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Tongmai Sini decoction (TSD), the classical prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine, consisting of three commonly used herbal medicines, has been widely applied for the treatment of myocardial infarction and heart failure. However, the absorbed components and their metabolism in vivo of TSD still remain unknown. In this study, a reliable and effective method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Exactive-MS/MS) was employed to identify prototype components and metabolites in vivo (rat plasma and urine). Combined with mass defect filtering (MDF), dynamic background subtraction (DBS), and neutral loss filtering (NLF) data-mining tools, a total of thirty-two major compounds were selected and investigated for their metabolism in vivo. As a result, a total of 82 prototype compounds were identified or tentatively characterized in vivo, including 41 alkaloids, 35 phenolic compounds, 6 saponins. Meanwhile, A total of 65 metabolites (40 alkaloids and 25 phenolic compounds) were tentatively identified. The metabolic reactions were mainly hydrogenation, demethylation, hydroxylation, hydration, methylation, deoxylation, and sulfation. These findings will be beneficial for an in-depth understanding of the pharmacological mechanism and pharmacodynamic substance basis of TSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the effect of (‐)‐hydroxycitric acid ((‐)‐HCA) on lipid and glucose metabolism, and further analyzed these actions whether associated with modulation of aldehyde dehydrogenase 3 family member A2 (ALDH3A2) expression in chicken embryos. Results showed that (‐)‐HCA decreased triglyceride content and lipid droplet counts, while these effects induced by (‐)‐HCA were reversed in chicken embryos pre‐transfected with sh4‐ALDH3A2. (‐)‐HCA decreased malic enzyme, acetyl‐CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase, and sterol regulatory element binding protein‐1c mRNA level, while increased carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A (CPT1A) and peroxisome proliferators‐activated receptor α (PPARα) mRNA level; and the action of (‐)‐HCA on lipid metabolism factors had completely eliminated in embryos pre‐transfected with sh4‐ALDH3A2. Chicken embryos pre‐transfected with sh4‐ALDH3A2 had eliminated the increasing of serum glucose and hepatic glycogen content induced by (‐)‐HCA. (‐)‐HCA decreased phosphofructokinase‐1 and increased G6P, fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and pyruvate carboxylase mRNA level in chicken embryos. Similarly, the effect of (‐)‐HCA on these key enzyme mRNA level was reversed in embryos pre‐transfected with sh4‐ALDH3A2. Furthermore, (‐)‐HCA increased PPAR‐γ‐coactivator‐1α (PGC‐1α), PPARα, hepatic nuclear factor‐4A, PEPCK, and CPT1A protein level, and these actions of (‐)‐HCA disappeared in embryos pre‐transfected with sh4‐ALDH3A2. These results indicated that (‐)‐HCA reduced fat accumulation and accelerated gluconeogenesis via activation of PGC‐1α signaling pathway, and these effects of (‐)‐HCA might associate with the increasing of ALDH3A2 expression level in chicken embryos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen is of key importance to sustain modern agriculture but how to accurately quantify the loss forms of fertilizer-derived nitrogen has been a challenge for bare loessial soil. We employ 30 simulated rainfalls to evaluate effects of rainfall intensity (45, 60, 75, 90, 105 and 120 mm/h) and slope gradient (5°, 10°, 15°, 20° and 25°) on dissolved and adsorbed nitrogen loss. Here, we show that there was an overall increasing trend of runoff yield with increased rainfall intensity and also an overall increasing trend of sediment yield with increased slope gradient. TN loss at different slopes was more concentrated under rainfall intensities of 45 mm/h and 60 mm/h and more dispersed under rainfall intensities of 75–120 mm/h. t -Test results showed that there were no significant differences for 6 TN samples at each slope ( p  > 0.05) and 5 TN samples at each rainfall intensity ( p  > 0.05). All NO 3 − -N concentration had a slight declining trend at the beginning of runoff yield and then gradually tended to be gentle with the prolongation of rainfall duration. All NH 4 + -N concentration first showed a sharp decreasing trend and then relatively levelled off with the prolongation of rainfall duration, but it was different and unstable for different rainfall intensities, especially in the first 10 min. Adsorbed TN under bare loess soil occupied 7.0–82.0% of TN loss with an average of 58.6%, while dissolved TN accounted for 18.0–93.0% with an average of 41.4%. NO 3 − -N and NH 4 + -N concentrations respectively accounted for 11.8–73.2% and 1.5–13.3% of TN loss under all combinations of rainfall intensity and slope. There were significant differences in variation trends among NO 3 − -N, NH 4 + -N and TN loss load under various rainfall intensities and slopes, but they all presented an overall upward trend with increased rainfall intensity. Our results provide the underlying insights needed to guide nitrogen loss control in sloping land of the loess hilly region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microscopic study of reservoirs in the Moliqing area is still not complete, and the understanding on microscopic pore structure characteristics, reasons for pore structure difference, and reservoir property controlling factors are unclear. By utilizing the thin casting slice, conventional and constant-speed mercury injection techniques combining multivariate analysis methods, the microscopic pore structure of the 2nd Member of Shuangyang formation reservoir in Moliqing fault depression is finely characterized. Based on the sedimentation and diagenesis, the reason for the pore structure complexity of extra/ultra-low permeability reservoirs is analyzed; and the multi-regression analysis is used to establish the prediction equation of reservoir permeability and the main controlling factors of reservoir physical properties are selected. The results show that reservoirs in the Moliqing area have the characteristics of extra/ultra-low permeability, complex pore structure and strong heterogeneity. The pore structure is mainly with the features of low discharge pressure, unobvious curve platform, poor sorting, and fineness, which can be divided into three types. Class I medium pore-low permeability-fine throat; Class II low port-extremely low permeability-micro fine throat; Class IIIa low pore-extremely low permeability-micro throat, and Class IIIb low pore-ultra low permeability-micro throat. The difference of original sedimentary conditions results in initial difference of microscopic pore characteristics, and the compaction during diagenesis and late carbonate cementation are another important factor leading to complex pore structure. The three parameters such as mean radius of the pore throat, pore structure coefficient, and expulsion pressure have significant effects on physical properties of reservoirs, where the effect of mean radius of the pore throat is the most significant. The research method and results can provide guidance to similar extra/ultra-low permeability sandstone reservoirs and subsequent reservoir classification evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion is a universal phenomenon on the Loess Plateau but it exhibits complex and typical mechanism which makes it difficult to understand soil loss laws on slopes. We design artificial simulated rainfall experiments including six rainfall intensities (45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 mm/h) and five slopes (5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25°) to reveal the fundamental changing trends of runoff and sediment yield on bare loess soil. Here, we show that the runoff yield within the initial 15 min increased rapidly and its trend gradually became stable. Trends of sediment yield under different rainfall intensities are various. The linear correlation between runoff and rainfall intensity is obvious for different slopes, but the correlations between sediment yield and rainfall intensity are weak. Runoff and sediment yield on the slope surface both presents an increasing trend when the rainfall intensity increases from 45 mm/h to 120 mm/h, but the increasing trend of runoff yield is higher than that of sediment yield. The sediment yield also has an overall increasing trend when the slope changes from 5° to 25°, but the trend of runoff yield is not obvious. Our results may provide data support and underlying insights needed to guide the management of soil conservation planning on the Loess Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chicken embryos are widely used as a model for studies of obesity; however, no detailed information is available about the dynamic changes of proteins during the regulation of adipose biology and metabolism. Thus, the present study used an isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based proteomic approach to identify the changes in protein abundance at different stages of chicken embryonic development. Results: In this study, the abundances of 293 hepatic proteins in 19-day old of chicken embryos compared with 14-day old and 160 hepatic proteins at hatching compared with 19-day old embryos were significantly changed. Pathway analysis showed that fatty acid degradation (upregulated ACAA2, CPT1A, and ACOX1), protein folding (upregulated PDIs, CALR3, LMAN1, and UBQLN1) and gluconeogenesis (upregulated ACSS1, AKR1A1, ALDH3A2, ALDH7A1, and FBP2) were enhanced from embryonic day 14 (E14) to E19 of chicken embryo development. Analysis of the differentially abundant proteins indicated that glycolysis was not the main way to produce energy from E19 to hatching day during chicken embryo development. In addition, purine metabolism was enhanced, as deduced from increased IMPDH2, NT5C, PGM2, and XDH abundances, and the decrease of growth rate could be overcome by increasing the abundance of ribosomal proteins from E19 to the hatching day. Conclusion: The levels of certain proteins were coordinated with each other to regulate the changes in metabolic pathways to satisfy the requirement for growth and development at different stages of chicken embryo development. Importantly, ACAA2, CPT1A, and ACOX1 might be key factors to control fat deposition during chicken embryonic development. These results provided information showing that chicken is a useful model to further investigate the mechanism of obesity and insulin resistance in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine the impact of (−)‐hydroxycitric acid ((−)‐HCA) on biochemical indices and lipid metabolism parameters in chicken embryos. Two hundred and forty fertilized eggs were divided into six groups and injected with (−)‐HCA at concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 10.0 and 50 mg/kg (n = 40). After 19 days of incubation, serum and liver were collected for analysis of biochemical indices and lipid metabolism parameters. Results showed no significant differences on serum biochemical indices: 1–50 mg/kg (−)‐HCA significantly increased serum glucose and hepatic glycogen contents (P < 0.05). Oil Red O staining analysis showed total area, counts of lipid droplets and hepatic triglyceride content were significantly decreased (P < 0.01), meanwhile hepatic lipase and lipoprotein lipase activity were significantly increased (P < 0.05). ACLY, ME1, SREBP‐1c messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in 0.5–10 mg/kg groups and FAS mRNA level in 1–10 mg/kg groups were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), while PPARα mRNA level, serum adiponectin content and AdipoR1 mRNA level were significantly increased in 0.5–50 mg/kg groups (P < 0.05). These results indicated (−)‐HCA treatment inhibited triglyceride synthesis via decreasing lipogenesis‐related factors, mRNA expression level and accelerated lipolysis by enhancing lipoprotein lipase and hepatic lipase activity, which finally reduced lipid droplet accumulation, and this action may be associated with activating the adiponectin signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: (-)-Hydroxycitric acid (HCA) had been shown to suppress fat accumulation in animals and humans, while the underlying biochemical mechanism is not fully understood, especially little information is available on whether (-)-HCA regulates energy metabolism and consequently affects fat deposition. Methods: Hepatocytes were cultured for 24 h and then exposed to (-)-HCA (0, 1, 10, 50 μM), enzyme protein content was determined by ELISA; lipid metabolism gene mRNA levels were detected by RT-PCR. Results: (-)-HCA significantly decreased the number and total area of lipid droplets. ATP-citrate lyase, fatty acid synthase and sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c mRNA level were significantly decreased after (-)-HCA treatment, whereas peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α mRNA level was significantly increased. (-)-HCA significantly decreased ATP-citrate lyase activity and acetyl-CoA content in cytosol, but significantly increased glucose consumption and mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate. (-)-HCA promoted the activity/content of glucokinase, phosphofructokinase-1, pyruvate kinase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, aconitase, succinate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, NADH dehydrogenase and ATP synthase remarkably. Conclusions: (-)-HCA decreased lipid droplets accumulation by reducing acetyl- CoA supply, which mainly achieved via inhibition of ATP-citrate lyase, and accelerating energy metabolism in chicken hepatocytes. These results proposed a biochemical mechanism of fat reduction by (-)-HCA in broiler chickens in term of energy metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(-)-Hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a major active ingredient of Garcinia Cambogia extracts, had shown to suppress body weight gain and fat accumulation in animals and humans. While, the underlying mechanism of (-)-HCA has not fully understood. Thus, this study was aimed to investigate the effects of long-term supplement with (-)-HCA on body weight gain and variances of amino acid content in rats. Results showed that (-)-HCA treatment reduced body weight gain and increased feed conversion ratio in rats. The content of hepatic glycogen, muscle glycogen, and serum T4 , T3 , insulin, and Leptin were increased in (-)-HCA treatment groups. Protein content in liver and muscle were significantly increased in (-)-HCA treatment groups. Amino acid profile analysis indicated that most of amino acid contents in serum and liver, especially aromatic amino acid and branched amino acid, were higher in (-)-HCA treatment groups. However, most of the amino acid contents in muscle, especially aromatic amino acid and branched amino acid, were reduced in (-)-HCA treatment groups. These results indicated that (-)-HCA treatment could reduce body weight gain through promoting energy expenditure via regulation of thyroid hormone levels. In addition, (-)-HCA treatment could promote protein synthesis by altering the metabolic directions of amino acids. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]