Effects of Saikosaponin-A on Insulin Resistance in Obesity: Computational and Animal Experimental Study.

Obesity is known to be associated with increased inflammation and dysregulated autophagy, both of which contribute to insulin resistance. Saikosaponin-A (SSA) has been reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering properties. In this research, we employed a combination of computational modeling and animal experiments to explore the effects of SSA. Male C57BL/6 mice were categorized into four groups: normal diet, high-fat diet (HFD), HFD + atorvastatin 10 mg/kg, and HFD + SSA 10 mg/kg. We conducted oral glucose and fat tolerance tests to assess metabolic parameters and histological changes. Furthermore, we evaluated the population of Kupffer cells (KCs) and examined gene expressions related to inflammation and autophagy. Computational analysis revealed that SSA displayed high binding affinity to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, nuclear factor (NF)-κB, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), and autophagy-related 7 (ATG7). Animal study demonstrated that SSA administration improved fasting and postprandial glucose levels, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index, as well as triglyceride, free fatty acid, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)-cholesterol levels in HFD-fed mice. Moreover, SSA significantly reduced liver weight and fat accumulation, while inhibiting the infiltration and M1 activation of KCs. At the mRNA level, SSA downregulated TNF-α and NF-κB expression, while upregulating FGF21 and ATG7 expression. In conclusion, our study suggests that SSA may serve as a therapeutic agent for addressing the metabolic complications associated with obesity. This potential therapeutic effect is attributed to the suppression of inflammatory cytokines and the upregulation of FGF21 and ATG7.

Nitration-Promoted Vanadate Catalysts for Low-Temperature Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOX with NH3.

Vanadium-based catalysts have been commercially used in selective catalytic reduction (SCR), owing to their high catalytic activity and effectiveness across a wide temperature range; however, their catalytic efficiency decreases at lower temperatures under exposure to SOX. This decrease is largely due to ammonium sulfate generation on the catalyst surface. To overcome this limitation, we added ammonium nitrate to the V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst, producing a V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst with nitrate functional groups. With this approach, we found that it was possible to adjust the amount of these functional groups by varying the amount of ammonium nitrate. Overall, the resultant nitrate V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst has large quantities of NO3- and chemisorbed oxygen, which improves the density of Brønsted and Lewis acid sites on the catalyst surface. Furthermore, the nitrated V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst has a high NOX removal efficiency and N2 selectivity at low temperatures (i.e., 300 °C); this is because NO3- and chemisorbed oxygen, generated by nitrate treatment, facilitated the occurrence of a fast SCR reaction. The approach outlined in this study can be applied to a wide range of SCR catalysts, allowing for the development of more, low-temperature SCR catalysts.

Polyol-Mediated Synthesis of V2O5-WO3/TiO2 Catalysts for Low-Temperature Selective Catalytic Reduction with Ammonia.

We demonstrated highly efficient selective catalytic reduction catalysts by adopting the polyol process, and the prepared catalysts exhibited a high nitrogen oxide (NOX) removal efficiency of 96% at 250 °C. The V2O5 and WO3 catalyst nanoparticles prepared using the polyol process were smaller (~10 nm) than those prepared using the impregnation method (~20 nm), and the small catalyst size enabled an increase in surface area and catalytic acid sites. The NOX removal efficiencies at temperatures between 200 and 250 °C were enhanced by approximately 30% compared to those of the catalysts prepared using the conventional impregnation method. The NH3-temperature-programmed desorption and H2-temperature-programmed reduction results confirmed that the polyol process produced more surface acid sites at low temperatures and enhanced the redox ability. The in situ Fourier-transform infrared spectra further elucidated the fast absorption of NH3 and its reduction with NO and O2 on the prepared catalyst surfaces. This study provides an effective approach to synthesizing efficient low-temperature SCR catalysts and may contribute to further studies related to other catalytic systems.

Ammonium Ion Enhanced V2O5-WO3/TiO2 Catalysts for Selective Catalytic Reduction with Ammonia.

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is the most efficient NOX removal technology, and the vanadium-based catalyst is mainly used in SCR technology. The vanadium-based catalyst showed higher NOX removal performance in the high-temperature range but catalytic efficiency decreased at lower temperatures, following exposure to SOX because of the generation of ammonium sulfate on the catalyst surface. To overcome these limitations, we coated an NH4+ layer on a vanadium-based catalyst. After silane coating the V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst by vapor evaporation, the silanized catalyst was heat treated under NH3 gas. By decomposing the silane on the surface, an NH4+ layer was formed on the catalyst surface through a substitution reaction. We observed high NOX removal efficiency over a wide temperature range by coating an NH4+ layer on a vanadium-based catalyst. This layer shows high proton conductivity, which leads to the reduction of vanadium oxides and tungsten oxide; additionally, the NOX removal performance was improved over a wide temperature range. These findings provide a new mothed to develop SCR catalyst with high efficiency at a wide temperature range.

Effect of Catalyst Crystallinity on V-Based Selective Catalytic Reduction with Ammonia.

In this study, we synthesized V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalysts with different crystallinities via one-sided and isotropic heating methods. We then investigated the effects of the catalysts' crystallinity on their acidity, surface species, and catalytic performance through various analysis techniques and a fixed-bed reactor experiment. The isotropic heating method produced crystalline V2O5 and WO3, increasing the availability of both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites, while the one-sided method produced amorphous V2O5 and WO3. The crystalline structure of the two species significantly enhanced NO2 formation, causing more rapid selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reactions and greater catalyst reducibility for NOX decomposition. This improved NOX removal efficiency and N2 selectivity for a wider temperature range of 200 °C-450 °C. Additionally, the synthesized, crystalline catalysts exhibited good resistance to SO2, which is common in industrial flue gases. Through the results reported herein, this study may contribute to future studies on SCR catalysts and other catalyst systems.