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Intestinal stem cell (ISC)-driven intestinal homeostasis is subjected to dual regulation by dietary nutrients and toxins. Our study investigated the use of lauric acid (LA) to alleviate deoxynivalenol (DON)-induced intestinal epithelial damage. C57BL/6 mice in the control, LA, DON, and LA + DON groups were orally administered PBS, 10 mg/kg BW LA, 2 mg/kg BW DON, and 10 mg/kg BW LA + 2 mg/kg BW DON for 10 days. The results showed that LA increased the average daily gain and average daily feed intake of the mice exposed to DON. Moreover, the DON-triggered impairment of jejunal morphology and barrier function was significantly improved after LA supplementation. Moreover, LA rescued ISC proliferation, inhibited intestinal cell apoptosis, and promoted ISC differentiation into absorptive cells, goblet cells, and Paneth cells. The jejunum crypt cells from the mice in the LA group expanded into enteroids, resulting in a significantly greater enteroid area than that in the DON group. Furthermore, LA reversed the DON-mediated inhibition of the Akt/mTORC1/S6K1 signaling axis in the jejunum. Our results indicated that LA accelerates ISC regeneration to repair intestinal epithelial damage after DON insult by reactivating the Akt/mTORC1/S6K1 signaling pathway, which provides new implications for the function of LA in ISCs.

Background Although huge fetal hepatic hemangiomas are rare, they can cause fatal complications. The purpose of this study is to describe the imaging features and prognosis of these tumors. Methods Imaging data were collected for 6 patients with huge fetal hepatic hemangiomas treated at our hospital. Imaging modalities included prenatal magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound and postnatal color Doppler ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). Results Among the 93,562 fetuses of 92,126 pregnant women examined at our hospital, 6 had huge hepatic hemangiomas (incidence rate, 0.64/10,000), as confirmed via postnatal color Doppler imaging and contrast-enhanced CT. Five fetuses had solitary lesions, whereas 1 (fetus 2) had multiple lesions. Four fetuses had lesions in the right liver lobe and 1 had a lesion in the left liver lobe, and 1 (fetus 2) had lesions in both lobes. All lesions showed centripetal enhancement on postnatal contrast-enhanced CT, which was more intense peripherally. Following postnatal treatment with oral propranolol, with or without dexamethasone or interventional therapy with the medical sclerosant pingyangmycin, all lesions decreased in size, with calcification plaques appearing 6 months after treatment. Conclusions Huge hepatic hemangiomas have typical ultrasonographic features and can be diagnosed prenatally. Treatment with propranolol, with or without dexamethasone, may result in a favorable prognosis. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12884-017-1635-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In the title compound, C21H21F2N3O4S, the tetrahydrofuran ring adopts an envelope conformation with the β-C atom positioned at the flap. The triazole, difluorophenyl and tolyl rings of the various substituents on the tetrahydrofuran ring are inclined at 77.88 (12), 83.81 (10) and 81.00 (10)°, respectively, to the best-fit mean plane through the five atoms of the tetrahydrofuran ring. In the crystal, weak C—H...O and C—H...F hydrogen bonds link the molecules into a three-dimensional structure, with molecules stacked along thea-axis direction.

The composition and antioxidant activities of two polysaccharides PFCAⅢ and PFCCⅠ, isolated from Fructus corni, have been investigated. The monosaccharide components of PFCAⅢ were found to be rhamnose, arabinose and glucose in a molar ratio of 13.74: 50.54: 35.72, whilst PFCCⅠ was found to consist of xylose and glucose in a molar ratio of 18.8: 81.2. The weight-average molecular weights of PFCAⅢ and PFCCⅠwere 1.74×104 and 7.57×104 respectively. The polysaccharides showed potential antioxidant activity by scavenging superoxide anion (O2−∙) and hydroxyl free radicals (OH∙) and this was confirmed by their ability to inhibit oxidation of axunge and gingili. The concentrations required to scavenge 50% of hydroxyl free radicals (EC50) of PFCAⅢ and PFCCⅠ were 430μg/ml and 80μg/ml respectively, and the extents of scavenging O2−∙ by 500μg PFCAⅢ and PFCCⅠwere 15.9% and 68.0% respectively. The polysaccharide PFCCⅠ shows much more significant antioxidant activity than PFCAⅢ. PFCCⅠ was mainly linked with β(1→4)-D-glucosyl with side chains including 1-linked β-D-Glc, 1,6-linked β-D-Glc and 1,4-linked β-D-Xyl with branching points at C-6 of 1,4-linked Glc in main chain. It had the potential to be exploited by the food and pharmaceutical industries in the future with further research on this polysaccharide.