, 300 and 600 mg, multiple dose 300, 450, and 600 mg, multiple dose 450 (600) mg tenofovir dipivoxil and 0.5 g L-carnitine) to gender-balanced groups of 84 healthy Chinese volunteers. Plasma concentrations of L-carnitine were quantified before, during and after treatment. Plasma L-carnitine concentrations fell during tenofovir dipivoxil dosing. The nadir in L-carnitine concentration was dependent on the dose of tenofovir dipivoxil and it decreased from 6.1 ± 0.6 to 4.4 ± 0.8 µg/ml, 6.1 ± 1.8 to 3.3 ± 1.2 µg/ml, 6.2 ± 0.6 to 2.5 ± 0.5 µg/ml for single doses of 150, 300, 600 mg tenofovir dipivoxil tablets and from 6.0 ± 1.4 to 2.1 ± 1.5 µg/ml, 6.2 ± 0.4 to 0.9 ± 0.5 µg/ml for multiple doses of 450, 600 mg tenofovir dipivoxil tablets, respectively. Short-term administration of tenofovir dipivoxil results in hypocarnitinaemia and increased losses of carnitine in resulting of minor adverse events of decreased food appetite, nausea, abdominal distention and muscle weakness.

Marinobacter gudaonensis sp. nov., isolated from an oil-polluted saline soil in a Chinese oilfield.

Two novel strains, SL014B61A(T) and SL014B11A, were isolated from an oil-polluted saline soil from Gudao in the coastal Shengli Oilfield, eastern China. Cells of strains SL014B61A(T) and SL014B11A were motile, Gram-negative and rod-shaped. Growth occurred at NaCl concentrations of between 0 and 15 % and at temperatures of between 10 and 45 degrees C. Strain SL014B61A(T) had Q9 as the major respiratory quinone and C16 : 0 (21.2 %), C18 : 1omega9c (20.3 %), C16 : 1omega7c (7.3 %) and C16 : 1omega9c (6.4 %) as predominant fatty acids. The G+C content of the DNA was 57.9 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain SL014B61A(T) belonged to the genus Marinobacter in the class Gammaproteobacteria. Strain SL014B61A(T) showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Marinobacter bryozoorum (97.9 %) and showed 97.8 % sequence similarity to Marinobacter lipolyticus. DNA-DNA relatedness to the reference strains Marinobacter bryozoorum and Marinobacter lipolyticus was 35.5 % and 33.8 %, respectively. On the basis of these data, it is proposed that strains SL014B61A(T) and SL014B11A represent a novel species, Marinobacter gudaonensis sp. nov. The type strain is strain SL014B61A(T) (=DSM 18066(T)=LMG 23509(T)=CGMCC 1.6294(T)).