Isoorientin protects lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice via modulating Keap1/Nrf2-HO-1 and NLRP3 inflammasome pathways.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a pulmonary disease with high mortality. The present study investigated the protective effect of isoorientin (ISO) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI compared with Thalictrum minus L. (TML). The experimental ALI was achieved by LPS via endotracheal drip, ISO and TML (40 mg/kg) were administered orally 1 h prior to LPS. ISO treatment significantly protected mice from ALI and exhibited similar efficacy as TML. Administration of ISO markedly corrected weight loss and improved lung pathological damage caused by LPS. Meanwhile, a decline of lung wet to dry weight (W/D) ratios and total protein in bronchoalveolar fluid (BALF) demonstrated that ISO mitigated pulmonary edema and vascular leakage of ALI mice. Moreover, ISO also signally decreased oxidative stress and suppressed the content of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in BALF. Additionally, ISO significantly promoted the expression of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and down-regulated kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1). Simultaneously, it suppressed the over-expression of NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) and pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin IL-1ß (pro-IL-1ß), and inhibited the expression of apoptotic related proteins induced by LPS challenge. Meanwhile, the results of molecular docking indicated the potential ability of ISO as a ligand binding with proteins Keap1, NLRP3 and cleaved-caspase-3 as well. These findings demonstrated that ISO might be one of the bioactive components of TML in the treatment of ALI and provided a rationale for future clinical applications and potential protective strategies for ALI.

Ruscogenin attenuates particulate matter-induced acute lung injury in mice via protecting pulmonary endothelial barrier and inhibiting TLR4 signaling pathway.

The inhalation of particulate matter (PM) is closely related to respiratory damage, including acute lung injury (ALI), characterized by inflammatory fluid edema and disturbed alveolar-capillary permeability. Ruscogenin (RUS), the main active ingredient in the traditional Chinese medicine Ophiopogonis japonicus, has been found to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity and rescue LPS-induced ALI. In this study, we investigated whether and how RUS exerted therapeutic effects on PM-induced ALI. RUS (0.1, 0.3, 1 mg·kg-1·d-1) was orally administered to mice prior to or after intratracheal instillation of PM suspension (50 mg/kg). We showed that RUS administration either prior to or after PM challenge significantly attenuated PM-induced pathological injury, lung edema, vascular leakage and VE-cadherin expression in lung tissue. RUS administration significantly decreased the levels of cytokines IL-6 and IL-1ß, as well as the levels of NO and MPO in both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum. RUS administration dose-dependently suppressed the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and the expression of TLR4 and MyD88 in lung tissue. Furthermore, TLR4 knockout partly diminished PM-induced lung injury, and abolished the protective effects of RUS in PM-instilled mice. In conclusion, RUS effectively alleviates PM-induced ALI probably by inhibition of vascular leakage and TLR4/MyD88 signaling. TLR4 might be crucial for PM to initiate pulmonary lesion and for RUS to exert efficacy against PM-induced lung injury.

Notes on Eurypalpae genus group (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae), with description of two new species.

The Eurypalpae genus group includes two genera, Ceratopompa Karsch and Zulpha Walker, which are distributed from southeastern Asia to northern Oceania southwards, and to southern China northwards. Each genus has been recorded as monotypic, including two mysterious taxa: C. festiva Karsch and Z. perlaria (Westwood). In this study, we redescribe the known species with broadened distributional ranges, and describe 2 new species: Zulpha ruohua sp. nov. and Zulpha fenghuang sp. nov., with relevant illustrations. The geographic fistribution of the genus group is discussed and mapped. The types are deposited in Insect Collection of Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (IZCAS).

[Chloroplast DNA trnQ-rps16 variation and genetic structure of nine wild Chinese cherry (Cerasus pseudocerasus Lindl.) populations].

Chinese cherry (Cerasus pseudocerasus Lindl.) is one of the most economically domestic fruit trees in China. The rich variation of wild Chinese cherry is the most important breeding resource for existing cultivars. In order to reveal the levels and distribution of genetic variation within wild Chinese cherry of Sichuan Province, China, where is rich in wild Chinese cherry, the sequence variation of chloroplast DNA trnQ-rps16 intergenic spacer was analyzed in 145 individuals of all nine existing populations (seven from Sichuan, two from Shanxi and Guizhou provinces) of China. The results showed that trnQ-rps16 sequence were aligned with 13 polymorphic sites (1.87%), including 3 substitutions and 10 indels in 145 individuals, which revealed a low level of genetic diversity (h= 0.562, π= 0.00184). Compared to other regions (h= 0.733, π= 0.00243), a rather lower genetic diversity (h= 0.544, π= 0.00203) was found in the populations from Sichuan, and a large scale of genetic diversity among the seven populations was detected (h= 0-0.708; π= 0-0.00298), ranging from EM (h=0.000, π=0.000) to TL (h=0.708, π=0.00298). The low genetic diversity of populations may be strongly affected by founder effect and bottleneck effect because of the marginal nature, recent reduction, and consequent genetic drift of these populations. In addition, a fairly low genetic differentiation (FST= 0.21573) was found among the studied populations. This suggest that gene flow seems to originate from pronounced seed dispersal abilities of the species and it may play a significant role in shaping such a genetic structure. The long generation cycle of the species may also contribute to this structure. Based on these findings, a conservational plan for sampling or preserving fewer populations but more individuals from each population for the species was proposed.