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Background: Iron and vitamin D (VD) is essential to health. Previous studies have shown that iron homeostasis has a potential effect on VD metabolism, but the mechanism is not fully understood. Objectives: To explore the relationship between VD metabolism and iron metabolism, as well as the regulatory mechanism of iron on VD metabolism. Methods: 40 male rats were fed adaptively for 7 days and randomly divided into control (C, n = 6 normal diet) group and model (M, n = 24 iron deficient diet) by simple randomization, the latter was used to establish iron deficiency anemia (IDA) model. After 6 weeks of feeding, the M group was randomly divided into: iron deficiency group (DFe), low iron group (LFe), medium iron group (MFe) and high iron group (HFe) by block randomization. Different doses of iron dextran (based on iron content (100 g·bw·d)): 0, 1.1, 3.3 and 9.9 mg) were given respectively. After 4 weeks, the rats were anesthetized with 8% chloral hydrate, Blood (collected from the abdominal aorta), liver and kidney tissues were collected. The serum and tissues were separately packed and frozen at -80℃ for testing. Results: The results showed that the levels of hemoglobin (Hb), red blood cell (RBC), serum iron (SI), liver iron, and kidney iron in DFe group were lower than those in the other four groups, while the levels of total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin (TF) and transferrin receptor (Tfr) in DFe group were higher than those in other groups; The serum levels of 25-(OH)D3 and 1,25-(OH)2D3 in DFe group were significantly lower than those in C group (P < 0.05). The correlation analysis showed that the levels of 25-(OH)D3 and 1,25-(OH)2D3 were negatively correlated with TIBC, TF and Tfr no correlation with SI. Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and q-PCR results showed that compared with C group, the protein and gene expressions of CYP2R1, CYP27A1, and CYP24A1 in DFe group were down-regulated, and the expression of CYP27B1 protein and gene was up-regulated in DFe group. Conclusion: Iron may be involved in the metabolism of VD3 by regulating the expression of VD3 hydroxylase, suggesting that appropriate iron supplementation might promote the activation of VD3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging impairs cognitive function, whereas nutritional intervention can delay aging and age-related diseases. Lycopene (LYC), a naturally occurring carotenoid, posses multiple health-promoting properties, including neuroprotective function. Here, the effects of LYC on memory and behavioral deficits induced by D-galactose (D-gal) treatment and the relative contribution of LYC-derived gut microbiota in these process were investigated. Results demonstrated that LYC showed effective protection on D-gal induced cognitive deficit and neuronal damage. Moreover, LYC treatment has beneficial effects on gut barrier damage, microbiota dysbiosis and levels of SCFAs in D-gal-induced subacute aging mice. Next, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiment was performed and increased SCFAs were observed in mice received stools from D-gal+LYC group when compared with D-gal-FMT group. Thus, we added SCFAs treatment served as a control group in order to evaluated whether the alterations of gut-brain axis could be attributed to LYC-reshaped gut microbiota and SCFAs. Results showed that recipient mice received SCFAs and stools from D-gal+LYC group have similar beneficial effects in improving gut and brain function, demonstrated as: improved intestinal health via elevating antioxidant enzymes contents, increasing the expressions of tight junctions proteins and protecting gut barrier, enhanced mice working memory capacity via alleviating hippocampal neurons impairment, improving synaptic function and enhancing mitochondrial function in the intestinal pseudo-aseptic mice. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that LYC-derived microbiome played a pivotal role in the regulation of cognitive functions during aging and enhanced SCFAs formation might be an important signaling molecule connecting gut microbiome and brain., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interests The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To explore the effect of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids combined with calorie restriction( CR) in DSS induced ulcerative colitis rats., Methods: Forty female rats were randomly divided into five groups, control group, model group, CR group, 5:1 PUFA ad libitum group, 5: 1 PUFA CR group. CR groups provided with a limited daily food allotment of 60% of that eaten by the ad libitum animals for 14 weeks. Ulcerative colitis model in rats were given 5. 0% dextran sulfate sodium in their drinking water for 7 days., Results: 5:1 PUFA CR group significantly decreased body weight, disease activity index, macroscopic and histological score compared to model group. In addition, administration of 5: 1 PUFA CR effectively inhibited MPO activity. The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the serum with colitis were decreased by 5: 1 PUFA CR (P <0. 05)., Conclusion: These results suggest that combination of calories restriction and n-6/n-3 =5:1 PUFA may be more beneficial in attenuating the progression of DSS induced ulcerative colitis.

Four alkaligenous, moderately halotolerant strains, designated ge09, ge10(T), ge14(T) and ge15, were isolated from the internal tissue of ginseng root and their taxonomic positions were investigated by using a polyphasic approach. Cells of the four strains were Gram-positive-staining, non-motile, short rods. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strains ge09 and ge10(T) formed one cluster and strains ge14(T) and ge15 formed another separate cluster within the genus Bacillus. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with type strains of other Bacillus species were less than 97 %. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness among the four strains showed that strains ge09 and ge10(T) and strains ge14(T) and ge15 belonged to two separate species; the mean level of DNA-DNA relatedness between ge10(T) and ge14(T) was only 28.7 %. Their phenotypic and physiological properties supported the view that the two strains represent two different novel species of the genus Bacillus. The DNA G+C contents of strains ge10(T) and ge14(T) were 49.9 and 49.6 mol%, respectively. Strains ge10(T) and ge14(T) showed the peptidoglycan type A4alpha l-Lys-d-Glu. The lipids present in strains ge10(T) and ge14(T) were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, a minor amount of phosphatidylcholine and two unknown phospholipids. Their predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7. The fatty acid profiles of the four novel strains contained large quantities of branched and saturated fatty acids. The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0) (42.5 %), anteiso-C(15 : 0) (22.2 %), anteiso-C(17 : 0) (7.3 %) and C(16 : 1)omega7c alcohol (5.7 %) in ge10(T) and iso-C(15 : 0) (50.7 %) and anteiso-C(15 : 0) (20.1 %) in ge14(T). On the basis of their phenotypic properties and phylogenetic distinctiveness, two novel species of the genus Bacillus are proposed, Bacillus beijingensis sp. nov. (type strain ge10(T) =DSM 19037(T) =CGMCC 1.6762(T)) and Bacillus ginsengi sp. nov. (type strain ge14(T) =DSM 19038(T) =CGMCC 1.6763(T)).

A Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain JA3-B52(T), was isolated from the roots of fresh rice plants (Oryza sativa). The cells were motile by means of polar single or lateral flagella. The colonies were non-pigmented. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, the strain was phylogenetically related to species of the genus Rheinheimera, having the greatest level of sequence similarity with respect to Rheinheimera texasensis A62-14B(T) (97.16 %). The bacterium grew at temperatures from 10 to 37 degrees C, with an optimum at 30 degrees C. The strain exhibited growth with 0-3.0 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.0-8.5. The main cellular fatty acids were C(16 : 1)omega7c, C(17 : 1)omega8c, C (16 : 0), C(18 : 1)omega7c and C(12 : 0) 3-OH. The DNA G+C content was 47.0 mol%. The levels of similarity between the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain JA3-B52(T) and those of the type strains of Rheinheimera species ranged from 95.38 to 97.16 %. The mean level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain JA3-B52(T) and R. texasensis A62-14B(T), the strain most closely related to the isolate, was 20.4 %. On the basis of physiological and biochemical characteristics and genotypic data obtained in this work, strain JA3-B52(T) represents a novel species of the genus Rheinheimera, for which the name Rheinheimera tangshanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JA3-B52(T) (=CGMCC 1.6362(T) =DSM 19460(T)).

The effect of taurine on serum and liver cholesterol level in rats and its mechanism was investigated. Female weanling SD strain rats (80-100 g) were divided into four groups, eight rats in each group. Group A fed with normal diet. The diet of groups B, C and D was normal diet incorporated with taurine at the levels of 6, 13.5 and 30 g/kg diet respectively. The experiment lasted for five weeks. Results showed that the blood cholesterol levels of rats with diets containing taurine were decreased. The decrease of plasma total cholesterol(TC), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol in the 6 g/kg taurine group was the most significant. Plasma triglycerides and apolipoprotein(Apo)-B in the 13.5 g/kg taurine group was decreased, and the amount of fecal bile acids was increased in this group. Plasma Apo-AI of the 30 g/kg taurine group was increased and the liver TC was decreased.