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The incidence of ulcerative colitis (UC) has been increasing in recent years. Due to the limitations of traditional drug therapies for UC, natural foods that can prevent this disease and alleviate its symptoms are becoming a research hot topic, but the effects of processing methods on their activity remain unknown. Therefore, the effects of three different processing methods (pulping, high-temperature cooking, and fermentation) on carotenoid and dietary fiber contents as well as carotenoid bioaccessibility in carrots were explored in this study. C57BL/6J mice were used to create a mouse model of UC induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and the mice received dietary intervention with freeze dried powder of carrots (5.05%, on a dry mass basis) for 14 days. Body mass change, disease activity index (DAI) and colon parameters (length, pathology, inflammatory factors, oxidative stress level, goblet cell number, tight junction protein expression, and short-chain fatty acid content) were analyzed to evaluate the effects of three differently processed carrots on UC. The results showed compared with pulping, high-temperature cooking and fermentation significantly decreased the soluble, insoluble and total dietary fiber contents of carrots (P < 0.05), increased the bioaccessibility of carotenoids (P < 0.05), while fermentation significantly increased the proportion of soluble dietary fiber in total dietary fiber (P < 0.05). Compared with the model group, all processed carrots could significantly inhibit the change of body mass loss and DAI (P < 0.05), decrease the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 (P < 0.05), increase the level of IL-10 (P < 0.05), and up-regulate the expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, claudin-1, and occludin) (P < 0.05). High-temperature cooked or fermented carrots could significantly alleviate colon shortening (P < 0.05), and relieve the pathological damage of colon tissue (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, fermented carrots could significantly inhibit the production of malondialdehyde (MDA) (P < 0.05), improve the decrease in the number of goblet cells (P < 0.05), increase the level of butyric acid (P < 0.05) and possess the best inhibitory effect on IL-6 production. In summary, differently processed carrots could ameliorate ulcerative colitis to different extends, the most pronounced effect being observed with fermented carrots.

In this study, a method for the simultaneous detection of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF), 5-methyl furfural (MF) and furfural (FF) was established by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) after enrichment of furfurals in the acid hydrolysate of dextran by solid phase extraction (SPE) using a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) column. The effect of different degrees of acid hydrolysis of dextran on the production of HMF, MF and FF was analyzed. The results showed that the proposed UPLC method was rapid, accurate and sensitive. Under incomplete acid hydrolysis conditions (0.5 mol/L H2SO4, 60 ℃), the recovery of monosaccharides from dextran was low and the three furfural compounds were undetectable in the hydrolysate. Under the optimal hydrolysis conditions (2 mol/L H2SO4, 100 ℃), the content of monosaccharides in dextran hydrolysate increased, the formation rate and content of HMF increased significantly, and FF was detected; however, the formation rate and content of FF were lower than those of HMF. Under excessive hydrolysis conditions (4 mol/L H2SO4, 120 ℃), the recovery of monosaccharides was lower than that under the optimal hydrolysis conditions. Meanwhile, the contents of HMF and FF were higher, and MF was not detected during the whole hydrolysis process. The above results show that during the hydrolysis of dextran, the yield of furfural compounds is closely related to the monosaccharide content in the hydrolysate. In addition, more vigorous acid hydrolysis conditions will promote the formation of HMF and FF in dextran hydrolysate, HMF being the easiest to form, followed by FF. The formation of MF requires more vigorous catalytic conditions.

Polysaccharides from Semen Astragali complanati (SACP) were obtained by hot water extraction followed by ethanol precipitation and separated by fractional precipitation with 20% and 25% ethanol into two fractions: SACP-20 and SACP-25, which was the major one with higher purity. Their physicochemical properties were determined by colorimetric methods, and their molecular mass distribution, conformation in solution and monosaccharide composition were analyzed by size exclusion chromatography coupled with muti-angle laser light scattering (SEC-MALLS) and high-performance anion exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection (HPLC-PAD). Results indicated that SACP-25 was a homogenous polysaccharide with total sugar content of 87.40% and was composed of galactose (42.92%) and mannose (57.08%). Meanwhile, it showed a random coil conformation in 0.1 mol/L NaNO3. Analysis by methylation combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy revealed that the main chain of SACP-25 was composed of β-1,4-linked-mannopyranose (Manp) with galactopyranose (Galp) side chains attached to C-6 of the Manp residues. This study indicated that Semen A. complanati is good natural source of galactomannans as a water-soluble dietary fiber. The results of this study may provide theoretical support for the ordered structure of polysaccharides and also provide a theoretical foundation for the development and application of SACP in the functional food and pharmaceutical industries.

In this research, the distribution and physicochemical properties of polysaccharides from the whole seed, cotyledon and hull of Cicer arietinum were analyzed and compared, and the structure characteristics of Cicer arietinum hull polysaccharide (CAHP) were characterized. It was found that polysaccharide was concentrated in the hull of chickpea according to the yield and composition of polysaccharide. CAHP was further purified by column chromatography into six fractions (Fw, F0.1, F0.2, F0.3, F0.5 and F2), and the structure of CAHP-F0.2, which showed relatively high yield and good homogeneity, was characterized. The results showed that CAHP-F0.2 was consisted of mostly homogalacturonan (HG)-type pectic polysaccharide whose main chain was linked by 1,4-GalpA, and contained a small amount of RG-I domain, with arabincan and arabinogalactan-II side chain. This study will provide a theoretical basis for future research on the structure, biological activity and resource development of chickpea polysaccharides.

Objective: Major bleeding is a common complication following treatment for an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and is associated with increased mortality. We aimed to explore the temporal trend of bleeding events in relation to changes of therapeutic strategies among patients hospitalized for ACS in China. Methods: The CCC-ACS project (Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-Acute Coronary Syndrome) is a collaborative initiative of the American Heart Association and the Chinese Society of Cardiology. We analyzed 113,567 ACS patients from 241 hospitals in China from 2015 to 2019. Major bleeding was defined as intracranial bleeding, retroperitoneal bleeding, a decline in hemoglobin levels ≥3 g/dL, transfusion with overt bleeding, bleeding requiring surgical intervention, and fatal bleeding. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine the trend of major bleeding over time. Results: The rate of in-hospital major bleeding decreased from 6.3% in 2015 to 4.7% in 2019 (unadjusted OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.68-0.80, and P < 0.001). The relative changes were consistent across almost all subgroups including patients with NSTE-ACS and STEMI, although the trend was more pronounced in NSTE-ACS patients. The decrease in bleeding was accompanied by a decrease in use of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors and parenteral anticoagulation therapy during hospitalization. The annual reduced risk of bleeding (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.89-0.93) was attenuated after stepwise adjusting for baseline characteristics and antithrombotic treatments (OR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93-0.97), but did not change after adjusting for invasive treatment (OR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93-0.97). Conclusions: There was a temporal reduction in in-hospital bleeding among Chinese ACS patients during the last 5 years, which was associated with more evidence-based use of antithrombotic therapies. Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT02306616.

In this study, the changes in the nutritional components and in vitro fermentation characteristics of quinoa were measured after extrusion treatment. Results showed that extrusion could significantly reduce the contents of amylose, fat, total dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber in quinoa (P < 0.05), and increase the content of soluble dietary fiber (P < 0.05). During in vitro fermentation, the gas production increased with fermentation time, and the pH decreased significantly at the early stage of fermentation (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, extruded quinoa could significantly increase the relative abundances of Prevotella, Megamonas, Megasphaera, Phascolarctobacterium, Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides (P < 0.05), but significantly reduce the relative abundance of Ruminobacteriaceae and Enterobacteriaceae (P < 0.05) during the fermentation. At the same time, the level of short chain fatty acids in the fermented broth of all groups increased and was higher in the extruded quinoa group than in the control group after 48 h of fermentation. Therefore, extrusion treatment can affect the nutritional composition of quinoa, and use of extruded quinoa as fermentation substrates can improve the fecal microbiota, which in turn may be beneficial for human gut health. The findings of this study can provide data support for obtaining quinoa products by extrusion and promoting the development of intestinal health products.