Enhancement of gel characteristics of curdlan thermo-irreversible gels by β-cyclodextrin and its possible mechanisms.

In this study, the influences of various concentrations of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) on the gelation properties of curdlan thermo-irreversible gels were evaluated. The results revealed that water-holding capacity and freeze-thaw stability of the curdlan/β-CD complex gels initially increased but then decreased with increasing β-CD concentration, with the curdlan gel containing 1 % (w/v) β-CD demonstrating the best performance. Moreover, textural characteristics including hardness, gumminess, cohesiveness, and chewiness exhibited similar trends, but springiness showed minor effect.

In vitro simulated digestion and fermentation characteristics of pectic polysaccharides from fresh passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa L.) peel.

In this study, two pectic polysaccharides (PFP-T and PFP-UM) were extracted from fresh passion fruit peels using three-phase partitioning (TPP) and sequential ultrasound-microwave-assisted TPP methods, respectively, and their effects on the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and fecal fermentation characteristics were examined. The results indicate that gastrointestinal digestion has a minimal effect on the physicochemical and structural characteristics of PFP-T and PFP-UM. However, during in vitro fecal fermentation, both undigested PFP-T and PFP-UM are significantly degraded and utilized by intestinal microorganisms, showing increased the total relative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidota in the intestinal flora.

Food-Borne Biotoxin Neutralization by Nanobodies: Current Status and Prospects.

Food-borne biotoxins from microbes, plants, or animals contaminate unclean, spoiled, and rotten foods, posing significant health risks. Neutralizing such toxins is vital for human health, especially after food poisoning. Nanobodies (Nbs), a type of single-domain antibodies derived from the genetic cloning of a variable domain of heavy chain antibodies (VHHs) in camels, offer unique advantages in toxin neutralization.

[Tonglong Kaibi Prescription for the treatment of severe benign prostate hyperplasia: A clinical study].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Tonglong Kaibi Prescription (TKP) in the treatment of severe BPH with kidney deficiency and blood stasis combined with damp heat syndrome.

Methods: We randomly divided 120 cases of severe BPH with kidney deficiency and blood stasis combined with damp heat syndrome into three groups of equal number, treated with TKP, doxazosin mesylate sustained-release tablets (the DM control), and TKP + DM, all for 8 weeks. We obtained the IPSS, TCM symptoms scores, quality of life (QOL) scores, maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) and postvoid residual urine volume (PVR) from the patients before and after treatment and compared them among the three groups.

Triethyl amine as an effective reducing agent for sulfoxide deoxygenation.

Enabled by triethyl amine (EtN) and thionyl chloride (SOCl), an efficient and practical protocol for deoxygenation of sulfoxide to sulfide was developed. This new method features a wide range of substrate scope, including diaryl, dialkyl and aryl alkyl substituted sulfoxides. Detailed mechanistic investigations reveal the crucial role played by EtN as an electron-donating reductant rather than a hydrogen-atom donor.

Highly Enantioselective Dihydroxylation of 1,1-Disubstituted Aliphatic Alkenes Enabled by Orchestrated Noncovalent π-Interactions.

The elusive nature of noncovalent π-interactions leads to their infrequent use as a design element in challenging chemical reactions. Stereocontrolling models based on coordinated noncovalent π-interactions were used for the asymmetric dihydroxylation of 1,1-disubstituted aliphatic alkenes. By introduction of a substituted phthalazine ring into the alkene substrates, the enantioselectivity reached 99% under the catalysis of -cinchona alkaloid ligands.

[Pricking-reinforcing -reducing therapy improves semen quality and seminal plasma biochemical indexes in patients with varicocele infertility].

Objective: To investigate the effect of pricking-reinforcing -reducing therapy (PRRT) on the semen quality and seminal plasma biochemical indexes of varicocele (VC) infertility patients.

Methods: We randomly and equally assigned 160 patients with VC infertility into a PRRT and a control group, the former treated by PRRT and the latter with oral ShengjingCapsules. Before and after treatment, we obtained the semen parameters, sperm morphology, sperm survival rate, sperm acrosin activity, seminal plasma neutral α glucosidase and seminal plasma zinc in the patients and compared them between the two groups.

[Magnetic resonance and magnetoelectric therapy combined with Danhong Tongjing Prescription for the treatment of CP/CPPS and its effects on secretory IgA, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and interleukin-8].

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect of magnetic resonance and magnetoelectric therapy (MRMT) combined with oral Danhong Tongjing Prescription (DTP) on chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) and the changes in the levels of cytokine-secretory IgA (sIgA), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) after treatment.

Methods: Totally 200 patients with CP/CPPS of the qi stagnation and blood stasis type were randomly divided into three groups to receive MRMT + DTP (n = 68), MRMT (n = 67) and DTP (n = 65), respectively, all for 12 weeks. After treatment, we compared the total effectiveness rate, patients' scores on NIH-CPSI and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome, and the expressions of sIgA, VCAM-1 and IL-8 in the EPS among the three groups of the patients.

Engineered non-covalent π interactions as key elements for chiral recognition.

Molecular recognition and self-assembly are often mediated by intermolecular forces involving aromatic π-systems. Despite the ubiquity of such interactions in biological systems and in the design of functional materials, the elusive nature of aromatic π interaction results in that they have been seldom used as a design element for promoting challenging chemical reactions. Described here is a well-engineered catalytic system into which non-covalent π interactions are directly incorporated.

[Danhong Tongjing Prescription versus microsurgery in the treatment of varicocele-induced infertility: A retrospective multivariate analysis of 218 cases].

Objective: To compared the traditional Chinese medicine Danhong Tongjing Prescription (DTP) and microsurgery in the treatment of varicocele (VC)-induced infertility and investigate the factors influencing the recovery of semen parameters of the patients.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data on 218 cases of VC-induced infertility with qi-deficiency and blood-stasis treated with DTP (n = 86) or by microsurgery (n = 132) in our hospital from January 2017 to July 2019, and compared the semen parameters between the two groups of patients after treatment. With age, course of disease, degree of VC, change of the testis volume, estrogen/testosterone (E/T) ratio and levels of FSH and LH as independent variables, and increased semen parameters after treatment as dependent variables, we constructed a multivariate linear regression model and identified statistically significant independent variables.

Highly Efficient Kinetic Resolution of Aryl-Alkenyl Alcohols by Ru-Catalyzed Hydrogen Transfer.

No matter through asymmetric reduction of ketones or kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols, enantioselective synthesis of the corresponding secondary alcohols is challenging when the two groups attached to the prochiral or chiral centers are spatially or electronically similar. For examples, dialkyl (sp vs. sp), diaryl (sp vs.

Simultaneous Kinetic Resolution and Asymmetric Induction within a Borrowing Hydrogen Cascade Mediated by a Single Catalyst.

The mechanistic uniqueness and versatility of borrowing hydrogen catalysis provides an opportunity to investigate the controllability of a cascade reaction, and more importantly, to realize either one or both of chiral recognition and chiral induction simultaneously. Here we report that, in a borrowing hydrogen cascade starting from racemic allylic alcohols, one of the enantiomers could be kinetically resolved, while the other enantiomer could be purposely converted to various targeted products, including α,β-unsaturated ketones, β-functionalized ketones and γ-functionalized alcohols. By employing a robust Ru-catalyst, both kinetic resolution and asymmetric induction were achieved with remarkable levels of efficiency and enantioselectivity.

Noni ( L.) Fruit Polysaccharides Regulated IBD Mice Via Targeting Gut Microbiota: Association of JNK/ERK/NF-κB Signaling Pathways.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease characterized by intestinal inflammation with immune dysregulation and intestinal microecological imbalance. In a dextran sulfate sodium salt (DSS)-induced IBD mouse model, noni ( L.) fruit polysaccharides (NFP) with homogalacturonan and rhamnogalacturonan-I domain decreased the concentration of serum LPS, TNF-α, and IL-17 by 84, 42, and 65%, respectively.

Asymmetric Synthesis of γ-Secondary Amino Alcohols via a Borrowing-Hydrogen Cascade.

The borrowing-hydrogen (or hydrogen autotransfer) process, where the catalyst dehydrogenates a substrate and formally transfers the H atom to an unsaturated intermediate, is an atom-efficient and environmentally benign transformation. Described here is an example of an asymmetric borrowing-hydrogen cascade for the formal anti-Markovnikov hydroamination of allyl alcohols to synthesize optically enriched γ-secondary amino alcohols. By exploiting the Ru-()-PrPyme catalyst with minimal stereogenicity, a cascade process including dehydrogenation, conjugate addition, and asymmetric reduction was developed.

Catalytic mutual multicomponent reaction: facile access to α-trifluoromethylthiolated ketones.

A multicomponent catalytic reaction between ketones, Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) carbonates and trifluoromethylthiolating agents is devised for straightforwardly accessing two products, α-trifluoromethylthiolated ketones and α-methylene β-amino esters in a one pot fashion. Particularly noteworthy is that the trifluoromethylthiolating reagent is employed as both the nitrogen and SCF3 source initiated by DABCO. This mild one pot strategy enjoys atom- and step-economic attractiveness, for direct introduction of an SCF3 group onto a variety of acyclic ketones, which have been considered as less effective and less developed substrates.

Catalytic asymmetric trifluoromethylthiolation of carbonyl compounds via a diastereo and enantioselective Cu-catalyzed tandem reaction.

Although recent progress has been made in introducing an SCF3 functionality into a variety of molecules, enantioselective trifluoromethylthiolation remains challenging, especially the α-trifluoromethylthiolation of carbonyl compounds. The present study describes a diastereo and enantioselective Cu-catalyzed tandem 1,4-addition/trifluoromethylthiolation of acyclic enones. The tandem reaction enables the asymmetric integration of the -SCF3 group to carbonyl compounds, establishing chiral tertiary α-carbon centers and affording α-SCF3-β-substituted carbonyl compounds in 50-92% yields with up to 20 : 1 dr and 96% ee.

Rh-Catalyzed Conjugate Addition of Arylzinc Chlorides to Thiochromones: A Highly Enantioselective Pathway for Accessing Chiral Thioflavanones.

A highly efficient asymmetric synthesis of chiral thioflavanones is developed via conjugate addition of arylzinc reagents to thiochromones using Rh(COD)Cl/(R)-3,4,5-MeO-MeOBIPHEP catalyst. This method overcomes catalyst poisoning and substrate inertness and affords a series of chiral thioflavanones (2-arylthiochroman-4-ones) in good yields (up to 91% yield) with excellent ee values (up to 97% ee). The established asymmetric synthesis paves the way for further pharmaceutical studies.

Bi(OTf)3-catalyzed addition of isocyanides to 2H-chromene acetals: an efficient pathway for accessing 2-carboxamide-2H-chromenes.

Bismuth triflate (Bi(OTf)3) is identified as an efficient catalyst for the direct addition of isocyanides to 2H-chromene acetals. The large scope of isocyanides and chromene acetals makes them suitable substrates in this catalytic system. By this synthetic strategy, a polyfunctional molecular scaffold, 2-carboxamide-2H-chromenes could be prepared efficiently in one step up to 95% yield.

Chemoselective and repetitive intermolecular cross-acyloin condensation reactions between a variety of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes using a robust N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst.

We found that chemoselectivity of the crossed acyloin product is controlled by the adjustment of the aromatic aldehyde/aliphatic aldehyde ratio. Moreover, we observed the persistent catalytic activity of the homogeneous NHC catalyst in a solution due to NHC catalyst robustness.

N-heterocyclic carbene-catalysed intermolecular Stetter reactions of acetaldehyde.

A facile method for the intermolecular Stetter reaction of various Michael acceptors with acetaldehyde as a biomimetic acylanion source was realized using N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis. This catalytic system has also been applied to the enantioselective Stetter reaction and resulted in moderate to good enantioselectivities for the corresponding Stetter products.

Switching regioselectivity in crossed acyloin condensations between aromatic aldehydes and acetaldehyde by altering N-heterocyclic carbene catalysts.

An unprecedented high level of regioselectivities (up to 96%) in the intermolecular crossed acyloin condensations of various aromatic aldehydes with acetaldehyde was realized by an appropriate choice of N-heterocyclic carbene catalysts.