Berberine alleviates inflammation and suppresses PLA2-COX-2-PGE2-EP2 pathway through targeting gut microbiota in DSS-induced ulcerative colitis.

Berberine, isolated from Coptis chinensis and Phellodendron amurense, can attenuate colonic injury and modulate gut microbiota disorders in ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the mechanism and causal relationship between gut microbiota and the efficacy of Berberine on UC are still unclear, which were investigated by pseudo-germ-free (PGF) mice, 16S rRNA gene analysis and transcriptome analysis in this study. The results demonstrated that Berberine improved gut microbiota disorders, colon damage, tight-junction proteins, inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in DSS-induced colitis mice with intact gut microbiota but not in PGF mice. Besides, immune-related and inflammation-related pathways were closely related to the efficacy that Berberine alleviated colitis by regulating gut microbiota. Furthermore, Berberine reduced PGE2, PLA2, COX-2, Ptges, EP2 and p-Stat3 only in colitis mice with intact gut microbiota. In summary, our study confirms that Berberine inhibits PLA2-COX-2-PGE2-EP2 pathway in UC through gut microbiota, leading to the alleviation of inflammation in colon, which further elucidates the underlying mechanism and promotes the application of Berberine in UC.

Qing-Kai-Ling oral liquid alleviated pneumonia via regulation of intestinal flora and metabolites in rats.

Background: Qing-Kai-Ling (QKL) oral liquid, evolving from a classical Chinese formula known as An-Gong-Niu-Huang pills, is a well-established treatment for pneumonia with its mechanism remaining muddled. Studies have shown that the regulation of both intestinal flora and host-microbiota co-metabolism may contribute to preventing and treating pneumonia. The study aimed to investigate the potential mechanism by which QKL alleviates pneumonia from the perspective of 'microbiota-metabolites-host' interaction. Methods: We evaluated the therapeutic effects of QKL on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pneumonia rats. To explore the protective mechanism of QKL treatment, a multi-omics analysis that included 16S rDNA sequencing for disclosing the key intestinal flora, the fecal metabolome to discover the differential metabolites, and whole transcriptome sequencing of lung tissue to obtain the differentially expressed genes was carried out. Then, a Spearman correlation was employed to investigate the association between the intestinal flora, the fecal metabolome and inflammation-related indices. Results: The study demonstrated that pneumonia symptoms were significantly attenuated in QKL-treated rats, including decreased TNF-α, NO levels and increased SOD level. Furthermore, QKL was effective in alleviating pneumonia and provided protection equivalent to that of the positive drug dexamethasone. Compared with the Model group, QKL treatment significantly increased the richness and αlpha diversity of intestinal flora, and restored multiple intestinal genera (e.g., Bifidobacterium, Ruminococcus_torques_group, Dorea, Mucispirillum, and Staphylococcus) that were correlated with inflammation-related indices. Interestingly, the intestinal flora demonstrated a strong correlation with several metabolites impacted by QKL. Furthermore, metabolome and transcriptome analyses showed that enrichment of several host-microbiota co-metabolites [arachidonic acid, 8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid, LysoPC (20:0/0:0), LysoPA (18:0e/0:0), cholic acid, 7-ketodeoxycholic acid and 12-ketodeoxycholic acid] levels and varying lung gene (Pla2g2a, Pla2g5, Alox12e, Cyp4a8, Ccl19, and Ccl21) expression were observed in the QKL group. Moreover, these metabolites and genes were involved in arachidonic acid metabolism and inflammation-related pathways. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that QKL could potentially modulate intestinal flora dysbiosis, improve host-microbiota co-metabolism dysregulation and regulate gene expression in the lungs, thereby mitigating LPS-induced pneumonia in rats. The study may provide new ideas for the clinical application and further development of QKL.

A 120-year sedimentary record and its environmental implications, in a dated marine sediment core from Daya Bay in the northeastern South China Sea.

In a Daya Bay 120-year dated sediment core(1892-2010), analyses were conducted of grain-size, water content, TOC, TIC, TC, loss on ignition, TN, BSi and TP, to reconstruct the anthropogenic activity history. The entire core was divided into four periods. Multi-parametric measurements, their ratios and interrelations are seen to clearly reflect the development of agriculture, aquaculture, industry and social economy surrounding Daya Bay. The trends of TOC, TOM and BSi after 1990 may be due to mass input of nutritious matter from aquaculture and industry, whereas the trends of BSi, TOC and TOM between 1960 and 1990 were owing to aquaculture and agriculture. Two peaks of BSi, TOC and TOM in 1994 and 2002 imply that the mass input of cooling water from nuclear power plants may be a significant contributor to ecological environment changes. Finally, some proposals were put forward for the healthy and sustainable development of Daya Bay.

The abundance, composition and sources of marine debris in coastal seawaters or beaches around the northern South China Sea (China).

The abundance and composition of marine debris including floating marine debris (FMD), seafloor marine debris (SMD) and beached marine debris (BMD) were investigated in coastal seawaters/beaches around the northern South China Sea during 2009 and 2010. The FMD density was 4.947 (0.282-16.891) items/km², with plastics (44.9%) and Styrofoam (23.2%) dominating. More than 99.0% of FMD was small or medium size floating marine debris. The SMD and BMD densities of were 0.693 (0.147-5.000) and 32.82 (2.83-375.00) items/km², respectively. SMD was composed of plastics (47.0%), wood (15.2%), fabric/fiber (13.6%) and glass (12.1%), while BMD was composed of plastics (42.0%) and wood (33.7%). More than 90% of FMD, 75% of SMD and 95% of BMD were not ocean-based sources but land-based sources, mostly attributed to coastal/recreational activity, because of the effect of human activities in the areas.