Chenodeoxycholic Acid-Loaded Nanoparticles Are Sufficient to Decrease Adipocyte Size by Inducing Mitochondrial Function.

Excess fat accumulation is not only associated with metabolic diseases but also negatively impacts physical appearance and emotional well-being. Bile acid, the body's natural emulsifier, is one of the few FDA-approved noninvasive therapeutic options for double chin (submental fat) reduction. Synthetic sodium deoxycholic acid (NaDCA) causes adipose cell lysis; however, its side effects include inflammation, bruising, and necrosis. Therefore, we investigated if an endogenous bile acid, chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), a well-known signaling molecule, can be beneficial without many of the untoward effects. We first generated CDCA-loaded nanoparticles to achieve sustained and localized delivery. Then, we injected them into the subcutaneous fat depot and monitored adipocyte size and mitochondrial function. Unlike NaDCA, CDCA did not cause cytolysis. Instead, we demonstrate that a single injection of CDCA-loaded nanoparticles into the subcutaneous fat reduced the adipocyte size by promoting fat burning and mitochondrial respiration, highlighting their potential for submental fat reduction.

Successful treatment of infantile refractory bullous pemphigoid with baricitinib.

Infantile bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a rare autoantibody-mediated skin disorder. We report the effective treatment of a 6-month-old infant with BP using baricitinib, a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, after failure with steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin. The patient achieved full remission and discontinued all medications without any relapses. To our knowledge, this is the first case of baricitinib used in an infant with BP.

Recent progress in iodine capture by macrocycles and cages.

The effective capture of radioiodine is vital to the development of the nuclear industry and ecological environmental protection. There is, therefore, a continuously growing research exploration in various types of solid-state materials for iodine capture. During the last decade, the potential of using macrocycle and cage-based supramolecular materials in effective uptake and separation of radioactive iodine has been demonstrated. Interest in the application of these materials in iodine capture originates from their diversified porous characteristics, abundant host-guest chemistry, high iodine affinity and adsorption capacity, high stability in various environments, facile modification and functionalization, and intrinsic structural flexibility, among other attributes. Herein, recent progress in macrocycle and cage-based solid-state materials, including pure discrete macrocycles and cages, and their polymeric forms, for iodine capture is summarized and discussed with an emphasis on iodine capture capacities, mechanisms, and design strategies.

Direct-Contact Seebeck-Driven Transverse Magneto-Thermoelectric Generation in Magnetic/Thermoelectric Bilayers.

Transverse thermoelectric generation converts temperature gradient in one direction into an electric field perpendicular to that direction and is expected to be a promising alternative in creating simple-structured thermoelectric modules that can avoid the challenging problems facing traditional Seebeck-effect-based modules. Recently, large transverse thermopower has been observed in closed circuits consisting of magnetic and thermoelectric materials, called the Seebeck-driven transverse magneto-thermoelectric generation (STTG). However, the closed-circuit structure complicates its broad applications. Here, STTG is realized in the simplest way to combine magnetic and thermoelectric materials, namely, by stacking a magnetic layer and a thermoelectric layer together to form a bilayer. The transverse thermopower is predicted to vary with changing layer thicknesses and peaks at a much larger value under an optimal thickness ratio. This behavior is verified in the experiment, through a series of samples prepared by depositing Fe-Ga alloy thin films of various thicknesses onto n-type Si substrates. The measured transverse thermopower reaches 15.2 ± 0.4 µV K-1, which is a fivefold increase from that of Fe-Ga alloy and much larger than the current room temperature record observed in Weyl semimetal Co2MnGa. The findings highlight the potential of combining magnetic and thermoelectric materials for transverse thermoelectric applications.

Exploring causal correlations between circulating cytokines and atopic dermatitis: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Objectives: Numerous observational studies have reported associations between circulating cytokines and atopic dermatitis (AD); however, the causal relationships between them remain unclear. To explore the causal correlations and direction of causal effects between AD and levels of 91 circulating cytokines. Methods: Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were conducted to examine the causal relationships between 91 circulating cytokines and AD using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Reverse MR analyses were performed to investigate reverse causation. Pleiotropy and heterogeneity tests were conducted to assess the robustness of the findings. Additional transcriptome database and clinical peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) samples were utilized to validate the results of MR analyses. Results: Levels of interleukin (IL)-13, IL-18 Receptor 1, Tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 14 (TNFSF14), TNF-related activation-induced cytokine (TRANCE), C-X-C motif chemokine (CXCL)11, IL-33, TNF-beta and CD5 were suggestively associated with the risk of AD (odds ratio, OR: 1.202, 95% CI: 1.018-1.422, p = 0.030; OR: 1.029, 95% CI: 1.029-1.157, p = 0.004; OR: 1.159, 95% CI: 1.018-1.320, p = 0.026; OR: 1.111, 95% CI: 1.016-1.214, p = 0.020; OR: 0.878, 95% CI: 0.783-0.984, p = 0.025; OR: 0.809, 95% CI: 0.661-0.991, p = 0.041; OR: 0.945, 95% CI: 0.896-0.997, p = 0.038; OR: 0.764, 95% CI: 0.652-0.895, p = 8.26e-04). In addition, levels of cytokines including Axin-1, CXCL5, CXCL10, Oncostatin-M (OSM), Sulfotransferase 1A1 (SULT1A1) and TNFSF14 were suggested to be consequences of AD (Beta: -0.080, p = 0.016; Beta: -0.062, p = 0.036; Beta: -0.066, p = 0.049; Beta: -0.073, p = 0.013; Beta: -0.089, p = 0.008; Beta: -0.079, p = 0.031). IL-13, IL-18R1, TNFSF14, and TRANCE were upregulated in both lesional skin biopsies and PBMCs from AD patients. Conclusion: The study indicates that several cytokines, including IL-13, IL-18R1, TNFSF14, TRANCE, CXCL11, IL-33, TNF-beta, and CD5, are upstream of AD development, whereas a few circulating cytokines are potentially downstream in the development of AD.