A systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of rhinosinusitis.

Background: Rhinosinusitis (RS), a common inflammatory disorder, adversely affects quality of life and can progress to serious complications without intervention. Conventional therapies, including antibiotics and corticosteroids, exhibit inherent limitations and risks. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with its extensive historical use in RS management, remains understudied in contemporary evaluations.

GENETIC INSIGHTS INTO SEPSIS: MENDELIAN RANDOMIZATION ANALYSIS OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID METABOLITES.

Background: Sepsis, a life-threatening response to infection leading to systemic inflammation and organ dysfunction, has been hypothesized to be influenced by metabolic alterations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Despite extensive research, the specific metabolic pathways contributing to sepsis remain unclear. This study aims to elucidate the causal relationships between CSF metabolites and sepsis risk using Mendelian randomization (MR), offering insights that could lead to novel therapeutic strategies.

Effect of the immunoregulation activity of a pectin polysaccharide from Saussurea laniceps petals on macrophage polarization.

Saussurea laniceps is a traditional medicinal herb. In our previous study, a pectin polysaccharide, SLP-4, was isolated from the petals of S. laniceps.

Improving physicochemical characteristics and cytotoxicity of baicalin esters by liposome encapsulation.

The instability of ester bonds, low water solubility, and increased cytotoxicity of flavonoid glycoside esters significantly limit their application in the food industry. Therefore, the present study attempted to resolve these issues through liposome encapsulation. The results showed that baicalin butyl ester (BEC4) and octyl ester (BEC8) have higher encapsulation and loading efficiencies and lower leakage rate from liposomes than baicalin.

Efficient regioselective enzymatic acylation of troxerutin: difference characterization of cellular uptake and cytotoxicity.

In this study, we developed a multi-site acylation strategy to improve the lipophilicity and cellular uptake of troxerutin, a natural flavonoid with many health-promoting bioactivities. By clarifying the acylation properties of troxerutin catalyzed by lipases from different sources, a series of troxerutin ester derivatives acylated at different sites was synthesized, including troxerutin dipropyl (TDP), tripropyl (TTP), tetrapropyl (TEP), dibutyl (TDB), monohexyl (TMH), monooctyl (TMO) and monodecyl (TMD) esters. Interestingly, the troxerutin esters acylated at multiple sites with shorter fatty chains (TDP, TTP and TEP) had similar lipophilicity to the mono-acylated esters bearing longer fatty chains (TMH, TMO and TMD, respectively) and meanwhile demonstrated surprisingly lower cytotoxicity than that of the long fatty-chain mono-esters.

Microbial-Driven Synthesis and Hydrolysis of Neohesperidin Dihydrochalcone: Biotransformation Process and Feasibility Investigation.

A novel yeast-mediated hydrogenation was developed for the synthesis of neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC) in high yields (over 83%). Moreover, whole-cell catalytic hydrolysis was also designed to hydrolyze NHDC into potential sweeteners, hesperetin dihydrochalcone-7--glucoside (HDC-G) and hesperetin dihydrochalcone (HDC). The biohydrogenation was further combined with whole-cell hydrolysis to achieve a one-pot two-step biosynthesis, utilizing yeast to hydrogenate C═C in the structure, while cells hydrolyze glycosides.

Comparative transcriptomics to reveal the mechanism of enhanced catalytic activities of Aspergillus niger whole-cells cultured with different inducers in hydrolysis of citrus flavonoids.

A new Aspergillus niger whole-cell catalyst was cultured for the cascade hydrolysis of hesperidin (HES) to produce high-value hesperetin-7-O-glucoside (HG) and hesperetin with high conversion (above 90%). Moreover, the inducers used were shown to be useful for cell growth and to induce cells to produce specific enzymes. Remarkably, the type of inducers determined whether the cells can hydrolyze HES.

Effects of two polysaccharides from (maca) on intestinal immunity and inflammation .

In our previous studies, two polysaccharides (MC-1 and MC-2) were identified in the roots of maca (). In this study, the effects of these two polysaccharides on intestinal immunity and inflammation were assessed using intestinal epithelial cells, , Caco-2 cells. The levels of cytokines and tight junction proteins were measured using ELISA and qPCR, respectively.

In vitro absorption and lipid-lowering activity of baicalin esters synthesized by whole-cell catalyzed esterification.

Baicalin, a phenolic glycoside with good lipid-lowering activity, has poor intestinal absorption due to low lipophilicity. In this study, six ester derivatives of baicalin, named BECn (n = 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10) based on their fatty chain lengths, were synthesized by whole-cell catalyzed esterification to improve lipophilicity, and the intestinal absorption and lipid-lowering activity of the synthesized esters were investigated using cell models in vitro. BEC2, BEC3, and BEC4 exhibited higher P values than baicalin in Caco-2 cell monolayers.

Efficient Enzymatic Synthesis of Lipophilic Phenolic Glycoside Azelaic Acid Esters and Their Depigmenting Activity.

In this paper, an enzymatic route for synthesizing phenolic glycoside azelaic acid esters was successfully set up via lipase-catalyzed esterification and transesterification. Among the lipases tested, lipase B (Novozyme 435) showed the highest activity in catalyzing esterification and (Lipozyme TLIM) gave the highest substrate conversion in catalyzing transesterification for the synthesis of ester. The addition of 4A molecular sieves into the reaction system is found to be an effective method for absorption of the byproduct water and methanol, with which the substrate conversions of the enzymatic esterification and transesterification were 98.

Highly efficient whole-cell biosynthesis and cytotoxicity of esculin esters.

Esculin is a polyphenol with multiple bioactivities and poor lipophilicity. Therefore, a whole-cell catalytic strategy for esculin acylation was developed to improve its lipophilicity. A total of 12 strains were tested, among which Pseudomonas stutzeri exhibited the highest catalytic activity and mono-acylated regioselectivity.

Debittering effect of partially purified proteases from soybean seedlings on soybean protein isolate hydrolysate produced by alcalase.

To explore the potential application of proteases from soybean seedlings in the debittering of soybean protein hydrolysates, soybean seeds were germinated from 1 to 10 days. It was found that the sixth day seedlings exhibited highest proteases activity (130 U/g). After partial purification, the activity of proteases (PSP) from the sixth day seedlings further increased to 2675 U/g.

Impacts of Industrial Restructuring and Technological Progress on PM Pollution: Evidence from Prefecture-Level Cities in China.

PM pollution has produced adverse effects all over the world, especially in fast-developing China. PM pollution in China is widespread and serious, which has aroused widespread concern of the government, the public and scholars. This paper evaluates the evolution trend and spatial pattern of PM pollution in China based on the data of 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2017, and reveals the pollution situation of PM and its relationship with industrial restructuring and technological progress by using spatial dynamic panel model.

DUSP16 promotes cancer chemoresistance through regulation of mitochondria-mediated cell death.

Drug resistance is a major obstacle to the treatment of most human tumors. In this study, we find that dual-specificity phosphatase 16 (DUSP16) regulates resistance to chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, colorectal cancer, gastric and breast cancer. Cancer cells expressing higher DUSP16 are intrinsically more resistant to chemotherapy-induced cell death than cells with lower DUSP16 expression.

Antityrosinase Mechanism and Antimelanogenic Effect of Arbutin Esters Synthesis Catalyzed by Whole-Cell Biocatalyst.

Tyrosinase is a key enzyme responsible for enzymatic browning of fruits and vegetables and skin disorders due to overproduction of melanin. Arbutin is an inhibitor of tyrosinase; however, its high polarity and weak transdermal absorption capacity limit its applications. In this paper, a green solvent system was developed to successfully synthesize arbutin esters with improved liposolubilities (Clog values = 0.

MiR-34c promotes hepatic stellate cell activation and Liver Fibrogenesis by suppressing ACSL1 expression.

Normally, there are multiple microRNAs involved in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. In our work, we aimed at identifying the role of miR-34c in the hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and liver fibrosis and its potential mechanism. Our results have shown that during natural activation of HSC, the level of miR-34c was increased significantly whereas acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member-1(ACSL1), which is a key enzyme can affect fatty acid(FA) synthesis, was decreased.

Purification and characterization of immunomodulatory peptides from enzymatic hydrolysates of duck egg ovalbumin.

Duck egg white (DEW) is considered as an abandoned protein resource. For a higher-value utilization, preparation of immunomodulatory peptides from the extracted ovalbumin in DEW was explored. Among the hydrolysates catalyzed by five proteases, papain hydrolysate (PH) shows the highest degree of hydrolysis and the strongest immunomodulatory activity.

Biocatalytic Synthesis of Lipophilic Baicalin Derivatives as Antimicrobial Agents.

Enzymatic acylation is commonly used to increase the lipophilicity of flavonoids. However, the absence of primary hydroxyl groups makes it challenging to acylate baicalin using traditional acylation methods. In this study, an enzymatic esterification strategy was developed to introduce fatty-acid chains into baicalin at its carboxyl group, hence successfully synthesizing a new series of baicalin ester derivatives in nonaqueous media.

Efficient acylation of gastrodin by whole-cells in non-aqueous media.

Gastrodin, a bioactive compound extracted from the plant source of Blume, has a wide range of therapeutic effects on central nervous system (CNS) diseases, but suffers from poor brain permeability and short half-life in plasma. In this study, fatty acid esters of gastrodin were successfully synthesized by a whole cell-based biocatalytic method. cells showed different catalytic activities in the organic solvent systems tested.

Physicochemical and functional properties of a protein isolate from maca (Lepidium meyenii) and the secondary structure and immunomodulatory activity of its major protein component.

Maca protein isolate (MPI) was extracted from maca root, and its physicochemical and functional properties, and the secondary structure and immunomodulatory activity of its major protein component, MMP, were investigated. The MPI lacked essential amino acids compared with soybean protein isolate (SPI) and casein, but was rich in cysteine and proline. The MPI had rich free sulfhydryl (20.

Relationship among school socioeconomic status, teacher-student relationship, and middle school students' academic achievement in China: Using the multilevel mediation model.

School socioeconomic status (SES) is studied primarily as a variable to explain academic achievement; however, few previous studies have investigated how SES can influence individual student's academic achievement. The present study used a national representative sample of 10,784 grade 7 to 9 students (53.2% boys and 46.

Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Capacity of Ferulic Acid Released from Wheat Bran by Solid-state Fermentation of Aspergillus niger.

Objective: A strain of Aspergillus niger (A. niger), capable of releasing bound phenolic acids from wheat bran, was isolated. This strain was identified by gene sequence identification.

Whole-Cell Catalytic Synthesis of Puerarin Monoesters and Analysis of Their Antioxidant Activities.

Puerarin, an important isoflavonoid from the edible root of Pueraria lobata, shows multiple bioactivities but suffers from low bioavailability. In this study, a new whole-cell catalytic method for acylation modification of puerarin was developed. Among the 12 strains tested, Aspergillus oryzae showed the highest catalytic activity and selectively catalyzed acylation of puerarin at the 6″-hydroxyl group.

Biocatalytic synthesis of acylated derivatives of troxerutin: their bioavailability and antioxidant properties in vitro.

Background: Flavonoid glycosides have many beneficial effects on health, but these bioactivities tend to decrease after oral administration owing to their poor lipophilicity. In this study, a facile whole-cell-based method was developed for selective preparation of monoester or diester of troxerutin, a flavonoid derivative. In addition, the bioavailabilities and antioxidant properties of troxerutin and its acylated derivatives were also investigated in cells.

Cellular Transport of Esculin and Its Acylated Derivatives in Caco-2 Cell Monolayers and Their Antioxidant Properties in Vitro.

Esculin has many pharmacological effects, but these are difficult to observe after oral administration owing to poor lipid solubility. In our previous study, five acylated derivatives with different acyl chain lengths (EA, EP, EO, EL, and EM) were synthesized to improve the lipophilicity of esculin. In this study, the bioavailability and antioxidant activity of the five derivatives were investigated.