Gut Microbiome-Serum Metabolism Revealed the Allergenicity of Ferulic Acid Combined with Glucose-Modified ß-Lactoglobulin.

A novel strategy combining ferulic acid and glucose was proposed to reduce ß-lactoglobulin (BLG) allergenicity and investigate whether the reduction in allergenicity was associated with gut microbiome and serum metabolism. As a result, the multistructure of BLG changed, and the modified BLG decreased significantly the contents of IgE, IgG, IgG1, and mMCP-1 in serum, improved the diversity and structural composition of gut microbiota, and increased the content of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in allergic mice. Meanwhile, allergic mice induced by BLG affected arachidonic acid, tryptophan, and other metabolic pathways in serum, the modified BLG inhibited the production of metabolites in arachidonic acid metabolism pathway and significantly increased tryptophan metabolites, and this contribution helps in reducing BLG allergenicity. Overall, reduced allergenicity of BLG after ferulic acid was combined with glucose modification by regulating gut microbiota, the metabolic pathways of arachidonic acid and tryptophan. The results may offer new thoughts alleviating the allergy risk of allergenic proteins.

Exploring the evolution of CHS gene family in plants.

Chalcone synthase (CHS) is a key enzyme that catalyzes the first committed step of flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. It plays a vital role not only in maintaining plant growth and development, but also in regulating plant response to environmental hazards. However, the systematic phylogenomic analysis of CHS gene family in a wide range of plant species has not been reported yet. To fill this knowledge gap, a large-scale investigation of CHS genes was performed in 178 plant species covering green algae to dicotyledons. A total of 2,011 CHS and 293 CHS-like genes were identified and phylogenetically divided into four groups, respectively. Gene distribution patterns across the plant kingdom revealed the origin of CHS can be traced back to before the rise of algae. The gene length varied largely in different species, while the exon structure was relatively conserved. Selection pressure analysis also indicated the conserved features of CHS genes on evolutionary time scales. Moreover, our synteny analysis pinpointed that, besides genome-wide duplication and tandem duplication, lineage specific transposition events also occurred in the evolutionary trajectory of CHS gene family. This work provides novel insights into the evolution of CHS gene family and may facilitate further research to better understand the regulatory mechanism of traits relating to flavonoid biosynthesis in diverse plants.

A chromosome-level genome reveals genome evolution and molecular basis of anthraquinone biosynthesis in Rheum palmatum.

BACKGROUND: Rhubarb is one of common traditional Chinese medicine with a diverse array of therapeutic efficacies. Despite its widespread use, molecular research into rhubarb remains limited, constraining our comprehension of the geoherbalism. RESULTS: We assembled the genome of Rheum palmatum L., one of the source plants of rhubarb, to elucidate its genome evolution and unpack the biosynthetic pathways of its bioactive compounds using a combination of PacBio HiFi, Oxford Nanopore, Illumina, and Hi-C scaffolding approaches. Around 2.8 Gb genome was obtained after assembly with more than 99.9% sequences anchored to 11 pseudochromosomes (scaffold N50 = 259.19 Mb). Transposable elements (TE) with a continuous expansion of long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTRs) is predominant in genome size, contributing to the genome expansion of R. palmatum. Totally 30,480 genes were predicted to be protein-coding genes with 473 significantly expanded gene families enriched in diverse pathways associated with high-altitude adaptation for this species. Two successive rounds of whole genome duplication event (WGD) shared by Fagopyrum tataricum and R. palmatum were confirmed. We also identified 54 genes involved in anthraquinone biosynthesis and other 97 genes entangled in flavonoid biosynthesis. Notably, RpALS emerged as a compelling candidate gene for the octaketide biosynthesis after the key residual screening. CONCLUSION: Overall, our findings offer not only an enhanced understanding of this remarkable medicinal plant but also pave the way for future innovations in its genetic breeding, molecular design, and functional genomic studies.

Influence of disease course and comprehensive management on blood glucose level in children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the status of glycemic control, and assess the effects of the disease course and comprehensive management measures on the blood glucose level in children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes mellitus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study collected the clinical data of type 2 diabetes patients in Beijing Children's Hospital from January 2015 to September 2020. Patients were grouped based on the disease course to compare their glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, islet ß-cell function, insulin resistance and comprehensive management measures. RESULTS: Of the 170 participants, the median disease course was 2.0 years (interquartile range [IQR] 1.0-4.0 years). The baseline HbA1c was 11.2% (IQR 9.2-12.4%). According to the grouping by the disease course, the median HbA1c was the lowest (5.7% [IQR 5.3-6.1%]) in the half-year course group and the highest in the 4-year course group (9.0 [IQR 6.8%-11.3%]). Compared with the group with a disease duration <2 years, patients in the >4 years group had a lower proportion of patients with HbA1c <7% (29.2% vs 66.2%), a lower homeostasis model assessment of ß-cell function, and a lower proportion with a controlled diet, moderate-intensity exercise, regular follow up and no drug treatment. We deemed HbA1c as the dependent variable, and found that disease duration, homeostasis model assessment of ß-cell function at follow up, continuous moderate-intensity exercise, regular review and treatment regimen were significant influencing factors for glycemic control. CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes and a prolonged disease course showed poor glycemic control and decreased islet ß-cell function. A good lifestyle, especially moderate-intensity exercise, can help such cases better control their blood glucose level.

Transcriptomic divergence of the Rheum palmatum complex derived from top-geoherb and non-geoherb areas provides the insights into geoherbalism properties of rhubarb.

Geoherb usually represents high-quality medicinal herbs with better clinical therapeutic effects, and elucidating the geoherbalism is essential for the quality improvement of traditional Chinese Medicine. However, few researches were conducted to clarify the geoherbalism based on a large scale of transcriptomics. In the present study, we compared the transcriptomes of Rheum palmatum complex derived from top-geoherb and non-geoherb areas to show the geoherbalism properties of rhubarb. A total of 412.32 Gb clean reads were obtained with unigene numbers of 100,615 after assembly. Based on the obtained transcriptome datasets, key enzyme-encoding genes involved in the anthraquinones biosynthesis were also obtained. We also found that 21 anthraquinone-related unigenes were differentially expressed between two different groups, and some of these DEGs were correlated to the content accumulation of five free anthraquinones, indicating that the gene expression profiles may promote the geoherbalism formation of rhubarb. In addition, the selective pressure analyses indicated that most paired orthologous genes between these two groups were subject to negative selection, and only a low proportion of orthologs under positive selection were detected. Functional annotation analyses indicated that these positive-selected genes related to the functions such as gene expression, substance transport, stress response and metabolism, indicating that discrepant environment also enhanced the formation of geoherbalism. Our study not only provided insights for the genetic mechanism of geoherbalism of rhubarb, but also laid more genetic cues for the future rhubarb germplasms improvement and utilization.

The gut-liver axis perspective: Exploring the protective potential of polysaccharides from Cistanche deserticola against alcoholic liver disease.

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the potential mechanism behind the protective effect of Cistanche deserticola polysaccharides (CP) against alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Multiple chromography techniques were employed to characterize CP from polysaccharide, the molecular weight distribution of polysaccharides, monosaccharide composition, isomeric hydrogen and isomeric carbon, in order to clarify the material basis of CP. To create the ALD mouse model, we utilized the well-established Lieber-DeCarli alcoholic liquid feed method. Findings from the study revealed that CP administration resulted in significant improvements in intestinal permeability, upregulation of barrier proteins expression, and reduced levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in mouse liver and serum. Additionally, CP treatment reduced the presence of inflammatory cytokines both in serum and liver while enhancing the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the liver. Furthermore, CP effectively reduced alcohol-induced oxidative damage by downregulating Keap1 protein levels in the liver, leading to increased expression of Nrf2 protein. The 16S rDNA sequencing results revealed that CP significantly restored the intestinal microbiota composition in ALD mice. These findings establish a strong association between gut microbiota and liver injury indicators, highlighting the potential of CP in preventing and treating ALD by modulating the gut-liver axis.

Nifuroxazide boosts the anticancer efficacy of palbociclib-induced senescence by dual inhibition of STAT3 and CDK2 in triple-negative breast cancer.

Though palbociclib, a cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor has been approved for treating breast cancer, two major clinical challenges remain: (i) Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) appears to be more resistant to palbociclib, and (ii) Palbociclib-induced senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) has a pro-tumorigenic function. Here we report that combining palbociclib with the STAT3 inhibitor nifuroxazide uncouples SASP production from senescence-associated cell cycle exit. Moreover, we identified nifuroxazide as a CDK2 inhibitor that synergistically promotes palbociclib-induced growth arrest and senescence in TNBC cells. In vitro, the combination of nifuroxazide with palbociclib further inhibited the TNBC cell proliferation and enhanced palbociclib-induced cell cycle arrest and senescence. The modulation of palbociclib-induced SASP by nifuroxazide was associated with the reduction of phosphorylated-STAT3. Nifuroxazide also blocks SASP-dependent cancer cell migration. Furthermore, thermal shift assay and molecular docking of nifuroxazide with STAT3 and CDK2 revealed that it binds to their active sites and acts as a potent dual inhibitor. In vivo, the combination of nifuroxazide with palbociclib suppressed 4T1 tumor growth and lung metastasis. Our data suggest that nifuroxazide enhances the anticancer effects of palbociclib in TNBC by uncoupling SASP production from senescence-associated cell cycle exit and inhibiting CDK2 to promote tumor senescence.

Screening of H2S donors with a red emission mitochondria-targetable fluorescent probe: Toward discovering a new therapeutic strategy for Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by various factors such as neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuronal apoptosis. Recent studies have shown that H2S supplementation reverses neuronal loss and mitigates motor deficits in PD patients through anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, improved mitochondrial function and proautophagic. Therefore, the discovery and use of H2S donors may be an exciting and intriguing strategy for the treatment of PD. Herein, we report a red emission mitochondria-targetable fluorescent probe, Rho-H2S, which can specifically and sensitively detect H2S with a limit of detection of 62.5 nM. Bioimaging experiments have shown that the probe has excellent mitochondrial targeting and good imaging capabilities for the detection of exogenous and endogenous H2S in cells. More importantly, based on the Rho-H2S probe, we first confirmed the sulforaphane (SFN) among 15 glucosinolate and isothiocyanate compounds from cruciferous vegetables with an outstanding ability to release H2S and we further proved that SFN could alleviate the symptoms of PD in vivo. All results demonstrate that Rho-H2S could be an effective tool for screening H2S donors and can contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies for PD.

Nitrovin (difurazone), an antibacterial growth promoter, induces ROS-mediated paraptosis-like cell death by targeting thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1).

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most lethal malignant tumors in the human brain, with only a few chemotherapeutic drugs available after surgery. Nitrovin (difurazone) is widely used as an antibacterial growth promoter in livestock. Here, we reported that nitrovin might be a potential anticancer lead. Nitrovin showed significant cytotoxicity to a panel of cancer cell lines. Nitrovin induced cytoplasmic vacuolation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, MAPK activation, and Alix inhibition but had no effect on caspase-3 cleavage and activity, suggesting paraptosis activation. Nitrovin-induced cell death of GBM cells was significantly reversed by cycloheximide (CHX), N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), glutathione (GSH), and thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) overexpression. Vitamins C and E, inhibitors of pan-caspase, MAPKs, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress failed to do so. Nitrovin-triggered cytoplasmic vacuolation was reversed by CHX, NAC, GSH, and TrxR1 overexpression but not by Alix overexpression. Furthermore, nitrovin interacted with TrxR1 and significantly inhibited its activity. In addition, nitrovin showed a significant anticancer effect in a zebrafish xenograft model, which was reversed by NAC. In conclusion, our results showed that nitrovin induced non-apoptotic and paraptosis-like cell death mediated by ROS through targeting TrxR1. Nitrovin might be a promising anticancer lead for further development.

Ultrasound-assisted glycation and the allergenicity of α-lactalbumin.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound-assisted glycation is a promising method for decreasing the allergenicity of α-lactalbumin (ALA). However, there is a lack of in vivo studies on the allergenicity of ultrasound-assisted glycated ALA. In this study, the effects of the ultrasound-assisted glycation of ALA on the allergenicity and intestinal microflora were characterized using a BALB/c mouse model. RESULTS: Increased immunoglobulin -G/ immunoglobulin-E (IgG/IgE) and interleukin-4/6 (IL-4/6) secretions, and reduced interferon-γ (IFN-γ) secretions were found in the serum of ALA sensitized and challenged, mice in comparison with a control group. However, there was no significant difference between the mice fed with ultrasound-assisted glycated ALA and the control group. Mice that were sensitized and challenged with ALA showed disrupted intestinal microflora, manifesting in significantly decreased Firmicutes and significantly increased Proteobacteria. It was found that 100ALA-gal could maintain the intestinal microflora of mice in a normal state. Pearson's rank correlation showed that Proteobacteria and Spirochaetota were correlated positively with the IL-4/IL-6 level and were correlated negatively with the expression of IFN-γ. Proteobacteria were also significantly positively correlated with IL-6 and negatively correlated with IFN-γ (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggested that ultrasound-assisted glycation on ALA can maintain the intestinal microflora in a normal state thus balancing the proportion of Th1/Th2 to decrease allergic reaction. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Potential categories of lifestyle behavior and its relation with traditional Chinese medicine constitutions among higher vocational medical students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand potential categories of lifestyle behaviors and its association with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution among higher vocational medical students, so as to provide reference for the physical health management of them.@*Methods@#From October to December 2022, 2 720 medical students from three higher vocational medical colleges in Anhui Province were selected by stratified cluster sampling method and were investigated with a questionnaire of lifestyle and TCM body constitution. Potential category analysis (LCA) and multiple linear regression were used to explore the relationship between potential categories of lifestyle behaviors and TCM constitutions.@*Results@#The lifestyle behavior of vocational medical students were classified into three potential categories:general health group (83.60%), smoking and drinking group (4.85%) and diet preference group (11.55%). There were significant differences in the distribution of TCM constitution types among the three groups ( χ 2=46.32, P < 0.01 ). The proportion of general health group was the higher in balanced constitution (46.39%), and the proportion of smoking and drinking type was higher in phlegm dampness (25.00%). The dietary preferences were higher in phlegm dampness (20.38%), Yin deficiency (15.92%) and damp heat (20.70%). Taking balanced constitution as a reference, the occurrence risk of phlegm and dampness in smoking and drinking type and diet preference type was 1.75 times higher (95% CI =1.09-2.77) and 1.78 times higher (95% CI = 1.26-2.49) than that in general health group ( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#There are certain aggregation characteristics in lifestyle behaviors among higher vocational medical students, which show significant relations with TCM constitutions. Targeted intervention should be carried out according to the demographic characteristics of higher vocational medical students, potential categories of behavior and lifestyle characteristics and TCM constitutions.

Natural products of medicinal plants: biosynthesis and bioengineering in post-genomic era.

Globally, medicinal plant natural products (PNPs) are a major source of substances used in traditional and modern medicine. As we human race face the tremendous public health challenge posed by emerging infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance and surging drug prices etc., harnessing the healing power of medicinal plants gifted from mother nature is more urgent than ever in helping us survive future challenge in a sustainable way. PNP research efforts in the pre-genomic era focus on discovering bioactive molecules with pharmaceutical activities, and identifying individual genes responsible for biosynthesis. Critically, systemic biological, multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches integrating and interrogating all accessible data from genomics, metabolomics, structural biology, and chemical informatics are necessary to accelerate the full characterization of biosynthetic and regulatory circuitry for producing PNPs in medicinal plants. In this review, we attempt to provide a brief update on the current research of PNPs in medicinal plants by focusing on how different state-of-the-art biotechnologies facilitate their discovery, the molecular basis of their biosynthesis, as well as synthetic biology. Finally, we humbly provide a foresight of the research trend for understanding the biology of medicinal plants in the coming decades.

A study on the correlation between work stressors and the coping styles of outpatients and emergency nurses in 29 pediatric specialty hospitals across China.

Objective: This study aimed to better understand the current situation involving work stressors and the coping styles of outpatient and emergency nurses in 29 pediatric specialty hospitals across China. The study analyzed this correlation to provide a reference for the occupational stress management of pediatric nurses. Methods: From June to September 2020, 1,457 outpatient and emergency nurses in 29 pediatric specialty hospitals across China were selected as study participants, and a questionnaire survey was conducted using the Basic Information Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Work Stressor Scale for Nurses, and the Simple Coping Style Scale. Results: The assessed stress level of outpatient and emergency nurses in 29 tertiary pediatric specialty hospitals nationwide is lower than the results of the survey of the 2007 domestic norm, p < 0.05. The stressors related to nurses' expectations, family conflicts, the nature of nursing work, patient factors, and workload were lower compared with the national norm (p < 0.05). The positive coping style score on the Simple Coping Style Scale for pediatric outpatient nurses was (36.66 ± 6.16), and work stressors were positively associated with negative coping styles (p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that the influencing factors of work stressors among pediatric outpatient and emergency nurses correlated with the authorized size, age, working years of nurses, work department, and negative coping styles. Conclusion: Negative coping styles were present among pediatric outpatient and emergency nurses and were associated with work stressors. The influencing factors of stressors mainly correlated with the clinical establishment, age, years of employment as a nurse, work department, and negative coping styles.

Comparative Transcriptome Analyses of Different Rheum officinale Tissues Reveal Differentially Expressed Genes Associated with Anthraquinone, Catechin, and Gallic Acid Biosynthesis.

Rheum officinale Baill. is an important traditional Chinese medicinal herb, its dried roots and rhizomes being widely utilized to cure diverse diseases. However, previous studies mainly focused on the active compounds and their pharmacological effects, and the molecular mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of these ingredients in R. officinale is still elusive. Here, we performed comparative transcriptome analyses to elucidate the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the root, stem, and leaf of R. officinale. A total of 236,031 unigenes with N50 of 769 bp was generated, 136,329 (57.76%) of which were annotated. A total of 5884 DEGs was identified after the comparative analyses of different tissues; 175 and 126 key enzyme genes with tissue-specific expression were found in the anthraquinone, catechin/gallic acid biosynthetic pathway, respectively, and some of these key enzyme genes were verified by qRT-PCR. The phylogeny of the PKS III family in Polygonaceae indicated that probably only PL_741 PKSIII1, PL_11549 PKSIII5, and PL_101745 PKSIII6 encoded PKSIII in the polyketide pathway. These results will shed light on the molecular basis of the tissue-specific accumulation and regulation of secondary metabolites in R. officinale, and lay a foundation for the future genetic diversity, molecular assisted breeding, and germplasm resource improvement of this essential medicinal plant.

Transcriptome profiles of yellowish-white and fuchsia colored flowers in the Rheum palmatum complex reveal genes related to color polymorphism.

Flower color variation is ubiquitous in many plant species, and several studies have been conducted to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism. There are two flower color variants (yellowish-white and fuchsia) in the Rheum palmatum complex, however, few studies have investigated this phenomenon. Here, we used transcriptome sequencing of the two color variants to shed light on the molecular and biochemical basis for these color morphs. Comparison of the two transcriptomes identified 9641 differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs), including 6477 up-regulated and 3163 down-regulated genes. Functional analyses indicated that several DEGs were related to the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, and the expression profiles of these DEGs were coincident with the qRT-PCR validation results, indicating that expression levels of structural genes have a profound effect on the color variation in the R. palmatum complex. Our results suggested that the interaction of transcription factors (MYB, bHLH and WRKY) also regulated the anthocyanin biosynthesis in the R. palmatum complex. Estimation of selection pressures using the dN/dS ratio showed that 1106 pairs of orthologous genes have undergone positive selection. Of these positively selected genes, 21 were involved in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway, indicating that they may encode the proteins for structural alteration and affect flower color in the R. palmatum complex.

A nucleotide signature for the identification of Pinelliae Rhizoma (Banxia) and its products.

BACKGROUND: Ensuring the authenticity of raw materials is a key step prior to producing Chinese patent medicines. Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit. is the botanical origin of Pinelliae Rhizoma (Banxia), a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat cough, insomnia, nausea, inflammation, epilepsy, and so on. Unfortunately, authentic Pinelliae Rhizoma is often adulterated by morphologically indistinguishable plant material due to the insufficient regulatory procedures of processed medicinal plant products. Thus, it is important to develop a molecular assay based on species-specific nucleotide signatures and primers to efficiently distinguish authentic Pinelliae Rhizoma from its adulterants. METHODS AND RESULTS: The ITS2 region of 67 Pinelliae Rhizoma and its common adulterants were sequenced. Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms within a 28-43 bp stretch of ITS2 were used to develop six primer pairs to amplify these species-specific regions. We assayed 56 Pinelliae Rhizoma products sold on the Chinese market, including medicinal slices, powder and Chinese patent medicines, which revealed that about 66% of products were adulterated. The most common adulterants were Pinellia pedatisecta (found in 57% of the assayed products), Arisaema erubescens (9%), Typhonium giganteum (2%) and Typhonium flagelliforme (2%). CONCLUSIONS: A severe adulteration condition was revealed in the traditional medicine market. The species-specific nucleotide assays developed in this study can be applied to reliably identify Pinelliae Rhizoma and its adulterants, aiding in the authentication and quality control of processed products on the herbal market.

Isolation and allergenicity evaluation of glycated α-lactalbumin digestive products and identification of allergenic peptides.

This study aimed to isolate and evaluate the allergenicity of glycated α-lactalbumin (ALA) digestive products and identify its allergenic peptides. The digestive products of native-, alone glycated- and ultrasound-assisted glycated ALA (ALA-D, ALA-gal-D, 100ALA-gal-D) were isolated into three fractions (F1, F2 and F3). High-resolution mass spectrometry showed that the digestion-resistant peptides of F2 and F3 mainly distributed in amino acid sequence (AA) 25-31, AA32-53, AA40-53, AA54-60, AA80-90, AA94-104. The allergenicity of the three fractions of glycated ALA was lower than that in ALA-D, indicating glycation of ALA could indeed reduce its allergenicity after digestion. Furthermore, most fractions isolated from high glycation-degree ALA had the lowest allergenicity. The IgG/IgE binding abilities of synthesized peptides indicated that AA94-104 firstly identified by us embodied the strongest allergenicity and might be the potential allergenic peptide. This will provide a theory for preparing hypoallergenic products based on the identified allergenic peptides.

Development of a ratiometric nitric oxide probe with baseline resolved emissions by an ESIPT and rhodol ring opened-closed integrated two-photon platform.

In recent years, reflecting the degree of cellular inflammation through in situ monitoring of nitric oxide using fluorescence sensing has received much attention due to many merits such as non-invasiveness and easy operation. In particular, two-photon excitation microscopy can significantly improve the imaging resolution and visualization time. In the meantime, a ratiometric-based nitric oxide fluorescent sensor can avoid the interference of many factors, including light source intensity, solvent scattering degree, solvent color, solvent viscosity, probe distribution, and instrument performance, and improve the accuracy of the result. However, the mutual interference of two emission peaks is still an issue restricting the development of this field. In this work, the Rh-NO-F dye obtained by modifying the rhodol dye with benzothiazole exhibited excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in the closed ring state. In the open ring state, however, the emission wavelength can be significantly red-shifted by increasing the degree of dye conjugation. By introducing o-phenylenediamine, the recognition domain of NO, we successfully designed and synthesized a ratiometric two-photon NO fluorescent probe, Rh-NO-P, which showed a 154 nm increase in the maximum emission wavelength before and after the response and almost no interference between the two emission peaks. Confocal imaging showed that the probe could achieve in situ detection of exogenous NO fluctuations in cells. The probe was also successfully applied to detect the changes in NO content during wound healing in mice.

Construction of a Comprehensive Mental Health Evaluation System for Clinicians.

OBJECTIVE: To detect problems of mental health disorders early and actively by constructing a comprehensive evaluation system of mental health. METHODS: The evaluation system was constructed by the Minnesota personality questionnaire (MMPI), the personality questionnaire (EPQ), and the depression experience questionnaire (DEQ). Total 341 interns and residents in a general hospital were investigated with the questionnaire about psychological status, and the results were analyzed by SPSS22.0. RESULTS: The KMO was 0.879, and the factor load of the seven factors was 0.49 to 0.856. The cumulative variance contribution reached 72.18%, and the overall consistency coefficient was 0.871. The relationship, emotional disorder, paranoia, reflection, and positive response were 0.893, 0.614, 0.867, 0.771 and 0.621, respectively. In this study, the mental health composite scores of all study subjects met a normal distribution, so level 3 scores of clinical interns and residents were established according to the deviation method. CONCLUSION: The constructed index system contains comprehensive indicators, good reliability efficiency, and a level 3 score, which helps individuals and hospitals to detect problems early, and provide guidance and advice for active intervention.

Electrospun multifunctional nanofibrous mats loaded with bioactive anemoside B4 for accelerated wound healing in diabetic mice.

With the worldwide prevalence of diabetes and considering the complicated microenvironment of diabetic wounds, the design and development of innovative multifunctional wound dressing materials are much wanted for the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds in diabetic patients. In the present study, anti-inflammatory ingredients loaded with nanofibrous wound dressing materials were manufactured by a promising blend-electrospinning strategy, and their capability for treating the diabetic wound was also systematically explored. A polymer blend consisting of Chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was electrospun into CS-PVA nanofibrous mats as control groups. In the meanwhile, a bioactive ingredient of Chinese medicine Pulsatilla, anemoside B4(ANE), with different contents were loaded into the electrospinning solution to construct CS-PVA-ANE nanofibrous mats. The developed CS-PVA-ANE wound dressing materials exhibited multifunctional properties including prominent water absorption, biomimetic elastic mechanical properties, and sustained ANE releasing behavior, as well as outstanding hemostatic properties. The in vitro studies showed that the CS-PVA-ANE nanofiber mats could significantly suppress lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated differentiation of pro-inflammatory (M1) macrophage subsets, and notably reduce the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, as well as obviously decrease inflammatory cytokine release. The in vivo animal studies showed that the CS-PVA-ANE nanofiber mats promoted the healing of diabetic wounds by significantly enhancing wound closure rates, accelerating excellent angiogenesis, promoting re-epithelization and collagen matrix deposition throughout all stages of wound healing. The present study demonstrated that CS-PVA-ANE nanofiber mats could effectively shorten the wound-healing time by inhibiting inflammatory activity, which makes them promising candidates for the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds caused by diabetes.