Recent developments and new directions in the use of natural products for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) represents a significant global health challenge, and there is an urgent need to explore novel therapeutic interventions. Natural products have demonstrated highly promising effectiveness in the treatment of IBD.

Purpose: This study systematically reviews the latest research advancements in leveraging natural products for IBD treatment.

Progress in Identification of UDP-Glycosyltransferases for Ginsenoside Biosynthesis.

Ginsenosides, the primary pharmacologically active constituents of the genus, have demonstrated a variety of medicinal properties, including anticardiovascular disease, cytotoxic, antiaging, and antidiabetes effects. However, the low concentration of ginsenosides in plants and the challenges associated with their extraction impede the advancement and application of ginsenosides. Heterologous biosynthesis represents a promising strategy for the targeted production of these natural active compounds.

Understanding aconite's anti-fibrotic effects in cardiac fibrosis.

Background: The prevalence of cardiac fibrosis, intricately linked to various cardiovascular diseases, continues to rise. Aconite, a traditional Chinese herb renowned for its cardiovascular benefits, holds promise in treating heart ailments. However, the mechanisms underlying its anti-fibrotic effects, particularly in cardiac fibrosis, remain elusive.

Cardioprotective Effects of Aconite in Isoproterenol-Induced Myocardial Infarction in Rats.

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) is a severe clinical condition caused by decreased or complete cessation of blood flow to a portion of the myocardium. Aconite, the lateral roots of Debx., is a well-known Chinese medicine for treatment of heart failure and related cardiac diseases.

Ablation of Proton/Glucose Exporter SLC45A2 Enhances Melanosomal Glycolysis to Inhibit Melanin Biosynthesis and Promote Melanoma Metastasis.

Sequence variation in SLC45A2 are responsible for oculocutaneous albinism type 4 in many species and are associated with melanoma susceptibility, but the molecular mechanism is unclear. In this study, we used Slc45a2-deficient melanocyte and mouse models to elucidate the roles of SLC45A2 in melanogenesis and melanoma metastasis. We found that the acidified cellular environment impairs the activity of key melanogenic enzyme tyrosinase in Slc45a2-deficient melanocytes.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of celastrol derivatives as potent antitumor agents with STAT3 inhibition.

Using STAT3 inhibitors as a potential strategy in cancer therapy have attracted much attention. Recently, celastrol has been reported that it could directly bind to and suppress the activity of STAT3 in the cardiac dysfunction model. To explore more effective STAT3 inhibiting anti-tumour drug candidates, we synthesised a series of celastrol derivatives and biologically evaluated them with several human cancer cell lines.

Serum Metabolome Mediates the Antiobesity Effect of Celastrol-Induced Gut Microbial Alterations.

The antiobesity effect of celastrol has been reported in numerous studies, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. It is widely accepted that gut dysbiosis is closely related to obesity. The potential effect of celastrol on microbiota is worth exploring.

A ratiometric electrochemical microsensor for monitoring chloride ions .

Chloride ion (Cl), the most common anion in animal brain, has been verified to play a vital role in maintaining normal physiological processes. Thus, development of a reliable platform to determine Cl is of great significance for brain research involving Cl. In this work, a ratiometric electrochemical microsensor (REM) for the measurement of cerebral Cl was designed.

SLC-30A9 is required for Zn homeostasis, Zn mobilization, and mitochondrial health.

The trace element zinc is essential for many aspects of physiology. The mitochondrion is a major Zn store, and excessive mitochondrial Zn is linked to neurodegeneration. How mitochondria maintain their Zn homeostasis is unknown.

Comparison of Chief Complaints and Patient-Reported Symptoms of Treatment-Naive Lung Cancer Patients Before Surgery.

Background: Lung cancer patients without chief complaints have been increasingly identified by physical examination. This study aimed to profile and compare chief complaints with patient-reported symptoms of lung cancer patients before surgery.

Methods: Data were extracted from a multicenter, prospective longitudinal study (CN-PRO-Lung 1) in China from November 2017 to January 2020.

Aspirin inhibits prostaglandins to prevents colon tumor formation via down-regulating Wnt production.

According to numerous epidemiological studies, aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that reduces the occurrence and mortality of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the underlying mechanisms are not well identified. In an effort to fill these gaps, we administered aspirin on mice one day before induction in an azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced CRC model.

Celastrol in metabolic diseases: Progress and application prospects.

Metabolic diseases are becoming increasingly common in modern society. Therefore, it is essential to develop effective drugs or new treatments for metabolic diseases. As an active ingredient derived from plants, celastrol has shown great potential in the treatment of a wide variety of metabolic diseases and received considerable attention in recent years.

Cholesterol moieties as building blocks for assembling nanoparticles to achieve effective oral delivery of insulin.

Although nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as a promising strategy to improve oral absorption of insulin, most of them still have minimal oral bioavailability due to the harsh gastrointestinal (GI) environment and epithelial barriers. A novel platform of oral insulin delivery is herein proposed based on amphiphilic cholesterol-phosphate conjugate (CHP). The CHP was synthesized with a cholesterol moiety as a hydrophobic block and a phosphate group as a hydrophilic block.

Why Am I Willing to Speak Up? The Impact of Spiritual Leadership on Employee Voice Behavior.

The sustainability of organizations highlights the significance of inspiring employees, especially their inner lives or spiritual identities, and leaders play a vital role. Consistent with social cognitive theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the linking mechanisms and conditional processes underlying the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee voice behavior. Three-wave survey data were collected from 366 full-time employees and their line managers, and a moderated mediation analysis was performed.

Career Adaptability, Work Engagement, and Employee Well-Being Among Chinese Employees: The Role of Guanxi.

The present study examined whether and how career adaptability predicts employee well-being (EWB) based on career construction theory. A three-wave questionnaire design was used to collect the data, and 338 employees participated in the study. The results suggest that career adaptability has a significant effect on work engagement, which, in turn, predicts EWB.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of fluorine and Naphthyridine-Based half-sandwich organoiridium/ruthenium complexes with bioimaging and anticancer activity.

A range of fluorine and naphthyridine-based half-sandwich iridium (III) and ruthenium (II) complexes were synthesized. The iridium complexes possessed excellent antiproliferative properties, a substantial improvement over cisplatin, especially the best 1C containing the fluorine atom and 2C containing the naphthyridine. On the contrary, the ruthenium complexes displayed much less antiproliferative activity.

Highly potent half-sandwich iridium and ruthenium complexes as lysosome-targeted imaging and anticancer agents.

In this study, six half-sandwich luminescent iridium (Ir) and ruthenium (Ru) anticancer complexes bearing P^P-chelating ligands 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene (dppbz) and 1,8-bis(diphenylphosphino)naphthalene (dppn) were synthesized and characterized via1H-NMR spectroscopy, 31P-NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and X-ray crystallography. All the complexes displayed more potent anticancer activity than cisplatin towards A549 lung cancer cells and HeLa cervical cancer cells, especially the most potent iridium complex Ir3, which was 73 times more potent than cisplatin against A549 cells. Different from cisplatin, no nucleobase adducts of Ir3 were detected.

Low-Cytotoxicity Fluorescent Probes Based on Anthracene Derivatives for Hydrogen Sulfide Detection.

Owing to the role of HS in various biochemical processes and diseases, its accurate detection is a major research goal. Three artificial fluorescent probes based on 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde derivatives were designed and synthesized. Their anion binding capacity was assessed by UV-Vis titration, fluorescence spectroscopy, HRMS, HNMR titration, and theoretical investigations.

Zoledronate dysregulates fatty acid metabolism in renal tubular epithelial cells to induce nephrotoxicity.

Zoledronate is a bisphosphonate that is widely used in the treatment of metabolic bone diseases. However, zoledronate induces significant nephrotoxicity associated with acute tubular necrosis and renal fibrosis when administered intravenously. There is speculation that zoledronate-induced nephrotoxicity may result from its pharmacological activity as an inhibitor of the mevalonate pathway but the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood.

Association of in utero exposure to organochlorine pesticides with thyroid hormone levels in cord blood of newborns.

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) had been widely used in agriculture and disease prevention from the 1940s-1960s. Currently, OCPs are raising global concerns due to their associated prevalent contamination and adverse health effects, such as endocrine disruption. Several epidemiological studies have explored the underlying association of OCPs on thyroid hormone (TH) status in adults and newborns, but the results of studies performed on newborns are often inconclusive.

Protective effect of the extract of Yi-Qi-Fu-Mai preparation on hypoxia-induced heart injury in mice.

Yi-Qi-Fu-Mai (YQFM) is extensively used clinically to treat cardiovascular diseases in China. To explore the anti-hypoxia effect of the extract of YQFM preparation (EYQFM), the EYQFM (1.4, 2.

Exposure to organochlorine pesticides and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a meta-analysis of observational studies.

Growing evidence indicates that exposure to organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) could increase non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk. However, results from epidemiological studies investigating this association remain controversial. We thus conducted a meta-analysis to quantitatively evaluate the association between OCP exposure and NHL risk.

Determination of Ruscogenin in Ophiopogonis Radix by High-performance Liquid Chromatography-evaporative Light Scattering Detector Coupled with Hierarchical Clustering Analysis.

Background: Ophiopogonis Radix is a famous traditional Chinese medicine. It is necessary to establish a suitable quality control methods of Ophiopogonis Radix.

Objective: To investigate the quality control methods of Ophiopogonis Radix by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD).

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of azo nano-materials as new biosensors for L-Arginine determination.

Inspired from biological counterparts, chemical modification of azo derivatives with function groups may provide a highly efficient method to detect amino acid. Herein, we have designed and prepared a series of azo nano-materials involving -NO2, -COOH, -SO3H and naphthyl group, which showed high response for Arginine (Arg) among normal twenty kinds of (Alanine, Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Methionine, Aspartic acid, Glutamic acid, Arginine, Glycine, Serine, Threonine, Asparagine, Phenylalanine, Histidine, Tryptophan, Proline, Lysine, Glutamine, Tyrosine and Cysteine). Furthermore, theoretical investigation further illustrated the possible binding mode in the host-guest interaction and the roles of molecular frontier orbitals in molecular interplay.

Theoretical and experimental study of organic nano-material for acetate anion based on 1, 10-phenanthroline.

New phenanthroline derivatives (1, 2, 3, 4) containing phenol groups have been synthesized and optimized. The nano-material of compound 2 was also developed. Their binding properties were evaluated for various biological anions (F(-), Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), AcO(-) and H(2)PO(4)(-)) by theoretical investigation, UV-vis, fluorescence, (1)HNMR titration experiments and these compounds all showed strong binding ability for AcO(-) without the interference of other anions tested.