The aim of this study was to evaluate how konjac glucomannan hydrolysates (GMH) could support the healthy re-colonisation of vaginal microflora post infections. A total of 26 female patients (12 controls and 14 treatments) aged 18 to 25 suffering from vaginal infection were recruited for this study. Patients were assigned randomly into two groups to receive a standard antifungal treatment or a standard antifungal treatment plus pessary capsules containing 200 mg GMH (twice a week for thirty days). Patients were assessed on day zero, sixteen and thirty of the trial. Several parameters were determined including yeast and bacterial counts, the KOH test, pH, Gram staining and wet mount microscopic observations. The results showed that the counts of Candida were diminished completely with antifungal treatment for both groups. However, the total bacterial counts increased with time in the GMH pessary group unlike the control. The normalised average KOH scores were reduced sharply with time in both groups although in the control group scores started to increase after sixteen days. The normalised average white blood cell scores also decreased with time for both groups. Epithelial cell scores decreased only for the GMH pessary group while clue cells and yeast-like fungi decreased with time for both control and GMH pessary groups. These results indicate the improvement of vaginal health recovery (post antifungal treatment for Candida infection) and especially the presence of healthy microflora due to the introduction of GMH in the vagina. The data indicate that it would be worth examining further the health benefits of GMH in a vaginal health format with a view to employing the material as a prophylactic or therapeutic agent. It provides an alternative approach to reducing vaginal infections and promoting consumer health.

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Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) has potent biological activity as well as strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aims to explore the protective effect of EGCG on LPS-induced acute injury. We randomly divided 18 mice into three groups: CON, LPS, and EGCG-LPS. We gave the EGCG-LPS group gavage treatment with EGCG on day 8–15 and an intraperitoneal injection of LPS on day 16 to induce acute injury. The results showed that, compared with the LPS group, the bodyweight of the mice in the EGCG-LPS group increased significantly and effectively inhibited the morphological damage of the jejunum and liver. We measured liver tissue and found that the EGCG gavage treatment significantly inhibited the pro-inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, MCP-1, MIP-2, IFN-γ) and oxidation indicators (MPO, NO, ALT, and AST) levels increase. The microbiological results showed that the EGCG gavage treatment reshaped the disturbance done to the intestinal microbial community in the mice by LPS, reversed the changes in the abundance ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes, and significantly reduced the abundance of Enterobacteriales. Finally, the serum metabolomics results showed that, when compared with the LPS group, the gavage treatment of EGCG significantly increased the concentration of sphingomyelin (d17:1/17:0), sphingomyelin (d16:1/20:0), and significantly reduced the content of trans-Hexadec-2-enoyl carnitine, and so on. Therefore, we believe that EGCG can protect mice from acute stress induced by LPS while stabilizing gut microbes in general, improving the metabolism of sphingolipids, and inhibiting the content of harmful metabolites.

Jasmonic acid (JA) plays a crucial role in various biological processes including development, signal transduction and stress response. Allene oxide synthase (AOS) catalyzing (13S)-hydroperoxyoctadecatrienoic acid (13-HPOT) to an unstable allene oxide is involved in the first step of JA biosynthesis. Here, we isolated the PtAOS1 gene and its promoter from trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata). PtAOS1 contains a putative chloroplast targeting sequence in N-terminal and shows relative to pistachio (Pistacia vera) AOS. A number of stress-, light- and hormone-related cis-elements were found in the PtAOS1 promoter which may be responsible for the up-regulation of PtAOS1 under drought and JA treatments. Transient expression in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) demonstrated that the P−532 (−532 to +1) fragment conferring drive activity was a core region in the PtAOS1 promoter. Using yeast one-hybrid, three novel proteins, PtDUF886, PtDUF1685 and PtRAP2.4, binding to P−532 were identified. The dual luciferase assay in tobacco illustrated that all three transcription factors could enhance PtAOS1 promoter activity. Genes PtDUF1685 and PtRAP2.4 shared an expression pattern which was induced significantly by drought stress. These findings should be available evidence for trifoliate orange responding to drought through JA modulation.