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Inflammation and disease are closely related. Inflammation can induce various diseases, and diseases can promote inflammatory response, and two possibly induces each other in a bidirectional loop. Inflammation is usually treated using synthetic anti-inflammatory drugs which are associated with several adverse effects hence are not safe for long-term use. Therefore, there is need for anti-inflammatory drugs which are not only effective but also safe. Several researchers have devoted to the research and development of effective anti-inflammatory drugs with little or no side effects. In this review, we studied some small molecules with reported anti-inflammatory activities and hence potential sources of anti-inflammatory agents. The information was retrieved from relevant studies published between January 2019 and May, 2021 for review. This review study was aimed to provide relevant information towards the design and development of effective and safe anti-inflammation agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retinopathy has become one of the major factors that lead to blindness worldwide. Although many clinical therapies are concerned about such disease, most of them focus on symptoms alleviation. In this study, we aim to investigate whether coculture retinal stem cells (RSCs) with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells transfected with angiogenin‐1 (Ang‐1‐BMSCs) affects the damaged retinal tissue of oxygen‐induced retinopathy of prematurity (OIR‐ROP) mice. After OIR‐ROP mouse model establishment, Ang‐1‐BMSCs, RSCs, and OIR‐ROP retinal tissues were cocultured in a a transwell chamber. RSCs proliferation and the expression of Ang‐1, insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) in the supernatant of RSCs, as well as β‐tubulin and protein kinase C (PKC) expression were evaluated. Finally, the repair of OIR‐ROP mice retinal tissues was observed by injecting Ang‐1‐BMSCs + RSCs. In the OIR‐ROP mouse model, RSCs cocultured with OIR‐ROP retinal tissues could be induced to differentiate into cells expressing β‐tubulin and PKC and promote the expression of Ang‐1 and IGF‐1. coculture of Ang‐1‐BMSCs further enhanced the proliferation and differentiation of RSCs by promoting the expression of Ang‐1 and IGF‐1. Coculture of RSCs + Ang‐1‐BMSCs induced differentiation of Ang‐1‐BMSCs through interaction among intercellular factors and restored the damaged retinal tissue of OIR‐ROP mice. Collectively, our study provided evidence that coculture of Ang‐1‐BMSCs and RSCs could promote the proliferation and differentiation of RSCs and improve the treatment for the damaged retina tissue of OIR‐ROP mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palm oil (PO) and olive oil (OO) have been widely used in animal diets, but the knowledge of metabolic change in animals fed a diet with different oil sources is limited. Here, we compared the metabolic differences in the Chinese mitten crab fed with PO and OO as the main dietary lipid sources by performing GC‐MS‐based serum metabolomics assays and traditional nutritional assessments. The crab fed OO displayed lower lipid accumulation and oxidative stress in the hepatopancreas than those in the crab fed PO. In the metabolomics assay, 68 metabolites with high credibility were identified and five metabolites were significantly different between two feeding groups. In these five metabolites, hydroxylamine, 3‐hydroxypropionic acid and 2‐hydroxypyridine were higher in the OO group, while lysine and citrulline were higher in the PO group. We demonstrate that olive oil can provide comprehensive benefits to the crab by providing more energy, improving cell membrane structure, containing phenols as a natural antioxidant, and improving the composition of intestinal microbiota. On the contrary, palmitic acid‐enriched palm oil tended to increase protein degradation and lipid accumulation‐induced lipotoxicity. This study illustrates that the metabolic mechanism differs between crabs fed olive oil and palm oil, and OA‐enriched olive oil is recommended as an ingredient for crab diet formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Acute ST-segment elevation of myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the most severe type of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Particular attention has been focused on studying the pathogenesis of STEMI, and how to prevent thrombosis, reduce inflammatory reaction, stabilize plaques and improve vascular endothelial functions to preserve the survived myocardium. This study aimed to compare the anti-inflammatory endothelium-protective effects, clinical prognosis, and relevant bleeding risks of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in patients with STEMI who underwent urgent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and provide certain experimental evidence and a theoretical basis for the selection of safe and effective drugs and their proper dosage, thereby further guiding clinical medication. Methods: We sequentially enrolled 193 patients (104 males and 89 females) admitted to hospital due to acute STEMI. These patients underwent urgent PCI between December 2013 and May 2015 and met the inclusion criteria. They were assigned (1: 1) into two groups according to different treatments, 97 patients in the ticagrelor group (treatment group), and 96 patients in the clopidogrel group (control group). Levels of hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and endothelial cell-specific molecule 1 (ESM-1) taken at admission and 24 h, 4 days, and 7 days after administration, as well as the correlation between the levels of IL-6, hs-CRP, and ESM-1, were determined in the two groups. At the same time, the effects of treatment with ticagrelor and clopidogrel on the efficacy endpoint events (ischemic and safety) were explored. Results: No statistically significant difference was found in the levels of hs-CRP, IL-6, or ESM-1 at admission between the two groups (P> 0.05); Their levels were significantly elevated 24 h after administration, with statistical differences between two groups (P< 0.05). Furthermore, a downward trend with statistically significant differences was found on Day 4 and Day 7 (P< 0.05); ESM-1 levels increased along with increases of hs-CRP and IL-6 levels, indicating ESM-1 was positively correlated with hs-CRP (r=0.523, P< 0.001) and IL-6 (r=0.431, P< 0.001); and the occurrence rates of ischemic endpoint events at 30 days were lower in the treatment group than in the control group. The occurrence of safety endpoint events was higher than in the control group; however, no statistically significant difference was found (P> 0.05). Conclusions: Compared with clopidogrel, ticagrelor appears to rapidly reduce the prevalence of inflammatory reactions and stabilize the functions of vascular endothelium to improve the stability of atherosclerotic plaque and decrease the occurrence rate of thrombosis as well as ischemic outcome events without any obvious increase in the risk of bleeding in patients with acute STEMI receiving urgent PCI. This renders it a potential drug for clinical practice. At the same time, measurement of ESM-1, a new biological marker for vascular endothelial function disorder, could possibly become a simple, effective, and practical new method for clinical evaluation of risk stratification of patients with acute STEMI at admission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six new complexes [Mn( μ-O)(phpz)(MeOH)]·(MeOH)(HO) ( 1) [Co(HphpzH)(Hphpz)(phpz)]·4(MeOH) ( 2), Ni(Hphpz) ( 3), [Ni(Hphpz)]·HO ( 4), [Zn(pzpy)Cl] ( 5) and [Cu(pzpy)(HCO)(HO)] ( 6) have been synthesized by hydrothermal reactions of MCl·4HO (M = Mn, Co, Ni, Zn or Cu) with 5-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-pyrazole (HphpzH) or 2-(1 H-pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine (Hpzpy). The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 is an octanuclear Mn(III) cluster, complexes 2 and 6 are binuclear Co(III) and Cu(II), respectively, complexes 3 and 4 are isomorphous mononuclear species, while complex 5 is a tetranuclear Zn(II) cluster. The magnetic behavior of complex 1 was investigated. Magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed antiferromagnetic exchange interactions between the metal centers in the clusters. The luminescence properties of the complexes were investigated at room temperature in the solid state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutritional values of animal diets depend on the type of oil in the feed ingredient, but the underlying metabolic mechanisms of dietary oil in animal feed have not been thoroughly studied in aquatic animals, especially in crustaceans. In the present study, we conducted assays on GC–MS-based metabolomics and nutritional parameters to investigate the metabolic mechanisms between juvenile Chinese mitten crabs ( Eriocheir sinensis ) fed olive oil containing 69% oleic acid (OA) and perilla oil containing 56% linolenic acid (LNA). Crab fed OA displayed faster growth, lower concentrations of hepatic glycogen, triglycerides and peroxidation products than those fed LNA. In the metabolomics assay, among 222 peaks isolated, 69 peaks were identified in serum. Among 13 significantly different metabolites between OA and LNA groups, six metabolites related to glycolysis and TCA (tricarboxylic acid) cycle (pyruvate, succinic acid, lactose, malic acid, D-glyceric acid and threitol), methionine, 2-keto-isovaleric acid (intermediate for valine and leucine synthesis) and 2-hydroxybutanoic acid (intermediate for glutathione synthesis) were higher in the OA group than in the LNA group. Only glutaconic acid (intermediate of ketogenic amino acids breakdown) was higher in the LNA group. This study indicates that crab in the OA group increased degradation of glucose and lipids to provide energy for growth as compared with crab in the LNA group. This is the first metabolomics study to identify the key pathways and crucial metabolites as biomarkers to differentiate the metabolic mechanisms of crustaceans fed contrasting dietary oils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Epidemiological evidence suggests a possible association between sleep duration and cancer-related mortality, but the reported findings are inconsistent. We conducted a meta-analysis of prospective studies to evaluate the relationships between sleep duration and cancer mortality.Methods: Potentially relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed and Embase databases in addition to manual searches of references of retrieved full publications. The summary relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed using a random-effect model. The meta-regression analyses were performed to explore any potential effect modifier.Results: A total of 17 reports from 11 independent prospective studies were included in this meta-analysis. When comparing with reasonable sleep duration (mostly defined as 7 or 7-8 h), the summary RR for long sleep duration (mostly defined as ≥9 or ≥10 h) and short sleep duration (mostly defined as ≤6 or ≤5 h) was 1.11 (95% CI = 1.05-1.18) and 1.05 (95% CI = 0.99-1.11), respectively, with little evidence of heterogeneity. There was evidence of publication bias for the association of long sleep duration with cancer mortality, and the summary RR was slightly attenuated to be 1.10 (95% CI = 1.02-1.18) after using a statistical method to correct for the bias.Conclusion: This meta-analysis of prospective studies suggests that long, not short sleep duration is associated with significantly increased risk of total cancer mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: LiFePO4 samples with preferred facets on the ac plane were prepared by the solvothermal method with or without well-dispersed amphiphilic carbonaceous material (ACM). The effects of ACM on the particle morphology, crystal orientation and electrochemical reactivity of the prepared LiFePO4 nanoparticles were investigated in detail. ACM serves a dual purpose. One purpose is facilitating the plate-like morphologies of LiFePO4 nanoparticles parallel to the b Pnma axis by decreasing the surface energy of (010) facets of newly created LiFePO4 nuclei. The other purpose is suppressing crystal growth along the [010] direction by adhering onto the (010) surface of LiFePO4 nanoplates. Furthermore, ACM coating was performed and optimized using a carbon coating precursor. The electrochemical properties of the prepared LiFePO4 particles were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge–discharge cycling tests. After the optimized coating of ACM, the ACM-intervened LiFePO4 composite was observed to deliver discharge capacities of 151.3 mAh g−1 at 1C and 132.2 mAh g−1 at 10C. Even after 1000 cycles at a high rate of 10C, the LiFePO4 cathode could maintain 80% of its initial capacity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • The anti-fibrosis therapeutic EGCG was firstly wrapped in PBCA-NPs via water-initiated system of self-polymerization. • EGCG/PBCA-NPs possess excellent stability in gastric fluid and pH-triggered release in intestine. • EGCG/PBCA-NPs via gastrointestinal administration remarkably enhanced EGCG bioactivity and bioavailability. • EGCG/PBCA-NPs had an improvement in histopathology accompanied with inhibited α-SMA in fibroblasts induced by silica. • EGCG/PBCA-NPs via gastrointestinal administration exhibited a significant anti-fibrosis efficacy in silicosis rats. Silicosis is the most serious occupational pulmonary fibrosis caused by excessive inhalation of silica particles, whereas viable therapeutic choices are constrained. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) presents massive health benefits, but unfortunately with stability absence. Here, encapsulation of EGCG in poly(n -butylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles (EGCG/PBCA-NPs) were fabricated by self-polymerization for gastrointestinal delivery in silicosis fibrosis treatment. The obtained nano-enabled delivery of EGCG was produced using a medical adhesive approved by FDA as carrier, and presented spherical particles with approximate diameter of 160 nm, a narrow PDI value of 0.2, Zeta potential value of 30 mV as well as a high EGCG incorporation (90 %) and loading efficiency (20 %). In evaluating the protect effects of nano-formulations, EGCG/PBCA-NPs shown excellent stability in gastric fluid with pH-triggered release in intestine and strong EGCG gastrointestinal retention against degradation. After daily gastrointestinal administration, EGCG/PBCA-NPs exhibited the superior anti-fibrosis efficacy in silicosis model rats induced by silica, involving lung index decline, hydroxyproline content decrease, histological improvement, collagen accumulation reduction and α-SMA down-regulation in comparison with naked EGCG. These results strongly demonstrated that PBCA-based NPs may be a promising nano-enabled delivery carrier for enhancing the gastrointestinal stability and anti-fibrotic effects of EGCG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The novel Bayesian Hierarchical model predicts m6A-reg-exp genes with m6A reader binding from limited samples in specific context. • The predicted m6A-reg-exp genes with different binding reader have different regulation pattern. • Reveal the complex mechanism of m6A regulation on gene expression. • Indicate the distinct m6A regulated mode of reader targeted genes in cancer. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant form of mRNA modification and plays an important role in regulating gene expression. However, the mechanisms of m6A regulated gene expression in cell or condition specific, are still poorly understood. Even though, some methods are able to predict m6A regulated expression (m6A-reg-exp) genes in specific context, they don't introduce the m6A reader binding information, while this information can help to predict m6A-reg-exp genes and more clearly to explain the mechanisms of m6A-mediated gene expression process. Thus, by integrating m6A sites and reader binding information, we proposed a novel method (called m6Aexpress-Reader) to predict m6A-reg-exp genes from limited MeRIP-seq data in specific context. m6Aexpress-Reader adopts the reader binding signal strength to weight the posterior distribution of the estimated regulatory coefficients for enhancing the prediction power. By using m6Aexpress-Reader , we found the complex characteristic of m6A on gene expression regulation and the distinct regulated pattern of m6A-reg-exp genes with different reader binding. m6A readers, YTHDF2 or IGF2BP1/3 all play an important role in various cancers and the key cancer pathways. In addition, m6Aexpress-Reader reveals the distinct m6A regulated mode of reader targeted genes in cancer. m6Aexpress-Reader could be a useful tool for studying the m6A regulation on reader target genes in specific context and it can be freely accessible at: https://github.com/NWPU-903PR/m6AexpressReader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel synthetic substituted benzo[d]oxazole-based derivatives (5a–5v) exerted neuroprotective effects on β-amyloid (Aβ)-induced PC12 cells as a potential approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In vitro studies show that most of the synthesized compounds were potent in reducing the neurotoxicity of Aβ25-35-induced PC12 cells at 5 μg/mL. We found that compound 5c was non-neurotoxic at 30 μg/mL and significantly increased the viability of Aβ25-35-induced PC12 cells at 1.25, 2.5 and 5 μg/mL. Western blot analysis showed that compound 5c promoted the phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3β) and decreased the expression of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in Aβ25-35-induced PC12 cells. In addition, our findings demonstrated that compound 5c protected PC12 cells from Aβ25-35-induced apoptosis and reduced the hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, and decreased the expression of receptor for AGE (RAGE), β-site amyloid precursor protein (APP)-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and Bcl-2-associated X protein/B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bax/Bcl-2) via Akt/GSK-3β/NF-κB signaling pathway. In vivo studies suggest that compound 5c shows less toxicity than donepezil in the heart and nervous system of zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corosolic acid (CA) is the main active component of Lagetstroemia speciosa and has been known to serve as several different pharmacological effects, such as antidiabetic, anti-oxidant, and anticancer effects. In this study, effects of CA on the hepatic lipid accumulation were examined using HepG2 cells and tyloxapol (TY)-induced hyperlipidemia ICR mice. CA significantly inhibited hepatic lipid accumulation via inhibition of SREBPs, and its target genes FAS, SCD1, and HMGCR transcription in HepG2 cells. These effects were mediated through activation of AMPK, and these effects were all abolished in the presence of compound C (CC, an AMPK inhibitor). In addition, CA clearly alleviated serum ALT, AST, TG, TC, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, and obviously attenuated TY-induced liver steatosis and inflammation. Moreover, CA significantly upregulated AMPK, ACC, LKB1 phosphorylation, and significantly inhibited lipin1, SREBPs, TNF- α , F4/80, caspase-1 expression, NF- κ B translocation, and MAPK activation in TY-induced hyperlipidemia mice. Our results suggest that CA is a potent antihyperlipidemia and antihepatic steatosis agent and the mechanism involved both lipogenesis and cholesterol synthesis and inflammation response inhibition via AMPK/SREBPs and NF- κ B/MAPK signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optic nerve injury triggered retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death and optic nerve atrophy lead to visual loss. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are stromal cells, capable of proliferating and differentiating into different types of tissues. This aims of this study is to investigate the role of BMSCs transfected with angiopoietin‐1 (Ang‐1) in optic nerve injury induced by hyperoxia in a neonatal mice model. Ang‐1 overexpression vector was constructed and used to transfect BMSCs. Reverse transcription‐quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect Ang‐1 expression in BMSCs. The hyperoxia‐induced optic nerve injury model was established. The optic nerves at 6–7 mm posterior to the eyeball were extracted, and were treated with luxol fast blue staining, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy to examine the effects of Ang‐1‐modified BMSCs on optic nerve injury induced by hyperoxia. The mice in the Ang‐1 + BMSCs and BMSCs groups showed remarkably improved myelin sheaths of nerve fibers compared to the hyperoxia saline group. The positive expression and integrated optic density of Ang‐1 in the Ang‐1 + BMSCs group were significantly higher compared to the air control, hyperoxia saline and BMSCs groups. The number and diameter of myelinated nerve fibers, the diameter of axons and the thickness of myelin sheath in the air control and Ang‐1 + BMSCs groups were higher compared to the hyperoxia saline group. Our study provides evidence supporting that Ang‐1‐modified BMSCs may have preventive and therapeutic effects on hyperoxia‐induced optic nerve injury in neonatal mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] TiO2-coated LTO was in-situ prepared via a microemulsion-assisted hydrothermal route. [•] Anatase-TiO2 coating layer enhances the electrochemical performance of Li4Ti5O12. [•] The as-prepared sample presents high-rate capability and cyclic stability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• 34 glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives were obtained by four structural modification methods. • The anti-inflammatory activity of compound 5b was significantly higher than glycyrrhetinic acid. • MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways were involved in the anti-inflammatory process of compound 5b. With the aim of finding new anti-inflammatory drugs, a series of new Glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives (1–34) have been designed and synthesized by structural modification, and their anti-inflammatory activities in vitro have been evaluated. The anti-inflammatory activities assay demonstrated that compound 5b suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, TNF-α and NO, it also suppressed the expression of iNOS and COX-2 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, western blot results indicated that the suppressing effect of compound 5b on pro-inflammatory cytokines were correlated with the suppression of NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. The results attained in this study indicated that compound 5b had the potential to be developed into an anti-inflammation agent and it may be applied to the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li4Ti5O12 nanorods coated by anatase-TiO2 is prepared via a microemulsion consisting of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, cyclohexane, BuOH, and LiOH to which Ti(OBu)4 is added followed by hydrothermal treatment (autoclave, 180 °C) and calcination at 550 °C in air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]