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Background and Aim: Vitamin D (VD) deficiency was reported to correlate with ulcerative colitis (UC) activity, which might be closely related to gut microbiota dysbiosis. This study aims to investigate the effects of washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) on VD metabolism in UC., Methods: The serum levels of 25-hdroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in 121 patients with UC and 53 healthy controls (HC) were detected. Subsequently, a non-randomized control trial (non-RCT) was conducted. Patients with UC were non-randomly assigned to undergo WMT (n = 28) vs. conventional treatment (5-aminosalicylic acid, 5-ASA, n = 10). Serum levels of 25(OH)D, fecal microbiota, and the expression of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in patients with UC were evaluated with a 3-month follow-up., Results: Serum VD levels collected in the clinic practice indicated that patients with UC had significantly lower VD levels than HC (P < 0.001). In the non-RCT, serum 25(OH)D level and VDR expression significantly increased (P = 0.011, 0.026, respectively) in the WMT group, while no noticeable changes were observed in the non-WMT group. Microbiome profiling revealed that the increase in VD levels after WMT was positively associated with the abundances of Adlercreutzia&#95;equolifaciens, Ruminococcus&#95;obeum, and Dorea but negatively correlated with Escherichia., Conclusions: The study suggested that WMT increases the levels of VD with characteristic changes of specific microbiota, which indicated the association between the VD and the activity of UC might be regulated by gut microbiota., (© 2024 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Via heating first and then cooling, binary ionic liquid (IL) mixture of N -methyl-2-pyrrolidonium methylsulfonate ([HNMP][CH 3 SO 3 ]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl) could form a liquid at room temperature. The glass-transition temperature ( T g ) characterized by DSC depends on its composition with T g being as low as -63 °C. The physicochemical properties of the binary IL mixtures also vary with the composition. With the increase of the mole fraction of [Bmim]Cl, the hydrogen-bond accepting ability ( β ) of the binary IL mixture increases, but the hydrogen-bond donating ability ( α ) deceases. In this binary IL mixture, fructose could be effectively converted into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at room temperature. The HMF yields at a given time are found to be well correlated with the physicochemical properties of the binary mixture, especially the α and β values. Under specified conditions, the present IL mixture as medium for fructose dehydration into HMF is comparable to the medium formed by ILs and alcohol, where the alcohols have negative effect on the HMF formation., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)