Artemisitene shows superiority over artemisinin in preventing Schistosoma japonica-induced liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Artemisinin (ART) analogs, such as dihydroartemisinin, arteether, artemether, and artesunate, all featuring an endoperoxide bridge, have demonstrated efficacy against schistosomiasis. Artemisitene (ATT), which contains an additional α, ß-unsaturated carbonyl structure, has shown enhanced biological activities. This study aims to evaluate the anti-schistosomaiasis japonica activity of ATT and compare it with ART. METHODS: We assessed liver inflammation and fibrosis in mice using hematoxylin and eosin staining and Sirius red staining, respectively. RNA sequencing analyzed transcriptomics in female and male Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) adult worms and mice livers, with cytokine profiling and flow cytometry to study immune responses under ART or ATT treatment. RESULTS: ATT exhibits a marked reduction in female S. japonicum adult worms and egg numbers, damaging the adult worms' surface. It also influences the transcription of genes related to cellular anatomical structures. Notably, ATT treatment resulted in significant reductions in liver granuloma size and collagen area, alongside lowering serum levels of glutamic pyruvic and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase more effectively than ART. Both ART and ATT markedly decreased neutrophil frequency in the liver and elevated eosinophil counts. However, only ATT treatment significantly reduced the M1/M2 and Th1/Th2 indices, indicating a pronounced shift in immune response profiles. ATT-affected host immunity correlated with the extent of liver fibrosis and the count of single males more strongly than ART. CONCLUSION: ATT, as a novel preventive strategy for schistosomiasis japonica in mice, significantly outperforms ART.

A specific innate immune response silences the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a latent infection model in the Drosophila melanogaster host.

Microbial pathogenicity often depends on the route of infection. For instance, P. aeruginosa or S. marcescens cause acute systemic infections when low numbers of bacteria are injected into D. melanogaster flies whereas flies succumb much slower to the continuous ingestion of these pathogens, even though both manage to escape from the gut compartment and reach the hemocoel. Here, we have developed a latent P. aeruginosa infection model by feeding flies on the bacteria for a short period. The bacteria stably colonize internal tissues yet hardly cause any damage since latently-infected flies live almost as long as noninfected control flies. The apparently dormant bacteria display particular characteristics in terms of bacterial colony morphology, composition of the outer cell wall, and motility. The virulence of these bacteria can however be reactivated upon wounding the host. We show that melanization but not the cellular or the systemic humoral response is the predominant host defense that establishes latency and may coerce the bacteria to a dormant state. In addition, the lasting activation of the melanization responses in latently-infected flies provides a degree of protection to the host against a secondary fungal infection. Latent infection by an ingested pathogen protects against a variety of homologous or heterologous systemic secondary infectious challenges, a situation previously described for the endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria, a guard against viral infections.

Promotion of levoglucosan production from biomass pyrolysis by hydrogen peroxide pre-oxidation.

Due to the complexity of biomass structures, the conversion of raw biomass into value-added chemicals is challenging and often requires efficient pretreatment of the biomass. In this paper, a simple and green pre-oxidation method, which was conducted under the conditions of 2 wt% H2O2, 80 min, and 150 °C, was reported to significantly increase the production of levoglucosan (LG) from biomass pyrolysis. The result showed that the LG yield significantly increased from 2.3 wt% (without pre-oxidation) to 23.1 wt% when pine wood was employed as a sample for pyrolysis at 400 °C, resulting from the removal of hemicellulose fraction and the in-situ acid catalysis of lignin carboxyl groups formed during the pre-oxidation. When the conditions for pre-oxidation became harsher than the above, the LG yield reduced because the decomposition of cellulose fraction in biomass. The study supplies an effective method for utilization of biomass as chemicals.

Meeting the heavy-metal safety requirements for food crops by using biochar: An investigation using sunflower as a representative plant under different atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

Global warming impacts on plant growth and food safety are emerging topics of concern, while biochar as a soil additive benefits plants. This study investigates (1) sunflower plant growth at various biochar concentrations in a soil-compost growing substrate under both ambient (420 ppm) and elevated (740 ppm) atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and (2) concentrations of heavy metals in the growing substrates and organs of the plants. The elevated CO2 concentration benefits the vegetative parts but harms the reproductive parts of the plants. Additionally, the elevated CO2 concentration inhibits the beneficial effects that biochar confers on the plants at the ambient concentration. The optimum biochar concentration at both CO2 levels was found to be 15%. At the time of harvest, most of the heavy-metal concentrations in the growing substrate increased. It was demonstrated that biochar can reduce the amount of heavy metals that accumulate in the roots and seeds whose heavy-metal concentrations complied with Singapore food safety regulations, while those for the biochar met the proposed Singapore biochar standard's thresholds. Our results show that the proposed Singapore biochar standard is practical and sound.

Study on the Water Quality Characteristics of the Baoan Lake Basin in China under Different Land Use and Landscape Pattern Distributions.

Land use and landscape pattern highly affect water quality. Their relationship can assist in land-use management and improve land-use efficiency. In this study, a water quality survey of rivers and lakes was performed in 2020 to analyze the effects of land use and the landscape pattern on the water quality of the rivers and lakes in the Baoan Lake basin and is expected to provide a reference for land use planning. The results demonstrated that the effects of land use on water quality were generally higher during the dry season than during the wet season; however, the opposite was demonstrated for the landscape pattern index. Cropland and urban land were closely correlated with deteriorating water quality, with contributions to total nitrogen, total phosphorous, and ammonia nitrogen in the basin. The impact of the landscape pattern of the basin on water quality was controlled by the original land-use type. In addition, the landscape configuration formed different land-use types to produce different effects on water quality. The basin scale better explained the changes in water quality, especially for construction land, followed by the 250 m and 500 m scales in the buffer zone.

Production of methyl levulinate from cellulose over cobalt disulfide: The importance of the crystal facet (111).

The conversion of cellulose to platform chemicals has attracted much attention because of its renewability. This work proposed an earth-abundant cobalt disulfide as a heterogeneous catalyst for methyl levulinate production from cellulose. The highest yield of methyl levulinate reached 61 mol% under the tested conditions of 200 °C, 2 MPa initial pressure, 0.45 catalyst/cellulose mass ratio, and 3 h reaction time. The XRD and TEM analyses demonstrated the crystal facet (111) of cobalt disulfide as a robust active site, which was in good agreement with the highest acidity of the crystal facet (111) calculated by the work functions. The XPS characterization showed that the main chemical valence of cobalt disulfide responsible for the methyl levulinate production was the surface Co2+ species. This study is valuable for the development of a recoverable catalyst for the cellulose to methyl levulinate process.

Production of furfural and levoglucosan from typical agricultural wastes via pyrolysis coupled with hydrothermal conversion: Influence of temperature and raw materials.

The liquid product from biomass direct pyrolysis is usually complex and difficult to effectively utilize. By combining hydrothermal conversion and low-temperature pyrolysis, the hemicellulose and cellulose of biomass can be transformed into value-added furfural and levoglucosan (LG), respectively. The effects of temperature during hydrothermal treatment (160-240 °C) and subsequent pyrolysis (340-400 °C) on the production of furfural and LG were investigated by using three typical agricultural wastes, namely corn stalk, peanut shells, and rice stalk. The maximum furfural yield of 4.2% was achieved upon hydrolysis of peanut shells at 200 °C. The hydrochar produced from peanut shells presented the highest LG yield of 7.3% (based on original biomass weight) for a pyrolysis temperature of 360 °C. Under this optimal condition, the total revenue from various products of the hybrid thermochemical process was estimated at $0.362 per kilogram of peanut shells, whereas furfural and LG account for 90% of the revenue.

Contribution of tissue transglutaminase to the severity of hepatic fibrosis resulting from Schistosoma japonicum infection through the regulation of IL-33/ST2 expression.

BACKGROUND: Tissue transglutaminase (tTG)-regulating IL-13 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis resulting from Schistosoma japonicum (Sj) infection. IL-33 and its receptor ST2 are involved in Th2-biased immune responses through the release of IL-5 and IL-13 and subsequent hepatic granuloma pathology induced by Sj infection. However, the relationship between tTG, IL-33/ST2, and liver fibrosis during Schistosoma infection has not been established. RESULTS: This study investigated the link between tTG and IL-33/ST2 in the induction of liver fibrogenesis during Sj infection in mice. The extent of liver fibrosis coincided with an increase in tTG and IL-33/ST2 expression in the liver of infected mice between five to eight weeks, with a peak of correlation at six weeks after Sj infection. The inhibition of tTG activity through cystamine administration or gene knockout alleviated the level of TLR4, NF-κB pathway molecules, IL-33/ST2, and the severity of liver fibrosis resulting from Sj infection. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that during Sj infection tTG may control liver fibrosis at least partially through TLR4, NF-κB pathway activation and then IL-33/ST2. tTG, IL-33 or ST2 might be promising drug targets against liver fibrosis induced by Sj infection.

Co-gasification of coal and biomass: Synergy, characterization and reactivity of the residual char.

The synergy effect between coal and biomass in their co-gasification was studied in a vertical fixed bed reactor, and the physic-chemical structural characteristics and gasification reactivity of the residual char obtained from co-gasification were also investigated. The results shows that, conversion of the residual char and tar into gas is enhanced due to the synergy effect between coal and biomass. The physical structure of residual char shows more pore on coal char when more biomass is added in the co-gasification. The migration of inorganic elements between coal and biomass was found, the formation and competitive role of K2SiO3, KAlSiO4, and Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 is a mechanism behind the synergy. The graphization degree is enhanced but size of graphite crystallite in the residual char decreases with biomass blending ratio increasing. TGA results strongly suggest the big difference in the reactivity of chars derived from coal and biomass in spite of influence from co-gasification.

Positive Feedback Regulation between Transglutaminase 2 and Toll-Like Receptor 4 Signaling in Hepatic Stellate Cells Correlates with Liver Fibrosis Post Schistosoma japonicum Infection.

Liver fibrosis induced by Schistosoma japonicum (Sj) infection is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM). The activated and differentiated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the predominant ECM-producing cell type in the liver. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 pathway activation plays a key role in mice liver fibrosis models induced by alcohol, biliary ligation, and carbon tetrachloride 4. In this work, we found that TLR4 pathway activation correlated with the severity of liver fibrosis post Sj infection. The TLR4 receptor inhibitor TAK242 reduced the extent of liver fibrosis. The increased expression of TLR4, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and cytoglobin was observed in the HSCs of mouse liver after Sj infection. In response to stimulation with either lipopolysaccharide or Sj's soluble egg antigen (SEA), high levels of TLR4 and α-SMA were induced in HSCs and were inhibited by TAK242 treatment. In previous work, we had reported that a high level of transglutaminase 2 (TGM2) is crucial for liver fibrosis post Sj infection. Herein, we found that TLR4 signaling also controlled Tgm2 expression. Inhibition of TGM2 activity by cystamine (CTM) in Sj-infected mice or in HSCs induced with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) stimulation led to a lowered activation of TLR4 signaling and a reduced α-SMA expression. These results were confirmed by downregulating the Tgm2 gene by specific siRNA. These observations implied the presence of a positive feedback regulation between TGM2 and TLR4 signaling in HSCs that correlated with liver fibrosis post Sj infection. This novel connection between TGM2 and TLR4 pathway activation in liver fibrosis induced by Sj infection enhances our understanding of liver diseases.

Effect of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption on disease activity and physical functioning in ankylosing spondylitis: a cross-sectional study.

The effect of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption on the disease activity and physical functioning in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is currently understated. Present study aims to investigate the relationship between them. A total of 425 patients with AS were recruited in the study and their smoking and drinking habit were investigated with a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), and Metrology Index (BASMI) were evaluated. Parameters including fingertip-to-floor distance, overall assessment of health, nocturnal pain, total back pain and morning stiffness were analyzed as well. Blood erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined. For 118 (27.8%) AS patients with smoking habit, the scorings of BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI and other physical parameters (including fingertip-to-floor, overall assessment of health, nocturnal pain and total back pain) were higher than those in patients without smoking. 101 (23.8%) AS patients with alcohol consumption demonstrated significantly higher scores in BASMI (P < 0.05). In hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption variables contributed to the variance in BASDAI scores, adding an additional 1.6% to the overall R-square, resulting in a final R-square of 5.1%. Smoking has a negative effect on disease activity of patients with AS and the patients' physical functioning. Alcohol consumption would aggravate the overall physical functioning of AS patient. The results indicated the potential benefit of quitting smoking and drinking for AS patients.

Ectopic Germinal Centers and IgG4-Producing Plasmacytes Observed in Synovia of HLA-B27+ Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients with Advanced Hip Involvement.

Introduction. Ectopic lymphoid neogenesis and the presence of IgG4-positive plasmacytes have been confirmed in chronic inflammatory sclerosing diseases. This study aims to investigate hip synovial tissues of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients for IgG4-positive plasma cells and ectopic lymphoid tissues with germinal centers (GCs). Methods. Synovial samples were collected from 7 AS patients who received total hip replacement and were evaluated using immunohistochemistry for the presence of CD20+ B-cells, CD3+ T-cells, CD21+ follicular dendritic cells (FDC), and CD38+ plasma cells. Furthermore, immunoglobulin G (IgG and IgG4), IgA, IgM, and complement components C3d and C4d in synovia were evaluated. Both synovial CD21+ FDCs and IgG4-producing plasmacytes were analyzed. Results. All seven patients had severe fibrosis. Massive infiltrations of lymphocytes were found in 5 out of 7 patients' synovia. Ectopic lymphoid tissues with CD21+ FDC networks and IgG4-positive plasma cells were observed coincidentally in two patients' synovia. Conclusion. The pathophysiological mechanism of AS patients' hip damage might be related to the coincidental presence of ectopic lymphoid tissue with FDCs network and IgG4-positive plasma cells identified here for the first time in AS patients' inflamed synovial tissue.

[Effects of combined application of biogas residues and chemical fertilizers on greenhouse tomato's growth and its fruit yield and quality].

With randomized block design, a field experiment was conducted in greenhouse to study the effects of combined application of biogas residues and chemical fertilizers on the tomato growth and its fruit yield and quality. The combined application of biogas residues and chemical fertilizers benefited the tomato growth and its fruit yield and quality. The yield of the combined application of 60% biogas residues and 40% chemical fertilizers were higher than the other treatments. The fruit quality under the application of 60% biogas residue and 40% chemical fertilizers also improved significantly, with the Vc content (91.09 mg x kg(-1)) and total sugar content being 21.32 mg x kg(-1) and 2.13% higher than the control, respectively. Among the test fertilization combinations, 60% biogas residue combined with 40% chemical fertilizers was the best one for greenhouse tomato's growth and its fruit yield and quality.