ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Purple corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the main economic crops in China and has been used in the treatment of cystitis, urinary infections and obesity. However, purple corncobs, the by-product remaining after processing and having an intense purple-black color, are normally disposed of as waste or used as animal feed. Therefore, to further expand the medicinal value of purple corncob, its content was analyzed and, after purification, the effect and mechanism of purified purple corncob anthocyanins (PPCCA) on CCl4 -induced chronic liver injury in mice were investigated. RESULTS: It was observed that the total anthocyanin content (TAC) from PPCCA (317.51 ± 9.30 mg cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (C-3-G) g-1 dry weight) was significantly higher than that from the purified purple corn seed anthocyanin (266.73 ± 3.67 mg C-3-G g-1 dry weight), of which C-3-G accounted for 90.6% and 90.4% of the TAC, respectively. Furthermore, compared with the CCl4 group, PPCCA treatment significantly reduced liver index, serum total bilirubin, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and liver malondialdehyde levels, but increased liver superoxide dismutase activity. The pathological changes were also improved, such as more regular arrangement of hepatocytes, less swelling, and fewer vacuoles and apoptotic cells. Additionally, mechanistic studies showed that PPCCA downregulated the expression of Caspase-3, Bax and cytochrome P450 2E1 proteins in the liver and upregulated the expression of Bcl-2. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that PPCCA could ameliorate CCl4 -induced chronic liver injury by regulating oxidative stress and hepatocyte apoptosis pathways. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
Subject(s)
Anthocyanins/administration & dosage , Apoptosis/drug effects , Liver Diseases/drug therapy , Liver/injuries , Oxidative Stress/drug effects , Plant Extracts/administration & dosage , Zea mays/chemistry , Animals , Aspartate Aminotransferases/metabolism , Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1/genetics , Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1/metabolism , Hepatocytes/drug effects , Hepatocytes/metabolism , Humans , Liver/drug effects , Liver/metabolism , Liver Diseases/genetics , Liver Diseases/metabolism , Liver Diseases/physiopathology , Male , Malondialdehyde/metabolism , Mice , Mice, Inbred ICR , Seeds/chemistryABSTRACT
A zigzag-type quinone performs better than an armchair-type quinone in the reduction of nitrobenzene. When different kinds of functionalities co-exist, the reaction is dominated by the most active sites, but the most negative sites should also be taken into consideration if the acitive sites have zigzag structures.
ABSTRACT
A highly dispersed Ru/OCNT catalyst synthesized through a facile ethylene glycol reduction approach shows more uniform particle size distribution with â¼1.0 nm compared with that prepared through a conventional impregnation method. Moreover, it also has good thermal stability evidenced by an in situ TEM study.
ABSTRACT
Nanodiamond can catalyze the decomposition of methane, and its initial rate is linearly dependent on the number of -CH=CH- defective sites. Thermal treatment improves the ordering of surface atoms, resulting in an inferior activity but a more stable performance over a long period of time, and above 1300 °C few-layered graphene can be found.
