Alkaloids from lotus (Nelumbo nucifera): recent advances in biosynthesis, pharmacokinetics, bioactivity, safety, and industrial applications.

Different parts of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) including the seeds, rhizomes, leaves, and flowers, are used for medicinal purposes with health promoting and illness preventing benefits. The presence of active chemicals such as alkaloids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and terpenoids (particularly alkaloids) may account for this plant's pharmacological effects. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview and summarize up-to-date research on the biosynthesis, pharmacokinetics, and bioactivity of lotus alkaloids as well as their safety. Moreover, the potential uses of lotus alkaloids in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic sectors are explored. Current evidence shows that alkaloids, mainly consisting of aporphines, 1-benzylisoquinolines, and bisbenzylisoquinolines, are present in different parts of lotus. The bioavailability of these alkaloids is relatively low in vivo but can be enhanced by technological modification using nanoliposomes, liposomes, microcapsules, and emulsions. Available data highlights their therapeutic and preventive effects on obesity, diabetes, neurodegeneration, cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc. Additionally, industrial applications of lotus alkaloids include their use as food, medical, and cosmetic ingredients in tea, other beverages, and healthcare products; as lipid-lowering, anticancer, and antipsychotic drugs; and in facial masks, toothpastes, and shower gels. However, their clinical efficacy and safety remains unclear; hence, larger and longer human trials are needed to achieve their safe and effective use with minimal side effects.

Preliminary outcomes of the combination of demineralized bone matrix and platelet Rich plasma in the treatment of long bone non-unions.

BACKGROUND: A variety of bone graft substitutes have been introduced into the treatment of bone non-unions. However, clinical outcomes from current evidences are various and conflicting. This study aimed to present the preliminary outcomes of a treatment protocol in which the combination of demineralized bone matrix (DBM) and platelet rich plasma (PRP) was used as a bone graft substitute for long bone non-unions. METHODS: Data of this retrospective study were reviewed and collected from a consecutive case series involving 43 patients who presented with a long bone non-union and were treated in our department from October 2018 to May 2019. The combination of DMB and PRP was applied as a bone defect filler in 16 patients, whilst the other 27 patients were treated with iliac bone autografting. Patients' demographics, postoperative complications and the result of bone union were compared and evaluated. RESULTS: The demographic data between the two groups were comparable. No significant difference was found with regard to the incidence of postoperative complications. No graft rejection, heterotopic ossification or other complications were noted. The distribution of bony healing time was rather scattered but did not differ significantly between the groups (7.533 ± 3.357 months vs. 6.625 ± 2.516 months; P=0.341). Union was identified radiographically in 15 of 16 patients in the DBM+PRP group and in 24 of 27 patients in autograft group. CONCLUSIONS: The present study identified that low incidence of postoperative complications and satisfactory bony healing rate could be achieved in the treatment of long bone non-unions augmented with the combination of DBM and PRP. Although these findings might indicate the promising future of this treatment protocol, larger and higher quality studies should also be executed to assess its routine use.

A General and Convenient Peptide Self-Assembling Mechanism for Developing Supramolecular Versatile Nanomaterials Based on The Biosynthetic Hybrid Amyloid-Resilin Protein.

Self-assembling peptides are valuable building blocks to fabricate supramolecular biomaterials, which have broad applications from biomedicine to biotechnology. However, limited choices to induce different globular proteins into hydrogels hinder these designs. Here, an easy-to-implement and tunable self-assembling strategy, which employs Ure2 amyloidogenic peptide, are described to induce any target proteins to assemble into supramolecular hydrogels alone or in combination with notable compositional control. Furthermore, the collective effect of nanoscale interactions among amyloid nanofibrils and partially disordered elastomeric polypeptides are investigated. This led to many useful macroscopic material properties simultaneously emerging from one pure protein material, i.e. strong adhesion to any substrates under wet conditions, rapidly self--assembling into robust and porous hydrogels, adaptation to remodeling processes, strongly promoting cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. Moreover, he demonstrated this supramolecular material's robust performance in vitro and vivo for tissue engineering, cosmetic and hemostasis applications and exhibited superior performance compared to corresponding commercial counterparts. To the best of his knowledge, few pure protein-based materials could meet such seemingly mutually exclusive properties simultaneously. Such versatility renders this novel supramolecular nanomaterial as next-generation functional protein-based materials, and he demonstrated the sequence level modulation of structural order and disorder as an untapped principle to design new proteins.

Oxygen-releasing biomaterials for regenerative medicine.

Oxygen is critical to the survival, function and fate of mammalian cells. Oxygen tension controls cellular behavior through metabolic programming, which in turn controls tissue regeneration. A variety of biomaterials with oxygen-releasing capabilities have been developed to provide oxygen supply to ensure cell survival and differentiation for therapeutic efficacy, and to prevent hypoxia-induced tissue damage and cell death. However, controlling the oxygen release with spatial and temporal accuracy is still technically challenging. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of organic and inorganic materials available as oxygen sources, including hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), photosynthetic organisms, solid and liquid peroxides, and some of the latest materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Additionally, we introduce the corresponding carrier materials and the oxygen production methods and present state-of-the-art applications and breakthroughs of oxygen-releasing materials. Furthermore, we discuss the current challenges and the future perspectives in the field. After reviewing the recent progress and the future perspectives of oxygen-releasing materials, we predict that smart material systems that combine precise detection of oxygenation and adaptive control of oxygen delivery will be the future trend for oxygen-releasing materials in regenerative medicine.

Non-invasive immunodiagnosis of Schistosomiasis japonica: the detection of specific antibodies in saliva.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of using saliva for Schistosomiasis japonica diagnosis. METHODS: Schistosoma japonicum infected animal model was established. Pairs of saliva and serum samples from rabbits and chronic schistosomiasis patients were collected. Anti-schistosoma specific antibodies in saliva and serum were detected by indirect ELISA. RESULTS: The specificities of antibody detection of rabbit saliva and serum were 93% (28/30) and 97% (29/30), respectively, and the sensitivities of antibody detection of rabbit serum and saliva were 100% (24/24) and 88% (21/24), respectively. A significant correlation (r = 0.5307, P = 0.0038 < 0.05) existed between anti-SEA IgG levels in serum and saliva. As with those in serum, anti-SEA IgG levels in saliva could reflect the state of infection and treatment. The sensitivity of antibody detection was 91% (29/32) for patient saliva samples and 100% (32/32) for their sera. 8 samples were positive in 140 normal saliva samples (i.e. 6% false positive rate) and 6 samples were positive in 156 normal serum samples (4% false positive rate). There was a significant correlation (r = 0.4227, P = 0.008 < 0.05) between specific antibodies in saliva and serum. CONCLUSION: The detection of specific antibodies in saliva can be used as a non-invasive immunodiagnosis method of Schistosomiasis japonica.