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The Koebner phenomenon, also known as isomorphic reaction, refers to the development of secondary lesions with the same clinical manifestations and histopathological characteristics as the primary lesions in normal skin after trauma or other stimuli. The triggering factors of Koebner phenomenon include physical trauma, chemical stimulation, mechanical stress, iatrogenic stimulation and pathogenic infection. Vitiligo, psoriasis and lichen planus are considered true Koebner phenomenon. Recent studies have shown that immunological disorders, oxidative stress, defective melanocyte adhesion and growth factor deficiency are the main pathological mechanisms of vitiligo Koebner phenomenon. In psoriasis, triggers may drive skin inflammation to induce a psoriatic phenotype through multiple signalling pathways and thereby cause Koebner phenomenon in susceptible individuals. Significantly, keratinocytes mediate the occurrence of Koebner phenomenon in psoriasis through mechano-induced signalling pathways after sensing mechanical signals and explains the high frequency of psoriasis lesions on the extensor side of the elbow and knee joints. On the contrary, TRPA1-driven mechano-transduction, autoimmunity and actinic damage are the underlying mechanisms of Koebner phenomenon in lichen planus. In this review, we have summarized the current understanding of the characteristics and pathogenesis of Koebner phenomenon.

A total of 35 patients with aphasia after cerebral infarct were included. Among them, 15 conjunctures were sensory (Wernicke’s) aphasia and 20 cases were motor (Broca) aphasia. Perfusion Weighted Imaging (PWI) and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) were performed on the attached hard area to measure the local cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and sectional cerebral blood compass (rCBV), mean conveyance tense (MTT), point delay (TTP), and N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr)), and lactic acidic (lactate, Lac) and generally a relative analysis. Results. Among the patients with contaminative aphasia, rCBF was way diminished in the contralateral mirror extent. MTT and TTP were significantly longer than the contralateral mirror range, NAA and Cho were sullenness than the contralateral side, and the Lac peak appeared. The distinction was statistically taken (P

Herein, a nanoconfinement strategy is proposed to develop extremely deformable self-healing electrodes with ultrahigh strength and reliably high conductivity.

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a highly effective treatment for actinic keratosis (AK), and uses different light sources as well as photosensitizers. In addition, PDT is often combined with other physical therapies or drugs. A network meta-analysis (NMA) allows for comparison between treatments not directly compared in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This study’s objective was to compare the efficacy of different PDTs against AK lesions based on complete response rate (CR) by conducting a NMA. Methods: The RCTs on the treatment of AK using PDT were screened, and a Bayesian model was developed using GeMTC 0.14.3 software to perform a NMA. The subgroups demarcated on the basis of the light sources and photosensitizers were also compared. RevMan 5.4.0 software was used to compare the outcome measure of different light sources in terms of relative risk ratio (RR) and a 95% confidence interval (CI). The therapeutic effects of different photosensitizers were compared using R 4.2.1 software and gemtc package version 1.0-1. The quality of the included literature was evaluated using the risk of bias assessment tool in RevMan 5.4.0, and the network plots between studies were drawn using STATA 16.0 software. Results: Twenty-six trials involving 2285 patients and 14 treatments were included in the NMA. The results of the NMA showed that ablative fractional laser (AFL)-assisted methyl 5-aminolevulinic acid (MAL)-light-emitting diode (LED)-PDT had the best possible efficacy (Rank 1=0.56), followed by calcipotriol (CAL)-assisted MAL-LED-PDT (Rank 1=0.34) and 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-LED-PDT (Rank 1=0.05). The subgroup analysis showed that MAL-based PDT had better efficacy when using LED versus other light sources (RR：1.05，95% CI：1.03-1.07), and LED-based PDT resulted in the best possible efficacy when using ALA (Rank 1=0.47) versus other photosensitizers. Conclusions: AFL combined with MAL-LED-PDT is most likely the best treatment option for AK. In case of monotherapies, PDT based on LED light source and ALA photosensitizer is a suitable choice.

Psoriatic inflammation can be regulated by epigenetic factors, but little is known about their role. This work aims to reveal the effects of lncRNA UCA1 in keratinocyte inflammation. UCA1 was a psoriasis-related lncRNA in eight GEO transcriptome datasets and psoriatic skin. When we over-expressed or knocked down UCA1 in the keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT), the transcriptome and proteomic data showed that UCA1 could positively regulate inflammatory functions, such as response to cytokine. Experimental findings confirmed that UCA1 could increase inflammatory cytokine secretion, innate immunity gene expression, and ability of vascular endothelial cells. Besides, UCA1 could activate the NF-κB signaling pathway, which might be the target of UCA1-incuded HIF-1α and STAT3. We then uncovered the direct interactions between UCA1 and N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methyltransferase METTL14. METTL14 proved to be a functional suppressor of inflammation, it could antagonize the functions of UCA1. Subsequently, we found the m6A levels of HIF-1α were decreased in psoriatic lesions, thus HIF-1α could be the target of METTL14. In general, this work indicates that UCA1 can positively regulate keratinocytes inflammation and psoriasis development, it binds METTL14 and then activates HIF-1α and NF-κB signaling pathway. Our work presents a new understanding of UCA1 and METTL14 in psoriatic inflammation.

BACKGROUND Melanin plays an essential role in determining human skin color. Melanogenesis is a process in which tyrosine is catalyzed by a variety of enzymes to form melanin granules. Dysfunction in melanogenesis leads to skin diseases including abnormal skin pigmentation – melasma, and vitiligo among others. The research progress of melanogenesis affects the development of skincare products. Hence, the research field of melanogenesis has become a hotspot in dermatology in the past decade. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to set up a bibliometric analysis of melanogenesis research in the latest 10 years. METHODS We downloaded the articles from the Web of Science Core Collection, using the subject term "melanogenesis", with a timespan starting from 2012 to 2022. The “bibliometrix” package of R, “Citespace” and “VOSviewer” software were used to perform content and bibliometric mapping analysis in melanogenesis research. RESULTS After refining, 2930 articles were retained. The distribution of annual publications showed an increased tendency. The geographical distribution revealed that scientific productions in Asia got ahead of Europe, North America and other areas in the field. The USA has cooperated most with other countries. The Seoul Natl University was the most productive organization. 70 % of melanogenesis-related papers were published in journals with impact factor (IF) 0-4, 27% within IF 5-9 and 3% in journals with IF above 10. The main research contents probe into ultraviolet radiation, mechanism, medicines and therapy, genes, melanosome development, microenvironment, signal pathways, inflammation factors, and skin whitening from 830 high-frequency keywords. The number of research themes increased over years. Early studies focused on melanogenesis inhibitors or tyrosinase activity and symptoms of melanogenesis disorders. However, in recent years, miRNA, RNA seq, microenvironment, aging, immunity and other aspects have been continuously studied. CONCLUSIONS The research field of melanogenesis is in a booming stage. As the quality of published articles increases, the diversity of research topics is increasing. CLINICALTRIAL None

Isobutanol is a widely used platform compound and a raw material for synthesizing many high value‐added compounds. It also has excellent fuel properties and is an ideal gasoline additive or substitute with a very broad development space. Isobutanol production by biological fermentation has the advantages of a comprehensive source of raw materials, low cost, environmental protection, and sustainability. However, it also has disadvantages such as many impurities, low isobutanol concentration, and difficulty separating the water + isobutanol azeotrope. Thus, it is necessary to explore an appropriate downstream separation process for the water + isobutanol azeotrope. K2CO3 with a strong salting‐out effect was used as the salting‐out agent, and the salting‐out of isobutanol from aqueous solutions was investigated at 298.15 K. The effect of the initial salt concentration in the aqueous solution, the recovery of isobutanol, and the effect of dehydration were investigated in detail. The e‐NRTL‐RK model was employed to generate the binary parameters for isobutanol and water, and electrolyte pair parameters for water/isobutanol and ions to reproduce the phase diagram with high accuracy. The processes of solvent extractive distillation, and salting‐out + distillation were simulated by Aspen Plus. The energy consumptions for the solvent‐based and salting‐out‐based processes were compared. The salting‐out + distillation process turned out to be more energy‐saving than the solvent extraction process.

Keratinocytes regulate melanogenesis in a paracrine manner. Previous studies have shown that melatonin can directly inhibit melanin production in the melanocytes. However, it is unclear whether melatonin can also indirectly regulate melanogenesis through the keratinocytes. In this study, we explored the role of melatonin in regulating keratinocyte-mediated melanogenesis using reconstructed human epidermis (RHE). Melatonin showed an inhibitory effect on melanin synthesis in this model. Furthermore, the conditioned media from melatonin-treated HaCaT cells downregulated melanogenesis-related genes, including MITF, TYR, TYRP1, DCT, and RAB27A in the pigment MNT1 cells, and decreased levels of phosphorylated ERK, JNK, and p38. RNA sequencing further showed that mitochondrial functions and oxidative stress pathway in the MNT1 cells were inhibited by the conditioned medium from melatonin-treated HaCaT cells. Furthermore, melatonin reduced the secretion of ET-1 and PTGS2 from HaCaT cells by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. In conclusion, melatonin downregulates the paracrine factors ET-1 and PTGS2 in the keratinocytes by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 pathway, which reduces melanin production in pigment cells. Thus, melatonin has a potential therapeutic effect on skin pigmentation disorders.

BACKGROUND Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease that seriously affects patients’ quality of life. Reliable and accurate evaluation methods are necessary for early diagnosis and individual treatment of AD, machine learning (ML) approaches may support clinical decision making for patients with AD. OBJECTIVE This study uses ML to explore a novel diagnosis and therapeutic effect evaluation prediction model for AD. METHODS GEO transcriptome datasets were integrated to identify differentially expressed genes, candidate model genes were further screened using Robust Rank Aggregation (RRA), constructed PPI network, and literature review. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyzed the biological functions of candidate model genes. Then, three recognized models (REC) and three AD-associated gene models (AAG) were trained and tested separately in different datasets. The therapeutic effect and Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORD) were used to confirm the practicality of these models. Finally, single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) and immune infiltration analysis were performed to explore the potential relationship between model genes and immune cells in AD. RESULTS REC model of Lasso (model genes including IL7R, KRT16, CCL2, CD53, CCL18 and CCL22) and AAG model of Logistic linear regression (LR) (model genes including MX1, CCNB1, SERPINB13, ADAM19, CEP55, VMP1, TTC39A, and FCHSD1) could accurately classified AD lesions and non-lesions in training and testing data and showed good AUC (basically above 0.8). In Dupilumab, Crisaborole, and Fezakinumab-treated samples, the expression of model genes was positively correlated with the severity of lesions and negatively correlated with treatment length. In addition, the two models can also accurately predict the infiltration of immune cells in the skin lesions and non-lesions. CONCLUSIONS ML can be used to construct a predictive model for the diagnosis and evaluation of the therapeutic effects of AD.

Biofuels and bio-based chemicals are getting more and more attention because of their sustainable and renewable properties and wide industrial applications. However, the low concentrations of the targeted products in their fermentation broths, the complicated components of the broths and the high energy-intensive separation and purification process hinder the competitiveness of biofuels and biochemicals with the petro-based ones. Hence, the production and the separation of biofuels and bio-based chemicals in energy-saving, low-cost and greenness ways become hot topics nowadays. This review introduces the separation technologies (salting-out extraction, salting-out, sugaring-out extraction, and sugaring-out) that extract biobutanol, 1,3-propanediol, 2,3-butanediol, acetoin, organic acids and other bio-based chemicals from fermentation broths/aqueous solutions. Salting-out/sugaring-out extraction and salting-out/sugaring-out technologies display the high separating efficiency and the high targeted product yields. In addition, they are easy to operate and require low cost for separating products. Hence, they are the effective and potential technologies for separating targeted products in the wide industrial applications. The successful research into the salting-out/ sugaring-out and salting-out/sugaring-out extraction not only affords biofuels and biochemical but also opens a door for the development of novel separation methods.

Little is known about the use of antioxidants in the clinical treatment of vitiligo. To investigate the specific use of antioxidants in the treatment of vitiligo and the possible reasons behind its use in China, we conducted a prospective questionnaire-based study using an online questionnaire comprising 26 questions in 5 areas. A total of 323 clinical frontline dermatologists participated in this study. Differences among groups were compared using Pearson’s chi-square test. Ordinal logistic regression was used to develop knowledge–use multiple regression models. Among the 323 dermatologists, 293 (90.7%) approved the oxidative stress theory of vitiligo, and 182 (56.3%) encouraged the use of antioxidants for treating vitiligo; nonetheless, only 11.8% frequently treated vitiligo with antioxidants. Insufficient knowledge of antioxidants was a significant predictor of lower frequency of antioxidant usage (adjusted odds ratio, 0.401 [95% confidence interval, 0.256-0.629]; P < .001 ). The predictors associated with higher antioxidant efficacy included advanced or rapid progression, moderate or moderate-to-severe vitiligo, age of 0–2 years or 13–18 years, segmental vitiligo, oral and topical combination therapy, and course duration of

In light of the advantages of liquid-liquid extraction, it is important to reduce the mutual solubility of extractant and solvent in the liquid feed. Highly efficient novel aqueous two-phase systems composed of 2-propanol and water were created by the introduction of highly soluble salts at high salt concentrations. The water + 2-propanol + K2HPO4/K4P2O7 systems are recommended for the extraction of the value-added chemicals since they lead to trace amounts of 2-propanol in the aqueous phase and salt in the organic phase. The e-NRTL-RK model was employed to correlate the aqueous two-phase systems (organic phase and aqueous phase) with high accuracy. With the roles of the salting-out effects and the solubility of the salt in mind, we are able to exploit the highly efficient novel aqueous two-phase systems composed of 2-propanol, water, and other highly soluble salts.

Developing a simple and efficient process for the conversion of biomass to petrol, diesel and jet fuels are our urgent mission due to the limitation of fossil fuels. Biobutanol is an important biomass-derived biofuel that can be converted to longer-chain petrol-range, diesel-range and jet-range fuels. Basing on the obtained concentrated acetone-1-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation broth through a prefractionator, we report a palladium-catalysed alkylation of acetone with ethanol and 1-butanol to more efficiently produce C5–C11 fuel precursors in a reactor, where all the precursors and reactants were separated simultaneously by the salting-out effect of K3PO4. The precursors include ketones and a small amount of alcohols that can be reduced to alkanes for use as liquid transportation fuels. Tuning the reaction conditions can obtain different proportions of C5–C7 products (monoalkylation) and C9–C11 products (double alkylation) and the overall product contents accounted for up to 82 wt%. More than 99.5% of water from the concentrated ABE fermentation broth was removed by the salting-out effect of K3PO4.

Many traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) with skin-whitening properties have been recorded in the Ben-Cao-Gang-Mu and in folk prescriptions, and some literature confirms that their extracts do have the potential to inhibit pigmentation. However, no systematic studies have identified the specific regulatory mechanisms of the potential active ingredients. The aim of this study was to screen the ingredients in TCMs that inhibit skin pigmentation through a network pharmacology system and to explore underlying mechanisms. We identified 148 potential active ingredients from 14 TCMs, and based on the average “degree” of the topological parameters, the top five TCMs (Fructus Ligustri Lucidi, Hedysarum multijugum Maxim., Ampelopsis japonica, Pseudobulbus Cremastrae Seu Pleiones, and Paeoniae Radix Alba) that were most likely to cause skin-whitening through anti-inflammatory processes were selected. Sitogluside, the most common ingredient in the top five TCMs, inhibits melanogenesis in human melanoma cells (MNT1) and murine melanoma cells (B16F0) and decreases skin pigmentation in zebrafish. Furthermore, mechanistic research revealed that sitogluside is capable of downregulating tyrosinase (TYR) expression by inhibiting the ERK and p38 pathways and inhibiting TYR activity. These results demonstrate that network pharmacology is an effective tool for the discovery of natural compounds with skin-whitening properties and determination of their possible mechanisms. Sitogluside is a novel skin-whitening active ingredient with dual regulatory effects that inhibit TYR expression and activity.

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) have been attracted attention due to its role in many diseases. Taurine up-regulated gene 1(TUG1)is a non-coding RNA of 7.1 kb in length, which locates on chromosome 22q12. More and more studies have found that TUG1 not only participates in the occurrence and development of tumors, but also plays an important role in the progression of diseases in cardiovascular system, endocrine system, nervous system and so on. It is expected to become the therapeutic targets and indicators for evaluating prognosis of a variety of diseases such as diabetes, myocardial ischemia, osteoarthritis, atherosclerosis and so on.长链非编码RNA因在许多疾病中发挥了重要的作用而成为人们日益关注的焦点。牛磺酸上调基因1(taurine up-regulated gene 1，TUG1)是一种长度为7.1 kb，位于染色体22q12上的非编码RNA，它不仅参与肿瘤的发生、发展，而且在心血管、内分泌、神经系统等多种疾病的进展中起重要作用，并有望成为多种疾病(如糖尿病、心肌缺血、骨关节炎、动脉粥样硬化等)的治疗靶点及评估预后的指标。.

The long noncoding RNA H19 was reported to associate with melanogenesis. However, it remains unknown whether H19 expression will be changed by UVB irradiation and whether H19 will regulate melanocytes melanogenesis by paracrine effects. Here, we analysed the expression changes of H19 irradiated by UVB in keratinocytes and explored the mechanism of melanogenesis stimulated by H19 through paracrine effects. First, after keratinocytes were exposed to UVB irradiation, expression of H19 and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) was measured by qRT-PCR. Also, α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) contents in cells supernatant were measured by ELISA. Then, H19 siRNAs were designed and transfected into keratinocytes by liposome. The expression changes of H19, POMC and α-MSH were detected. Besides, expression of p53 was detected by Western blot. After that, supernatant of keratinocytes with H19 siRNAs or negative control siRNA was cocultured with immortalized melanocyte line PIG1. Expression levels of MiTF, TYR, Rab27A, TYRP2, FSCN1 and MYO5A in PIG1 cells were detected by Western blot and qRT-PCR. We found that H19 expression of keratinocytes cells decreased after UVB irradiation. However, the levels of POMC, α-MSH and p53 were upregulated in UVB-irradiated cells. Compared with the negative control, H19 siRNAs could significantly increase the expression of POMC, α-MSH and p53. After supernatant of keratinocytes transfected with H19 siRNAs was cocultured with PIG1 cells, the levels of MiTF, TYR and Rab27A were upregulated in PIG1 cells. In conclusion, UVB-inhibited H19 may promote α-MSH secretion by p53 in keratinocytes and then regulate melanocytes melanogenesis through paracrine effects.

Background Chitooligosaccharide (COS) has shown potential antihyperlipidemic activity in a few studies as a functional food. Method We investigated the cholesterol-lowering effect and potential mechanisms of chitooligosaccharide capsules (COSTC) in male SD rats fed a high-fat diet. Results COSTC could ameliorate serum lipid levels. Simultaneously, the cholesterol-lowering effect is probably attributed to its role in two pathways: upregulating the gene expression and activity of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), liver X receptor alpha (LXRA), and peroxisome proliferation activated receptor-α (PPARα), which facilitates the conversion of cholesterol into bile acid; downregulating the gene expression and activity of enzymes including 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) and sterol-responsive element binding protein-2 (SREBP2) and upregulating the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) to reduce the denovo synthesis of cholesterol. Conclusion Studies have suggested that COSTC has potential usefulness as a natural supplement or functional food for preventing and treating hyperlipidemia.

Bio-based isobutanol has attracted more and more attention due to its wide application and excellent fuel performance. Compared with ethanol, isobutanol has higher energy density, lower oxygen content, and hygroscopicity, making it an ideal gasoline additive or substitute. Bio-based isobutanol has been commercially produced from a variety of renewable feedstock, including corn, wheat, sorghum, barley, and sugar cane by using a yeast biocatalyst. The existing facility of ethanol plants is acquired to separate and purify isobutanol from the fermentation broth, meaning that the energy-intensive distillation process still cannot be replaced. There are still some challenges in the production of bio-based isobutanol, such as low product concentration, unexpected impurities, high separation cost, thus the development of an efficient and low-cost downstream separation process has become one of the keys to the industrial production of bio-based isobutanol. The separation methods for isobutanol recovery, including vacuum evaporation, adsorption, pervaporation, gas stripping, solvent extraction, salting-out, salting-out extraction, are summarized in this review. An outlook on the challenges and opportunities of isobutanol separation is also described in this review.

The occurrence of hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation after inflammation is a common condition in dermatology and cosmetology. Since the exact mechanism of its occurrence is not yet known, prevention and treatment are troublesome. Previous studies have confirmed that α‑melanocyte‑stimulating hormone, stem cell factor and other factors can promote melanogenesis‑related gene expression through the activation of signaling pathways. Recent studies have revealed that a variety of inflammatory mediators can also participate in the regulation of melanogenesis in melanocytes. In this review, we summarized that interleukin‑18, interleukin‑33, granulocyte‑macrophage colony stimulating factor, interferon‑γ, prostaglandin E2 have the effect of promoting melanogenesis, while interleukin‑1, interleukin‑4, interleukin‑6, interleukin‑17 and tumor necrosis factor can inhibit melanogenesis. Further studies have found that these inflammatory factors may activate or inhibit melanogenesis‑related signaling pathways (such as protein kinase A and mitogen activated protein kinase) by binding to corresponding receptors, thereby promoting or inhibiting the expression of melanogenesis‑related genes and regulating skin pigmentation processes. This suggests that the development of drugs or treatment methods from the perspective of regulating inflammation can provide new ideas and new targets for the treatment of pigmented dermatosis. This review outlines the current understanding of the inflammation factors' roles in melanogenesis.

Compared with bioethanol, biobutanol with higher energy density and lower vapor pressure is more suitable as a fuel for motor engines. However, the typical low acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) concentration hinders the competitiveness of biobutanol because of 1-butanol tolerance. In addition, the dehydration of 1-butanol involves the separation of 1-butanol + water heterogeneous azeotrope, which was usually achieved in a two-column distillation + decantation system. A new process based on the determination of the salt + 1-butanol + water system was proposed to separate biobutanol from a 1-butanol + water system. The salting out resulted in the formation of an organic solvent-rich phase and an aqueous phase. All the 1-butanol in the water-rich phase was recovered to the organic phase, and most of the water in the 1-butanol-rich phase was attracted to the aqueous phase by the salting-out effects of the electrolytes, namely potassium carbonate, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate, tripotassium phosphate, and potassium pyrophosphate. This effect produces a top phase containing greater than 97% salt-free 1-butanol. The salting-out effect, the solubility, and the solvation effect of an electrolyte play essential roles in the separation of 1-butanol.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a tool for the characterization and measurement of nanometer, molecular and atomic resolution materials. The bimodal atomic force microscope developed in recent years is a method based on dynamic atomic force microscopy that simultaneously maps the surface of a sample and detects nanomechanical properties, and the method can simultaneously measure a variety of material properties. In this work, an improved cantilever beam motion model which can simply investigate the relationship between tip-surface interaction force and nanomechanical properties is demonstrated. Then, the theory of this AFM is studied in great detail. Finally, a mathematical model of interaction force and nanomechanical properties is possessed, which can clearly reveal the relationship among amplitude, phase shift and interaction force so as to further explore material’s information such as young's modulus and indentation.

The methods for determination of chitosan content recommended in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and the European Pharmacopoeia are not applicable for evaluation of the extent of deacetylation (deacetylation degree, DD) in chitooligosaccharides (COS). This study explores two different methods for assessment of DD in COS having relatively high and low molecular weights: an acid-base titration with bromocresol green indicator and a first order derivative UV spectrophotometric method for assessment of DD in COS. The accuracy of both methods as a function of molecular weight was also investigated and compared to results obtained using 1H NMR spectroscopy. Our study demonstrates two simple, fast, widely adaptable, highly precise, accurate, and inexpensive methods for the effective determination of DD in COS, which have the potential for widespread commercial applications in developing country.

Obesity, a primary influence on health condition, causes numerous comorbidities and complications and, therefore, pharmacotherapy is considered a strategy for its treatment. However, the adverse effects of most chemical drugs targeting weight loss complicate their approval by regulatory authorities. Recently, interest has increased in the development of ingredients from natural sources with fewer adverse effects for preventing and ameliorating obesity. This review provides an overview of current anti-obesity drugs and natural products with anti-obesity properties as well as their mechanisms of action, which include interfering with nutrient absorption, decreasing adipogenesis, increasing energy expenditure (thermogenesis), appetite suppression, modifying intestinal microbiota composition, and increasing fecal fat excretion.

Obesity is a global disease that causes many metabolic disorders. However, effective agents for the prevention or treatment of obesity remain limited. This study investigated the anti-obesity effect and mechanism of chitosan oligosaccharide capsules (COSCs) on rats suffering from obesity induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). After the eight-week administration of COSCs on obese rats, the body weight gain, fat/body ratio, and related biochemical indices were measured. The hepatic expressions of the leptin signal pathway (JAK2-STAT3) and gene expressions of adipogenesis-related targets were also determined. Our data showed that COSCs can regulate body weight gain, lipids, serum alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase, as well as upregulate the hepatic leptin receptor-b (LepRb) and the phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3. Meanwhile, marked increased expressions of liver sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, adiponectin, adipose peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &gamma, CCAAT-enhancer binding protein &alpha, adipose differentiation-related protein, and SREBP-1c were observed. The results suggested that COSCs activate the JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway to alleviate leptin resistance and suppress adipogenesis to reduce lipid accumulation. Thus, they can potentially be used for obesity treatment.