Involvement of TLR4/NLRP3 inflammasome in contrast medium-induced inflammation and injury in renal tubular epithelial cells

AIM: To investigate whether Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome were involved in contrast medium (CM)-induced inflammation and injury in renal tubular epithelial cells. METHODS: Iopromide was used to injure NRK-52E cells in the study. The cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay. The protein levels of TLR4, NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speckle-like protein (ASC), caspase-1 and cleaved caspase-3 were determined by Western blot. The releases of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 were detected by ELISA. The apoptotic rate was evaluated by Hoechst staining, and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was analyzed by JC-1 staining. siRNA was transfected into the NRK-52E cells to silence NLRP3 expression. RESULTS: CM decreased the viability of NRK-52E cells (P<0.05). CM also elevated the protein levels of cleaved caspase-3, TLR4, NLRP3, IL-1β and IL-18 (P<0.05). Silencing NLRP3 attenuated CM-induced releases of inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, treatment with TLR4 inhibitor TAK-242 or knockdown of NLRP3 by siRNA transfection both attenuated cell apoptosis and loss of MMP caused by CM. CONCLUSION: TLR4/NLRP3 inflammasome takes part in the pathogenesis of CM-induced acute kidney injury, and mediates CM-induced injury and inflammation in renal tubular epithelial cells.     

Dexmedetomidine attenuates acute alcoholic hepatic injury in mice

AIM: To investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine (DEX) on acute alcoholic hepatic injury in mice and to explore the possible mechanisms. METHODS: Kunming mice (n=50) were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=10): normal saline control (NS) group, acute alcoholic hepatic injury model (E) group, low-dose (10 μg/kg) DEX (E+L) group, medium-dose (50 μg/kg) DEX (E+M) group and high-dose (100 μg/kg) DEX (E+H) group. The animals were sacrificed at 6 h after gavage of alcohol or normal saline. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglyceride (TG), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured. The livers were removed for evaluation of histological characteristics and determining the content of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) amd interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the liver tissues by ELISA. The expression levels of cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in the liver tissues were evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with NS group, the levels of ALT, AST and TG were obviously increased in E group, which were obviously decreased in E+M and E+H groups. Compared with NS group, the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and MDA were obviously increase in E group, which were obviously decreased in E+M and E+H groups. Compared with NS group, the activity of SOD and the content of GSH were obviously decreased in E group, which were obviously increased in E+M and E+H groups. Compared with NS group, the expression of CYP2E1 and NF-κB was obviously increase in E group, which was obviously decreased in E+M and E+H groups. Compared with NS group, ethanol induced marked liver histological injury, which was less pronounced in E+M and E+H groups. CONCLUSION: DEX has a protective effect on mouse liver with acute alcoholic injury by the involvement in the processes of antioxidation and antiinflammation, and its mechanism may be associated with the inhibition of CYP2E1 and NF-κB expression.     

New Approaches to Modeling Methyl Jasmonate Effects on Pomegranate Quality during Postharvest Storage

Adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and genetic algorithm–artificial neural network (GA-ANN) models were used to predict the effect of methyl jasmonate (at three levels 0, 0.01, and 0.1 mM) and storage time (0, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, and 84 days) on quality parameters and physiological changes of pomegranate fruits during storage. Methyl jasmonate reduced chilling injury and improved quality characteristics of pomegranates during postharvest storage. The GA-ANN and ANFIS were fed with two inputs of methyl jasmonate and storage time. The results showed that GA-ANN predictions agreed with experimental data and the GA-ANN with 14 neurons in one hidden layer can predict physiological changes and quality parameters of pomegranate (weight loss, pH, chilling injury index, ion leakage, ethylene, respiration, polyphenols, anthocyanins, and total antioxidant activity) with correlation coefficients equal to 0.87. The ANFIS model was trained by a hybrid method and agreement between experimental data and ANFIS predictions was significant (r = 0.90).     

甘薯贮藏冷害研究现状

甘薯富含丰富的糖、蛋白质、维生素和多种活性成分,具有很高的营养价值和经济价值,深受人们的喜爱。甘薯贮藏过程中极易发生冷害而腐烂,导致其品质下降,影响贮藏和流通。本文介绍了甘薯在贮藏期间冷害发生的表现、冷害对甘薯生理代谢、糖代谢、能量代谢和酚类代谢的影响以及不同处理(冷锻炼处理、乙烯处理和紫外辐照处理)对甘薯冷害的影响,以期为甘薯贮藏保鲜提供理论依据。     

除草剂对不同燕麦品种杂草防治效果及其产量的影响

为了筛选燕麦田高效安全的除草剂,在山西北部地区开展了田间试验,选取田普除草剂(主要成分为二甲戊灵)为试验药剂,8种不同生态型的燕麦品种为供试品种,检验该除草剂对不同品种产量和安全性的影响。研究结果表明:田普除草剂对藜科、蓼科、禾本科、苋科杂草效果较明显,尤其是对藜科杂草的防治效果最好,最高的达到了100%,而对马齿苋科、菊科、旋花科杂草效果不好;使用田普除草剂处理对燕麦品种的穗长、轮层数、小穗数等性状有一定的抑制作用,对籽实千粒重的有促进作用;本研究中喷施除草剂的处理的平均籽实产量比不喷施除草剂的处理和人工除草处理分别增产70.5%和4.3%。此外,该除草剂未对后茬作物(油菜)产生明显药害作用,可对燕麦-油菜倒茬安全使用。     

Multiple resistance of Papaver rhoeas L. to 2,4‐D and acetolactate synthase inhibitors in four European countries

The issue of cross‐ or multiple resistance to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors and the auxinic herbicide 2,4‐D was investigated in Papaver rhoeas L., a common and troublesome weed in winter cereals, in a broad‐scale study across four European countries. A combination of herbicide sensitivity bioassays and molecular assays targeting mutations involved in resistance was conducted on 27 populations of P. rhoeas originating from Greece (9), Italy (5), France (10) and Spain (3). Plants resistant to the field rate of 2,4‐D were observed in 25 of the 27 populations assayed, in frequencies ranging from 5% to 85%. Plants resistant to ALS‐inhibiting herbicides (sulfonylureas) were present in 24 of the 27 populations, in frequencies ranging from 4% to 100%. Plants resistant to 2,4‐D co‐occurred with plants resistant to sulfonylureas in 23 populations. In four of these, the probability of presence of plants with cross‐ or multiple resistance to 2,4‐D and sulfonylureas was higher than 0.5. ALS genotyping of plants from the field populations or of their progenies, identified ALS alleles carrying a mutation at codon Pro197 or Trp574 in 2,4‐D‐sensitive and in 2,4‐D‐resistant plants. The latter case confirmed multiple resistance to 2,4‐D and ALS inhibitors at the level of individual plants in all four countries investigated. This study is the first to identify individual plants with multiple resistance in P. rhoeas, an attribute rarely assessed in other weed species, but one with significant implications in designing chemical control strategies.     

四种除草剂在水稻上的消解及残留规律研究

为研究四种水稻用除草剂(苄嘧磺隆、吡嘧磺隆、丙草胺、丁草胺)的消解及残留规律,建立了四种除草剂在土壤、糙米、稻壳中的分析检测方法:四种除草剂在各基质中三个添加水平的回收率均在70%-110%范围内,变异系数在1.5%-14.9%之间;基质标准曲线在0.01~1mg/kg的线性范围内,可决系数均在0.98以上,线性相关性良好,可满足检测要求。土壤检测结果显示按照推荐剂量和二倍推荐剂量施药10d后,四种除草剂的残留量均小于本方法定量限;四种除草剂最终残留量均小于糙米中最低残留限量,表明在水稻上按照推荐剂量使用这四种除草剂是安全的。