Hormesis is an adaptive response to a variety of oxidative stresses that renders cells resistant to harmful doses of stressing agents. Caffeic acid (CaA) is an important antioxidant that has protective effects against DNA damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, whether CaA-induced protection is a hormetic effect remains unknown, as is the molecular mechanism that is involved. We found that a low concentration (10 μM) of CaA increased human liver L-02 cell viability, attenuated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-mediated decreases in cell viability, and decreased the extent of H2O2-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). In L-02 cells exposed to H2O2, CaA treatment reduced ROS levels, which might have played a protective role. CaA also activated the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signal pathway in a time-dependent manner. Inhibition of ERK by its inhibitor U0126 or by its specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) blocked the CaA-induced improvement in cell viability and the protective effects against H2O2-mediated DNA damage. This study adds to the understanding of the antioxidant effects of CaA by identifying a novel molecular mechanism of enhanced cell viability and protection against DNA damage.

Immune response plays an important role in the development of hepatic fibrosis. In the present study, we investigated the effects of quercetin on hepatitis and hepatic fibrosis induced by immunological mechanism. In the acute hepatitis model, quercetin (2.5 mg/kg) was injected iv into mice 30 min after concanavalin A (Con A) challenge. Mice were sacrificed 4 or 24 h after Con A injection, and aminotransferase tests and histopathological sections were performed. Treatment with quercetin significantly decreased the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Consistent with this observation, treatment with quercetin markedly attenuated the pathologic changes in the liver. A hepatic fibrosis model was also generated in mice by Con A challenge once a week for 6 consecutive weeks. Mice in the experimental group were treated with daily iv injections of quercetin (0.5 mg/kg). Histopathological analyses revealed that treatment with quercetin markedly decreased collagen deposition, pseudolobuli development, and hepatic stellate cells activation. We also examined the effects of quercetin on the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) pathways by immunohistochemistry and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). NF-κB and TGF-β production was decreased after treatment with quercetin, indicating that the antifibrotic effect of quercetin is associated with its ability to modulate NF-κB and TGF-β production. These results suggest that quercetin may be an effective therapeutic strategy in the treatment of patients with liver damage and fibrosis.

No tillage is being populanzed for the rainfed maize production in Northeast China. In order to evalúate its effects on the nutrient contents and enzymatic charactenstics in upland soils of Northeast China, surface (0-20 cm) meadow brown soil samples were collected from the plots under no tillage and conventional tillage in a 7-year field experiment under maize cropping in Shenyang, with the soil pH, contents of total C, N, P and S and available N, activities of α- and (β-galactosidase, α- and (β-glucosidase, urease, protease, phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase, and arylsulphatase, and kinetic parameters of (β-glucosidase, protease, phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase, and arylsulphatase determined. Comparing with conventional tillage, no tillage increased the contents of soil total C, N, and S and available N, the activities of test enzymes, and the Vmax/Km of soil urease, protease, and phosphomonoesterase, but decreased the activity of soil α-galactosidase and the VmaxKm of soil (β-glucosidase significantly. All the results suggest that long term no tillage for the maize production on meadow brown soil of Northeast China could enhance soil nutrients storage and the turnover of soil N and P, but had definite negative effects on the transformation of soil C.

The kinetic characteristics of soil urease have attracted great attention, but little information was available on its kinetic and thermodynamic behaviors as affected by urease inhibitors and temperature. With black soil (Pachic Udic Mollisol) in Heilongjiang Province of Northeast China as a test soil, an incubation test was conducted to investigate the effect of urease inhibitors (hydroquinone, HQ; phenyl phosphorodiamidate, PPD; N-(n-Butyl) thiophosphoric triamide, NBPT) on kinetic and thermodynamic behaviors of soil urease at 10°C, 20°C and 30°C. The results showed that all tested inhibitors increased Km and decreased Vmax, behaving as mixed inhibitors to soil urease. With increasing temperature, the Km and Vmax values increased significantly. With incubation time, Km decreased, while Vmax significantly increased. Compared with control, treatment HQ decreased soil urease thermodynamic parameters Ea, AH, and Qi0, but in PPD and NBPT treatments, the parameters increased slightly. The Qio and AH of soil urease decreased slightly with increasing temperature. Among test inhibitors, PPD and NBPT were more effective in influencing the kinetic and thermodynamic behaviors of urease in black soil. The variations in kinetic and thermodynamic parameters indicated that the effects of urease inhibitors on soil urease are greater on kinetic behaviors rather than on thermodynamic ones.

An incubation test with black soil (Phaeozem), Albic soil (Albic Luvisols), brown soil (Cambisols), and cinnamon soil (Chromic Luvisol) from Northeast China was conducted under the conditions of 10%, 20% and30 % field capacity, and the kinetic parameters of soil urease, phosphatase, and arylsulphatase were determined, aimed to study the changes in the catalytic potential of these enzymes under different soil moisture conditions. All test enzymes exhibited typical Michaelis-Menten kinetic behaviors. The test enzymes exhibited the highest enzyme-substrate affinity (l/Km) at 20% or 30% field capacity. With increasing soil moisture content, the Fmax of test soil urease decreased, while that of soil phosphatase and arylsulphatase increased, with the maximum Vmax/Km of urease at 20% field capacity and that of phosphatases and arylsulphatase at 30% field capacity. To control soil moisture condition could be a feasible way in regulating the biochemical transformation processes of soil nutrients catalyzed by soil hydrolases.

With black soil (Pachic Udic Argiboroll) of Northeastern China as the test object, an incubation test was conducted to investigate the effects of urease inhibitors, hydroquinone (HQ), phenyl phosphorodiamidate (PPD) and N-(n-Butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), on the kinetic characteristics of soil urease under normal moisture and waterlogged conditions, aimed to study the changes of catalytic potential of soil urease and the inhibition mechanisms. The results showed that test urease exhibited typical Michaelis-Menten kinetic behaviors, and all test inhibitors increased the Km and decreased the Vmax of soil urease, behaving as mixed inhibitors to soil urease. Under both normal and waterlogged conditions, compared with HQ, PPD and NBPT made Km increase and Vmax and Vmax and Vmax/Km decrease more greatly, and the duration of these effects was longer (ca. 30 days vs. 10 days). Under water-logging, PPD made more increment of Km and more decrement of Vmax and Vmax/Km than NBPT, compared with that under normal soil moisture condition, suggesting that NBPT was more available under normal soil moisture condition, while PPD was promising under water-logging condition. To apply urease inhibitors and to control soil moisture condition could be a feasible way in increasing fertilizer N use efficiency affected by soil urease.