Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a serious progressive muscular dystrophy.Reports in recent years about abnormal lipid in DMD patients have increased, yet little attention has been paid to liver lipid.This study aimed to explore the effect of dystrophin gene defect on liver lipid synthesis.7-week-old mdx male mice were used as DMD model.The conditions of liver function, liver lipid accumulation and liver lipid synthesis were determined through liver tissue morphological examination, blood biochemical examination, and detection of hepatic gene and protein expression.The results showed that lipid droplets in liver of mdx mice increased significantly.The contents of total cholesterol and triglyceride in liver, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase in serum increased.The gene and protein expression of hepatic lipid synthesis-related enzymes such as fatty acid synthase, acetyl CoA carboxylase, and sterol regulatory element binding protein 1-c were up-regulated.These results showed accumulation of liver lipid in 7-week-old mdx male mice.

Objective: To evaluate the non-carcinogenic health risk of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn) in residential indoor dust for young children around an e-waste dismantling area in South China. Methods: A village around an e-waste dismantling area in South China was selected as a research site in October 2016. Convenience sampling method was used to select 36 houses in the village and 36 dust samples were collected by vacuum cleaner. The concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn) in each sample were determined and expressed by the average value. Non-carcinogenic health risk assessment was conducted using the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Health Risk Assessment (HRA) model, the American Toxicology and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Target-organ Toxicity Dose (TTD) approach and the ATSDR Binary Weight-of-Evidence (BINWOE) model. Results: The mean ± SD of concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn were (48.90±33.91), (5.95±3.89), (173.57±580.37), (412.71±1 190.00), (612.82±540.70), (297.41±293.22) and (1 052.81±1 156.48) mg/kg, respectively. The HI value of TTD (2.670) and BINWOE (2.933) were higher than the safety threshold of EPA recommended non-carcinogenic health risk. The HI value of TTD and BINWOE were 1.93 and 2.12 times higher than the HI value of HRA (1.386). Conclusion There was non-carcinogenic health risk of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn) via residential indoor dust around the e-waste dismantling area for local children.

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Buyang Huanwutang in regulating macrophage polarization based on the Toll-like receptor 4 （TLR4） / nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） / nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor 3 （NLRP3） pathway. MethodRAW264.7 macrophages were intervened with lipopolysaccharide （LPS） of different concentrations （0， 1.25， 2.5， 5， 10， 20， 40， and 80 mg·L^-1） for 24 hours. Cell Counting Kit-8 （CCK-8） assay was used to determine the cell viability of RAW264.7 macrophages. The optimal concentration was chosen to establish an in vitro inflammation model induced by LPS. Cells were divided into a blank group （20% blank serum）， a model group （20% blank serum + 10 mg·L^-1 LPS）， a model control group （20% FBS + 10 mg·L^-1 LPS）， low-， medium-， and high-dose （5%， 10%， and 20%） Buyang Huanwutang-containing serum groups， a high-dose （20%） Buyang Huanwutang combined with NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 （50 μmol·L^-1） group， a high-dose （20%） Buyang Huanwutang combined with reactive oxygen species （ROS） inhibitor NAC （10 μmol·L^-1） group， and a high-dose （20%） Buyang Huanwutang combined with NF-κB inhibitor PDTC （10 μmol·L^-1） group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the expression of interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-18 （IL-18）， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in RAW264.7 macrophages. Flow cytometry was employed to measure ROS levels in macrophages. Western blot was used to determine the protein expression of M1-type macrophage-related factors inducible nitric oxide synthase （iNOS） and TNF-α， M2-type macrophage-related factors arginase-1 （Arg-1） and interleukin-10 （IL-10）， as well as the proteins in the TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway. ResultCCK-8 results indicated that under 10 mg·L^-1 LPS stimulation， RAW264.7 macrophages exhibited the highest cell viability （P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the model group showed significantly increased levels of IL-1β， IL-18， and TNF-α （P<0.05，P<0.01）， increased ROS expression （P<0.05，P<0.01）， increased protein expression of M1-type macrophage factors iNOS and TNF-α （P<0.01）， decreased protein expression of M2-type macrophage factors Arg-1 and IL-10 （P<0.05，P<0.01）， and upregulated expression levels of TLR4， myeloid differentiation factor 88 （MyD88）， phosphorylated inhibitor of NF-κB （p-IκB）/NF-κB inhibitor （IκB）， phosphorylated NF-κB （p-NF-κB） p65/NF-κB p65， NLRP3， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD （ASC）， and pro-Caspase-1 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， all Buyang Huanwutang-treated groups and inhibitor groups significantly reduced levels of IL-1β， IL-18， and TNF-α （P<0.01）， suppressed the expression of inflammatory factors in RAW264.7 macrophages， decreased cellular ROS expression levels （P<0.01）， downregulated M1-type macrophages iNOS and TNF-α protein expression （P<0.01）， upregulated M2-type macrophages Arg-1 and IL-10 protein expression （P<0.01）， and lowered protein expression levels of TLR4， MyD88， p-IκB/IκB， p-NF-κB p65/NF-κB p65， NLRP3， ASC， and pro-Caspase-1 （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionBuyang Huanwutang can improve macrophage inflammation， potentially by reducing macrophage ROS levels， inhibiting RAW264.7 macrophage polarization， and downregulating the protein expression levels of the TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of different potassium application rates on the growth， yield and quality of two-year-old Belamcanda chinensis and to provide a basis for potassium application to achieve high yield and quality of B. chinensis. MethodOn the basis of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization at 120 kg·hm^-2， we designed five potassium treatments of 0 （K₀）， 60 （K₆₀）， 120 （K₁₂₀）， 180 （K₁₈₀） and 240 （K₂₄₀） kg·hm^-2 in a field experiment to study the effects of different potassium application rates on the agronomic traits， rhizome yield， flavonoid content and potassium fertilizer utilization efficiency of the two-year-old B. chinensis. ResultThe application of potassium fertilizer promoted the root development and tillering， which significantly improved the yield of B. chinensis. Compared with the K₀ treatment， the other potassium treatments increased the rhizome yield by 16.0%-44.0% and K₁₈₀ had the highest yield. The application of potassium fertilizer increased the accumulation of flavonoids in the rhizomes of B. chinensis. The total accumulation of six flavonoids （mangiferin， tectoridin， iridin， tectorigenin， irigenin and irisflorentin） increased by 33.2% in the K₁₂₀ treatment compared with that in the K₀ treatment. Furthermore， the application of potassium fertilizer promoted the accumulation of N， K， Mg， Fe and Zn. With the increase in potassium application rate， the potassium accumulation of B. chinensis first increased and then decreased， while the partial productivity and the absorptivity of roots and leaves gradually decreased. The agronomic efficiency of potassium fertilizer was higher at low to medium potassium application rates and decreased significantly at high potassium application rates. The results of the principal component analysis indicated that the ranking of the overall quality score of B. chinensis was K₁₂₀>K₁₈₀>K₂₄₀>K₆₀>K₀. ConclusionConsidering factors such as yield， quality and potassium utilization efficiency of two-year-old B. chinensis， the potassium application at 120-166 kg·hm^-2 is recommended for the production of B. chinensis in Tuanfeng County.