Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides prevent LPS-induced acute lung injury by inhibiting inflammation via the TLR4/Myd88/NF-κB pathway.

Inflammation plays an important role in cases of acute lung injury (ALI), and the Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-κB (TLR4/NF-κB) pathway, which can be regulated by Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides (PSPs), is closely related to the dynamics of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation. Thus, we sought to evaluate whether or not PSPs prevent LPS-induced ALI by way of inhibiting inflammation via the TLR4/NF-κB pathway in rats. We established an ALI rat model by tracheal instillation of LPS, and by pre-injection of PSPs into rats to examine PSPs in the ALI rat model. We found that PSPs attenuated LPS-induced lung pathological changes in ALI rats, decreased LPS-induced myeloperoxidase (MOP) activity, and elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in lung tissue. However, PSPs also decreased the LPS-induced increase in the neutrophil ratio, and decreased inflammatory factor levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Moreover, PSPs decreased LPS-induced increases in inflammatory factors measured by mRNA expression, and altered the levels of expression of TLR4, medullary differentiation protein 88 (Myd88), p-IKB-α/IKB-α and p-p65/p65 proteins in lung tissue. In vitro, PSPs also reduced apoptosis induced by LPS in BEAS-2B cells by suppressing inflammation through its effect of inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, our results suggest that PSPs may be a potential drug for effective treatment of LPS-induced ALI, due to the ability to inhibit inflammation through effects exerted on the TLR4/Myd88/NF-κB pathway.

Phenanthroline-Based Polyarylate Porous Membranes with Rapid Water Transport for Metal Cation Separation.

The selective separation of ions in terms of extremely similar size and properties remains an important challenge in water purification. We innovated a kind of porous nanofilm via interfacial polymerization using rigid heterocyclic ligands to achieve high valent cation selectivity and rapid water/ion transport. The interconnected microporosity and uniformly distributed cation-affinitive sites of the ultrathin membranes enabled water permeation (7.5 L m-2 h-1 bar-1), ion permeance of Na+ (1.5 mol m-2 h-1 bar-1), and Mg2+/Na+ permselectivity (2.1) during nanofiltration. The forward osmosis exhibited a prominent water flux of 95 LMH at 1 M NaCl draw solution, which expanded various applications. The polyarylate membranes comprising 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline showed a higher water permeation and ion selectivity than the planar monomers, e.g., resorcinol. A distinct fluorescence responsiveness existed between membranes and cations for the interaction characterization. Host-guest nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy characterized the preferential affinitive of divalent/high-valent cations in the interconnected microporous powders; an ultraviolet spectrophotometer characterized the light responsiveness of the porous nanofilms. Such an active membrane has potential applications in selective separation and adsorption of cations, photocatalytic materials, photosensors, and other fields.

Metal-Organic Framework Nanocomposite Thin Films with Interfacial Bindings and Self-Standing Robustness for High Water Flux and Enhanced Ion Selectivity.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based materials are promising candidates for a range of separation applications. However, the fabrication of self-standing MOF-based thin films remains challenging. Herein, a facile solution casting strategy is developed for fabricating UiO-66 nanocomposite thin films (UiO66TFs) with thicknesses down to ∼400 nm. Nanosizing UiO-66 and incorporating sulfonated polysulfone additives render high dispersity and interfacial bindings between MOFs and polymer matrices, so UiO66TFs are more mechanically robust and thermally stable than their pure-polymer counterparts. Enhanced microporosity with sub-nanometer pore sizes of the self-standing membranes enables the direct translation of UiO-66-based sorption and ion-sieving properties, thus increasing water flux and separation performance (Na2SO4 rejection of 94-96%) under hydraulic pressure-driven processes and eliminating internal concentration polarization in osmotic pressure-driven processes. Enhanced separation performances are achieved with water/Na2SO4 permselectivity of 13.5 L g-1 and high osmotic water permeability up to 1.41 L m-2 h-1 bar-1, providing 3-fold higher water/Na2SO4 permselectivity and 56-fold-higher water flux than polymer membranes for forward osmosis.

Spontaneously Reported Symptoms by Informants Are Associated with Clinical Severity in Dementia Help-Seekers.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the predictive value of symptoms of dementia that the person or an informant noticed spontaneously in determining the clinical severity of dementia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Community-based open-referral dementia assessment service in Hong Kong between 2005 and 2013. PARTICIPANTS: Help-seekers for dementia assessment service and their informants (N = 965 dyads). MEASUREMENTS: Participants underwent a clinical dementia interview based on the Clinical Dementia Rating. Spontaneous complaints that the person and the informant made that had prompted their help-seeking of groups with interview results suggestive of no impairment, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia were compared. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the predictive value of spontaneous complaints for clinical severity. Independent raters blinded to clinical results coded spontaneously reported symptoms into theoretical themes: memory, executive function, language, time and place orientation, neuropsychiatric, mood, and avolition. RESULTS: Memory problems were the most frequently reported complaints for participants (87.7%) and their informants (95.5%), followed by self-reported language (33.0%) and informant-reported orientation (33.0%) difficulties. Informant-reported but not self-reported symptoms predicted clinical severity. Compared with the persons themselves, informants reported more pervasive symptoms corresponding to clinical severity. Persons with dementia self-reported fewer types of symptoms than their healthy or mildly impaired counterparts. Spontaneously reported language and orientation symptoms by the informant distinguished persons with mild or worse dementia (P < .001, Nagelkerke coefficient of determination = 29.7%, percentage correct 85.6%). CONCLUSION: The type and pervasiveness of symptoms spontaneously that informants reported predicted clinical severity. This may provide a quick reference for triage.

Sarcandra glabra combined with lycopene protect rats from lipopolysaccharide induced acute lung injury via reducing inflammatory response.

Sarcandra glabra (Chinese name, Zhongjiefeng) is an important herb widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Lycopene has been shown to be a powerful antioxidant. This study aims to test the hypothesis that Sarcandra glabra combined with lycopene protect rats from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced acute lung injury (ALI). Metabolomics approach combined with pathological inspection, serum biochemistry examination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and western blotting were used to explore the protective effects of Sarcandra glabra and lycopene on LPS-induced ALI, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Results showed that Sarcandra glabra and lycopene could significantly ameliorate LPS-induced histopathological injuries, improve the anti-oxidative activities of rats, decrease the levels of TNF-α and IL-6, suppress the activations of MAPK and transcription factor NF-κB and reverse the disturbed metabolism towards the normal status. Taken together, this integrated study revealed that Sarcandra glabra combined with lycopene had great potential in protecting rats from LPS-induced ALI, which would be helpful to guide the clinical medication.

Ion-Responsive Channels of Zwitterion-Carbon Nanotube Membrane for Rapid Water Permeation and Ultrahigh Mono-/Multivalent Ion Selectivity.

The rational combination of polymer matrix and nanostructured building blocks leads to the formation of composite membranes with unexpected capability of selectivity of monovalent electrolytes and water, which affords the feasibility to effeciently remove harmful ions and neutral molecules from the environment of concentrated salines. However, the multivalent ion rejection in salined water of routine nanocomposite membranes was less than 98% when ion strength is high, resulting in a poor ion selectivity far below the acceptable value. In this contribution, the ion-responsive membrane with zwitterion-carbon nanotube (ZCNT) entrances at the surface and nanochannels inside membrane has been proposed to obtain ultrahigh multivalent ion rejection. The mean effective pore diameter of ZCNT membrane was dedicated tuned from 1.24 to 0.54 nm with the rise in Na2SO4 concentration from 0 to 70 mol m(-3) as contrary to the conventional rejection drop in carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane. The ultrahigh selective permeabilities of monovalent anions against divalent anions of 93 and against glucose of 5.5 were obtained on ZCNT membrane, while such selectivities were only 20 and 1.6 for the pristine CNT membrane, respectively. The ZCNT membranes have potential applications in treatment of salined water with general NaCl concentration from 100 to 600 mol m(-3), which are widely applicable in desalination, food, and biological separation processes.