Effect of iron-loaded sludge biochar amendments on phytoremediation potential of Cr-contaminated soils by Leersia hexandra swartz.

In this study, the effect of iron-loaded sludge biochar (ISBC) with different amendment dosages (mass ratio of biochar to soil equal to 0, 0.01, 0.025 and 0.05) on the phytoremediation potential of Leersia hexandra swartz (L. hexandra) to Cr-contaminated soil was investigated. With increasing ISBC dosage from 0 to 0.05, plant height, aerial tissue biomass and root biomass increased from 15.70 cm, 0.152 g pot-1 and 0.058 g pot-1 to 24.33 cm, 0.304 g pot-1 and 0.125 g pot-1, respectively. Simultaneously, the Cr contents in aerial tissues and roots increased from 1039.68 mg kg-1 to 2427.87 mg kg-1 to 1526.57 mg kg-1 and 3242.62 mg kg-1, respectively. Thus, the corresponding bioenrichment factor (BCF), bioaccumulation factor (BAF), total phytoextraction (TPE) and translocation factor (TF) values were also increased from 10.52, 6.20, 0.158 mg pot-1 (aerial tissue)/0.140 mg pot-1 (roots) and 0.428 to 15.15, 9.42, 0.464 mg pot-1 (aerial tissue)/0.405 mg pot-1 (roots) and 0.471, respectively. The significant positive effect of ISBC amendment was primarily attributed to the following three aspects: 1) the root resistance index (RRI), tolerance index (TI) and growth toxicity index (GTI) of L. hexandra to Cr were increased from 100%, 100% and 0%-216.88%, 155.02% and 42.18%, respectively; 2) the bio-available Cr content in the soil was decreased from 1.89 mg L-1 to 1.48 mg L-1, while the corresponding TU (toxicity units) value was declined from 0.303 to 0.217; 3) the activities of urease, sucrase and alkaline phosphatase in soil were increased from 0.186 mg g-1, 1.40 mg g-1 and 0.156 mg g-1 to 0.242 mg g-1, 1.86 mg g-1 and 0.287 mg g-1, respectively. In summary, ISBC amendment was able to significantly improve the phytoremediation of Cr-contaminated soils by L. hexandra.

Paraoxonase 1 Ameliorates Renal Lipotoxicity by Activating Lipophagy and Inhibiting Pyroptosis.

Several studies in recent years have shown that lipid overload causes lipotoxic damage to the kidney, and oxidative stress, inflammation, and autophagic arrest are all important mechanisms of renal lipotoxicity. However, effective measures with therapeutic effects on renal lipotoxicity are limited. The present study indicated the protective effect of the paraoxonase 1 (PON1) against renal lipotoxicity in high-fat diet-fed scavenger receptor class B type I-deficient (SR-BI-/-) mice. The results showed that SR-BI-/- mice exhibited significant renal pathologic characteristics, such as oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis, under a normal chow diet, and were accompanied by dyslipidemia and reduced plasma PON1 activity and renal PON1 levels. PON1 overexpression significantly attenuated the above pathologic changes in the kidneys of SR-BI-/- mice fed with a high-fat diet. Mechanistically, PON1 may ameliorate renal oxidative stress by reducing reactive oxygen species production, reduce renal lipid accumulation by inhibiting AKT/mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase pathway to activate lipophagy, and reduce the occurrence of inflammation and cell death by inhibiting Nod-like receptor family protein 3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis. The present study is the first to show that PON1 overexpression can effectively alleviate renal lipotoxicity injury, and PON1 may be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of renal lipotoxicity-related diseases.

Postoperative serum thioredoxin concentrations correlate with delirium and cognitive dysfunction after hip fracture surgery in elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress correlates with occurrence and development of postoperative delirium (POD) and cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Thioredoxin (TRX) is a potent anti-oxidant and its circulating concentrations reflect extent of brain injury. We determined the relation of serum TRX concentrations to POD and POCD in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. METHODS: In this prospective, observatory study, TRX concentrations in preoperative and postoperative serum from 192 patients and serum from 192 controls were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between TRX concentrations and risk of POD and POCD was assessed using a multivariate analysis. RESULTS: As compared to the controls, postoperative, but not preoperative serum TRX concentrations were significantly increased in the patients. Furthermore, postoperative TRX concentrations and age were identified as the independent predictors for POD and POCD. Also, area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of postoperative TRX concentrations was obviously higher than that of age in the prediction of POD and POCD. Additionally, in a combined logistic-regression model, TRX concentrations significantly improved the AUCs of age to predict POD and POCD. CONCLUSIONS: TRX in postoperative serum may be a potential biomarker to predict POD and POCD in elder patients undergoing hip fracture surgery.

A heptamethine cyanine-based colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent chemosensor for the selective detection of Ag+ in an aqueous medium.

A highly selective and sensitive ratiometric fluorescent chemosensor for Ag(+) in aqueous solution was developed, in a linear range of 0.6 × 10(-7) to 50 × 10(-7) mol L(-1), based on a A-Ag(+)-A binding mode with a heptamethine cyanine motif containing one adenine moiety.