Mefunidone alleviates silica-induced inflammation and fibrosis by inhibiting the TLR4-NF-κB/MAPK pathway and attenuating pyroptosis in murine macrophages.

Aims: Silicosis is the most common and severe type of pneumoconiosis, imposing a substantial disease burden and economic loss on patients and society. The pathogenesis and key targets of silicosis are not yet clear, and there are currently no effective treatments available. Therefore, we conducted research on mefunidone (MFD), a novel antifibrotic drug, to explore its efficacy and mechanism of action in murine silicosis.

Myo-inositol rescued insulin resistance and dyslipidemia in db/db mice.

Myo-inositol (MI), present in a variety of foods, is essential in several important processes of cell physiology. In this study, we explored the protective effects of MI against hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia in db/db mice, a typical animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). MI supplement effectively suppressed the high plasma glucose and insulin levels and markedly relieved the insulin resistance (IR) in the db/db mice, comparable to metformin's effects.

Succinate promotes pulmonary fibrosis through GPR91 and predicts death in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is believed to be associated with a notable disruption of cellular energy metabolism. By detecting the changes of energy metabolites in the serum of patients with pulmonary fibrosis, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of energy metabolites in IPF, and further elucidated the mechanism of their involvement in pulmonary fibrosis. Through metabolomics research, it was discovered that the TCA cycle intermediates changed dramatically in IPF patients.

Pyroptosis-related signatures predict immune characteristics and prognosis in IPF.

The purpose of this work was to use integrated bioinformatics analysis to screen for pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) and possible immunological phenotypes linked to the development and course of IPF. Transcriptome sequencing datasets GSE70866, GSE47460 and GSE150910 were obtained from GEO database. From the GSE70866 database, 34 PRGs with differential expression were found in IPF as compared to healthy controls.

Homozygous mutation in causes primary ciliary dyskinesia in a Chinese family.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that affects the structure and function of motile cilia, leading to classic clinical phenotypes, such as situs inversus, chronic sinusitis, bronchiectasis, repeated pneumonia and infertility. In this study, we diagnosed a female patient with PCD who was born in a consanguineous family through classic clinical manifestations, transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence staining. A novel variant NM_130810: c.

Mefunidone ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury through inhibiting MAPK signaling pathway and enhancing Nrf2 pathway.

Background And Objective: Acute lung injury (ALI) is a life-threatening disease which has high mortality and lacks effective pharmacological treatments. Excessive inflammation and oxidative stress are the key pathogenesis of ALI. Mefunidone (MFD), a novel small molecule compound, displayed anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative stress effects on streptozocin (STZ) and db/db mice in our previous studies.

CCDC65, a Gene Knockout that leads to Early Death of Mice, acts as a potentially Novel Tumor Suppressor in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

CCDC65 is a member of the coiled-coil domain-containing protein family and was only reported in gastric cancer by our group. We first observed that it is downregulated in lung adenocarcinoma based on the TCGA database. Reduced CCDC65 protein was shown as an unfavorable factor promoting the clinical progression in lung adenocarcinoma.

Protective Effect of Fluorofenidone Against Acute Lung Injury Through Suppressing the MAPK/NF-κB Pathway.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe disease that presents serious damage and excessive inflammation in lungs with high mortality without effective pharmacological therapy. Fluorofenidone (AKFPD) is a novel pyridone agent that has anti-fibrosis, anti-inflammation, and other pharmacological activities, while the effect of fluorofenidone on ALI is unclarified. Here, we elucidated the protective effects and underlying mechanism of fluorofenidone on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI.

Potential roles of mesenchymal stem cells and their exosomes in the treatment of COVID-19.

: Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The primary pathogenesis is over-activation of the immune system. SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate and spread rapidly and no effective treatment options are yet available.

Mefunidone Ameliorates Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the most common and devastating interstitial lung diseases with poor prognosis. Currently, few effective drugs are available for IPF. Hence, we sought to explore the role of mefunidone (MFD), a newly synthesized drug developed by our team, in lung fibrosis.

Effect of land use pattern change from paddy soil to vegetable soil on the adsorption-desorption of cadmium by soil aggregates.

The influence of land use change from paddy soil to vegetable soil on the adsorption-desorption behavior of Cd in soil aggregates and the variation in soil properties were investigated. The vegetable soil was characterized by lower pH, organic matter content, cation exchange capacity (CEC), free iron oxides, manganese oxides, and catalase activity and higher urease activity compared with the paddy soil. In the isothermal adsorption and desorption experiments, the adsorption characteristics of Cd of the two soils could be well described by Langmuir and Freundlich equations.

Casticin induces caspase-mediated apoptosis via activation of mitochondrial pathway and upregulation of DR5 in human lung cancer cells.

Objective: To assess if casticin induces caspase-mediated apoptosis via activation of mitochondrial pathway and upregulation of DR5 in human lung cancer cells.

Methods: Human non-small-cell lung carcinoma cell lines H460, A549 and H157 were cultured in vitro. The cytotoxic activities were determined using MTT assay.

Casticin potentiates TRAIL-induced apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Background: Casticin is one of the main active components obtained from Fructus Viticis and has been reported to exert anti-carcinogenic activity on a variety of cancer cells but the precise mechanism underlying this activity remains unclear.

Materials And Methods: Apoptotic activities of casticin (1.0 µmol/l) and TRAIL (25, 50 ng/ml) alone or in combination in the gastric cancer cell lines BGC-823, SGC-7901 and MGC-803 were detected by the use of a cell apoptosis ELISA detection kit, flow cytometry (FCM) with propidium iodide (PI) staining and activities of caspase-3, -8 and -9 by ELISA and cleavage of polyADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) protein using western blot analysis.