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Hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a common neurological disorder characterized by ischemia and hypoxia in the perinatal period, which seriously affects the growth and development of newborns. To date, there is no specific drug for the treatment of HIE. Previous studies have shown that ferroptosis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of HIE. Carthamin yellow (CY) is believed to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. However, no studies have reported the role of CY in ferroptosis in HIE in vivo until now. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of CY on HIE in vivo and to provide an experimental basis for the clinical treatment of HIE. The results demonstrated that CY increased the expression of NeuN in the neonatal rat hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) model. Further exploration revealed that CY increased the expression of glutathione peroxidase 4 and ferritin heavy chain 1 while it decreased the expression of PTGS2 and ACSL2. Moreover, CY decreased malondialdehyde expression and increased superoxide dismutase and glutathione expression in vivo. The findings also indicated that CY downregulated the expression of Nrf2 and Keap-1. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that CY attenuated brain injury in an experimental HIBD model, potentially by alleviating hippocampal neuronal ferroptosis through inhibition of the Nrf2/Keap-1 signaling pathway. These findings provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the clinical treatment of HIE.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease that severely affects the quality of life of patients. There is no specific drug for PD up to now. Previous studies have shown that neuroinflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PD. Isoliquiritigenin (ILG) is thought to have a variety of biological activities including anti-inflammatory. However, to date, no studies have reported the role of ILG on neuroinflammation in PD in vivo. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ILG on PD in vivo and its mechanism, and to provide an experimental basis for clinical treatment of PD. Our results showed that ILG at a concentration of 20 mg/kg was effective in reducing the number of rotations in PD mice. In addition, ILG increased the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and decreased the expression of α-synuclein. The results also showed that ILG reduced the expression of Iba1, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Not only that, ILG also upregulated the expression of Nrf2 and NQO-1 in vivo. Our results suggest that ILG significantly attenuates neurological deficits in PD, and the mechanism may be through the activation of the Nrf2/NQO-1 signaling pathway to reduce neuroinflammation. Moreover, our findings provide a new therapeutic strategy for PD.

Ultrafine-grained or nanocrystalline Mo-12Si-8.5B alloys possess more excellent strength than those of the coarse-grained ones, but they often exhibit limited fracture toughness at room temperature. It's very important to simultaneously enhance the strength and toughness of Mo-12Si-8.5B alloy for their practical applications. In the present study, nanometer Mo-ZrO2(Y2O3) composite powder was successfully prepared by a combination of sol-gel and one-step high-temperature reduction in hydrogen. A series of Mo-12Si-8.5B-ZrO2 (Y2O3) alloys composed of different proportions of coarse and fine Mo grains were fabricated via spark plasma sintering using nano- and micro-Mo powders as raw materials. With an increase of the mass ratio of the nanometer Mo to the micrometer Mo in the alloy, the hardness, flexural strength and fracture toughness first increase and then drop. As the mass ratio of the nanometer Mo powder to the micrometer Mo powder is 3:7, the bimodal structural alloy possesses the excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, including the hardness of 9.75 GPa, the flexural strength of 630 MPa, and the fracture toughness of 12.82 MPa m1/2. Grain refinement of the Mo, grain boundary strengthening in the boundary between the nanometer/micrometer Mo grains and the second-phase strengthening of the nano-ZrO2(Y2O3) particles attribute to the enhancement of the hardness and flexural strength. The improved fracture toughness mainly results from the crack arrest effect of the coarse grain Mo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]