Search

Background Trees have developed a broad spectrum of molecular mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress. Secondary metabolites via phenolic compounds emblematized the hidden bridge among plant kingdom, human health, and oxidative stress. Although studies have demonstrated that abiotic stresses can increase the production of medicinal compounds in plants, research comparing the efficiency of these stresses still needs to be explored. Thus, the present research paper provided an exhaustive comparative metabolomic study in Dalbergia odorifera under salinity (ST) and waterlogging (WL). Results High ST reduced D. odorifera's fresh biomass compared to WL. While WL only slightly affected leaf and vein size, ST had a significant negative impact. ST also caused more significant damage to water status and leaflet anatomy than WL. As a result, WL-treated seedlings exhibited better photosynthesis and an up-regulation of nonenzymatic pathways involved in scavenging reactive oxygen species. The metabolomic and physiological responses of D. odorifera under WL and salinity ST stress revealed an accumulation of secondary metabolites by the less aggressive stress (WL) to counterbalance the oxidative stress. Under WL, more metabolites were more regulated compared to ST. ST significantly altered the metabolite profile in D. odorifera leaflets, indicating its sensitivity to salinity. WL synthesized more metabolites involved in phenylpropanoid, flavone, flavonol, flavonoid, and isoflavonoid pathways than ST. Moreover, the down-regulation of L-phenylalanine correlated with increased p-coumarate, caffeate, and ferulate associated with better cell homeostasis and leaf anatomical indexes under WL. Conclusions From a pharmacological and medicinal perspective, WL improved larger phenolics with therapeutic values compared to ST. Therefore, the data showed evidence of the crucial role of medical tree species’ adaptability on ROS detoxification under environmental stresses that led to a significant accumulation of secondary metabolites with therapeutic value.

Abstract Background The mechanisms of abscisic acid (ABA) and auxin (IAA) in inducing adventitious root (AR) formation, biomass accumulation, and plant development under long-term waterlogging (LT-WL) conditions are largely unexplored. This study aimed to determine the roles of exogenous application of ABA and IAA in two woody plants (Cleistocalyx operculatus and Syzygium jambos) under LT-WL conditions. A pot experiment was conducted using a complete randomized design with two factors: (i) LT-WL and (ii) application of exogenous phytohormones (ABA and IAA) for 120 d. Results Results revealed that exogenous ABA and IAA promoted LT-WL tolerance in both species. In C. operculatus and S. jambos, plant height, the number of blades, leaf area, and fresh shoot weight were increased by exogenous IAA under LT-WL. However, exogenous ABA affected more the adventitious and primary root in C. operculatus compared to S. jambos. LT-WL decreased drastically the photosynthetic activities in both species, but adding moderate amounts of exogenous ABA or IAA protected the photosynthesis apparatus under LT-WL. Exogenous phytohormones at certain levels decreased the superoxide anion level and malondialdehyde accumulation in plants under LT-WL. Also, the increase of the peroxidases and superoxide dismutase activities by exogenous phytohormones was more marked in C. operculatus compared to S. jambos. Meanwhile, the catalase activity was down-regulated in both species by exogenous phytohormones. Exogenous ABA or IAA positively regulated the jasmonic acid content in ARs under LT-WL. Moderate application of exogenous ABA or IAA in plants under LT-WL decreased the ABA content in the leaves. Lower accumulation of IAA and ABA in the leaves of C. operculatus under LT-WL was positively correlated with a decrease in antioxidant activity. Conclusions Lastly, C. operculatus which has greater morphology indexes was more tolerant to waterlogging than S. jambos. Moreover, the adaptive strategies via exogenous ABA were more built around the below-ground biomass indexes particularly in C. operculatus, while exogenous IAA backed the above-ground biomass in both species. Overall, the exogenous hormones applied (spraying or watering) influenced differentially the plant’s responses to LT-WL. The phytohormonal profile of plants exposed to waterlogging stress varied depending on the species’ tolerance level.

The selective oxidation of alcohols with molecular oxygen was efficientlycompleted in high conversion and selectivity using copper-bisisoquinoline-based catalystsunder mild reaction condition. The effects of various parameters such as reactiontemperature, reaction time, oxidant, ligands, etc, were studied. Solvent effect has been aswell studied in ionic liquids [bmim]PF6, [omim]BF4 and [hmim]BF4, comparing totraditional volatile organic solvent. The use of ionic liquids was found to enhance thecatalytic properties of the catalysts used.

Dark mode which is subradiant plays a key role in the generation of Fano effect. This study proposes that plasmon interaction between dark modes is a favorable method to generate multiple Fano resonances, where plasmon hybridization leads to the formation of a subradiant bonding and a subradiant antibonding combination. It demonstrates that a concentric ring/ring cavity dimer introduces interactions that render bonding quadrupolar ring mode dipole active, resulting in a pronounced Fano resonance. The corresponding antibonding quadrupolar ring mode is excited in a symmetry breaking nonconcentric cavity dimer, and double Fano resonances appear in the spectra.

This study aims to establish an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) method for the determination of emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside(EG) and its metabolites in plasma, and to investigate the toxicokinetics(TK) behavior of them in rats. To be specific, the TK of EG and its metabolites from the first to the last administration in the repeated dose toxicity study was determined, and the kinetic parameters were calculated. The exposure of EG prototype and metabolites in rat plasma after oral administration of different doses of EG was evaluated. The result showed that the prototype of EG and its metabolites aloe-emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside, emodin, aloe-emodin, and hydroxyemodin could be detected in rats after oral administration of high-, medium-, and low-dose EG. The area under the curve(AUC) of the prototype and metabolites after the first and last administration was in positive correlation with the dose. The time to the maximum concentration(T_(max)) of EG and metabolites in the three administration groups was <6 h, and the longest in vivo residence time was 12 h. The T_(max) and in vivo residence time of EG were prolonged with the increase in the dose. The metabolites emodin, aloe-emodin, and hydroxyemodin all had two peaks. Both hydroxyemodin and aloe-emodin exhibited increased plasma exposure, slow metabolism, and accumulation in vivo. In addition, aloe-emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside and emodin disappeared with the increase in dose, suggesting the change of the metabolic pathway of EG in vivo in the case of high-dose administration. The mechanism of high-dose EG in vivo needs to be further explored. This study preliminarily elucidates the TK behavior of EG in rats, which is expected to support clinical drug use.

Cardiovascular diseases seriously endanger human health and life. The accompanying myocardial injury has been a focus of attention in society. Chinese medicine,serving as a natural and precious reservoir for the research and development of new drugs,is advantageous in resisting myocardial injury due to its multi-component,multi-pathway,and multi-target characteristics. In recent years,with the extensive application of culture method for isolated cardiomyocytes,a cost-effective,controllable in vitro model of cardiomyocyte injury with uniform samples is becoming a key tool for mechanism research on cardiomyocyte injury and drug development.A good in vitro model can reduce experimental and manpower cost,and also accurately stimulate clinical changes to reveal the mechanism. Therefore,the selection and establishment of in vitro model are crucial for the in-depth research. This study summarized the modeling principles,evaluation indicators,and application of more than ten models reflecting different clinical conditions,such as injuries induced by hypoxia-reoxygenation,hypertrophy,oxidative stress,inflammation,internal environmental disturbance,and toxicity. Furthermore,we analyzed advantages and technical difficulties,aiming to provide a reference for in-depth research on myocardial injury mechanism and drug development.

Objective: To compare the clinical effect of lower extremity varicose veins between fire needling bloodletting and operation, and to explore the possible mechanism., Methods: A total of 60 patients were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. In the control group，the operation was adopted. The fire needling bloodletting was applied in the observation group, twice a week for 4 weeks. Before and after treatment, the venous clinical severity score (VCSS) and venous disability score (VDS) were recorded, the hemorheological indexes [blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hematocrit, fibrinogen and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)], immune inflammatory response indexes[serum C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)], vascular endothelial cell function indexes [the number of circulatingendothelial cell (CEC), plasma endothelin (ET-1) and NO)] and apoptosis indexes (Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3) were detected in the two groups., Results: Compared before treatment, the scores of VCSS and VDS, hemorheological indexes, immune inflammatory response indexes and levels of plasma NO after treatment were reduced in the two groups ( P <0.05). The level of serum Bax after treatment was reduced in the observation group ( P <0.05). The number of CEC and levels of plasma ET-1 after treatment were increased in the two groups ( P <0.05). The levels of serum Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 after treatment were increased in the observation group ( P <0.05). In the observation group, the scores of VCSS and VDS, hemorheological indexes，immune inflammatory response indexes, vascular endothelial cell function indexes and level of serum Bax after treatment were lower than the control group ( P <0.05), and the levels of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 were higher than the control group ( P <0.05)., Conclusion: Fire needling bloodletting could effectively treat lower extremity varicose veins, and the mechanism may be related to the improvement of hemorheology, downregulation of immune inflammatory response, improvement of vascular endothelial cell function and inhibition of apoptosis.

Objective: To develop 22 Chinese Mandarin monosyllable lists with good psychometrical equivalence. This study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of these lists when it was used in speech recognition test in normal hearing dialectal speakers., Methods: Seven cities including Dalian, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Fuzhou and Xiamen were selected as testing centers which contain 6 typical Chinese dialectal regions including north of China, East of China, north of Fujian, south of Fujian, Guangdong and mid-south of China. At each center, 22 local normal hearing people were selected to join this study. Every participant was tested by each recognition test of all 22 lists twice in two sessions and same test order respectively. The second run of testing was carried out within 10 days-1 month since first run of testing., Results: There was a significant correlations between scores obtained at the two sessions (r = 0.682, P < 0.01). Paired student-t test had shown that a gross score of all dialectal participants was significantly higher than that of initial test to retest (P < 0.01). The mean increment of score was (2.7 +/- 10.1)%. A significant difference of test-retest score in 7 sites was 19.8% and it was equal to 5 test items. A one way ANOVA analysis had indicated that there were statistically significant difference between the score improvement of 7 test sites (P < 0.01). Another analysis had shown that there was no significant correlation between test-retest score improvement and intra-session intervals (P = 0.947)., Conclusions: Mandarin monosyllabic recognition test seems to be more stable, and the present study has indicated a systematic differences in Chinese Mandarin monosyllable recognition scores between test and retest. Monosyllable recognition test is not susceptible to memory effect. Pearson's correction analysis is not suitable to evaluation for test-retest reliability.