Hydrogen combined with tetrandrine attenuates silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis via suppressing NF-kappaB/NLRP3 signaling pathway-mediated epithelial mesenchymal transition and inflammation.

Silicosis is a progressive disease characterized by interstitial fibrosis resulting from inhalation of silica particles, and currently lacks specific treatment. Hydrogen (H2) has demonstrated antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fibrotic properties, yet its efficacy in treating silicosis remains unexplored. In this study, rats exposed to silica were administered interventions of H2 combined with tetrandrine, and euthanized at 14, 28, and 56 days post-intervention. Lung tissues and serum samples were collected for analysis. Histological examination, MDA assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, hydroxyproline assay, and Western blotting were employed to assess the impact of H2 combined with tetrandrine on pulmonary fibrosis. The results revealed that this combination significantly alleviated inflammation in silicosis-afflicted rats, effectively suppressed levels of MDA, TNF-α, and IL-1ß expression, and inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), thereby ameliorating pulmonary fibrosis. Notably, protein expression level of E-cadherin was increased，however protein expression levels of vimentin and α-SMA were reduced, and TGF-ß were reduced, alongside a significant decrease in hydroxyproline content. Furthermore, H2 combined with tetrandrine downregulated protein expression of NF-κB p65, NF-κB p-p65, Caspase-1, ASC, and NLRP3. These findings substantiate the hypothesis that H2 combined with tetrandrine mitigates inflammation associated with silicosis and suppresses the EMT process to ameliorate fibrosis via the NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway. However, the pressure of airway opening was not assessed in this study and dynamic readings of lung physiological function were not obtained, which is a major limitation of this study.

The value of single biomarkers in the diagnosis of silicosis: A meta-analysis.

This study aims to establish a scientific foundation for early detection and diagnosis of silicosis by conducting meta-analysis on the role of single biomarkers in independent diagnosis. The combined sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic score, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 0.84 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.77-0.90), 0.83 (95% CI: 0.78-0.88), 5.08 (95% CI: 3.92-6.59), 0.19 (95% CI: 0.13-0.27), 3.31 (95% CI: 2.88-3.74) and 27.29 (95% CI: 17.77-41.91), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.88-0.93). The Fagan plot shows a positive posterior probability of 82% and a negative posterior probability of 15%. This study establishes an academic basis for the swift identification, mitigation, and control of silicosis through scientific approaches. The assessed biomarkers offer precision and dependability in silicosis diagnosis, opening novel paths for early detection and intervention, thereby mitigating the disease burden associated with silicosis.

Pesticide residue detection technology for herbal medicine: current status, challenges, and prospects.

The domains of cancer therapy, disease prevention, and health care greatly benefit from the use of herbal medicine. Herbal medicine has become the mainstay of developing characteristic agriculture in the planting area increasing year by year. One of the most significant factors in affecting the quality of herbal medicines is the pesticide residue problem caused by pesticide abuse during the cultivation of herbal medicines. It is urgent to solve the problem of detecting pesticide residues in herbal medicines efficiently and rapidly. In this review, we provide a comprehensive description of the various methods used for pesticide residue testing, including optical detection, the enzyme inhibition rate method, molecular detection methods, enzyme immunoassays, lateral immunochromatographic, nanoparticle-based detection methods, colorimetric immunosensor, chemiluminescence immunosensor, smartphone-based immunosensor, etc. On this basis, we systematically analyze the mechanisms and some of the findings of the above detection strategies and discuss the challenges and prospects associated with the development of pesticide residue detection tools.

Silica nanoparticles induce ferroptosis of HUVECs by triggering NCOA4-mediated ferritinophagy.

Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) have been widely used in electronics, chemistry, and biomedicine. Human exposure to SiNPs and possible health effects have attracted much attention. The potential cardiovascular toxicity of SiNPs and their related mechanisms are still unclear. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the toxic effects of SiNPs on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). We found that SiNPs could induce HUVECs ferroptosis. The results showed that the level of intracellular divalent iron and lipid peroxidation increased, and mitochondrial cristae decreased. In addition, the pretreatment of the iron chelator deferoxamine mesylate (DFO) could alleviate the ferroptosis of cells. Interestingly, pretreatment of 3-methyladenine (3-MA), an autophagy/PI3K inhibitor could partially inhibit autophagy and reduce ferroptosis, which indicated that autophagy played an important role in cell ferroptosis. Additionally, after knocking down nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4), Ferritin Heavy Chain 1 (FTH1) expression was up-regulated, and the levels of divalent iron and lipid peroxidation decreased, which suggested that NCOA4 mediated the ferroptosis of HUVECs induced by SiNPs. In conclusion, this study shows that SiNPs can induce cardiovascular toxicity in which there is ferroptosis. NCOA4-mediated ferritinophagy and resultant ferroptosis by SiNPs may play an important role. This study provides a new theoretical strategy for the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases in the future.

Self-reported sleep status and influencing factors: a web-based national cross-sectional survey in China.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate self-reported sleep duration, sleep timing, sleep status and influencing factors in the Chinese population. METHODS: This web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2022, covering 31 provinces (91%) in China. 11,000 questionnaires were collected, of which 8970 were valid for analysis. Self-reported sleep habits, problems and quality were investigated. Good or fair sleep ratings, enough duration, regular, with no sleep disturbances and <30 min sleep latency was defined as a composite variable: 'Good sleep'. Factors influencing sleep patterns and 'Good sleep' were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Most participants sleep less than 7 h per night (55.13%), usually go to bed at 10-12 pm (47.99%), wake up at 6-8 am (49.86%), and take less than 30 min to fall asleep (66.30%) with regular sleep schedule (76.01%). Only 12.36% have 'Good sleep'. In the past 3 months, 46.80% of the participants reported symptoms of insomnia, and 21.54% had snoring problems. Among the adults, the young, males, college students, freelancers, and those who resided in urban areas and pandemic-free areas slept later, and the northerners woke up earlier. The adults with low-moderate and moderate income and the minors at elementary and middle school slept earlier and woke up earlier. Mid-aged adults who often napped at noon were more likely to have 'Good sleep' than any other age group, and urban dwellers with the same habit were more likely to have 'Good sleep' than people dwelled in other regions. While people who slept late, woke up too early or too late, slept too little or too much, resided at GMT 7-8 area or pandemic area, had high income, or took up some occupations (entrepreneurs/individuals, professionals, manual and non-manual workers, housewives) were less likely to get a 'Good sleep'. CONCLUSIONS: The national survey provided a sleep profile of the Chinese population. Both socio-economic status and personal sleep hygiene habits had an impact on 'Good sleep'.

Involvement of the JNK/HO­1/FTH1 signaling pathway in nanoplastic­induced inflammation and ferroptosis of BV2 microglia cells.

Nanoplastics (NPs) are a newly discovered type of environmental pollutant. The potential for neurotoxicity caused by NPs and their mechanisms are unclear. The present study aimed to determine the molecular mechanism underlying neurotoxicity induced by NPs. Microglia (BV2) cells were used for in vitro studies, and it was found that NPs invaded cells, activated inflammasomes, induced the release of significant quantities of inflammatory factors by detection of inflammatory response­associated proteins through Western blot and ELISA. By detection of FITC, SOD, GSH, cellular iron level, and ferroptosis­related proteins, it was found that NPs compromised the anti­oxidative mechanisms of cells, increased intracellular lipid peroxidation and Fe2+ concentration and triggered inflammatory reactions and ferroptosis. Pretreatment with reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitor N­acetylcysteine (NAC) alleviated induction of inflammatory reactions and ferroptosis of cells. In addition, inhibiting expression of c­Jun N­terminal kinase (JNK) increased expression of heme oxygenase (HO­1), resulting in decreased ferroptosis, indicating that the JNK/HO­1 signaling pathway was involved in NP­induced effects on ferroptosis in BV2 cells. In conclusion, NPs could induce inflammatory responses and ferroptosis in BV2 cells. JNK/HO­1 mediated ferroptosis may serve an important role in the toxicity of microglia induced by NPs. This study provided novel evidence for the toxic effects of NPs and highlighted a theoretical mechanistic basis for safe prevention and treatment of plastic pollution­induced neurotoxicity.

Efficacy of Alveolar Type II Epithelial Cell Transplantation for Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Cell transplantation is a promising therapeutic strategy for pulmonary fibrosis. In order to clarify the alveolar type II epithelial cell potential utility in the treatment of lung disease, we conducted a meta-analysis, to evaluate alveolar type II epithelial cells in animal models of lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: This review followed the recommendations from the PRISMA statements, Comprehensive retrieval method was used to search Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, Chinese Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP and Wanfang databases. A total of 7 studies and 286 model rats were included. Two researchers independently screened the identified studies, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. All analyses were conducted using Review Manager V.5.3 software. The combined standard mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of data from the included studies were calculated using fixed or random-effects models. Results: The analysis of three outcome indexes showed that the heterogeneity of the oxygen saturation group was high (I2=85%), the lung weight group (I2=64%) was close to moderate heterogeneity, and the lung hydroxyproline content group (I2=0) was not heterogeneous. Conclusion: Meta-analysis showed that transplantation of alveolar type II epithelial cells has beneficial effects, and no obvious adverse reactions. Alveolar type II epithelial cell transplantation can significantly reduce the intervention group and lung hydroxyproline content weight, improve the blood oxygen saturation, lung histo-pathology showed significant improvement in pulmonary fibrosis.

Comparison for quantification of eight components in Alpinia officinarum Hance by using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector and charged aerosol detector with individual and substitute reference compound.

An efficient HPLC-DAD-CAD method was developed and compared for simultaneous quantification of four flavonoids and four diarylheptanoids in Alpinia officinarum Hance (A. officinarum) using individual and substitute reference compound. All calibration curves for investigated analytes showed good linear regression (R2> 0.9991). The LODs of investigated compounds for DAD and CAD were 0.15-7.92 ng (0.03-1.58 µg/mL) and 2.91-3.95 ng (0.58-0.79 µg/mL), respectively, whereas the LOQs were 0.52-26.39 ng (0.10-5.28 µg/mL) for DAD, and 9.70-13.18 ng (1.94-2.64 µg/mL) for CAD. Recoveries of all analytes, which ranged from 96.58% to 100.06% for DAD, and from 96.29% to 99.61% for CAD, were acceptable. According to the quantitative results, the eight compounds in A. officinarum can be accurately quantified with individual calibration curves by two detectors. In addition, to overcome the bottleneck of shortage of reference standards, diphenylheptane A and galangin, respectively, were selected for direct or calibrated quantitative determination of other diarylheptanoids and flavonoids in A. officinarum. The results showed the contents of eight components in A. officinarum determined by these methods were similar, which suggested that substitute reference compound was suitable for quantification of its analogues.

Activation of pyroptosis and ferroptosis is involved in the hepatotoxicity induced by polystyrene microplastics in mice.

Microplastics (MPs) are new environmental pollutants and have received widespread attention in recent years, but the toxicity of the MPs remains to be fully elucidated. To explore the effect of MPs on hepatotoxicity in mice and unravel the mechanism of pyroptosis and ferroptosis in the process of liver injury, we treated mice with 5.0 µm polypropylene microplastics (MPs) at 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mg/mL for 4 weeks. Results revealed that MPs could damage liver structure and function with broken and reduced mitochondrial cristae, as well as increased levels of aspartate minotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), AST/ALT, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Treatment with MPs resulted in pyroptosis as evidenced by increasing expressions of interleukin IL-1ß, IL-18. Additionally, MPs were shown to induce the NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes and apoptosis associated speck-like protein (ASC) containing a caspase recruitment domain activation in liver tissue, enabling activation of Caspase-1-dependent signaling pathway induced by inflammatory stimuli resulting from oxidative stress. In addition, the increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) and decrease of glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the liver indicated that MPs could induce oxidative damage. Moreover, MPs induced lipid peroxidation in the liver of mice could activate the expression of ferroptosis related proteins, including iron metabolism, such as transferrin receptor (TFRC) was active but ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1) was inhibited; amino acid metabolism, such as XCT system and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) were inhibited; lipid metabolism, such as acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4) was inhibited. Collectively, these findings evidenced that pyroptosis and ferroptosis occurred in MPs-induced liver injury accompanied by intense oxidative stress and inflammation.

A Cone Beam CT Study of Upper Airway Morphology in Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Women.

PURPOSE: Menopause is accompanied by a decline in estrogen and progesterone. Several studies have demonstrated that upper airway patency decreases in women after menopause, while morphology changes are still a lack of evidence. This study aimed to explore upper airway morphology changes in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 367 consecutive Chinese female patients over 25 years old who had routinely taken large-field cone beam computed tomography in the imaging library of Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology from October 2016 to September 2020. A total of 283 males were screened as sex controls according to the same age group. Upper airway morphology, hyoid position and facial pattern were measured. The association between perimenopausal and postmenopausal years and upper airway morphology in both sexes was analyzed. RESULTS: Perimenopausal women (aged 45-54 years) showed a significant decrease in the volume (3172.91mm3, 95% CI = 653.86-5691.96) and minimum cross-sectional area (37.08 mm2, 95% CI = 5.36-68.80), and a significant increase in the length (-1.96mm, 95% CI = -3.62 to -0.29) of upper airway compared to adjacent reproductive years (aged 35-44), while this difference was neither seen in other adjacent two reproductive age groups of females nor in the same age groups of males. In postmenopausal women (55 years and older), hyoid position was significantly lower (-2.74mm, 95% CI = -4.42 to -1.07) than either age group, while no similar changes were seen in men. CONCLUSION: Women had smaller airway volume, reduced upper airway cross-sectional area and longer airway length in perimenopausal years, and a significantly lower hyoid position in postmenopausal years. These changes may be related to menopause itself and independent of the changes associated with aging.

Comparison of Antioxidant Activity and Main Active Compounds Among Different Parts of Alpinia officinarum Hance Using High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography-Bioautography.

Background: Alpinia officinarum Hance (ginger family) is an important Chinese medicine, especially in Southern China. Objective: A simple and effective high-performance thin-layer chromatography coupled with 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl bioautography (HPTLC-DPPH) and electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS) method was developed for the bioactivity-based quality control of A. officinarum. Methods: The HPTLC-DPPH and ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS were applied for the analysis of different parts of A. officinarum after using methanol extraction for 23 batches of taproot, four batches of aerial, and three batches of fibril parts. Results: The systematic evaluation showed that similar components in taproot and aerial parts make the major antioxidant activity. However, based on our evaluation, the antioxidant ability of the aerial parts is lower than the taproot parts. There is also a significant difference (P < 0.05) between taproot and fibril parts of the root. The chemical structures of compounds with the antioxidant capacity were tentatively identified as 5R-hydroxy-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-3-heptanone (band 1), kaempferide (band 2), and galangin (band 3) based on ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS analytical results and further confirmed by standards. Conclusions: This identification indicated that two flavonoid compounds and one diarylheptanoid compound possessed high potentials to be used as the antioxidant biomarkers for the quality control of A. officinarum. Highlights: The comparison of different parts could be considered as guidelines for the usage of A. officinarum.

[Effects of echinacoside on extracellular acetylcholine and choline levels of hippocampus and striatum of cerebral ischemia rats].

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of echinacoside (ECH) on cholinergic neurotransmitter extracellular of hippocampus and striatum and its possible mechanisms of neuro-protective effect against vascular dementia rats. In this study brain microdialysis technique combined with HPLC-IMER-ECD (high-performance liquid chromatography-immobilized enzyme reactor-electrochemical detector) was used. The bilateral common carotid arteries occluded in two times operation at 72 h interval for vascular dementia model rats were used and the successful vascular dementia model rats were examined by Morris water maze. The content of acetylcholine (ACh) and choline (Ch) of microdialysate extracellular of hippocampus and striatum was determined by HPLC-IMER-ECD and the AChE activity in the hippocampus was measured. The results showed that the success rate of vascular dementia model was 83.08% after six weeks; the results also showed that echinacoside and galantamine could increase the content of ACh and reduce the content of Ch extracellular of hippocampus and striatum significantly and the AChE activity increased significantly compared with that of the model group. The results suggested that echinacoside could promote the recovery of cholinergic neurotransmitter levels in vascular dementia rats' brain, which may be one of the mechanisms of neuro-protection.

[Structure and luminescence properties of MgGa2O4 : Cr3+ with Zn substituted for Mg].

A series of red long afterglow phosphors with composition Zn(x) Mg(1-2) Ga2 O4 : Cr3+ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) were synthesized by a high temperature solid-state reaction method. The X-ray diffraction studies show that the phase of the phosphors is face-centered cubic structure. Photoluminescence spectra show that the red emission of Cr3+ originated from the transition of 2E-4A2. Due to the large overlap between absorption band of Cr3+ and emission band of the host. Cr3+ could obtain the excitation energy from the host via the effective energy transfer. The afterglow decay characteristics show that the phosphor samples with different Zn contents have different afterglow time and the afterglow time also changes with the value of x. The measurement of thermoluminescence reveals that the trap depth of the phosphor samples with different Zn contents is different. The samples with deeper traps have longer afterglow time.