Ginsenoside Rg1 attenuates liver injury induced by D-galactose in mice.

The present study investigated the effect and underlying mechanisms of ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) in attenuating subacute liver injury induced by D-galactose (D-gal) in mice. Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: i) D-gal-administration group (D-gal group), where the mice were intraperitoneally administrated with D-gal (120 mg/kg/day for 42 days); ii) D-gal + Rg1 group where the mice were treated with 120 mg/kg/day D-gal for 42 days and with Rg1 at a dose of 20 mg/kg/day for 35 days. The first dose of Rg1 was administered on the 8th day of treatment with D-gal; and iii) the normal control group, where the mice were injected with an equal volume of saline for 42 days. The day following the final injections in all groups, peripheral blood was collected and serum was prepared to measure the contents of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TBiL), advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and 8-hydroxy-2 deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG). Liver tissue homogenates were prepared to measure the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH), and the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Paraffin section were prepared to observe the microscopic structure of the liver. Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the ultrastructure of hepatocytes. Frozen section were prepared and stained with senescence-associated ß-galactosidase to detect the relative optical density value of senescence-associated markers. Compared with the D-gal group, the contents of AST, ALT, TBiL, AGEs and MDA significantly decreased in the D-gal + Rg1 group, while the activities of SOD and GSH-Px markedly increased, and liver injury and degenerative alterations of hepatocytes were reduced. Administration of Rg1 induced a protective effect on D-gal-induced liver injury in mice by inhibiting the oxidative stress, reducing DNA damage and decreasing the AGE content.

Abnormally cleaving embryos are able to produce live births: a time-lapse study.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the prevalence of abnormally cleaved embryos and determined which types of abnormally cleaved embryos (1-3c, 2-4c, 3-5c, 4-6c), might be suitable for transfer based on live birth data. METHODS: One hundred seventy-one women (whose transferred embryos were confirmed to be either fully implanted or fully unimplanted) provided 1256 embryos, which were analyzed. RESULTS: Of these embryos, 320 embryos were transferred, of these transferred embryos, 291 embryos were normal and 29 embryos were abnormal, which five embryos were not analyzed because each one was presented one abnormal cleavage type. These 24 embryos were divided into four groups. Inclusion criteria were as follows: women under 37 years of age undergoing first fresh in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment with a basal antral follicle count of 5-15, body mass index (BMI) of 18-25 kg/m(2), number of retrieved oocytes between 5 and 20, and tubal factors as the cause of infertility. Time-lapse imaging analysis software was used to compare temporal parameters of normal cleavage and abnormal cleavage groups (there were four abnormal groups, based on the prevalence of abnormal cleavage embryos). Cleavage times were analyzed before the abnormal cleavage occurred, and time intervals were analyzed after the abnormal cleavage based upon the types of abnormal cleavage. In addition, the time intervals of t4-t3 and t8-t5 were also analyzed; corresponding time parameters were measured in the normal group as well. Implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, ongoing pregnancy rate, and live birth rate were also measured in the normally cleaved and abnormally cleaved embryos. The prevalence of abnormal cleavage was 15.92% (200/1256). T8-t5 was the most important parameter in the prediction of potential development (production of a live-born baby) of abnormally cleaving embryos. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormally cleaving embryos were able to produced live births with T8-t5 the best parameter to predict the developmental potential of abnormally cleaving embryos.

[Protective effect of Angelica sinensis polysaccharides on subacute renal damages induced by D-galactose in mice and its mechanism].

To explore the protective effect of Angelica sinensis polysaccharides(ASP) on subacute renal damages induced by D-galactose in mice and its mechanism. Male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into 3 groups, with 10 mice in each group. The D-galactose model group was subcutaneously injected with D-galactose (120 mg x kg(-1)), qd x 42; the ASP + D-galactose model group was intraperitoneally injected with ASP since the 8th day of the replication of the D-galactose model, qd x 35; and the normal control group was subcutaneously injected with saline at the same dose and time. On the 2nd day of after the injection, the peripheral blood was collected to measure the content of BUN, Crea, UA, Cys-C; paraffin sections were made to observe the renal histomorphology by HE staining; senescence-associated ß-g-alactosidase (SA-ß-Gal) stain was used to observe the relative optical density (ROD) in renal tissues; transmission electron microscopy was assayed to observe the renal ultrastructure; the renal tissue homogenate was prepared to measure the content of SOD, GSH-PX, MDA; the content of AGEs and 8-OH-dG were measured by ELISA. According to the result, compared with the D-galactose model group, the ASP + D-galactose model group showed obviously decreases in the content of BUN, Crea, UA, Cysc, AGES, 8-OH-dG, the number of hardening renal corpuscle, renal capsular space and renal tubular lumen, ROD of SA-ß-Gal staining positive kidney cells, mesangial cells, basement membrane thickness, podocyte secondary processes fusion and MDA and increases in the number of normal renal corpuscle, ribosome and rough endoplasmic reticulum in podocytes, the activity of SOD and GSH-PX. In Conclusion, A. sinensis polysaccharides can antagonize kidney subacute damages induced by D-galactose in mice. Its protective mechanism may be correlated with the inhibition of the oxidative stress injury.

[Application of tiered approach to assess the impact of backfilling remediated soil on groundwater].

The tiered approach for assessing the impact of backfilling treated contaminated soil on groundwater was presented in details with a case study. The soil was contaminated by 1,2-dicholorenthane and 9 other organic pollutants and had been remediated before backfilling to meet the pre-set remediation goals based on health risk assessment. The results from tiered I assessment indicate that the concentrations of 8 contaminants in the leachate of the backfilling soil layer would exceed the assessment standards probably leading to groundwater contamination. However, the results from tiered II assessment, in which the adsorption and retardation of vadose zone soil was taken into account and the concentrations of pollutants reaching the groundwater table were predicated, reveal that only the concentrations of 6 contaminants would exceed the assessment standards. Further, taking the dilution and mixing of the groundwater into consideration, tiered III assessment was adopted and the results reveal that only 4 contaminants were beyond the standards. Finally, tiered IV assessment, aiming at predicting the concentration at the target well downstream, was carried out by considering the retardation of contaminants in saturated layer, and the results indicate only 1 pollutant was above the assessment standard. Therefore, it can be seen that the predicted concentrations of the target pollutants at advanced assessment levels will be closer to those at the target drinking water well and the amount of contaminants whose initially-set remediation goals need to be modified will decrease correspondingly, indicating the reduction in pollution prevention cost, although more efforts should be made and more field data should be collected to implement the advance assessment level.

[Application and benefit evaluation of tiered health risk assessment approach on site contaminated by benzene].

The procedures of implementing tiered health risk assessment approach were introduced in detail, and took a large-scale site polluted by benzene in Beijing as an example, the difference on the remediation target of benzene in soil, as well as the corresponding soil remediation volume and costs, were compared. The results indicate that the benzene concentration in soil within 1.5 m in depth and the one below should be remediated to 0.26 mg x kg(-1) and 0.15 mg x kg(-1), respectively, in order to keep the cumulative carcinogenic health risk below 1 x 10(-6) based on tiered II assessment. However, according to tiered III assessment result, which is based on the benzene in soil gas within the contaminated areas in the investigated site, the soil in the corresponding depth should only be remediated to 2.6 mg x kg(-1) and 1.5 mg x kg(-1), respectively. That means the soil remediation volume delimited on tiered III assessment result is less than the one on tiered II by 139 537 m3 and the corresponding remediation costs will be reduced by 57 million Yuan, meaning the enormous economic benefits compared to the costs (around 100 thousands Yuan) spent to carry out tiered III assessment in the site.

[Case study on groundwater health risk assessment and remediation strategy based on exposure pathway].

The carcinogenic risk originated from benzene in contaminated groundwater of a large-scale coke plant in Beijing was analyzed and assessed for different land use zones according to the site redevelopment plan. The results revealed that indoor vapor inhalation was the key exposure pathway for all the three zones. The carcinogenic risk in zone A as commercial area was 6.37 x 10(-8), below the maximum allowable level (1.0 x 10(-6)), but was 2.20 x 10(-4) in zone B as industrial park and 7.49 x 10(-5) in zone C as residential/commercial area, both beyond the acceptable level. Further, the remediation target for benzene was calculated at 118 microg x L(-1) and the corresponding remediation area was contoured to be 165 000 m2. Given the high permeability of the aquifer and the excellent volatility of benzene, air-sparging with a combination of engineering control measure was recommended to mitigate the risk of the groundwater contamination.

[Simulation on remediation of benzene contaminated groundwater by air sparging].

Air sparging (AS) is one of the in situ remedial technologies which are used in groundwater remediation for pollutions with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). At present, the field design of air sparging system was mainly based on experience due to the lack of field data. In order to obtain rational design parameters, the TMVOC module in the Petrasim software package, combined with field test results on a coking plant in Beijing, is used to optimize the design parameters and simulate the remediation process. The pilot test showed that the optimal injection rate was 23.2 m3 x h(-1), while the optimal radius of influence (ROI) was 5 m. The simulation results revealed that the pressure response simulated by the model matched well with the field test results, which indicated a good representation of the simulation. The optimization results indicated that the optimal injection location was at the bottom of the aquifer. Furthermore, simulated at the optimized injection location, the optimal injection rate was 20 m3 x h(-1), which was in accordance with the field test result. Besides, 3 m was the optimal ROI, less than the field test results, and the main reason was that field test reflected the flow behavior at the upper space of groundwater and unsaturated area, in which the width of flow increased rapidly, and became bigger than the actual one. With the above optimized operation parameters, in addition to the hydro-geological parameters measured on site, the model simulation result revealed that 90 days were needed to remediate the benzene from 371 000 microg x L(-1) to 1 microg x L(-1) for the site, and that the opeation model in which the injection wells were progressively turned off once the groundwater around them was "clean" was better than the one in which all the wells were kept operating throughout the remediation process.

[Identification studies of wild and cultivated Rhodiola saccharinensis A. Bor and Rhodiola angusta Nakai taken from Changbai Mountains by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry].

The petroleum ether, chloroform, and methyl alcohol extracts of wild and cultivated Rhodiola saccharinensis A. Bor and Rhodila angusta Nakai taken from Changbai Mountains, and obtained by the same isolation procedure, were for the first time studied with Fourier transform infrared spectrometry(FTIR), and the spectra obtained were compared with those of a sort of goods named Rhodiola Cake (Hong Jing Tian Kuai). It was shown that the infrared spectra of the wild and cultivated Rhodiola saccharinensis A. Bor and Rhodila angusta Nakai are different, which can be used to determine and evaluate their respective species.