ABSTRACT Objective: To explore the effect of ischemic postconditioning on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Methods: Forty adult male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into sham operation group (SO group), myocardial ischemia-reperfusion group (IR group), ischemic preconditioning group (IPRE group) and ischemic postconditioning group (IPOST group) (10 mice in each group). Anterior descending coronary artery was blocked for 60 min and then reperfused for 15 min to induce myocardial IR. For the IPRE group, 3 consecutive cycles of 5 min of occlusion and 5 minutes of reperfusion of the coronary arteries were performed before ischemia. For the IPOST group, 3 consecutive cycles of 5 min reperfusion and 5 minutes of occlusion of the coronary arteries were performed before reperfusion. Pathological changes of lung tissue, lung wet-to-dry (W/D) weight ratio, inflammatory factors, oxidative stress indicators, apoptosis of lung cells and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) protein were used to evaluate lung injury. Results: After myocardial IR, lung injury worsened significantly, manifested by alveolar congestion, hemorrhage, structural destruction of alveolar septal thickening, and interstitial neutrophil infiltration. In addition, lung W/D ratio was increased, plasma inflammatory factors, including interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-17A, were increased, malondialdehyde (MDA) activity of lung tissue was increased, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was decreased after myocardial IR. It was accompanied by the increased protein expression levels of ERS-related protein glucose regulatory protein 78 (GRP78), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) homologous protein (CHOP), and caspase-12, and the increased apoptotic indices of lung tissues. Conclusion: IPOST can effectively improve myocardial IR-induced ALI by inhibiting ERS-induced apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells.

Abstract A Qingzhi compound-flavor Baijiu (QZCF Baijiu) was developed and the physiochemical factors and microbial community structure in Jiupei (fermented grains) during Baijiu fermentation were revealed. Physiochemical factors of ethanol, moisture and acidity significantly increased in the fermentation, while starch and reducing sugar decreased. The results of high-throughput sequencing showed that Weissella, Pediococcus, Bacillus, Pantoea, Streptococcus, Sphingobacterium, Saccharomyces, Rhizopus, Issatchenkia and Wickerhamomyces were the dominant microorganisms in Jiupei. Moreover, correlation analysis between the physicochemical factors, the dominant microorganisms and the important flavor compounds in QZCF Baijiu production highlighted that the changes of physiochemical factors would lead to the corresponding changes of core microbiota and important flavor substances. Physiochemical factors of starch, reducing sugar and temperature could significantly affect the microbial community structure at the early stage of fermentation, while the influences of ethanol content and acidity became greater at the later stage, resulting in the differences of flavor compounds in Jiupei. Therefore, the growth and metabolism of microbial communities could be regulated by purposefully adjusting the physiochemical factors, thereby improving the flavor and quality of Baijiu. This work enriched the flavor types of Baijiu and provided a reference for the Baijiu-making industries to manage their production process.

ABSTRACT Introduction: The objective of this study is to investigate the protective mechanism of dexmedetomidine (Dex) in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MIR)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) of diabetic rats by inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). Methods: Initially, healthy male Sprague Dawley rats were treated with streptozocin to induce diabetes. Then, three weeks after the induction, Dex or lentiviral vector (LV)-HIF-1α was injected into the rats 30 minutes prior to the MIR modeling. After four weeks, lung tissues were harvested for pathological changes observation and the wet/dry weight (W/D) ratio determination. Afterwards, oxidative stress indicators and pro-inflammatory factors were measured. In addition, HIF-1α expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Results: Dex could suppress inflammatory cell infiltration, improve lung tissue structure, reduce pathological score and the W/D ratio, and block oxidative stress and inflammatory response in MIR-induced ALI of diabetic rats. Besides, Dex could also inhibit HIF-1α expression. Moreover, Dex + LV-HIF-1α reversed the protective role of Dex on diabetic MIR-induced ALI. Conclusion: Our study has made it clear that Dex inhibited the upregulation of HIF-1α in diabetic MIR-induced ALI, and thus protect lung functions by quenching the accumulation of oxygen radical and reducing lung inflammatory response.

Abstract To evaluate the effects of HIF-1α overexpression on mitochondrial function in aged mice with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). Mice were divided into 1) Blank (Sham) group; 2) Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) group; 3) I/R+2ME2 group (I/R+HIF-1α blocker 2ME2. Compared with Sham group, in I/R group and I/R+2ME2 group, HR slowed down, LVDP and +dp/dtmax decreased, LVEDP, myocardial infarction area, and ROS generation rate was significantly increased; whereas the mitochondrial respiratory function (State3, RCR) and mitochondrial respiratory enzyme activity (NADH-OX, Cytc-OX and SUC-OX) were significantly reduced. Compared with the I/R group, the respiratory function of myocardial mtochondria (State3, RCR) and respiratory enzyme activity of myocardial (NADH-OX, Cytc-OX and SUC-OX) were significantly reduced in the I/R+2ME2 group; and the levels of p-HIF-1α and p-VEGF in the I/R+2ME2 group were significantly decreased. HIF-1α pathway upregulate the respiratory enzyme activity of myocardial and respiratory function of I/R myocardial mitochondria.

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of root tuber of Polygonum ciliinerve (Nakai) ohwi (rPC) which has been used to treat bacterial infection in traditional Chinese medicine. Methods: With the mouse model of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) pneumonia, the phenotype of rPC treated mice, including body weight, mortality, lung slices and bacterial burden were evaluated. Furthermore, inflammatory factors in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were determined by ELISA and the distribution of T cells in lung was assessed by immunofluorescence assay. Results: rPC treatment could dose-dependently reduce weight loss and mortality in S. aureus-infected mice. Upon 10 mg/ml rPC treatment, S. aureus-infected mice showed about 8 grams increase in body weight (P<0.001) and 50% enhancement in mortality. The integrity of lung tissue and bacterial burden were also improved by rPC treatment. Moreover, rPC was found to modulate the immune response in infection. Conclusion: rPC has therapeutic potential for S. aureus infections and pneumonia with immunomodulatory functions.

In this study, Arius maculatus were collected using the samples caught by bottom trawling off the southwestern coast of Taiwan. Length-weight and length-length, fork (FL), standard (SL) and total (TL) lengths, relationships were determined. The relationships between the lengths were all significantly linear (p<0.01), the b value in the length-weight relationship for this value was significantly lower than 3 in the fall (p<0.01), when the temporal changes were taken into account, indicating that only the sampling time affected the growth pattern of A. maculatus. The growth was isometric in the spring, summer and winter, but it was negative and allometric in the fall.