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Persistent chronic oxidative stress is a primary pathogenic characteristics of diabetic foot ulcers. Puffball spores are a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat diabetic foot ulcers infections and bedsores. However, their effects against diabetic wounds and the mechanism underlying these effects remain largely unknown. The present study explored the effectiveness of puffball spores in diabetic wound treatment and the mechanisms underlying their effects. Sprague-Dawley rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes were treated with puffball spores to ascertain whether they accelerated wound healing.Real-time quantitative PCR, western blotting, hematoxylin-eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining, immunohistochemistry analysis, and immunofluorescence assays were performed. As indicated by wound and serum histology and biochemical analyses, the puffball spores accelerated wound healing by activating Akt/Nrf2 signaling and promoting the expression of its downstream antioxidant genes, markedly stimulating antioxidant activity and enhanceing angiogenesis and collagen deposition. Our findings showed that puffball spores could accelerate diabetic wound healing, enhance antioxidant ability, promote the expression of vascular markers, and suppress inflammation, thus providing a theoretical basis for the treatment of diabetic and refractory wounds.

Background: Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. Epimedii Folium is commonly used for treating bone fractures and joint diseases for thousands of years in China. Methods: This study was aimed to screen active components, which might have the potency to stimulate osteoblasts proliferation and differentiation in Epimedii Folium. An HPLC method was established to analyze the main components in Epimedii Folium. The MTT and ALP methods were utilized for the assay of osteoblasts proliferation and differentiation activity. Bavachin, a flavonoid compound was treated as the positive control. Results: Totally eight compounds have been identified by comparing their retention time with correspondent standard substances. Icariside I and icariside II significantly stimulated cell proliferation and osteoblasts differentiation. All these compounds were found with a characterized flavonoid structure in each of their molecule backbones. Conclusion: These results lead to a hypothesis that flavonoid monoglycoside structure might be crucial to exhibit the activity. The structure-effect relationship of these compounds with flavonoid monoglycoside structure in mouse primary calvarial osteoblasts needs to be explored in further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tongshankou Cu-Mo deposit, located in southeast Hubei province, is a typical skarn-porphyry type ore deposit closely related to the Tongshankou granodiorite porphyry, characterized by a high Sr/Y ratio. Detailed in situ analyses of the trace elements and U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopes in zircons from the Tongshankou granodiorite porphyry were performed. Scarcely any inherited zircons were observed, and the analyzed zircons yielded highly concordant results with a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 143.5 ± 0.45 Ma ( n=20, mean square weighted deviation was 0.75), which was interpreted to represent the crystallization age of the Tongshankou granodiorite porphyry. The chondrite-normalized rare-earth element pattern was characterized by a slope that steeply rises from the light-group rare-earth elements (LREE) to the heavy-group rare-earth elements (HREE) with a positive Ce-anomaly and inconspicuous Eu-anomaly, which was coincident with the pattern of the zircons from the Chuquicamata West porphyry, Chile. The analyzed zircons also had relatively low 176Hf/177Hf ratios of 0.282526-0.282604. Assuming t=143 Ma, the corresponding calculated initial Hf isotope compositions ( εHf( t)) ranged from −5.6 to −2.9. The results of the in situ analysis of trace elements and U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopes in zircons from the Tongshankou granodiorite porphyry suggest that a deep-seated process involving a thickened-crust/enriched-mantle interaction may play an important role in the generation of high Sr/Y-ratio magma and potentially in the generation of porphyry Cu-Mo systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]