Objective: To establish and evaluate a method of enriching bacteriophages in natural water based on ferric trichloride-polyvinylidene fluoride (FeCl₃-PVDF)membrane filter. Methods: Based on the principle of flocculation concentration, the method of recovering bacteriophage from water sample was established by using iron ion flocculation combined with membrane filter. The titer of phage was determined by Agar double layer method. The recovery efficiency of phage was detected by phage fluorescence staining and real-time fluorescence PCR reaction. Water samples from different sources were collected for simulation experiment to evaluate the enrichment effect. At the same time, the sewage discharged from hospitals was taken as the actual water sample, and the common clinical drug-resistant bacteria were used as the host indicator bacteria to further analyze the enrichment effect of FeCl₃-PVDF membrane filter rapid enrichment method on the bacteriophage in natural water samples. Results: The method of enrichment of bacteriophages in natural water by iron ion concentration 50 mg/L and PVDF membrane filter was established. The recovery rate of this method for bacteriophage was 93%-100%. Under the multi-functional microscope, it was found that the bacteriophage of the enriched water sample increased significantly and the fluorescence value of the enriched water sample determined by the enzyme labeling instrument was about 13 times as high as that before enrichment. After concentration of the actual water samples from the hospital drainage, the positive rate of bacteriophage isolation in the concentrated group and the non-concentrated group was 23% and 4%, and the fluorescence value in the concentrated group was 2-24 times as high as that of the non-concentrated group. Conclusion: The method of FeCl₃-PVDF membrane filter is a simple, efficient and rapid method for enriching bacteriophages in different water samples.
Humans ; Bacteriophages ; Bacteria ; Iron ; Iron, Dietary ; Water

OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the impact of iodine-rich processed foods and dining places on the iodine nutritional status of children. METHODS: School-aged children (SAC) in seven provinces in China were selected by school-based multi-stage sampling. Urinary iodine, salt iodine, and thyroid volume (TVOL) were determined. Questionnaires were used to investigate dining places and iodine-rich processed foods. The water iodine was from the 2017 national survey. Multi-factor regression analysis was used to find correlations between variables. RESULTS: Children ate 78.7% of their meals at home, 15.1% at school canteens, and 6.1% at other places. The percentage of daily iodine intake from water, iodized salt, iodine-rich processed foods, and cooked food were 1.0%, 79.2%, 1.5%, and 18.4%, respectively. The salt iodine was correlated with the urinary iodine and TVOL, respectively (r = 0.999 and -0.997, P < 0.05). The iodine intake in processed foods was weakly correlated with the TVOL (r = 0.080, P < 0.01). Non-iodized salt used in processed foods or diets when eating out had less effect on children's iodine nutrition status. CONCLUSION Iodized salt remains the primary source of daily iodine intake of SAC, and processed food has less effect on iodine nutrition. Therefore, for children, iodized salt should be a compulsory supplement in their routine diet.
Humans ; Child ; Nutritional Status ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Iodine ; Sodium Chloride, Dietary/analysis* ; China ; Water

Microplastics pollution has attracted worldwide attention. Compared with the status quo of microplastics pollution in marine environment and other major rivers and lakes, the relevant data of the Yellow River basin is relatively inadequate. The abundance, types, and spatial distribution characteristics of microplastic pollution in the sediments and surface water of the Yellow River basin were reviewed. Meanwhile, the status of microplastic pollution in the national central city and Yellow River Delta wetland was discussed, and the corresponding prevention and control measures were put forward. The results showed that the spatial distribution of microplastics pollution in sediments and surface water of the Yellow River basin increased from upstream to downstream, especially in the Yellow River Delta wetland. There are obvious differences between the types of microplastics in sediment and surface water in the Yellow River basin, which is mainly related to the materials of microplastics. Compared with similar regions in China, the microplastics pollution levels in national key cities and national wetland parks in the Yellow River basin are in the medium to high degree, which should be taken seriously. Plastics exposure through various ways will cause serious impact on aquaculture and human health in the Yellow River beach area. To control microplastic pollution in the Yellow River basin, it is necessary to improve the relevant production standards, laws and regulations, and improve the capacity of biodegradable microplastics and the degradation capacity of plastic wastes.
Humans ; Microplastics ; Plastics ; Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis* ; Environmental Monitoring/methods* ; Water ; China

The wide use of ZnO and CuO nanoparticles in research, medicine, industry, and other fields has raised concerns about their biosafety. It is therefore unavoidable to be discharged into the sewage treatment system. Due to the unique physical and chemical properties of ZnO NPs and CuO NPs, it may be toxic to the members of the microbial community and their growth and metabolism, which in turn affects the stable operation of sewage nitrogen removal. This study summarizes the toxicity mechanism of two typical metal oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs and CuO NPs) to nitrogen removal microorganisms in sewage treatment systems. Furthermore, the factors affecting the cytotoxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) are summarized. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis and support for the future mitigating and emergent treatment of the adverse effects of nanoparticles on sewage treatment systems.
Wastewater/toxicity* ; Sewage/chemistry* ; Zinc Oxide/chemistry* ; Waste Disposal, Fluid ; Nanoparticles/chemistry* ; Metal Nanoparticles/chemistry* ; Nitrogen/metabolism* ; Water Purification

With the approach of untargeted metabolomics and correlation analysis, this study aimed to explore the mechanism of Aurantii Fructus from Lingnan region in alleviating dryness by analyzing the different effects of raw Aurantii Fructus(RAF) and processed Aurantii Fructus(PAF) on fecal endogenous metabolism in normal rats. Eighteen Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into a control group(C), an RAF group(10 g·kg~(-1)), and a PAF group(10 g·kg~(-1)). After seven days of administration, the effects of RAF and PAF on dryness-related indexes were compared, including water intake, fecal water content, salivary secretion, the expression of AQP5, VIP, and 5-HT in the submandibular gland, as well as the expression of AQP3, VIP, and 5-HT in the colon. The fecal samples in each group were determined by LC-MS. Multivariate statistical analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for screening the differential metabolites and metabolic pathways in alleviating dryness of RAF. The results indicated that both RAF and PAF showed certain dryness, and the dryness of RAF was more significant. Moreover, PAF could alleviate dryness of RAF to a certain extent by reducing the water intake, fecal water content, and the expression of AQP3, VIP, and 5-HT in the colon and increasing the salivary secretion and the levels of AQP5, VIP, and 5-HT in the submandibular gland. According to the analysis of fecal metabolomics, 99 and 58 metabolites related to dryness were found in RAF and PAF respectively, where 16 of them played an important role in alleviating dryness of RAF. Pathway analysis revealed that the mechanism of PAF in alleviating dryness of RAF was presumably related to the regulation of riboflavin metabolism, purine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, pyrimidine metabolism, alanine metabolism, aspartate metabolism, glutamate metabolism, and retinol metabolism pathways. This study suggested that PAF might alleviate dryness of RAF by affecting the metabolic levels of the body, which provides a new basis for further clarifying the processing mechanism of PAF.
Rats ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serotonin ; Metabolomics ; Water

Galli Gigerii Endothelium Corneum(GGEC), the dried gizzard membrane of Gallus gallus domesticus is a Chinese medicinal material commonly used for digestion. However, due to the particularity of texture and composition, its active ingre-dients have not been clarified so far, and there is also a lack of quality evaluation indicators. In this study, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS was used to analyze the chemical components from the water extract of GGEC, and ten nucleosides were identified for the first time. HPLC fingerprints of the water extracts of GGEC were established and the content of seven nucleosides was determined. The fingerprint similarities of 40 batches of GGEC samples ranged from 0.765 to 0.959, indicating that there were great differences among the GGEC products processed with different methods. In addition, SPSS 22.0 and SIMCA 14.1 were used for hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA) and principal component analysis(PCA) on the 19 common peaks of the HPLC fingerprints of GGEC, and the 40 batches of samples were divided into three categories: raw GGEC, fried GGEC and vinegar-processed GGEC. Eight differential components in GGEC were marked by orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis(OPLS-DA), two of which were adenine and thymine. The results of content determination showed that the total content of the seven nucleosides in raw GGEC, fried GGEC and vinegar-processed GGEC were 182.5-416.8, 205.3-368.7, and 194.2-283.0 μg·g~(-1), respectively. There were significant differences in the content of hypoxanthine, thymine and thymidine among the GGEC products processed with different methods(P<0.05), which were graded in the order of fried GGEC>vinegar-processed GGEC>raw GGEC. This suggested that the content of hypoxanthine, thymine and thymidine tended to increase during the frying process, and the variation range might be related to the degree of heat exposure. The established methods in this study were simple and reproducible, and could be used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of GGEC and its processed pro-ducts. This study also provided reference for the establishment of quality standards of GGEC with chemical components as control index.
Nucleosides ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Acetic Acid ; Thymine ; Thymidine ; Water ; Hypoxanthines

The present study investigated the effect of immersion in the excipient lime water on the toxic component lectin protein and explained the scientific connotation of lime water detoxication during the processing of Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum. Western blot was used to investigate the effects of immersion in lime water with different pH(pH 10, 11, and 12.4), saturated sodium hydroxide, and sodium bicarbonate solution on the content of lectin protein. The protein compositions of the supernatant and the precipitate after immersing lectin protein in lime water of different pH were determined by the SDS-PAGE method combined with the silver staining technique. The MALDI-TOF-MS/MS technique was used to detect the molecular weight distribution of peptide fragments in the supernatant and precipitate after immersing lectin protein in lime water of different pH, and circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to detect the ratio changes in the secondary structure of lectin protein during the immersion. The results showed that immersion in lime water at pH>12 and saturated sodium hydroxide solution could significantly reduce the content of lectin protein, while immersion in lime water at pH<12 and sodium bicarbonate solution had no significant effect on lectin protein content. The corresponding lectin protein bands and molecular ion peaks were not detected at the 12 kDa position in the supernatant and precipitate after immersing the lectin protein in lime water at pH>12, which was attributed to the fact that lime water immersion at pH>12 could significantly change the ratio of the secondary structure of lectin protein, resulting in irreversible denaturation, while lime water immersion at pH<12 did not change the ratio of the secondary structure of lectin protein. Therefore, pH>12 was the key condition for the detoxication of lime water during the processing of Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum. Lime water immersion at pH>12 could cause irreversible denaturation of lectin protein, resulting in a significant decrease in the inflammatory toxicity of Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum, which played a key role in detoxification.
Lectins ; Pinellia ; Sodium Bicarbonate ; Sodium Hydroxide ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Water

To explore the changes and the reaction mechanisms between soil microecological environment and the content of secon-dary metabolites of plants under water deficit, this study carried out a pot experiment on the 3-leaf stage seedlings of Rheum officinale to analyze their response mechanism under different drought gradients(normal water supply, mild, moderate, and severe drought). The results indicated that the content of flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids, and alkaloids in the root of R. officinale varied greatly under drought stresses. Under mild drought stress, the content of substances mentioned above was comparatively high, and the content of rutin, emodin, gallic acid, and(+)-catechin hydrate in the root significantly increased. The content of rutin, emodin, and gallic acid under severe drought stress was significantly lower than that under normal water supply. The number of species, Shannon diversity index, richness index, and Simpson index of bacteria in the rhizosphere soil were significantly higher than those in blank soil, and the number of microbial species and richness index decreased significantly with the aggravation of drought stresses. In the context of water deficit, Cyanophyta, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, Streptomyces, and Actinomyces were the dominant bacteria in the rhizosphere of R. officinale. The relative content of rutin and emodin in the root of R. officinale was positively correlated with the relative abundance of Cyanophyta and Firmicutes, and the relative content of(+)-catechin hydrate and(-)-epicatechin gallate was positively correlated with the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. In conclusion, appropriate drought stress can increase the content of secondary metabolites of R. officinale from physiological induction and the increase in the association with beneficial microbe.
Rhizosphere ; Rheum ; Droughts ; Soil ; Catechin ; Emodin ; Bacteria/metabolism* ; Water/metabolism* ; Firmicutes ; Soil Microbiology

Peritoneal ultrafiltration failure is a common reason for peritoneal dialysis (PD) withdrawal as well as mortality in PD patients. Based on the three-pore system, inter-cellular small pores and trans-cellular ultra-small pores (aquaporin-1) are mainly responsible for water transfer across the peritoneum. Both small and ultra-small pores-dependent water (free water) transport decline accompanied with time on PD, with more significant decrease in free water, resulting in peritoneal ultrafiltration failure. The reduction of free water transport is associated with fast peritoneal solute transfer, reduced crystalloid osmotic gradient due to increased interstitial glucose absorption, and declined osmotic conductance to glucose resulted from impaired aquaporin-1 function and peritoneal interstitial fibrosis. The decline of small pore-based water is mainly because of fast loss of crystalloid osmotic gradient, decrease of hydrostatic pressure mediated by peritoneal vasculopathy, as well as reduced absolute number of small pores. The current review discusses the advance on pathogenesis of acquired peritoneal ultrafiltration failure in long-term PD.
Humans ; Peritoneum ; Ultrafiltration ; Dialysis Solutions ; Peritoneal Dialysis/methods* ; Water ; Glucose

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the reliability of the Water Tank Scale for assessing recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. METHODS: Thirty-six adult female SD rats were randomly divided into SCI and sham-operated groups (n= 18). The recovery of the hind limb motor function was assessed using Water Tank scoring, BBB scoring, and motor-evoked potentials (MEP) at 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 and 21 days after SCI. MEP was used as the gold standard for analyzing and comparing differences between the two scoring methods. RESULTS: The Water Tank scores of the rats were significantly higher than the BBB scores on day 3 (0.22±0.43 vs 0, P < 0.05) and also on days 5, 7 and 14 after SCI (0.67±0.49 vs 0.11±0.32, 4.33±1.19 vs 2.83±1.04, 8.61± 1.20 vs 7.06±1.0, P < 0.01). On day 21 after SCI, the scores of the Water Tank Scale of the rats did not significantly differ from the BBB scores (14.78±1.06 vs 14.50±1.47, P>0.05). Neurophysiological monitoring showed that both the Water Tank score and BBB score were significantly correlated with MEP latency, but the Water Tank score had a greater correlation coefficient with MEP latency (r=-0.90). CONCLUSION Compared with the BBB scale, Water Tank scoring allows more objective and accurate assessment of functional recovery of the spinal cord in early stages following SCI in rats, and can thus be used as a reliable method for assessing functional recovery of the hind limbs in rat models of acute SCI.
Female ; Animals ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reproducibility of Results ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Water