Search

There is significant interest in using postbiotics as an intervention strategy to address obesity. This study assesses the efficacy of postbiotics derived from different sourdough strains ( Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LP1, LP25, and Pediococcus pentosaceus PP18) in mitigating intestinal injury in zebrafish fed on a high-fat diet. We screened postbiotics for their anti-colon cancer cell effects and compared various preparation methods applied to live bacterial strains, including heat-killing at different temperatures, pH adjustments, and ultraviolet radiation exposure. Heat-killing at 120 °C proved to be the most effective preparation method. A marked variation in health effects was observed in the heat-killed microbial cells, as evidenced by their hydrophobicity and self-aggregation ability. A five-week high-fat dietary intervention study in zebrafish demonstrated that diets supplemented with 10 8 CFU g -1 K-LP25 significantly attenuated weight gain and body fat, along with reductions in FASN , Leptin , and SREBF1 mRNA expression. However, diets supplemented with 10 7 CFU g -1 K-PP18 only reduced Leptin and SREBF1 mRNA expression. K-PP18 was more effective at mitigating gut barrier damage, promoting colonic Occludin , ZO-1 , and Claudin-1 levels. Additionally, K-LP25 supplementation markedly downregulated the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α , IL-6 , and IL-1β , reducing intestinal inflammation. Supplementation with K-LP1 and K-PP18 increased the abundance of Acinetobacter spp., whereas K-LP25 increased the abundance of Cetobacterium and Plesiomonas . Collectively, these findings suggest that inactivated strains confer protective effects against high-fat diet-induced intestinal damage in zebrafish, with variation observed across different species. Studying the effects of sourdough-derived postbiotics on gut health may open new avenues for dietary interventions to manage gut-related diseases.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been linked to congenital heart disease and fetal alcohol syndrome. The heart primarily relies on mitochondria to generate energy, so impaired mitochondrial function due to alcohol exposure can significantly affect cardiac development and function. Our study aimed to investigate the impact of PAE on myocardial and mitochondrial functions in offspring mice., Methods: We administered 30% alcohol (3 g/kg) to pregnant C57BL/6 mice during the second trimester. We assessed cardiac function by transthoracic echocardiography, observed myocardial structure and fibrosis through staining tests and electron transmission microscopy, and detected cardiomyocyte apoptosis with dUTP nick end labeling assay and real-time quantitative PCR. Additionally, we measured the reactive oxygen species content, ATP level, and mitochondrial DNA copy number in myocardial mitochondria. Mitochondrial damage was evaluated by assessing the level of mitochondrial membrane potential and the opening degree of mitochondrial permeability transition pores., Results: Our findings revealed that PAE caused cardiac systolic dysfunction, ventricular enlargement, thinned ventricular wall, cardiac fibrosis in the myocardium, scattered loss of cardiomyocytes, and disordered arrangement of myocardial myotomes in the offspring. Furthermore, we observed a significant increase in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species content, a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP level, and mitochondrial DNA copy number, and sustained opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores in the heart tissues of the offspring., Conclusions: These results indicated that PAE had adverse effects on the cardiac structure and function of the newborn mice and could trigger oxidative stress in their myocardia and contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The high-fat diet would lead to excessive fat storage in the liver to form metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and the trend is burgeoning. The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of chlorogenic acid (CGA) on metabolites and gut microorganisms in MASLD mice induced by a high-fat diet. In comparison to the HF group, the TC (total cholesterol), TG (total triglycerides), LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (alanine transaminase) levels were reduced after CGA supplement. CGA led to an increase in l-phenylalanine, l-tryptophan levels, and promoted fatty acid degradation. CGA increased the abundance of the Muribaculaceae , Bacteroides and Parabacteroides . Changes in these microbes were significantly associated with the liver metabolites level and lipid profile level. These data suggest important roles for CGA regulating the gut microbiota, liver and caecum content metabolites, and TG-, TC- and LDL-C lowering function.

Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis is a significant and dominant bacterial species of sourdough microbiota from ecological and functional perspectives. Despite the remarkable prevalence of different strains of this species in sourdoughs worldwide, the drivers behind the genetic diversity of this species needed to be clarified. In this research, 14 F. sanfranciscensis strains were isolated from sourdough samples to evaluate the genetic diversity and variation in metabolic traits. These 14 and 31 other strains (obtained from the NCBI database) genomes were compared. The values for genome size and GC content, on average, turned out to 1.31 Mbp and 34.25%, respectively. In 45 F. sanfranciscensis strains, there were 162 core genes and 0 to 51 unique genes present in each strain. The primary functions of core genes were related to nucleotide, lipid transport, and amino acid, as well as carbohydrate metabolism. The size of core genes accounted for 41.18% of the pan-genome size in 14 F. sanfranciscensis strains, i.e., 0.70 Mbp of 1.70 Mbp. There were genetic variations among the 14 strains involved in carbohydrate utilization and antibiotic resistance. Moreover, exopolysaccharides biosynthesis-related genes were annotated, including epsABD , wxz , wzy . The Type IIA & IE CRISPR-Cas systems, pediocin PA-1 and Lacticin_3147_A1 bacteriocins operons were also discovered in F. sanfranciscensis . These findings can help to select desirable F. sanfranciscensis strains to develop standardized starter culture for sourdough fermentation, and expect to provide traditional fermented pasta with a higher quality and nutritional value for the consumers.

Background: Prenatal exposure to adverse factors can cause congenital heart defects. Ketamine, a widely used anesthetic drug, produces several adverse reactions such as tachycardia, hypertension, and laryngospasm, especially in pediatric patients. This study aimed to detect the effects of ketamine exposure during pregnancy on the cardiogenesis of mouse offspring and the potential mechanisms., Methods: In this study, ketamine at an addictive dose (5 mg/kg) was administered to mice during early gestation to explore the epigenetic mechanism of its causing cardiac dysplasia. The cardiac morphology of the mouse offspring was observed through hematoxylin-eosin staining and transmission electron microscopy. The heart function of one-month-old neonates was detected by echocardiography. The expression of cardiomyogenesis-related genes was detected by western blot and RT-qPCR. The acetylation level of histone H3K9 at the Mlc2 promoter and its deacetylase level and activity were detected by CHIP-qPCR, RT-qPCR, and ELISA, respectively., Results: Our data revealed that ketamine exposure during pregnancy could cause cardiac enlargement, myocardial sarcomere disorganization, and decreased cardiac contractile function in mouse offspring. Moreover, ketamine reduced the expression of Myh6, Myh7, Mlc2, Mef2c, and cTnI. The histone H3K9 acetylation level at the Mlc2 promoter was down-regulated by increasing the histone deacetylase activity and HDAC3 level upon ketamine administration., Conclusions: Our work indicates that H3K9 acetylation is a vital player in cardiac dysplasia in offspring caused by prenatal ketamine exposure and HDAC3 is a key regulatory factor., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Citrus peel is rich in bioactive components, especially polyphenols, which are considered to have great potential in the prevention of intestinal diseases. The intestinal mucus barrier is the first defense against the invasion of foreign substances. In this study, we aimed to explore the possibility and mechanism of citrus peel in alleviating the mucus barrier damage in high-fat-diet (HFD) mice. We found that citrus peel powder (CPP) supplementation effectively reduced body weight, fat weight, intestinal permeability, hyperlipidemia, and systemic inflammation in HFD-fed mice. In particular, CPP increased the number of goblet cells, the protein expression of Mucin-2 (Muc2), and the thickness of the mucus layer, thereby strengthening the colonic mucus barrier function. Moreover, CPP supplementation also reduced the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) proteins (GRP78 and CHOP) and increased the expression of T-synthase (O-glycosylation rate-limiting enzyme) and its chaperone protein (Cosmc) in the colon of HFD-fed mice, which suggested that CPP could improve the abnormal protein folding and O-glycosylation of Muc2 during processing and modification. In summary, our study indicates that CPP plays an effective role in relieving mucus barrier damage by improving the production and properties of Muc2, providing new perspectives on the development of CPP as a dietary supplement for strengthening the intestinal barrier., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Forward osmosis (FO) membrane fouling is one of the main reasons that hinder the further application of FO technology in the treatment of dye wastewater. To alleviate membrane fouling, a conductive coal carbon-based substrate and polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs) interlayer composite FO membrane (CPFO) was prepared by interfacial polymerization (IP). CPFO-10 membrane prepared by depositing 10 mL of PDA NPs solution exhibited an optimum performance with water flux of 7.56 L/(m 2 h) for FO mode and 10.75 L/(m 2 h) for pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) mode, respectively. For rhodamine B and chrome black T dye wastewater treatment, the water flux losses were reduced by 21.6%, and 14.5% under the voltages of +1.5 V, and -1.5 V, respectively, compared with no voltage applied after the device was operated for 8 h. The applied voltage had little effect on the fouling mitigation performance of the CPFO membrane for neutral charged cresol red. After the device was operated for 4 cycles, the rejection rates of dyes wastewater treated by the CPFO membranes with applied voltage were close to 100%. The flux decline rate and flux recovery rate of CPFO membrane for rhodamine B and chrome black T wastewater treatment under application of +1.5 V and -1.5 V voltage after 4 cycles were 11.6%, 99.2%, and 16.7%, 98.9%, respectively. Therefore, the voltage-applied CPFO membrane still maintained good rejection and antifouling performance in long-term operation. This study provides a new insight into the preparation of conductive FO membranes for dye wastewater treatment and membrane fouling control., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In order to investigate the pollution situation and sources analysis of heavy metals in bamboo shoot soil in Guangdong Province, a total of 175 soil samples were collected at 46 sites. Atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry were used to determine the content of five heavy metals: lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), and chromium (Cr). In addition, the soil environmental quality was evaluated through different index methods, including single-factor pollution, Nemeiro comprehensive pollution, geoaccumulation, and potential ecological risk. Furthermore, the correlation coefficients were also discussed. The results showed that the soils collected were acidic or slight alkaline. The maximum content of Pb and As from some areas exceeded the standard limit value. The coefficient of variation value from six areas exceeded 100%. The index method mentioned above confirmed that the soil within study areas was divided into three pollution levels: no, slightly, and mild. Additionally, there was a very significant correlation between pH and Pb, Hg; the correlation between heavy metal As and Pb, Cr also reached a very significant level. The principal component analysis results show that PC1 accounts for 39.60% of the total variance, which includes Pb, Cd, and As. PC2 mainly includes Hg and Cr.

A high-fat diet (HFD) could cause gut barrier damage. The herbs in si-wu (SW) include dang gui ( Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels), shu di huang (the processed root of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. ), chuan xiong (rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort.), and bai shao (the root of Paeonia lactiflora f. pilosella (Nakai) Kitag.). Si-wu water extracts (SWE) have been used to treat blood deficiency. Components of one herb from SW have been reported to have anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity activities. However, there have been no reports about the effects of SWE on gut barrier damage. Therefore, the aim of the study was to explore the effect of SWE on gut barrier damage. In this study, we found that SWE effectively controlled body weight, liver weight, and feed efficiency, as well as decreased the serum TC level in HFD-fed mice. Moreover, SWE and rosiglitazone (Ros, positive control) increased the colonic alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level, down-regulated serum pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, and reduced intestinal permeability. In addition, SWE increased goblet cell numbers and mucus layer thickness to strengthen the mucus barrier. After supplementation with SWE and rosiglitazone, the protein expression of CHOP and GRP78 displayed a decrease, which improved the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress condition. Meanwhile, the increase in Cosmc and C1GALT1 improved the O-glycosylation process for correct protein folding. These results collectively demonstrated that SWE improved the mucus barrier, focusing on Muc2 mucin expression, in a prolonged high-fat diet, and provides evidence for the potential of SWE in the treatment of intestinal disease-associated mucus barrier damage., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Gannan navel orange and Jinggang pomelo, belonging to the genus Citrus, are good sources of phenolic compounds, which are mainly concentrated in the peel. These phenolic compounds are considered promising in the prevention and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In order to maximize nutrients retention and bioactivity in the peel, pomelo peel and orange peel were processed using freeze-drying technology and mixed in the ratio (pomelo peel powder 50% and orange peel powder 50%) to make citrus peel powder (CPP). The purpose of this study was to explore new strategies and mechanisms associated with the consumption of CPP to alleviate nonalcoholic fatty liver injury, lipid metabolism disorders, and gut microbiota dysbiosis in obese mice induced by high-fat diet (HFD). The results showed that after 12 weeks of CPP administration, CPP supplementation had a strong inhibitory effect on HFD-induced weight gain, hepatic fat accumulation, dyslipidemia, and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In particular, CPP modulates the composition of the intestinal flora, such as increasing the relative abundance of phylum Firmicutes , genus Faecalibaculum , genus Lactobacillus , genus Dubosiella , and genus Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_ group and decreasing the relative abundance of phylum Bacteroidota , genus Helicobacter , and genus Bacteroides . These results suggest that CPP has a preventive effect on NAFLD, which can be related to the regulation of intestinal flora.