Seroprevalence and risk factors of Streptococcus ovis infection in Tibet, China.

Sheep septicemic streptococcosis is an acute, febrile, and septic zoonotic disease caused by Streptococcus ovis. There are few reports of this disease especailly at high-altitude areas of Tibet, China. A cross-sectional study was conducted at five different counties of Shigatse area (a city in Tibet territory) from 2021 to 2022. Sera from 1458 randomly selected sheep and goats from 50 flocks were tested for antigens of Streptococcus ovis using a commercial ELISA kit. The individual animal level prevalence was 6.93% (95% CI: 5.7-8.4), and the flock prevalence level was 84% (95% CI: 70.9-92.8). At the individual animal level, year and management type were significantly associated with seropositivity by binary logistic regression analysis. Prevalence of Streptococcus in 2021 significantly differed from 2022 (OR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.39-3.39). The prevalence of Streptococcus varied between management types with herds having higher odds of disease than intensive farms (OR = 2.64, 95% CI: 1.71-4.10). Hence, our study reports for the first time on seroepidemiology and risk factors of Streptococcus ovis infection, laying a theoretical foundation for preventing and controlling streptococcosis in Tibet area.

Progress in active compounds effective on ulcerative colitis from Chinese medicines / 中国天然药物

Ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the colon, has a rising incidence worldwide. The known pathogenesis is multifactorial and involves genetic predisposition, epithelial barrier defects, dysregulated immune responses, and environmental factors. Nowadays, the drugs for UC include 5-aminosalicylic acid, steroids, and immunosuppressants. Long-term use of these drugs, however, may cause several side effects, such as hepatic and renal toxicity, drug resistance and allergic reactions. Moreover, the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of UC shows significantly positive effects, low recurrence rate, few side effects and other obvious advantages. This paper summarizes several kinds of active compounds used in the experimental research of anti-UC effects extracted from TCM, mainly including flavonoids, acids, terpenoids, phenols, alkaloids, quinones, and bile acids from some animal medicines. It is found that the anti-UC activities are mainly focused on targeting inflammation or oxidative stress, which is associated with increasing the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-4, IL-10, SOD), suppressing the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-23, NF-κB, NO), reducing the activity of MPO, MDA, IFN-γ, and iNOS. This review may offer valuable reference for UC-related studies on the compounds from natural medicines.

Advances in extraction and analysis of phenolic compounds from plant materials / 中国天然药物

Phenolic compounds, the most abundant secondary metabolites in plants, have received more and more attention in recent years because of their distinct bioactivities. This review summarizes different types of phenolic compounds and their extraction and analytical methods used in the recent reports, involving 59 phenolic compounds from 52 kinds of plants. The extraction methods include solid-liquid extraction, ultrasound-assisted extractions, microwave-assisted extractions, supercritical fluid extraction, and other methods. The analysis methods include spectrophotometry, gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and near-infrared spectroscopy. After illustrating the specific conditions of the analytical methods, the advantages and disadvantages of each method are also summarized, pointing out their respective suitability. This review provides valuable reference for identification and/or quantification of phenolic compounds from natural products.