Effects of escitalopram oxalate plus low-dose trazodone on psychological state and quality of life in patients with treatment-refractory depression.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of escitalopram oxalate (ESC) plus low-dose (LD) trazodone (TRA) on the psychological state and quality of life (QOL) of patients with treatment-refractory depression (TRD). METHODS: In this retrospective study, we selected 111 TRD patients treated in the People's Hospital of Oedos Dongsheng District between February 2019 and February 2021; 54 patients who were treated with ESC were assigned to the control group (the Con) and the remaining 57 patients treated with ESC + LD-TRA were placed into the research group (the Res). The scores of Hamilton Anxiety/Depression Scale (HAMA, HAMD), Generic Quality of Life Inventory (GQOLI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale (PSQI), and Treatment Emergent Signs and Symptoms (TESS), as well as the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), S-100B protein (S-100B), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were determined before and after intervention. Besides, the curative effect and incidence of adverse reactions were compared. Furthermore, the risk factors affecting treatment ineffectiveness in TRD patients were analyzed by the multivariate Logistic model. RESULTS: Evident reductions were observed in the Res in terms of HAMA, HAMD and PSQI scores and S-100B and NSE levels after intervention. Eight weeks after intervention, the TESS score was significantly reduced in the Res but not significantly different from the Con; while the scores of various dimensions of the GQOIL and the BDNF level were elevated markedly in the Res that were higher than those of the Con. Moreover, the Res presented with an evidently higher overall response rate than the Con. The two groups had no statistical significance in the overall incidence of adverse reactions (fever, irritability, insomnia, nausea, etc.). Based on the multivariate Logistic model analysis, HAMA, HAMD, PSQI, TESS, BDNF, S-100B, NSE, and treatment modality were not independent risk factors for treatment ineffectiveness in TRD patients. CONCLUSIONS: ESC + LD-TRA can significantly improve the psychological status, QOL, sleep quality and neurological function of patients with TRD while improving efficacy and ensuring patient safety.

Surface decoration with leucine tetrapeptide: An antibacterial strategy against Gram-negative bacteria.

Surface-associated microbe contamination by Gram-negative bacteria poses a serious problem in medical care. Cationic peptides or polymers are the main materials used for antibacterial surface coating, but the positive charge may lead to blood coagulation. Therefore, exploiting surface coating which is free of positive charge and is effective for Gram-negative bacteria inactivation is in urgent need. In this study, inspired by the affinity between lipopolysaccharides of Gram-negative bacteria and Toll-like receptors of immune cells, we develop a leucine-based tetrapeptide coating strategy for combating Gram-negative bacteria. The obtained surface has excellent bactericidal activity against Gram-negative bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. A 1 mm2 coated glass surface could kill > 9.9 × 104 CFU bacteria in 1 h and has nearly no damage to mammal cells. Moreover, this surface coating strategy could be applied on various surfaces like glass slices, glass capillary cavity and thermoplastic polyurethane slices. And the coated surface could largely mitigate the microbe contamination in an in vivo subcutaneous implantation. This work paves a new way for antibacterial surface-coating which is behaving no positive charge and is of great importance for biomedical devices.

One-Dimensional Rod-like Tobacco Mosaic Virus Promotes Macrophage Polarization for a Tumor-Suppressive Microenvironment.

The phenotype of tumor-associated macrophages plays an important role in their function of regulating the tumor immune microenvironment. The M1-phenotype macrophages display tumor-killing and immune activating functions. Here we show that the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), a rod-like plant virus, can polarize macrophages to an M1 phenotype and shape a tumor-suppressive microenvironment. RAW 264.7 cells and bone marrow derived-macrophages (BMDMs) can recognize TMV via Toll-like receptor-4, and then the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways are activated, leading to the production of pro-inflammatory factors. Furthermore, the in vivo assessments on a subcutaneous co-injection tumor model show that the TMV-polarized BMDMs shape a tumor-suppressive microenvironment, resulting in remarkable delay of 4T1 tumor growth. Another in vivo assessment on an established tumor model indicates the high tumor-metastasis-inhibiting capacity of TMV-polarized BMDMs. This work suggests a role for this plant virus in macrophage-mediated therapeutic approaches and provides a strategy for tumor immunotherapy.

Identification of the Hub Genes and Potential Regulation Network in Chronic Hepatitis B via Bioinformatics Analysis.

Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a serious infectious disease which is induced by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This project was conducted to reveal the potential mechanism in CHB development via analyzing the public clinical data. Methods: GSE33857 and GSE110217, obtained from the GEO database, were used for bioinformatics excavation. Briefly, the raw data of GSE33857 and GSE110217 were analyzed with the GEO2R, and then the expressed matrix files were generated. The matrix files was visualized as heat map with R software. The targets of the miRNAs were analyzed with the miRDIP database. The functional annotation and pathway enrichment were performed using "clusterProfiler" package in R software. The STRING database was utilized to analyze the interaction of the DEGs, and the PPI and miRNA-mRNA network were established according to the related results. Results: 93 downregulated genes and 17 upregulated genes in GES33857, and 111 downregulated and 40 upregulated genes in GSE110217 were identified as the hub nodes. The targets of the DEGs in the datasets were enriched in PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways and associated with transcriptional regulation. Moreover, PPI and miRNA-mRNA networks were also established with the DEGs and related targets in the datasets. miR-122-5p, miR-125b-5p, miR-136-5p, miR-194-5p, miR-139-5p, miR-140-5p, miR-181a-5p, and miR-29b-3p were identified as the potential biomarkers in CHB. Conclusion: Eight miRNAs, including miR-122-5p, miR-125b-5p, miR-136-5p, miR-194-5p, miR-139-5p, miR-140-5p, miR-181a-5p, and miR-29b-3p, were identified as the potential biomarkers in CHB, and the PPI and miRNA-mRNA networks were also established.

Synergistic effects and antityrosinase mechanism of four plant polyphenols from Morus and Hulless Barley.

Sanggenone C, oxyresveratrol, catechin and l-epicatechin exist in Morus and Hulless Barley as natural polyphenols with antityrosinase activity. Little research on their synergistic and structure-function relationships of them has been reported in recent years. In this paper, the inhibition mechanisms of these four plant polyphenols were investigated by enzyme kinetics, HPLC, fluorescence spectra, and molecular docking methods. The results showed that oxyresveratrol (IC50 = 1.096 ± 0.048 µg/mL), sanggenone C (IC50 = 13.360 ± 1.029 µg/mL), l-epicatechin (IC50 = 55.730 ± 1.762 µg/mL), and catechin (IC50 = 148.500 ± 3.355 µg/mL) exhibited tyrosinase inhibition activity. When sangenone C (14 µg/mL) was mixed with l-epicatechin (56 µg/mL) at 4:1 (40 µL + 10 µL), the highest tyrosinase inhibition was achieved. Molecular docking showed that the number and position of phenolic hydroxyls of polyphenols were the key for tyrosinase inhibition activity. This study provided new ideas for the application of these four plant polyphenols from Hulless Barley and Morus as tyrosinase inhibitors in food preservation.

Amino Acid Dependent Performance of Modified Chitosan Against Bacteria and Red Blood Cell.

In order to combat antibiotic resistance, the development of new antibacterial agents is essential. In this study, we prepared four types of amino acid modified chitosan (CS-AA). Compared with chitosan modified with hydrophobic amino acids, the chitosan modified with positively charged amino acids showed higher antibacterial efficiency against Escherichia coli (E. coli) under similar grafting rate. CS-AA achieves antibacterial properties mainly by destroying the integrity of bacterial cell membranes. All the four types of CS-AA show low toxicity towards red blood cells. This work indicates that positively charged groups are more important than hydrophobic groups in the design of chitosan-based antibacterial agents, and provides helpful information for the molecular design of effective antibacterial agents.

[Fingerprint of X-ray diffraction of Tibetan medicine dairy Nanhanshuishi and its application in processing by microwave].

The characteristic fingerprint of conventional dairy Nanhanshuishi was established by X-ray diffraction (XRD), based on similarity of caculation on public peaks by MATLAB software, and the feasibility of new dairy technology of microwave method was explored between XRD and the dissolution rate in artificial simulation gastric juices. The result showed that similarity of shared peak in XRD of conventional dairy Nanhanshuishi was > 95%, This XRD characteristic fingerprint of conventional dairy Nanhanshuishi had strong specificity, could be used to provide a reference for identification and quality evaluation. This study also showed that the similarity of microware dairy products and conventional dairy products was good, and the sample of microwave 15 min was the best, and new dairy method by the microwave could replace the traditional method.

A new chlorinated diphenyl ether and five known polyketide metabolites from Penicillium griseofulvum cib-119.

A series of polyketide metabolites (1-6), including a new chlorinated diphenyl ether (4-chloro-7,4'-dihydroxy-5,2'-dimethoxy-2-methylformate-6'-methybenzophone, 1), were isolated from the solid-fermented rice culture of Penicillium griseofulvum cib-119. The structure of compound 1 was determined on the basis of NMR spectra and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. In addition, compound 1 showed weak cytotoxic activity against prostatic carcinoma cell (PC-3). Compounds 3-5 exhibited significant antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis.

[Purification and composition analysis of polysaccharide RCPS from Rhodiola crenulata].

Hot water extracting and ethanol precipitating method was employed to isolate polysaccharides. RCP (Rhodiola crenulata polysaccharide) was fractionally precipitated with EtOH. RCP3 (Rhodiola crenulata polysaccharide 3) was one of the three fractions. RCPS was obtained after RCP3 was purified by deproteination; decolourization and gel chromatography on Sephadex G-100. The homogeneity and molecular masses of RCPS were proved by HLGPC. The amount of total carbohydrates of RCPS was measured with phenol-sulfuric acid method. IR spectrometry and UV-spectrophotometer were used to determine the characteristic absorption of RCPS. The monosaccharides contained in the RCPS were analyzed by GC. The amount of total carbohydrates in RCPS is 99.11%. The molecular weight was 27 876. IR spectrometry analysis indicated that RCPS showed typical signals of acid polysaccharide, including signals at 3 424.83, 2 934.10, 1 742.11, 1 438.96, 1 261.40, 1 103.54 and 832.86 cm(-1); UV-spectrophotometer analysis indicated that RCPS showed a signal of polysaccharide at 195 nm and no signals of protein, nucleic acid at 260 and 280 nm. The monosaccharide constituents of RCPS were Rha, Ara, Xyl, Man, Glu, Gal and GalA, and their molar proportions were 1 : 2.96 : 0.21 : 0.26 : 0.08 : 0.58 and 0.15, respectively.