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Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most common types of epilepsy, yet approximately one-third of patients are refractory to current anticonvulsive drugs, which target neurons and synapses. Astrocytic and microglial dysfunction is commonly found in epileptic foci and has been shown to contribute to neuroinflammation and hyperexcitability in chronic epilepsy. Accumulating evidence points to a key role for glial hemichannels in epilepsy, but inhibiting both connexin (Cx) gap junctions and hemichannels can lead to undesirable side effects because the former coordinate physiological functions of cell assemblies. It would be a great benefit to use an orally available small molecule to block hemichannels to alleviate epileptic symptoms. Here, we explored the effect of D4, a newly developed compound that inhibits the Cx hemichannels but not Cx gap junctions using the pilocarpine mouse model of TLE. In vitro application of D4 caused a near-complete reduction in the pilocarpine-induced cell membrane permeability associated with increased Cx hemichannel activity. Moreover, preadministration of D4 in vivo effectively reduced neuroinflammation and altered synaptic inhibition, which then enhanced the animal survival rate. Posttreatment with a single dose of D4 in vivo has prolonged effects on suppressing the activation of astrocytes and microglia and rescued the changes in neuroinflammatory and synaptic gene expression induced by pilocarpine. Collectively, these results indicate that targeting Cx hemichannels by D4 is an effective and promising strategy for treating epilepsy in which neuroinflammation plays a critical role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) combined with hemoperfusion for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) complicated with acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods: Medical records of 73 patients with MM complicated with AKI admitted to the First People's Hospital of Huzhou from January 2019 to January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the treatment records, 35 patients received simple chemotherapy (control group), and 38 patients received CVVH combined with HP on the basis of chemotherapy (observation group). We compared the clinical efficacies, renal function indexes, and the serum globulin and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) values between the two groups. Results: After the treatment, the total efficacy of the observation group was significantly higher (81.58%) than that in the control group (57.14%; p <0.05). Serum cystatin C (CysC), urea nitrogen (BUN), β2 macroglobulin (β2-MG) and creatinine (SCr) levels were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (p <0.05). Serum globulin level and ESR values in the observation group after the treatment were also significantly lower than in the control group (p <0.05). Conclusions: The outcomes of patients with MM complicated with AKI treated with CVVH and hemoperfusion differ significantly from those of the patients treated only with CVVH. Combining CVVH and hemoperfusion helps to improve the efficacy of the treatment, promotes renal function recovery, and improves the levels of serum globulin and ESR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article demonstrates, for the first time, that a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) can also act as highly regioselective nanoreactors for 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides and alkynes. The imprinted sites contained a reactive moiety that could be temporarily linked to certain steroid compound. The work aims to obtain noncovalently imprinted nanoreactors for regioselective bimolecular reactions using a model Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction.

Categorizing chemicals is an approach with the potential to reduce animal testing for hazard assessment of chemicals. In this study we investigated the category approach for testing the hemolytic effects of ethylene glycol alkyl ethers (EGAEs) for repeated-dose toxicity (RDT). Using mechanistic information on the hemolytic effects of ethylene glycol butyl ether, a toxicologically meaningful category was built on the basis of similarity of metabolism, mode of action and the hemolytic effects of several EGAEs and related chemicals. The developed category was then evaluated for analogs from a different data source. Given all structural information on category chemicals, the category can be finally defined as EGAEs (alkyl chain carbon number: 1-4) and their acetates. Current RDT test data suggest that EGAEs with 3 and 4 alkyl carbons primarily cause hemolytic effects, while EGAEs with 1 and 2 alkyl carbon(s) show toxicity to the testis before demonstrating any hemolytic effects. Hence, the category approach appears to be applicable to hemolytic effects of EGAEs with 3 and 4 alkyl carbons and their acetates to estimate the no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) for RDT. It consists of three steps: structure-based primary screening of untested chemicals, categorization of compounds that form hemolytic alkoxyacetic acids by predicting how they are metabolized, and finally estimation of hemolytic levels by employing read-across. Our results clearly demonstrate the usefulness of the category approach for predicting the hemolytic effects of untested EGAEs and their acetates in RDT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of previous studies, the factors affecting the behaviours of SiC whisker dispersion are analyzed. The main contents of the analysis are:The impact on silicon carbide whisker in aqueous medium relative sedimentation height and surface potential value are made by the changes of the pH value. The impact on the silicon carbide whiskers and silicon carbide particles of two different crystal surface zeta potential made by the change of pH value, effects that SHP and CMC, two kinds of dispersants have on the relative settling height of silicon carbide whiskers and the infrared spectroscopy analysis before and after using the two dispersants. It is concluded that, without dispersing agent, the stable dispersion system of silicon carbide whisker is difficult to obtain by adjusting the pH value, and the morphological characteristics of the silicon carbide crystal have obvious influence on the dynamic potential on the surface. The dispersion mechanism of the two dispersants is different, in which the dispersion mechanism of SHP is to improve the repulsion of the surface of the material, and the dispersion mechanism of CMC is to increase the hydrophilicity of the surface of the material and increase the absolute value of the potential of the whisker surface. By means of adjusting the pH value and adding dispersants, we can get a more stable silicon carbide whisker dispersion system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and highly efficient approach to obtain narrowly dispersed hydrophilic and magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres with molecular recognition ability in a real biological sample as good as what they show in the organic solvent-based media is described for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]