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Optimizing the metabolic phenotype to improve cerebral function is critical for treatment of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Guhong injection (GHI), which comprised safflower extract and aceglutamide, is widely prescribed in Chinese medicine for the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. In this study, a combination of LC-QQQ-MS and MALDI–MSI were utilized to explore tissue-specific metabolic alterations in the brain of I/R, as well as to evaluate the therapeutic effect of GHI. Pharmacological evaluation demonstrated that GHI can significantly improve infarction rate, neurological deficit, cerebral blood flow, and neuronal damage in I/R rats. Based on LC-QQQ-MS, 23 energy metabolites were found to be significantly altered in the I/R group compared to the sham group (P < 0.05). After GHI treatment, 12 metabolites, including G6P, TPP, NAD, citrate, succinate, malate, ATP, GTP, GDP, ADP, NADP, and FMN showed a significant tendency of returning to baseline values (P < 0.05). Based on MALDI-MSI, 4 metabolites in glycolysis and TCA, 4 metabolites in nucleic acid metabolism, 4 amino acid metabolites, and 6 metabolites were discovered and compared between the different groups in the four special regions of cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and striatum. Parts of these were found to have significant changes after I/R in the special brain region, and were regulated by GHI. The study provides comprehensive and detailed information for specific metabolic reprogramming of brain tissue in rats with I/R, and the therapeutic effect of GHI. Schema describing the discovery strategies of integrated LC-MS and MALDI-MSI to identify cerebral ischemia reperfusion metabolic reprogramming and GHI therapeutic effects [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Metabolic reprogramming is one of the important mechanisms of cell differentiation, and different cells have different preferences for energy sources. During the differentiation of naive CD4 + T cells into Th17 and Treg cells, these cells show specific energy metabolism characteristics. Th17 cells depend on enhanced glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis, and glutaminolysis. In contrast, Treg cells are dependent on oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid oxidation, and amino acid depletion. As a potent antimalarial drug, artesunate has been shown to modulate the Th17/Treg imbalance and regulate cell metabolism. Methodology: Relevant literatures on ART, cellular metabolism, glycolysis, lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, CD4 + T cells, Th17 cells, and Treg cells published from January 1, 2010 to now were searched in PubMed database. Conclusion: In this review, we will highlight recent advances in which artesunate can restore the Th17/Treg imbalance in disease states by altering T-cell metabolism to influence differentiation and lineage selection. Data from the current study show that few studies have focused on the effect of ART on cellular metabolism. ART can affect the metabolic characteristics of T cells (glycolysis, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism) and interfere with their differentiation lineage, thereby regulating the balance of Th17/Treg and alleviating the symptoms of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The butterfly tribe Tagiadini Mabille, 1878 is a large group of skippers. Although there are a few species which are limited in distribution to some countries in the Oriental or Afrotropical region, the main radiation of the tribe is in China. In the present study, we constructed the first detailed molecular phylogeny of the Chinese species in the tribe based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes, and investigated its history of larval hostplants association. Maximum likelihood phylogeny strongly supports for monophyly of Tagiadini from China and confirms the most recent accepted species in the tribe. The controversial position of some species are presented and discussed. The systematic relationship of larval hostplants and Tagiadini species match well in phylogeny tree. They show conservatism in evolution of larval hostplant use. Moreover, the divergence time estimates and ancestral-area reconstructions provide a detailed description about the historical biogeography of the Tagiadini from China. The Chinese species of the tribe very likely originated from a combined ancestral area between Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains and Southern China region in the late Ecocene and expanded to the other regions. A dispersal-vicariance analysis suggests that dispersal events have played essential roles in the promotion of diversification in this tribe and distribution of extant species, and geological and climatic changes have been important factors driving current distribution patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stemonae Radix (dried roots of Stemona japonica (Bl.) Miq., Stemona sessilifolia (Miq.) Miq., and Stemona tuberosa Lour.), a widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is also known as "Baibu" (Chinese: 百部). Stemonae Radix has a wide range of pharmacological effects, mainly used to treat respiratory diseases and as an insecticide. In this review, with the help of both published materials (such as ancient and modern books, monographs on medicinal plants, and the pharmacopoeia of different countries) and electronic databases (such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar), we have summarized the up-to-date research progress in botany, traditional application, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, and quality control, and discussed the research prospects and development direction of Stemonae Radix and its origin plants. Up to now, more than 170 compounds were isolated and identified from the three official species of Stemonae Radix, mainly including Stemona alkaloids, Stemona stilbenoids and other components. This medicine has also exhibited pharmacological activities, including antitussive, antiviral, insecticidal, antitumor, antioxidant, and therapeutic effects on lung diseases. However, pharmacological reports most often attribute activities to various extracts, rather than specific compounds. This hampers the establishment of a connection between chemical constituents and pharmacological activities, resulting in a difficulty to identify the major active compounds. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to design experiments to deeply understand the development and clinical use of Stemonae Radix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cassiae Semen (CS), the seeds of Cassia obtusifolia L. and C. tora L, have a long medicinal history in China, with suggestions for it to relieve constipation and exert hepatoprotective effects. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, mice with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were used to study the hepatoprotective effects of CS. The relationship between gut microbiota and hepatoprotective effect mechanisms mediated by CS extracts, the total aglycone extracts of CS, rubrofusarin-6-β-gentiobioside, and aurantio-obtusin were examined. Our data indicate that CS extracts and components confer a protective effect by ameliorating lipid accumulation, intestinal barrier damage, liver damage, and inflammation on HFD-induced liver injury. Meanwhile, fecal microbe transplantation exerted the pharmacological effect of CS on HFD-fed mice; however, the efficacy of CS was inhibited or eliminated by antibiotic-induced dysbiosis. In conclusion, the therapeutic effects of CS on NAFLD were closely related to the gut microbiota, suggesting a role for TCM in treating disease. Luo, Wu, et al. assess the ability of Cassiae Semen and its extracted components to alleviate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in mice. In addition to reducing the symptoms of NAFLD, the authors find that Cassiae Semen modifies the gut microbiome of mice, and that its effects on the symptoms of NAFLD can also be conferred by fecal microbiome transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous neuroimaging studies demonstrated that patients with strabismus or amblyopia can show significant functional and anatomical changes in the brain, but alterations of interhemispheric functional connectivity (FC) have not been well studied in this population. The current study analyzed whole-brain changes of interhemispheric FC in children with strabismus and amblyopia (CSA) using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC).A total of 24 CSA (16 males and 8 females) and 24 normal controls (NCs) consisting of 16 and 8 age-, sex, and education-matched males and females, respectively, underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans in the resting state. According to Gaussian random field theory, changes in the resting state FC (rsFC) between hemispheres were evaluated using the VMHC method. The relationships between mean VMHC values in multiple brain regions and behavioral performance were evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis. In contrast to NCs, the CSA group showed significantly decreased VMHC values in the bilateral cerebellum, bilateral frontal superior orbital (frontal sup orb), bilateral temporal inferior(temporal inf),and bilateral frontal superior(frontal sup). CSA have abnormal interhemispheric FC in many brain regions, which may reflect dysfunction of eye movements and visual fusion. These findings might provide insight into the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms of CSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkin-related mitophagy is vital for endothelial cell viability and the development of atherosclerosis, although the upstream regulatory factor underlying Parkin-mediated mitophagy in endothelial apoptosis and atherosclerosis progression remains unknown. In the present study, we demonstrated that nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (NR4A1) is actually expressed in aortic endothelial cells (AECs) under oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) treatment in vitro or isolated from high-fat treated mice in vivo. Higher NR4A1 levels were associated with AEC apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, and energy disorder. At the molecular level, ox-LDL stimulation increased NR4A1 expression, which evoked Parkin-mediated mitophagy. Excessive mitophagy overtly consumed mitochondrial mass, leading to an energy shortage and mitochondrial dysfunction. However, loss of NR4A1 protected AECs against ox-LDL induced apoptosis by inhibiting excessive mitophagy. Furthermore, we also identified that NR4A1 regulated Parkin activation via post-transcriptional modification by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Activated CaMKII via NR4A1 induced the phosphorylated activation of Parkin. In summary, our data support the role of NR4A1/CaMKII/Parkin/mitophagy in AEC apoptosis and atherosclerosis formation and provide new insights into treating atherosclerosis with respect to endothelial viability, mitophagy, and NR4A1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term creep behavior of a Ni-based superalloy Haynes 282 at 700 and 750 °C was investigated. The creep curves exhibit the traditional shape with three creep stages. The coarsening of the γ′ phase during creep at 700 and 750 °C can be detected. The applied stress plays an important role in the coarsening of γ′ particles because of the lattice misfit and the difference of elastic modulus between the matrix and γ′ phase. Dislocation shearing into the γ′ phase and the Orowan process are the dominant creep deformation mechanisms at 700 °C/322 MPa. Dislocations tend to shearing into γ′ phase at first; nevertheless, the Orowan bowing mechanism replaces the process of shear as the coarsening of γ′ phase. The dominant deformation mechanism at 750 °C/187 MPa and 750 °C/215 MPa is dislocation gliding combined with dislocation climbing. Dislocation networks distributed in the interface of γ/γ′ phase may change the direction of dislocations and promote them to climb over the γ′ phase. The fracture surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Intergranular fracture is the dominant failure mode of the three samples because of the softening of grain boundary and stress concentration. Quasi-cleavage fracture, which are attributed to the stress concentration at the carbides/matrix interface, can be observed on the fracture surface of the specimen crept at 700 °C/322 MPa, whereas dimples with small precipitates inside can be detected on the fracture surface of the samples crept at 750 °C/187 MPa and 750 °C/215 MPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A polymer-based monolithic column was prepared for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using ionic liquids as porogen within the confines of a stainless steel column (50 × 4.6 mm i.d.). In the process, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and dodecyl alcohol were used as bi-porogens, vinyl ester resin as the monomer, ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker, CCl as the initiator, and FeCl as the catalytic agent to prepare the polymer-based monolithic column. Scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption instrument, and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used to assay the characteristics of the monolith, respectively. The optimized monolith showed uniform structure and good permeability. Then, the column was used as the stationary phase of HPLC to separate standard proteins and human plasma with gradient elution. Besides, the monolith was used to separate aromatic compounds from the mixture. The results showed that the addition of IL could effectively improve the structure of monoliths prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization technique. The results also suggested that this kind of monolith could be used as a simple, cheap and effective stationary phase for HPLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccaria hispanica is utilized medicinally both in China and Turkey. Phytochemical screenings demonstrated that the phytochemical diversity of V. hispanica at least includes 63 distinct metabolites, embracing triterpenoid saponins, cyclic peptides, flavonoids and others. The pharmacological studies confirmed that the crude extracts or purified compounds from the plant showed galactopoietic activity, antitumor activity, effect on the blood and vessel, antioxidant activity, ameliorative effect on osteopenia and others. The present paper is aimed to provide a critical analysis of data from scientific evaluations and aimed to find out the linkage of the medicinal uses to the scientific studies. Simultaneously, the possible future direction and perspective for investigations are discussed, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crystallization behavior and transparent property of MgO-AlO-SiO (MAS) glasses with TiO and TiO+ZrO as nucleating agents were discussed by differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, field emission-environment scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrum and UV-VIS-NIR scanning spectrophotometer. It was found that the glass crystallized at 950 °C with ZrO less than 3% could obtain transparent glass ceramic, which presented purple to colorless. With the nucleating agent additives (5% TiO+3% ZrO), the colorless transparent glass-ceramics with spinel as the main crystal phase could be prepared, and the transmittance reached about 80%. As the crystallized temperature increase to 1 000 °C, besides spinel(MgAlO), sapphirine (MgAlSiO) and ZrTiO precipitated from matrix glass, and the transmitance of glass-ceramic decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]