Neoagarotetraose alleviates high fat diet induced obesity via white adipocytes browning and regulation of gut microbiota.

Obesity is nowadays a serious public health issue. Neoagarotetraose (NA4) is a marine oligosaccharide produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of agar by ß-agarase. The present study is aimed to determine the effect of NA4 on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in mice and uncover the regulating role of gut microbiota and microbial metabolites. The results showed that the intervention of NA4 significantly reduced the body weight gain, insulin resistance, hepatic adipose accumulation, serum lipid levels, oxidative damages, and inflammation responses in HFD-induced obese mice. NA4 also promoted lipolysis and browning of white adipose tissue, inhibit lipogenesis, and protect the integrity of gut barrier. Moreover, NA4 restructured the altered gut microbiota and enhanced the content of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the feces with compared with the HFD group. Cumulatively, these findings suggest that NA4 can relieve obesity by stimulating white adipose tissue browning, regulating intestinal flora, and promoting microbial metabolism.

Separation, purification, structural analysis and immune-enhancing activity of sulfated polysaccharide isolated from sea cucumber viscera.

A novel sulfated polysaccharide (SCVP-1) was isolated from sea cucumber viscera and purified to elucidate its structure and immune-enhancing ability. SCVP-1 was found to be a homogeneous polysaccharide with a relative molecular weight of 180.8 kDa and composed of total sugars (60.2 ±â€¯2.6%), uronic acid (15.3 ±â€¯1.8%), proteins (6.8 ±â€¯0.8%), and sulfate groups (18.1 ±â€¯0.9%). SCVP-1 consisted of mannose, glucosamine, glucuronic acid, N-acetyl-galactosamine, glucose, galactose and fucose at an approximate molar ratio of 1.00:1.41:0.88:2.14:1.90:1.12:1.24. The fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses showed that SCVP-1 was a kind of glycosaminoglycan. And the sulfation patterns of the fucose branches were Fuc2,4S, Fuc3,4S and Fuc0S. The surface morphology of SCVP-1 presented loose and irregular sheet structure formed by aggregation of polysaccharide molecules with spherical structure. Moreover, SCVP-1 promoted the production of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α) by RAW264.7 cells as well as the expression of related genes (iNOS, IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α) and also enhanced their phagocytic activity through TLR4-mediated activation of the MAPKs and NF-κB signaling pathways. This study suggests that sea cucumber viscera are good sources of polysaccharides and SCVP-1 might be a novel immunomodulator.

The Potential of Neoagaro-Oligosaccharides as a Treatment of Type II Diabetes in Mice.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounts for more than 90% of cases of diabetes mellitus, which is harmful to human health. Herein, neoagaro-oligosaccharides (NAOs) were prepared and their potential as a treatment of T2DM was evaluated in KunMing (KM) mice. Specifically, a T2DM mice model was established by the combination of a high-fat diet (HFD) and alloxan injection. Consequently, the mice were given different doses of NAOs (100, 200, or 400 mg/kg) and the differences among groups of mice were recorded. As a result of the NAOs treatment, the fasting blood glucose (FBG) was lowered and the glucose tolerance was improved as compared with the model group. As indicated by the immunohistochemistry assay, the NAOs treatment was able to ameliorate hepatic macrovesicular steatosis and hepatocyte swelling, while it also recovered the number of pancreatic ß-cells. Additionally, NAOs administration benefited the antioxidative capacity in mice as evidenced by the upregulation of both glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity and the significant reduction of the malondialdehyde concentration. Furthermore, NAOs, as presented by Western blotting, increased the expression of p-ERK1/2, p-JNK, NQO1, HO-1, and PPARγ, via the MAPK, Nrf2, and PPARγ signaling pathways, respectively. In conclusion, NAOs can be used to treat some complications caused by T2DM, and are beneficial in controlling the level of blood glucose and ameliorating the damage of the liver and pancreatic islands.

Simultaneous Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Methylated and Ethylated Peptides in Human Hemoglobin: Correlation with Cigarette Smoking.

Alkylating agents contained in cigarettes smoke might be related to cancer development. Post-translational protein methylation and ethylation may cause alteration of protein functions. Human hemoglobin (Hb) has been a target for molecular dosimetry because of its easy accessibility. The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between the levels of methylation and ethylation at specific sites of Hb with smoking. Because of the low extent of modification of Hb isolated from blood, the methylation and ethylation sites were identified in Hb incubated with a methylating agent (methyl methanesulfonate, MMS) and ethylating agent (ethyl methanesulfonate, EMS), respectively, by accurate mass measurements. After trypsin digestion, the modification sites were identified by nanoflow LC-nanospray ionization coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. The selected reaction monitoring mode was used to quantify the relative extent of methylation and ethylation in human Hb incubated with MMS and EMS, respectively. Methylation occurred at 9 sites, including 1V, 20H, 50H, 72H of α-globin and 1V, 26E, 66K, 77H, 93C of ß-globin. Ethylation was detected at 11 sites, including 1V, 16K, 50H, 72H, 87H of α-globin and 1V, 17K, 66K, 77H, 92H, 93C of ß-globin. The relative extents of methylation and ethylation were measured in blood samples from 13 smokers and 13 nonsmokers. No statistically significant difference was found in the methylated peptides. On the other hand, the extents of ethylation at α-terminal Val, α-His-50, α-His-87, ß-terminal Val, ß-His-77, and ß-Cys-93 in Hb were significantly higher in smokers than in nonsmokers (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the relative extents of ethylation at these sites were statistically significantly correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Therefore, this assay, which requires as little as one drop of blood, should be helpful in measuring Hb ethylation as a potential biomarker for assessing the exposure to cigarette smoking.

[Chemical constituents of Artemisia lactiflora(II)].

To study the chemical constituents of Artemisia lactiflora. The compounds were isolated by column chromatography with silica gel, C18 reverse-phase silica gel, semi-preparative HPLC, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis. Twelve compounds were isolated from alcohol extracts of A. lactiflora and identified as 7-hydroxycoumarin (1), 7-methoxycoumarin (2), balanophonin (3), aurantiamide (4), aurantiamide acetate (5), isovitexin (6), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-rutinoside (7), rutin (8), caffeic acid ethyl ester (9), quercetin (10), methyl 3, 5-di-O-caffeoyl quinate (11) and methyl 3, 4-di-O-caffeoyl quinate (12), respectively. Compounds 3-12 were obtained from this plant for the first time.