Surfactin, an antibacterial peptide, produced by various Bacillus subtilis strains, have broad‐spectrum antibacterial and immune‐enhancing functions. In this study, we investigated the ...anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective effect of surfactin on zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae following their exposure to copper sulfate (CuSO4). The mature AB wild‐type and a transgenic line of zebrafish larvae that expressed enhanced GFP (EGFP) named Tg (Lyz:EGFP) were exposed to 0, 20, 40, and 60 μg/mL surfactin after incubation with 3.2 μg/mL CuSO4 for 2 h from 72 h postfertilization (hpf). Different endpoints, such as migration of GFP‐labeled neutrophils, analysis of inflammatory cytokines and transaminases, markers of oxidation, expression of certain genes, and histological changes of liver, were studied to evaluate the function of surfactin. The protein expression levels of NF‐κBp65, TNF‐α, cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2), and iNOS were determined in murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells by western blotting. Our results show that surfactin reduced migration of neutrophils and relieved hepatic injury. In addition, surfactin reduced the index levels of inflammatory factors, oxidative stress response, and improved hepatic function. Surfactin also significantly inhibited the expression of IL‐1β, IL‐8, TNF‐α, nitric oxide, NF‐κBp65, COX‐2, and iNOS, and increased the expression of IL‐10. Thus, our results demonstrate that surfactin has anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective activities. Surfactin has potential as a novel inflammation and immune adjustment.
Bacillus velezensis is a kind of beneficial bacteria that is widely used in agriculture industry. Bacillus velezensis was irradiated with corona discharge generated by a needle-array high-voltage ...electrode. The results showed an improvement of activity of Bacillus velezensis by the corona discharge treatment was confirmed at an optimum input energy. Mutation of the Bacillus velezensis by the corona discharge treatment was also confirmed through an rRNA sequence alignment analysis. The enzyme activity of the mutated bacteria was greatly improved, which was a positive effect that can meet the production demand.
Ohmic heating (OH) at different conditions (voltage: 15, 20, 25 V; frequency: 1, 5, 10 kHz) and one‐step water bath (WB) were used to heat wash and unwash surimi prepared from fresh pre‐rigor common ...carp. The optimal heating conditions were established through assessments of gel strength, Texture Profile Analysis (TPA), water‐holding capacity (WHC), whiteness, and sensory evaluation. Then, the impact of heating modes on gelation properties of unwashed surimi based on the optimal heating conditions was investigated. The study findings indicated a significant enhancement in gel properties compared to WB. Unwashed surimi gel properties showed improvement when derived from freshly caught raw fish and subjected to OH treatment. Moreover, variations in frequencies and voltages were observed to influence the heating rate. Optimal gel quality was achieved at 10 kHz 20 V (10 V/cm), facilitating swift progression through the gel deterioration stage, inhibition of protein hydrolyzing enzymes activity, and establishment of a stable gel network. Continuing to increase the heating rate would disrupt its network structure, resulting in diminished gel strength and WHC. The best quality of unwashed surimi gel was achieved by heating to 40°C for 30 min, followed by heating to 90°C for another 30 min (40°C 30 min + 90°C 30 min) under 10 kHz 20 V. The gel strength increased when held for 1 h at 40°C. For optimal heating efficiency, the heating mode of 40°C 30 min + 90°C 30 min is recommended to prepare unwashed surimi gel.
Practical Application
Ohmic heating, as a rapid food heat treatment method, can both increase the heating rate and improve the gelation properties of freshwater surimi. There is a wide range of potential applications for the heat treatment of the surimi.
Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), a widely used class of plasticizers, has caused considerable concerns due to its widespread detection in various environmental media. However, the potential impact of ...BBP on the brain and its underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to 0, 5, 50, and 500 μg/L BBP for 28 days. Elevated levels of both reactive oxygen species and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine were observed, indicating the occurrence of oxidative stress and DNA damage. Furthermore, exposure to BBP resulted in neurotoxicity, apoptosis, and histopathological damage within the zebrafish brain. Transcriptome analysis further revealed that Gene Ontology terms associated with muscle contraction were specifically expressed in the brain after BBP exposure. In addition, BBP altered the transcriptome profile of the brain, with 293 genes induced and 511 genes repressed. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis highlighted the adverse effects of BBP on the complement and coagulation cascades and two cardiomyopathy-related pathways. Taken together, our results revealed that BBP resulted in brain oxidative stress, histological damage, and transcriptome alterations. These findings have the potential to offer novel insights into the adverse outcome pathways of key events in the brain.
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•The toxicity of butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) to the brain of zebrafish was investigated.•BBP exposure was favorable for oxidative stress, including antioxidant response and oxidative damage.•BBP exposure induced neurotoxicity as well as apoptosis.•BBP exposure changed the brain transcriptome of zebrafish.•BBP exposure caused significant histological damages in the brain.
As a ubiquitous contaminant in aquatic environments, diethyl phthalate (DEP) is a major threat to ecosystems because of its increasing utilization. However, the ecological responses to and toxicity ...mechanisms of DEP in aquatic organisms remain poorly understood. To address this environmental concern, we selected Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) as a model organism and investigated the toxicological effects of environmentally relevant DEP concentrations at the individual, physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels. Results showed that the incorporation of DEP significantly inhibited the growth of C. vulgaris, with inhibition rates ranging from 10.3 % to 83.47 %, and disrupted intracellular chloroplast structure at the individual level, while the decrease in photosynthetic pigments, with inhibition rates ranging from 8.95 % to 73.27 %, and the imbalance of redox homeostasis implied an adverse effect of DEP at the physio-biochemical level. Furthermore, DEP significantly reduced the metabolic activity of algal cells and negatively altered the cell membrane integrity and mitochondrial membrane potential. In addition, the apoptosis rate of algal cells presented a significant dose–effect relationship, which was mainly attributed to the fact that DEP pollutants regulated Ca2+ homeostasis and further increased the expression of Caspase-8, Caspase-9, and Caspase-3, which are associated with internal and external pathways. The gene transcriptional expression profile further revealed that DEP-mediated toxicity in C. vulgaris was mainly related to the destruction of the photosynthetic system, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, and DNA replication. Overall, this study offers constructive understandings for a comprehensive assessment of the toxicity risks posed by DEP to C. vulgaris.
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•Exploring the potential toxic mechanisms of DEP on microalgae from multiple angles•DEP initiates the antioxidant system of microalgae by activating SOD and POD viability.•The apoptosis pathway (internal and external pathway) is discussed.•DEP interferes with photosynthesis-antenna proteins and DNA replication in microalgae.
Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is perceived an emerging threat to terrestrial ecosystem, however, clear and accurate studies to fully understander ecotoxicity and underlying mechanisms of DEHP on ...the soil fauna remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study conducted a microcosm experiment of two earthworm ecotypes to investigate the ecological hazards of DHEP from multiple perspectives. The results showed that DEHP significantly increased the 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) content both in Eisenia foetida (13.76–133.0%) and Metaphire guillelmi (11.01–49.12%), leading to intracellular DNA damage. Meanwhile, DEHP negatively affected the expression of functional genes (ATP-6, NADH1, COX), which may be detrimental to mitochondrial respiration and oxidative stress at the gene level. The two earthworm guts shared analogous dominant bacteria however, the incorporation of DEHP drastically suppressed the homogeneity and diversity of the gut microbes, which further disrupted the homeostasis of the gut microbial ecological network. The keystone species in the gut of E. foetida decreased under DEHP stress but increased in the gut of M. guillelmi. Moreover, DEHP presented detrimental effects on soil enzyme activity, which is mainly associated with pollutant levels and earthworm activity. Collectively, the findings expand the understanding of soil ecological health and reveal the underlying mechanisms of the potential exposure risk to DEHP.
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•DEHP induced DNA damage and genotoxicity in the Eisenia foetida and Metaphire guillelmi.•Actinobacteriota, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were the dominant gut microflora in all treatments.•DEHP application altered the structure and molecular ecological network homeostasis of earthworm gut microbes.•DEHP negatively affected soil enzyme activity in relation to exposure concentration and earthworm species.
The objective of this study was to investigate the protective effects and the underlying mechanisms of resveratrol (RES) against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress in bovine skeletal ...muscle cells (BMCs). Pretreatment of BMCs with RES prior to H2O2 exposure increased cell viability, attenuated reactive oxygen species, and stabilized the redox state. H2O2 exposure activated sirtuin type 1 (SIRT1) and nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (NRF2)-mediated signaling pathways. Pretreatment with RES did not alter SIRT1-regulated genes but inhibited the upregulation of NRF2, whereas enhanced heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) expression. Pretreatment with RES prior to H2O2 exposure failed to suppress NRF2 expression when NRF2 was knocked down by RNA interference. However, HO-1 expression still could be induced by RES. These results suggest that RES has benifical effects against oxidative stress. NRF2-mediated pathway play an important role, and HO-1 upregulation is the key process in RES regulation. RES may be used as a therapeutic agent for meat quality improvement in beef cattle.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine the heterotopic pregnancy rate using fresh versus frozen-thawed embryo transfers and factors associated with heterotopic pregnancy (HP). Management ...and clinical outcomes after heterotopic pregnancy were also evaluated.
Methods
In this retrospective cohort study, we included 12,484 women who had clinical pregnancies after in vitro fertilization treatment at our fertility center between 2012 and 2017. Patients received fresh day 3 embryos (F-D3 group), fresh day 5 blastocysts (F-D5 group), frozen-thawed day 3 embryos (T-D3 group), or frozen-thawed day 5 or 6 blastocysts (T-D5/6 groups) transfers. The primary outcome measure was the occurrence of heterotopic pregnancy. Factors associated with heterotopic pregnancy were analyzed using logistic regression.
Results
The heterotopic pregnancy rates were 0.58% in the F-D3, 0.39% in F-D5, 0.56% in T-D3, and 0.33% in T-D5/6 groups, but no differences were found between groups. The risk factors of HP included a history of previous ectopic pregnancy (odds ratio OR 5.805, 95% CI 4.578–9.553,
P
= 0.016) and pelvic inflammation diseases (OR 1.129, 95% CI 1.021–3.178,
P
= 0.047). Salpingectomy was performed in 62.9% patients either through laparoscopy or through laparotomy. The early abortion rate and late abortion rate were 29.03% and 1.61%, respectively. In total, 66.13% of the patients had a live birth, either a singleton (90.24%) or twins (9.76%).
Conclusion
No significant difference in the incidence of heterotopic pregnancy in fresh IVF cycles vs. frozen-thawed cycles could be demonstrated in a large cohort of patients. The risk factors of HP included history of ectopic pregnancy and PID. The clinical outcome after heterotopic pregnancy appears to be favorable.
Through analysis of policy documents and interviews with educational practitioners, this study investigates the policy of professionalisation of teaching and teacher education in China. Key findings ...include participants' overall endorsement of professionalisation and identification with its objective along with mixed feelings towards several aspects of the policy, discontinuity between participants' attitude and action, and concerns about using a high-stakes certification exam to promote the teaching of the New Curriculum. The findings suggest that while the policy helps to enrich Chinese teacher education curricula and enhance the status of teaching and teacher development, it needs to encourage a more well-rounded teacher education and promote occupational professionalism and systemic school reform to be successful in a global era.
The past decade or so has witnessed a large-scale reform of the Chinese national college entrance exam (the gaokao) system, which nonetheless has been trapped within a dilemma of balancing ...diversification and equality. Specifically speaking, the reform needs to reconcile the clash between adopting diverse and holistic college admissions to fix the problem of teaching to test preparation in k-12 schools and preserving the gaokao results as the sole admission criterion to warrant equal opportunity of higher education. This conflicting concern has impacted and shaped the gaokao reform since 1999, which is the key to understanding the various incremental reform measures taken by the Chinese Ministry of Education and the slow progress of the gaokao reform per se. The study suggests that lack of both institutional autonomy and accountability in Chinese universities has contributed to the impasse because government has to heavily rely on the gaokao to ensure equality when Chinese higher institutions do not operate independently. Conversely, if Chinese universities need to be empowered to conduct a holistic review they have to become independent and autonomous entities that view admissions or quality of their enrolment as vital for survival and prosperity to eliminate external interference and internal corruption.
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