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Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is one of the most serious forms of malnutrition. It is possible that some strains present in the natural environment possess a higher tolerance to inorganic iron and a higher ability to convert and accumulate iron compared with Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild-type strain. In the present study, the strain no. YM1504, able to grow in an iron-rich environment, was used as a potential organic iron supplement, and its efficacy in alleviating IDA in rats was investigated. Sixty female weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a normal control group fed with a standard diet and a model group fed with an iron-deficient diet to create the IDA model. After the model was established, IDA rats were further randomly divided into five subgroups: the IDA group, the ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) group and Fe-YM1504 low-, medium- or high-dose groups receiving different concentrations of Fe-YM1504 supplements. Our results showed that Fe-YM1504 has an effective restorative function by returning the hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum iron (SI), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum ferritin (SF), etc. in IDA animals to the normal level. Moreover, malondialdehyde and the enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in both plasma and liver homogenate were improved. Finally, compared with the FeSO4 group, the Fe-YM1504 middle-dose was more effective in alleviating IDA and fewer side effects were observed. The present study indicated that iron-enriched strain no. YM1504 might play a significant role in ameliorating IDA rats and might be exploited as a new iron supplement.

Endophytes coexist with plants, in part, due to cellulase that allow saccharification of plant cell walls. The cellulase enzymes found in naturally occurring endophytes may exhibit stronger activity and more specificity than commercially available cellulase for enzyme-assisted extraction of compounds from medicinal plant materials. In order to identify endophytes with high cellulase activity, we screened endophytes taken from different parts of Angelica sinensis using the Congo red staining method. We identified three strains with higher cellulase activity. Of the 3 strains identified, No.Lut1201 increased the yield of extracted Z-ligustilide 2 fold compared to commercially available cellulase (Ningxia Sunson) using a cellulase-assisted extraction method and traditional extraction methods. Scanning electron microscopy clearly demonstrated that the cellulase extracted from endophytes enhance cell wall polysaccharide degradation as well as Z-ligustilide extraction from Radix Angelica sinensis (RAS). The current study provides a new method and ideas of using cellulase of endophytes for improving the extraction of compounds from medicinal plants.

The aim of the current study was to determine whether hypercholesterolemia affects the delayed sevoflurane preconditioning against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury and, if so, the underlying mechanism. Male Sprague-Dawley rats fed 2% cholesterol-enriched chow for 8 weeks were subjected to sevoflurane preconditioning (2.4% vol/vol, 1 h) 24 h before myocardial ischemia was induced by occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min followed by reperfusion for 120 min. The hemodynamic parameters left ventricular developed pressure, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and maximal rise/fall rate of left ventricular pressure were continuously monitored, and myocardial infarct size was determined at the end of reperfusion. The protein expression of myocardial nitric oxide synthase (NOS), Bcl-2, and Bad was assessed before ischemia. We found that the left ventricular hemodynamic parameters during the whole IR procedure and the myocardial infarct size did not significantly differ between the normocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic control groups. The hemodynamic parameters were all markedly improved during the reperfusion period, and the myocardial infarct size was significantly reduced by delayed sevoflurane preconditioning in normocholesterolemic rats, but all of these improvements were reversed by N-(3-(aminomethyl)benzyl) acetamidine (1400W, 1 mg/kg; i.v., 10 min before ischemia), a selective inducible NOS (iNOS) inhibitor, and 5-hydroxy decanoate sodium (5 mg/kg, i.v., 10 min before ischemia), a mitochondrial ATP-dependent K⁺ channel blocker. Such cardiac improvement induced by delayed sevoflurane preconditioning did not occur in hypercholesterolemic rats and was not exacerbated by 1400W or 5-hydroxy decanoate sodium. The expression of myocardial iNOS was markedly enhanced by delayed sevoflurane preconditioning in normocholesterolemic, but not in hypercholesterolemic rats. The expression of endothelial NOS and Bad did not differ among all groups. The expression of myocardial phosphorylated endothelial NOS, Bcl-2, and phosphorylated Bad in normocholesterolemic rats was not affected by delayed sevoflurane preconditioning but was decreased in the hypercholesterolemic control group, and this was not reversed by sevoflurane, compared with the normocholesterolemic control group. Taken together, these results indicate that sevoflurane preconditioning exerts delayed cardioprotection against IR injury in normocholesterolemic rats, which is blocked by hypercholesterolemia potentially via interference with the iNOS/mitochondrial ATP-dependent K⁺ channel pathway.

The broad clinical acceptance of intraoperative blood salvage and its applications in cancer surgery remain controversial. Until now, a method that can safely eliminate cancer cells while preserving erythrocytes does not exist. Here, we investigated whether X-ray generated from linear accelerator irradiation at a certain dose can kill hepatocarcinoma cells while preserving erythrocytes. HepG2, SK-Hep1 or Huh7 cells were mixed into the aliquots of erythrocytes obtained from healthy volunteers. After the mixed cells were exposed to 30 Gy and 50 Gy X-rays irradiation, the viability, clonogenicity, DNA synthesis and tumorigenicity of the tumor cells were determined by the MTT assay, plate colony formation, 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine incorporation, and subcutaneous xenograft implantation into immunocompromised mice. The ATP, 2,3-DPG, free Hb, osmotic fragility, blood gas variables in erythrocytes and morphology of erythrocytes at 0 h, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h after irradiation were analyzed. X-ray irradiation at 30 Gy effectively inhibited the viability, proliferation, and tumorigenicity of HepG2, SK-Hep1 and Huh7 cells without noticeably damaging the ability of oxygen-carrying, membrane integrity and morphology of erythrocytes. Theses results suggest that X-ray at 30 Gy irradiation might be safe to eliminate hepatocarcinoma cells while preserving erythrocytes in salvaged blood.

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