[Research progress on bioactive constituents and pharmacological effects of Tibetan medicine Sinopodophylli Fructus].

Sinopodophylli Fructus is a traditional medicine used by the Tibetan people. It is known for its ability to regulate menstruation and promote blood circulation. Presently, bioactive constituents that have been isolated and identified from Sinopodophylli Fructus mainly include 15 lignans(e.g., podophyllotoxin, deoxypodophyllotoxin, and 4'-demethylpodophyllotoxin) and 20 flavonoids(e.g., quercetin, kaempferol, and rutin). These components exhibit pharmacological effects such as anticancer, antibacterial, and lipid-lowering activities. Additionally, Sinopodophylli Fructus contains other components such as proteins, fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins, amino acids, and trace elements. According to the relevant literature reports in China and abroad, this article reviewed the chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of Sinopodophylli Fructus, aiming to provide references for the development and rational clinical application of this medicinal resource.

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: a clinical retrospective study on 565 inpatients.

The aim of this study was to analyze clinical manifestations of 565 ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) inpatients in the largest Obstetrics and Gynecology hospital in China from year 2010 to 2017, to get more understanding of epidemiologic features of this disease, and to provide some insight on the diagnosis, treatment, and preventions of OHSS. It is a clinical retrospective study. In the 565 cases that developed OHSS over an eight-year period between 2010 and 2017 were reviewed, we assessed patients' general characteristics, clinical manifestations, treatment, prognosis, and the relationship between different indicators and the severity of OHSS. Totally 12 kinds of ovulation induction protocols (Protocol 1: CC; Protocol 2: Gn; Protocol 3: hCG; Protocol 4: GnRh-a; Protocol 5: CC & Gn; Protocol 6: CC & hCG; Protocol 7: Gn & hCG; Protocol 8: GnRh-a & Gn; Protocol 9: CC & Gn & hCG; Protocol 10: GnRh-a & CC & Gn; Protocol 11: Letrozole & Gn & hCG; Protocol 12:GnRh-a & Letrozole & Gn) were analyzed and the Odds Ratio (OR) of each protocol were calculated. Five hundred and sixty-five patients were reviewed in our study. In all these patients, the number of hospitalizations, mean age, primary infertility rate, and pregnancy rate did not differ through the last 8 years. From which we may infer that the incidence rate of OHSS may not change over the last 8 years. Older patients tend to develop into more severe stage easily. The pregnancy rate was much lower in mild stage patients, but no difference was found between patients in moderate, severe and critical stage. Oocytes retrieval is strongly associated with severity. PCOS history, irregular menstrual cycle and infertility type do not seem to affect the severity of OHSS. Twelve kinds of ovulation induction protocols were analyzed, OR of different protocols were calculated, what is noteworthy is that patients who used GnRh easily developed more severe OHSS than the patients who received oocytes retrieval. We suggest that we may choose ovulation induction protocols according to the OR table while treating women with high-risk factors.

Non-Volatile Metabolites from Trichoderma spp.

The genus Trichoderma is comprised of many common fungi species that are distributed worldwide across many ecosystems. Trichoderma species are well-known producers of secondary metabolites with a variety of biological activities. Their potential use as biocontrol agents has been known for many years. Several reviews about metabolites from Trichoderma have been published. These reviews are based on their structural type, biological activity, or fungal origin. In this review, we summarize the secondary metabolites per Trichoderma species and elaborate on approximately 390 non-volatile compounds from 20 known species and various unidentified species.

The Effect of Berberine on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Patients with Insulin Resistance (PCOS-IR): A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of berberine (BBR) on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients with insulin resistance (IR). METHODS: PubMed (in English), Medline (in English), Embase (in English), CNKI (in Chinese), WanFang DATA (in Chinese), and VIP (in Chinese) were searched for randomized controlled trials in human beings with the search terms including "polycystic ovary syndrome /PCOS" and "berberine/BBR/Huang liansu (in Chinese)/ Xiao bojian (in Chinese)" till July 2018. Relevant indices were collected and analyzed by Stata 13.0. RESULTS: A total of 9 randomized controlled trials were included. Limited data demonstrated the results as follows: No significant difference was found between berberine (BBR) and metformin (MET) on alleviating insulin resistance, improving glycolipid metabolism, or reproductive endocrine condition. MET combined with BBR was not superior to MET alone, but cyproterone acetate (CPA) combined with BBR was superior to CPA alone in improving some of the reproductive endocrine indices. The combination of BBR and Chinese herbs also showed positive effect. However there are insufficient data to make any conclusions on the effect of BBR on PCOS-IR. CONCLUSION: BBR showed a promising prospect in treating PCOS-IR. But its mechanisms are still unclear, and more properly designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are needed to further confirm its effect and safety.

Synergistic Effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (GB03) and Water Retaining Agent on Drought Tolerance of Perennial Ryegrass.

Water retaining agent (WRA) is widely used for soil erosion control and agricultural water saving. Here, we evaluated the effects of the combination of beneficial soil bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain GB03 and WRA (the compound is super absorbent hydrogels) on drought tolerance of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Seedlings were subjected to natural drought for maximum 20 days by stopping watering and then rewatered for seven days. Plant survival rate, biomass, photosynthesis, water status and leaf cell membrane integrity were measured. The results showed that under severe drought stress (20-day natural drought), compared to control, GB03, WRA and GB03+WRA all significantly improved shoot fresh weight, dry weight, relative water content (RWC) and chlorophyll content and decreased leaf relative electric conductivity (REC) and leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) content; GB03+WRA significantly enhanced chlorophyll content compared to control and other two treatments. Seven days after rewatering, GB03, WRA and GB03+WRA all significantly enhanced plant survival rate, biomass, RWC and maintained chlorophyll content compared to control; GB03+WRA significantly enhanced plant survival rate, biomass and chlorophyll content compared to control and other two treatments. The results established that GB03 together with water retaining agent promotes ryegrass growth under drought conditions by improving survival rate and maintaining chlorophyll content.

Transcriptomic Profiling and Physiological Analysis of Haloxylon ammodendron in Response to Osmotic Stress.

Haloxylon ammodendron, a perennial xero-halophyte, is an essential species for investigating the effects of drought on desert tree. To gain a comprehensive knowledge on the responses of H. ammodendron to drought stress, we specially performed the molecular and physiological analysis of H. ammodendron in response to -0.75 MPa osmotic stress for six and 24 h in lab condition via RNA-seq and digital gene expression (DGE). In total, 87,109 unigenes with a mean length of 680 bp and 13,486 potential simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were generated, and 3353 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in shoots and 4564 in roots were identified under stress. These DEGs were mainly related to ion transporters, signal transduction, ROS-scavenging, photosynthesis, cell wall organization, membrane stabilization and hormones. Moreover, the physiological changes of inorganic ions and organic solute content, peroxidase (POD) activity and osmotic potential were in accordance with dynamic transcript profiles of the relevant genes. In this study, a detailed investigation of the pathways and candidate genes identified promote the research on the molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance in the xero-halophytic species. Our data provides valuable genetic resources for future improvement of forage and crop species for better adaptation to abiotic stresses.

Chilling temperature stimulates growth, gene over-expression and podophyllotoxin biosynthesis in Podophyllum hexandrum Royle.

Podophyllotoxin (PPT) and its derivatives, isolated from the rhizome of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle (P. hexandrum), are typically used in clinical settings for anti-cancer and anti-virus treatments. Empirical studies have verified that P. hexandrum had stronger tolerance to chilling, due to involving PPT accumulation in rhizome induced by cold stress. However, the cold-adaptive mechanism and its association with PPT accumulation at a molecular level in P. hexandrum are still limited. In this study, the morpho-physiological traits related to plant growth, PPT accumulation and key gene expressions controlling PPT biosynthesis were assessed by exposing P. hexandrum seedlings to different temperatures (4 °C and 10 °C as chilling stress and 22 °C as the control). The results showed that chilling significantly increased chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and plant biomass, whereas it greatly decreased transpiration rates and intercellular CO2 concentration. Compared to the control, the chilling treatments under 4 °C and 10 °C conditions induced a 5.00- and 3.33-fold increase in PPT contents, respectively. The mRNA expressions of six key genes were also up-regulated by chilling stresses. The findings are useful in understanding the molecular basis of P. hexandrum response to chilling.

Multifunctional Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Based on Charge-Reversal Plug-Gate Nanovalves and Acid-Decomposable ZnO Quantum Dots for Intracellular Drug Delivery.

A novel type of pH-responsive multifunctional mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) was developed for cancerous cells drug delivery and synergistic therapy of tumor. MSNs were covered with a kind of cell-penetrating peptide, deca-lysine sequence (K10), to enhance their escape from the endosomes. After K10's primary amines were reacted with citraconic anhydride to form acid-labile ß-carboxylic amides, zinc oxide (ZnO) quantum dots (QDs) were introduced to cap MSNs via electrostatic interaction. The obtained ZnO@MSN drug-delivery system (DDS) achieves "zero-premature" drug release under a physiological environment. However, once the DDS is transferred to the cancerous cells' acidic endosome, ZnO QDs would rapidly dissolve and the acid-labile amides on the side chain of K10 would hydrolyze to regenerate primary amines, resulting in the uncapping of MSNs and exposure of the cell-penetrating peptide K10. The regenerated K10 could help the DDS escape from the endosome and efficiently release the loaded drugs inside the cells. At the meantime, because of the cytotoxicity of ZnO QDs at their destination, the ZnO@MSN DDS may achieve a synergistic antitumor effect to improve the therapeutic index.

[Genetic analysis of accumulation and remobilization of water soluble carbohydrates regulated by drought in wheat RIL stem at grain-filling stage].

Recombinant inbred lines (RIL, Longjian 19 x Q9086, F8) and their parents were undertaken to study characteristics of quantitative genetics of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) accumulation, remobilization and its contribution to grain mass in different main stem internodes at the grain-filling stage as well as the correlations among the target traits under the rainfed (DS) or well-watered (WW) condition. All of the target traits of RIL had wide variations under both water conditions. The variation coefficient ranged from 2.7% to 62.1% under the DS, and from 1.9% to 52.1% under the WW. The diversity index varied from 0.61 to 0.90 under the DS, and from 0.64 to 0.89 under the WW. All tested traits were significantly affected by the genotype, water condition, internode and growth stage. The growth stage exerted strong impacts on the WSC content. The water condition and internode greatly influenced the WSC remobilization rate. But, the WSC contribution rate to grain was jointly controlled by the genotype, water condition and internode. There were significantly positive correlations between the WSC contents at the early flowering and grain-filling stages, the WSC remobilization rate and its contribution rate to grain at pre-anthesis stage, with the higher correlation coefficients under the DS than under the WW. All traits showed low heri- tability under both water conditions (hB2 = 0.31-0.56 under the DS, 0.44-0.67 under the WW). The numbers of gene pairs controlling all traits ranged from 6 to 29 under the DS, and from 3 to 19 under the WW. It indicated that alleles responsible for all the target traits of RIL showed substantially transgressive segregation and greatlysignificant sensitivity to the water condition, confirming the characteristics of quantitative traits.

[Effects of source-sink regulation on water soluble carbohydrates of vegetative organs and thousand-grain mass of wheat under different water conditions].

Two winter wheat cultivars with different drought tolerance were selected to investigate the effects of source-sink regulation on the vegetative organs water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) content and 1000-grain mass (TGM) of wheat under drought stress (DS) and well watered (WW) conditions. Sink-cutting increased the WSC content of different vegetative organs significantly, and promoted the relative transportation of the WSC positively; while source-cutting caused opposite responses. The effects of source-sink regulation on the WSC content and its relative transportation amount (TA) and transportation rate (TR) were significantly higher under DS and sink-cutting than under WW and source-cutting, for drought-resistant cultivar (Longjian 19) than for drought-sensitive Q9086, and for peduncle internode and PedI than for penultimate internode and PenI. Under source-cutting, the superior organs of Longjian 19 in the TR of total WSC were sheath, PedI, and PenI, which also contributed to the fructan TR of the two cultivars, while those of Q9086 were the PenI and the third internode from top (ThiI). Source-cutting decreased the TGM of Longjian 19 and Q9086 significantly, with the decrement being 27.3% and 31.7% under DS and 25.3% and 12.1% under WW, respectively. The correlation coefficients of the WSC content and its TA and TR and the TGM were significantly higher under sink-cutting than under source-cutting, and also, under DS than under WW. There existed a higher correlation coefficient (r2 > 0.900) of the TGM and the total WSC and fructan contents in different vegetative organs. The vegetative organs with closer correlation between their WSC content and its TA and TR and the TGM were mainly sheath and PedI. Under DS, the traits associated with the total WSC content had a higher correlation with TGM; under WW, the traits associated with sucrose and glucan contents generally showed a higher correlation with TGM. It was suggested that the effects of source-sink regulation on the WSC content of vegetative organs and the TGM were significantly affected by soil water environment, wheat genotype, and vegetative organs location.

Relationship between podophyllotoxin accumulation and soil nutrients and the influence of Fe2+ and Mn2+ on podophyllotoxin biosynthesis in Podophyllum hexandrum tissue culture.

Podophyllotoxin (PDT) and its derivatives, which are isolated from the Podophyllum species, are widely used in the clinical setting. The present study was designed to analyze the correlation between PDT levels in the rhizomes of Podophyllum hexandrum (P. hexandrum) and Dysosma versipellis (D. versipellis) and the nutrients in soil. We also aimed to investigate the influence of Fe(2+) and Mn(2+) on the enzyme activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), cinnamyl alcohol-dehydrogenase (CAD), and deoxypodophyllotoxin 6-hydroylase (DOP6H) and PDT accumulation via P. hexandrum tissue culture. The results showed that PDT accumulation was positively correlated with the NO3(-), PO4(3-), Na(+), Fe, and Mn levels and was negatively correlated with the SO4(2-) and K(+) levels, while the correlation with the Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Cu and Zn levels was not significant. The Fe(2+) and Mn(2+) levels were associated with the increased activity of PAL and CAD at 3-18 days; Fe(2+) enhanced the activity levels by 2.66- and 1.76-fold, respectively, and Mn(2+) was associated with a 1.68- and 1.10-fold increase in activity levels, respectively, compared with the control (CK) at 18 days. DOP6H activity was enhanced by Mn(2+), but it was not significantly affected by Fe(2+). Finally, PDT production was enhanced approximately 60% and 34% by Fe(2+) and Mn(2+), respectively, compared with CK at 16 days. These observations may be useful for the generation of PDT and related lignans via commercial cultivation as well as cell and tissue culture of P. hexandrum and other related plant resources.

[Concentration distribution of bioaerosol in summer and autumn in the Qingdao coastal region].

Bioaerosol samples were collected using an Andersen sampler from Jul. 2009 to Nov. 2009 in the Qingdao coastal region. Total microbe (including 'culturable microbe' and 'non-culturable microbe'), the terrigenous and marine microbe were analyzed by the counting methods of fluorescence microscope and Petri dishes containing agar media. The results showed that the proportion of non-culturable microbe to total microbe was as high as 99.58% of total on average, while the average proportion of culturable microbe to total microbe was 0.42%. The average proportions of marine bacteria/fungi did to the culturable microbe (18.99% and 45.47% respectively) were more than that of terrigenous bacteria/fungi (16.91% and 18.63% respectively), therefore marine bacteria/fungi contributed more to the microbe than terrigenous bacteria/fungi. It could be seen that the composition and concentration distribution were greatly affected by the ocean in the Qingdao coastal region. The average concentrations of total microbe were higher in Autumn (181 682.5 CFU/m3) than that in Summer (159 704.2 CFU/m3), and that of terrigenous bacteria, marine bacteria/fungi were also higher in Autumn than in Summer. The particle sizes of total microbe presented a log-normal distribution in summer and autumn, and the total microbe mainly existed in coarse particles larger than 2.1 microm. There was the highest proportion of total microbe in 3.3-4.7 microm particles, the lowest one in 0.65-1.1 microm. The terrigenous and marine bacterial particle sizes showed a skew distribution with a higher value in large particles (> 7 microm) and a lower one in fine particles (0.65-1.1 microm). The terrigenous and marine fungal particle sizes showed a log-normal distribution in summer and autumn, and the highest concentration proportion existed in particles with diameter of 2.1-3.3 microm.