Cuscuta chinensis Lam. Flavonoids (CCLF) alleviate the symptoms of sepsis-associated encephalopathy via PI3K/Nrf2 pathway.

Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) frequently encounters patients who are in intensive care units and ∼70% of patients with severe systemic infection. However, due to the unclear pathological mechanisms of SAE, the desease-modifying drug is still lack. Here, we aimed to explore whether the flavonoid components extracted from CCL (CCLF) seeds possess protective effects on SAE animals, and systematically evaluate the transcriptomic alteration (in the hippocampus) after CCLF treatment on SAE animals employing RNA sequencing. We observed that CCLF improved the brain's learning and memory abilities and the structural integrity of BBB using cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced SAE animal models, evaluated by behavioral test and tissue examination of animals respectively. RNA sequencing results showed that CCLF treatment reverses SAE-induced transcriptomic alteration in the hippocampus. Moreover, CCLF also dramatically relieved inflammatory (such as TNF-α, IL-2, and IL-6) and oxidative (MDA and SOD activity) stresses, and inhibited SAE-induced neuron apoptosis in brain tissues. More importantly, CCLF restored the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and then induced the Nrf2 nuclear translocation to drive HO-1 expression both in vitro and in vivo. LY294002, an inhibitor of PI3K, obviously blocked CCLF's functions on anti-apoptosis, anti-inflammation, and anti-oxidation in vivo, demonstrating that CCLF achieves its bioactivities in a PI3K/AKT signaling dependent manner. Altogether, CCLF exhibits remarkable neuro-protective function and may be a promising candidate for further clinical trials for SAE treatment.

A highly robust, concrete-inspired superhydrophobic nanocomposite coating.

Durability is still the main issue hindering the practical applications of superhydrophobic surfaces. In the case of superhydrophobic coatings, employing nanoparticles for constructing and retaining superhydrophobic surfaces without lowering the robustness is still a conundrum. Herein, inspired by concrete, which has a high filler portion and high robustness, we fabricated a superhydrophobic coating using a synthesized hydrophobic organic/inorganic hybrid resin and categorized micro/nano fillers with varying sizes. The hybrid resin improved the hydrophobicity and robustness of the coating. Also, by optimizing the content of categorized wearable (silica sand with varying sizes)/functional (aluminum nanoparticles)/low-surface-energy (PTFE) phases, the prepared superhydrophobic surfaces could achieve long abrasion distance coupled with a high retention rate. Also, the prepared sample retained its superhydrophobicity after abrasion by sandpaper (180 grit) for 10 m under a pressure as high as 22.5 kPa or 600 grit sandpaper for 12.8 m under the same pressure or when impacted by 1400 g sand particles from 30 cm. Also, the coating had a strong adhesion of 5B with the substrate. Thus, the designed attractive materials have the potential for self-cleaning, anti-icing, and anti-fouling applications in industries.

Changes and clinical significance of autophagy-related proteins Beclin-1 and cytochromes C in patients with hand, foot and mouth disease / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective:To investigate the expression and clinical significance of Beclin-1 and cytochromes C (CytC) in patients with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).Methods:Sixty children with HFMD were classified into two groups of severe group and common group with 30 cases in each group. Another thirty children who underwent circumcision and had no underlying disease were selected as control group. Serum Beclin-1, CytC and S100B levels were detected before and after treatment. The levels of Beclin-1 and CytC in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with severe HFMD were detected before and after treatment. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the prediction efficiency of Beclin-1 and CytC for the severity of HFMD.Results:Serum Beclin-1 and CytC levels in the severe group were higher than those in the other two groups ( P<0.01), and the common group showed significantly increased serum Beclin-1 and CytC levels as compared with the control group ( P<0.01). After treatment, the serum Beclin-1 and CytC levels decreased in both severe and common groups ( P<0.05). Compared with the common group, the severe group had remarkable increases in the levels of Beclin-1 and CytC in CSF ( P<0.01), which decreased significantly after treatment ( P<0.01). Serum Beclin-1 and CytC levels were positively correlated with the level of S100B protein. In the prediction of severe HFMD, serum CytC had the highest Youden value of 0.533 at the cut-off value of 38.785 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 56.67% and a specificity of 96.67%; serum Beclin-1 had the highest Youden value of 0.467 at the cut-off value of 6.560 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 46.67% and a specificity of 100.00%. Combined measurements of these two parameters had the highest predictive value for severe HFMD with a sensitivity of 76.67% and a specificity of 96.67%. Conclusions:Serum Beclin-1 and CytC levels were conducive to predict the severity and treatment outcomes of HFMD. Combined measurements of these two parameters had a higher predictive value for severe HFMD.

A combined-modification method of carboxymethyl ß-cyclodextrin and lignin for nano-hydroxyapatite to reinforce poly(lactide-co-glycolide) for bone materials.

Lignin is the second most abundant natural biomacromolecule. A new surface-modification for nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA) by carboxymethyl ß-cyclodextrin (CM-ß-CD) and lignin and its reinforce effect for poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) were investigated by Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), dispersion images, the tensile tests, scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM), compared to the singled-modification of CM-ß-CD or lignin. The results showed that the appropriate combined-modified n-HA displayed excellent synergistic effects for increasing the dispersion, yielding good interfacial bonding between n-HA with PLGA matrix. The tensile strength of the composite was still 14.53% higher than that of PLGA, for a n-HA addition amount of 15 wt%, which was significantly better than that for the singled-modified n-HA. Additionally, in vitro degradation behavior was evaluated by soaking in simulated body fluid (SBF), and their cell response was carried out by interaction tests with bone mesenchymal stem cells. The results indicated that the combined-modification method promoted good degradation behavior and apatite deposition, as well as excellent cell biocompatibility. This study may offer an important guidance to obtain PLGA-based composites reinforced by surface-modified n-HA as bone materials.

Expressions and significance of aquaporin-4 in children with severe hand-foot-mouth disease / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To explore the levels of water channel protein 4 (aquaporin-4,AQP-4) in the serum and the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with severe hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) and its clinical significance.Methods Children with the critical HFMD (clinical stage 3) admitted to Xuzhou Children's Hospital from February 2017 to November 2017 were recruited(critical group).In the same period,another 25 cases of common HFMD (central nervous system infection excluded in cerebrospinal fluid examination,common group),the other 25 cases of severe HFMD (clinical stage 2,severe group) were taken as the controls.The levels of AQP-4 in the serum and and cerebrospinal fluid were measured in all children and the levels of AQP-4 in cerebrospinal fluid were checked again in the critical and severe cases after treatment.The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6),norepinephrine (NE) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in the serum were examined simultaneously and the correlation between them was analyzed.Results Before treatment,the levels of AQP-4 in the serum of critical group were (54.42 ± 19.86) μg/L,which were significantly higher than common group[(8.02 ± 1.59) μg/L] and severe group[(22.04 ± 8.14) μg/L] (F =36.684,P ＜0.01).Compared with before treatment,the levels of AQP-4 in the serum of critical and severe group were significantly lower after treatment (P ＜ 0.05).Before treatment,the levels of AQP-4 in the cerebrospinal fluid of critical and severe cases were respectively (9.81 ±2.27) μg/L and (8.58 ± 1.92) μg/L,which were significantly higher than common group (6.56 ± 1.79) μg/L (F =6.713,P ＜ 0.05).After treatment,the levels of AQP-4 in the cerebrospinal fluid of critical and severe cases were (8.41 ± 1.63) μg/L and (7.14 ± 1.69) μg/ L separately,which were significantly lower than before treatment (t =6.340,5.073,all P ＜ 0.01).The levels of IL-6,NE and NSE in serum were significantly different among the three groups (P ＜ 0.01).The above indicators were positively correlated with the levels of AQP-4 in the serum(r =0.734,0.810,0.729,all P ＜ 0.01)and were also positively correlated with AQP-4 in the cerebrospinal fluid (r =0.299,0.431,0.363,all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion AQP-4 may participate in pathophysiological processes of HFMD.The levels of AQP-4 in serum can be used as an indicator for judging the severity and monitor prognosis of HFMD.