Search

Iron overload is a common complication in various chronic liver diseases, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Lipid and bile acid metabolism disorders are regarded as crucial hallmarks of NAFLD. However, effects of iron accumulation on lipid and bile acid metabolism are not well understood. Ferulic acid (FA) can chelate iron and regulate lipid and bile acid metabolism, but its potential to alleviate lipid and bile acid metabolism disorders caused by iron overload remains unclear. Here, in vitro experiments, iron overload induced oxidative stress, apoptosis, genomic instability, and lipid deposition in AML12 cells. FA reduced lipid and bile acid synthesis while increasing fatty acid β-oxidation and bile acid export, as indicated by increased mRNA expression of PPARα, Acox1, Adipoq, Bsep, and Shp, and decreased mRNA expression of Fasn, Acc, and Cyp7a1. In vivo experiments, FA mitigated liver injury in mice caused by iron overload, as indicated by reduced AST and ALT activities, and decreased iron levels in both serum and liver. RNA-seq results showed that differentially expressed genes were enriched in biological processes related to lipid metabolism, lipid biosynthesis, lipid storage, and transport. Furthermore, FA decreased cholesterol and bile acid contents, downregulated lipogenesis protein FASN, and bile acid synthesis protein CYP7A1. In conclusion, FA can protect the liver from lipid and bile acid metabolism disorders caused by iron overload by targeting FASN and CYP7A1. Consequently, FA, as a dietary supplement, can potentially prevent and treat chronic liver diseases related to iron overload by regulating lipid and bile acid metabolism.

Intestinal microbes are closely associated with host health, depending on metabolic crosstalk between the microbiota and host. Tryptophan metabolism is one of the best examples of metabolic crosstalk between intestinal microbiota and host; however, our understanding about the influence of intestinal microbiota on host tryptophan metabolism is limited. Thus, we established germ-free (GF) pig models to systemically explore the influence of intestinal microbiota on tryptophan metabolism. Five GF pigs were kept in GF conditions throughout the experiment (GF group). Six GF pigs were transplanted with fecal microbiota from donor sows to act as control pigs. Compared with control pigs, the GF pigs had remarkable alterations in tryptophan metabolism. The differential metabolites (P

Methionine (Met) metabolism provides methyl groups for many important physiological processes and is implicated in multiple inflammatory diseases associated with the disrupted intestinal microbiota; nevertheless, whether intestinal microbiota determines Met metabolism in the host remains largely unknown. Here, we found that gut microbiota is responsible for host Met metabolism by using various animal models, including germ-free (GF) pigs and mice. Specifically, the Met levels are elevated in both GF pigs and GF mice that mainly metabolized to S-adenosine methionine (SAM) in the liver. Furthermore, antibiotic clearance experiments demonstrate that the loss of certain ampicillin- or neomycin-sensitive gut microbiota causes decreased Met in murine colon. Overall, our study suggests that gut microbiota mediates Met metabolism in the host and is a prospective target for the treatment of Met metabolism-related diseases.

Post-weaning diarrhea of piglets is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis and intestinal pathogen infection. Recent studies have shown that Lactococcus lactis (L.lactis) could help suppress pathogen infection. This study aimed to investigate the effects of L.lactis on various factors related to growth and immunity in weaning piglets. The results showed that L.lactis improved the growth performance, regulated the amino acid profile (for example, increasing serum tryptophan and ileal mucosal cystine) and the intestinal GABAergic system (including inhibiting ileal gene expression of SLC6A13, GABAAρ1, π, θ, and γ1, and promoting ileal GABAAα5 expression). L.lactis also modulated intestinal immunity by promoting jejunal interleukin 17, 18, 22, ileal toll-like receptor 2, 5, 6, and myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88 gene expression while inhibiting jejunal interferon-γ and ileal interleukin 22 expressions. L.lactis highly affected the intestinal microbiota by improving the beta diversity of gut microbiota and the relative abundance of Halomonas and Shewanella. In conclusion, L.lactis improved the growth performance and regulated amino acid profiles, intestinal immunity and microbiota in weaning piglets.

Multicompartment and patchy particles attract much attention recently due to their great potentials in many fields such as drug delivery systems and photonic crystal materials. The controlled coalescence of droplets might be a promising approach to fabricate such particles since different droplets might be composed of distinct components or might contain diverse functional solutes. Through a two-dimensional boundary element method, we investigate the controlled adhesion of small droplets to specific locations of a main drop via careful flow control at inlets and outlets of a skillfully designed microfluidic device at low Reynolds numbers. This paper presents an original procedure to construct anisotropic particles assisted by microfluidics. By alternating extensional and rotational flow at the central cavity of the micro-device, it is possible to make small droplets adhere to the main drop one by one at expected location and thus fabricate patchy particles with multiple patches at expected angles in two dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The prenatal ethanol exposure induced neuroapoptosis and neuron loss in visual cortex would be investigated in mice at P0, P7 and P14. Methods: Intubating pregnant mice ethanol daily began on E5 and continued through the pup's birth. The neuroapoptosis in visual cortex was visualized by the caspase 3 immunocytochemistry, and the neuron loss was observed with Nissl method as well. Results: With prenatal ethanol exposure, the dose-dependent neuroapoptosis and neuron loss in visual cortex could be found at P0 and even at P7 and P14 as well. Conclusions: The prenatal ethanol exposure induced neuroapoptosis and neuron loss will persist into postnatal stage, and the long-term effect of neuroapoptosis might be one of the causes of postnatal neurobehavioural disturbances associated with fetal alcohol syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the performance in the practical engineering applications including so called low-speed video tracking and large-angle swing scanning imaging at the same time for a three-axis universal inertially stabilized platform (UISP), we propose an adaptive nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode control (ANFTSMC) strategy subjected to the uncertain disturbances and input saturation constraints. First of all, a second-order dynamic model is established with uncertain disturbances and input saturation constraints. Secondly, a nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode controller (NTSMC) is constructed to ensure the system error converges to zero fast in a finite time; meanwhile, a novel reaching law based on a modified normal distribution function is designed to adjust the control gain. Thirdly, an adaptive control law is designed to online estimate the parameters of the lumped uncertain disturbances. Additionally, the stability of the control system is proved by Lyapunov theory. Finally, extensive comparative simulations and experiments are carried out, the results comprehensively show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed control method, which can accelerate convergence, weaken the chattering, and has the better control accuracy and robust performance both in the low-speed tracking and large-angle swing scanning applications. Moreover, the exact dynamic model and the prior knowledge of the upper bounds of the disturbances are not required during the procedure of the controller design, which make it have more extensive application value in practical engineering.

For enhancing the physical properties of water-based acrylic resin coating, a green modified water-based nano-alumina dispersion was successfully prepared by regulating mass fraction of anti-sedimentation dispersant under the condition of ultrasonication. Subsequently, the water-based nano alumina dispersion was characterized, and the physical properties of commercial water-based acrylic resin composite coating mixed with the dispersion were tested. Results showed that under the conditions of a dispersant mass fraction of 0.50% and an ultrasonic dispersion time of 0.5 h, the storage stability time of the prepared water-based nano-alumina dispersion was greater than 90 d. Besides, after adding 4%(mass fraction) water-based nano-alumina dispersion to commercially available water-based acrylic resin coatings, the wear-resistant rotation number of the as-obtained coating increased from less than 5 r to more than 15 r, and the scratch resistance load increased from 1.10 kg to 2.00 kg.

The article discusses a study on how the mouse cerebellar cortex develops. The study sought to determine the formation of the layered structure of a cerebellum that is about to develop. It involved a total of 90 adult female and male mice raised in the same cage. The time of pregnancy of the female mice and their embryonic day were recorded as part of the study. At embryonic day 12, the cerebellum's primordium comprised the ependymal, mantle and marginal layers. The role of apoptosis and neurogenesis are also discussed.