Metabolic characteristics of evodiamine were associated with its hepatotoxicity via PPAR/PI3K/AKT/NF-кB/tight junction pathway-mediated apoptosis in zebrafish.

Evodiae Fructus (EF), an herbal medicine, possesses remarkable anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. It exhibits insecticidal activity as a potent insecticide candidate. However, the toxic characteristics of EF and the underlying mechanisms have not been comprehensively elucidated comprehensively. Thus, we comprehensively explored the toxic components of EF and established the relationship between the therapeutic and toxic effects of EF, encouraging its therapeutic use. We found that evodiamine (EVO), one of the main ingredients of EF, can truly reflect its analgesic properties. In phenotype observation trials, low doses of EVO (< 35 ng/mL) exhibited distinct analgesic activity without any adverse effects in zebrafish. However, EVO dose-dependently led to gross morphological abnormalities in the liver, followed by pericardial edema, and increased myocardial concentrations. Furthermore, the toxic effects of EVO decreased after processing in liver microsomes but increased after administering CYP450 inhibitors in zebrafish, highlighting the prominent effect of CYP450s in EVO-mediated hepatotoxicity. EVO significantly changed the expression of genes enriched in multiple pathways and biological processes, including lipid metabolism, inflammatory response, tight junction damage, and cell apoptosis. Importantly, the PPAR/PI3K/AKT/NF-кB/tight junction-mediated apoptosis pathway was confirmed as a critical functional signaling pathway inducing EVO-mediated hepatotoxicity. This study provided a typical example of the overall systematic evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and its active ingredients with significant therapeutic effects and simultaneous toxicities, especially metabolic toxicities.

Preparation and Application of Volatilized Wormwood Essence Derived Naturally into Green Insecticide.

Naturally occurring substances and their derivatives function as vital resources for pesticides that can be used in fields, such as insecticide production and fungicide development. As a botanical entity displaying multifaceted biological functions, wormwood has received thorough scrutiny across multiple sectors. The insect repellency potency combined with antibacterial and antifungal activities of wormwood position it as a potential candidate for prospective development into eco-friendly chemical pesticides. In this research, Wormwood essential oil was procured via ethanol water under ultrasonic scenarios and subsequently diluted with PEG 400 to formulate green chemical pesticides. The defensive efficacy of this green pesticide on plants was validated through 2 weeks of clustered plant growth experiments. Active constituents that exerted their effects were scrutinized by GC-MS. Furthermore, this green pesticide also displays efficacious effects on the prevention and management of aphids, exhibiting a dose-dependent relationship. 4-terpenol, eucalyptol, carvacrol, and L-borneol were identified by GC-MS as the predominant active constituents in this green chemical pesticide. Wormwood can be leveraged to develop green chemical pesticides, which can protect plants without contaminating the environment.

A Green Bridge: Enhancing a Multi-Pesticide Test for Food by Phase-Transfer Sample Treatment Coupled with LC/MS.

The preparation and treatment of the sample has become an important part of the determination process, which directly affects the accuracy of detection. The preparation of the sample for final detection is actually a process of separation and transfer of the target to be tested from the sample matrix. The phase-transfer process of analysis and detection is the process of transferring the target substance to be measured from a complex multiphase system to a simple homogeneous system. This study shows a new phase-transfer process for food sample pretreatment in the determination of carbamate pesticides. Edible gum, xanthan gum, carrageenan, and gelatin were selected for purification testing from the perspective of eco-friendliness and safety. Phase-transfer purification process research was carried out on spinach and other foods. Compared with the commonly used QuEChERS method, the LC/MS results indicate that the straightforward carrageenan treatment process can significantly diminish the detection matrix effect and yield similarly superior detection parameters. The phase-transfer purification method with carrageenan has similar sensitivity and systematic error. The limits of detection and limits of quantitation of each pesticide compound in six plant sample substrates were 0.02-0.36 µg/kg and 0.06-1.9 µg/kg, respectively, which were lower than the residue limits here and abroad. Supplemental recoveries in six blank samples at 5, 20, and 100 µg/kg with the phase-transfer process method were better than those for the QuEChERS method. Positive determination results of actual samples using carrageenan phase-transfer purification proved that this method can be used for related detection from a practical point of view.