BACKGROUND: The effect of air pollution on annual change rates in grip strength and body composition in the elderly is unknown. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the effects of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution on change rates of grip strength and body composition in the elderly. METHODS: In the period 2016-2020, grip strength and body composition were assessed and measured 1-2 times per year in 395 elderly participants living in the Taipei basin. Exposure to ambient fine particulate matters (PM_2.5), nitric dioxide (NO₂), and ozone (O₃) from 2015 to 2019 was estimated using a hybrid Kriging/Land-use regression model. In addition, long-term exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) was estimated using an ordinary Kriging approach. Associations between air pollution exposures and annual changes in health outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. RESULTS: An inter-quartile range (4.1 µg/m³) increase in long-term exposure to PM_2.5 was associated with a faster decline rate in grip strength (-0.16 kg per year) and skeletal muscle mass (-0.14 kg per year), but an increase in body fat mass (0.21 kg per year). The effect of PM_2.5 remained robust after adjustment for NO₂, O₃ and CO exposure. In subgroup analysis, the PM_2.5-related decline rate in grip strength was greater in participants with older age (>70 years) or higher protein intake, whereas in skeletal muscle mass, the decline rate was more pronounced in participants having a lower frequency of moderate or strenuous exercise. The PM_2.5-related increase rate in body fat mass was higher in participants having a lower frequency of strenuous exercise or soybean intake. CONCLUSIONS Among the elderly, long-term exposure to ambient PM_2.5 is associated with a faster decline in grip strength and skeletal muscle mass, and an increase in body fat mass. Susceptibility to PM_2.5 may be influenced by age, physical activity, and dietary protein intake; however, these modifying effects vary across different health outcomes, and further research is needed to clarify their mechanisms and consistency.
Humans ; Hand Strength ; Aged ; Male ; Female ; Environmental Exposure/adverse effects* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Taiwan ; Air Pollution/adverse effects* ; Particulate Matter/adverse effects* ; Muscle, Skeletal/drug effects* ; Air Pollutants/adverse effects* ; Ozone/adverse effects* ; Aged, 80 and over ; Adipose Tissue/drug effects* ; Body Composition/drug effects* ; Nitrogen Dioxide/adverse effects*

The conversion of abundant and low-cost biomass waste into highly efficient two-electron oxygen reduction(ORR)electrocatalyst is an important link in the degradation of pollutants in industrial wastewater through the electro-Fenton process.In this work,porous biocarbon materials doped with manganese and nitrogen(MnNBC)were prepared from corn stalk.The H2O2 selectivity of MnNBC in acidic media was up to 81% @0.6 Vvs RHE,also MnNBC exhibited a long-term stability in a 10-h uninterrupted lifetime test.The ORR activity of MnNBC could be attributed to the synergistic effect of the hierarchical porous structure,improved defect level and heteroatom doping.Moreover,MnNBC as a cathode material for the electro-Fenton system could completely degrade four kinds of common organic dye pollutants,e.g.,Rhodamine B,methyl orange,methylene blue and crystal violet(25 mg/L),respectively,within 40?60 min.The present study provided valuable insights into the transformation of corn stalk waste into efficient cathode materials for the electro-Fenton process.

Aim To investigate the intervention effect of Rehmannia radix water extract on bleomycin(BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice combined with metabolomics and to reveal the potential mechanism,in order to provide new ideas for clinical treatment of pul-monary fibrosis.Methods Male C57BL/6N mice were randomly divided into the control group,model group,pirfenidone group(positive control,PFD,270 mg·kg-1),and low dose(DH-L,4.55 g·kg-1)group,medium dose(DH-M,9.1 g·kg-1)group and high dose(DH-H,18.2 g·kg-1)group of Rehman-nia.Except for the control group,BLM(5 mg·kg-1)was instilled into the trachea to establish the model of pulmonary fibrosis in the other groups.The survival rate,lung index and blood oxygen saturation of mice in each group were evaluated.HE and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological changes of lung tissue.WBP was used to detect lung function.Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis of primary lung cells,ROS and immune cells.ELISA was used to detect the levels of fibrosis markers and inflammatory factors(α-SMA,collagen Ⅰ,collagen Ⅲ,TGF-β1,TNF-α,IL-1 β,and IL-6).Biochemical method was employed to detect the contents of GSH-Px,T-SOD and MDA.Liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer(LC-MS)metabolomics was used to analyze the changes of serum metabolic profile.Results Water extract of Re-hmannia significantly increased the survival rate,oxy-gen saturation and lung function of mice with pulmona-ry fibrosis,reduced the lung coefficient,ameliorated pathological damage and collagen deposition in lung tissue,reduced the levels of apoptosis and oxidative stress,and down-regulated the levels of inflammatory factors in lung tissue.It regulated the levels of metabo-lites such as bile acid metabolism,sphingolipid metabo-lism,and unsaturated fatty acid metabolism.Conclu-sions Water extract of Rehmannia inhibits lung injury and collagen deposition in mice with pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting inflammatory response,which may be a-chieved by regulating the levels of inflammatory factors through the metabolic pathways of bile acid and sphin-golipid.

Aim To investigate the intervention effect of Rehmannia radix water extract on bleomycin(BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice combined with metabolomics and to reveal the potential mechanism,in order to provide new ideas for clinical treatment of pul-monary fibrosis.Methods Male C57BL/6N mice were randomly divided into the control group,model group,pirfenidone group(positive control,PFD,270 mg·kg-1),and low dose(DH-L,4.55 g·kg-1)group,medium dose(DH-M,9.1 g·kg-1)group and high dose(DH-H,18.2 g·kg-1)group of Rehman-nia.Except for the control group,BLM(5 mg·kg-1)was instilled into the trachea to establish the model of pulmonary fibrosis in the other groups.The survival rate,lung index and blood oxygen saturation of mice in each group were evaluated.HE and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological changes of lung tissue.WBP was used to detect lung function.Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis of primary lung cells,ROS and immune cells.ELISA was used to detect the levels of fibrosis markers and inflammatory factors(α-SMA,collagen Ⅰ,collagen Ⅲ,TGF-β1,TNF-α,IL-1 β,and IL-6).Biochemical method was employed to detect the contents of GSH-Px,T-SOD and MDA.Liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer(LC-MS)metabolomics was used to analyze the changes of serum metabolic profile.Results Water extract of Re-hmannia significantly increased the survival rate,oxy-gen saturation and lung function of mice with pulmona-ry fibrosis,reduced the lung coefficient,ameliorated pathological damage and collagen deposition in lung tissue,reduced the levels of apoptosis and oxidative stress,and down-regulated the levels of inflammatory factors in lung tissue.It regulated the levels of metabo-lites such as bile acid metabolism,sphingolipid metabo-lism,and unsaturated fatty acid metabolism.Conclu-sions Water extract of Rehmannia inhibits lung injury and collagen deposition in mice with pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting inflammatory response,which may be a-chieved by regulating the levels of inflammatory factors through the metabolic pathways of bile acid and sphin-golipid.

Polypeptide drugs have attracted much attention in the field of drug research and development due to their wide range of indications,especially in pharmaceutical R&D of new drugs with endocrine related indications such as diabetes and osteoporosis.With the advancement of peptide synthesis and delivery technologies,the research and application of peptide drugs have made significant breakthroughs.However,the R&D and nonclinical safety assessment of peptide drugs still face many challenges,and there are no specific guidelines for the nonclinical safety evaluation of this class of drugs domestically or abroad.This article focuses on the field of endocrine indications.By analyzing the nonclinical studies of approved peptide drugs,and considering the current R&D status and specific regulatory requirements,this paper proposes considerations on the nonclinical safety assessment of peptide drugs,including the selection of relevant animal species,key study contents,specific considerations for peptides containing non-natural amino acids,etc.The aims are to provide references for optimizing and improving the nonclinical safety evaluation of peptide drugs.

Polypeptide drugs have attracted much attention in the field of drug research and development due to their wide range of indications,especially in pharmaceutical R&D of new drugs with endocrine related indications such as diabetes and osteoporosis.With the advancement of peptide synthesis and delivery technologies,the research and application of peptide drugs have made significant breakthroughs.However,the R&D and nonclinical safety assessment of peptide drugs still face many challenges,and there are no specific guidelines for the nonclinical safety evaluation of this class of drugs domestically or abroad.This article focuses on the field of endocrine indications.By analyzing the nonclinical studies of approved peptide drugs,and considering the current R&D status and specific regulatory requirements,this paper proposes considerations on the nonclinical safety assessment of peptide drugs,including the selection of relevant animal species,key study contents,specific considerations for peptides containing non-natural amino acids,etc.The aims are to provide references for optimizing and improving the nonclinical safety evaluation of peptide drugs.

Objective: Compare and analyze the results of the domestic Lanyi AH600 glycated hemoglobin analyzer and other different detection systems to understand the comparability of the detection results of different detectors, and establish the best cut point of Lanyi AH600 determination of haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in the diagnosis of diabetes. Methods: Multi center cohort study was adopted. The clinical laboratory departments of 18 medical institutions independently collected test samples from their respective hospitals from March to April 2022, and independently completed comparative analysis of the evaluated instrument (Lanyi AH600) and the reference instrument HbA1c. The reference instruments include four different brands of glycosylated hemoglobin meters, including Arkray, Bio-Rad, DOSOH, and Huizhong. Scatter plot was used to calculate the correlation between the results of different detection systems, and the regression equation was calculated. The consistency analysis between the results of different detection systems was evaluated by Bland Altman method. Consistency judgment principles: (1) When the 95% limits of agreement (95% LoA) of the measurement difference was within 0.4% HbA1c and the measurement score was≥80 points, the comparison consistency was good; (2) When the measurement difference of 95% LoA exceeded 0.4% HbA1c, and the measurement score was≥80 points, the comparison consistency was relatively good; (3) The measurement score was less than 80 points, the comparison consistency was poor. The difference between the results of different detection systems was tested by paired sample T test or Wilcoxon paired sign rank sum test; The best cut-off point of diabetes was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Results: The correlation coefficient R² of results between Lanyi AH600 and the reference instrument in 16 hospitals is≥0.99; The Bland Altman consistency analysis showed that the difference of 95% LoA in Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital in Jiangsu Province (reference instrument: Arkray HA8180) was -0.486%-0.325%, and the measurement score was 94.6 points (473/500); The difference of 95% LoA in the Tibetan Traditional Medical Hospital of TAR (reference instrument: Bio-Rad Variant II) was -0.727%-0.612%, and the measurement score was 89.8 points; The difference of 95% LoA in the People's Hospital of Chongqing Liang Jiang New Area (reference instrument: Huizhong MQ-2000PT) was -0.231%-0.461%, and the measurement score was 96.6 points; The difference of 95% LoA in the Taihe Hospital of traditional Chinese Medicine in Anhui Province (reference instrument: Huizhong MQ-2000PT) was -0.469%-0.479%, and the measurement score was 91.9 points. The other 14 hospitals, Lanyi AH600, were compared with 4 reference instrument brands, the difference of 95% LoA was less than 0.4% HbA1c, and the scores were all greater than 95 points. The results of paired sample T test or Wilcoxon paired sign rank sum test showed that there was no statistically significant difference between Lanyi AH600 and the reference instrument Arkray HA8180 (Z=1.665,P=0.096), with no statistical difference. The mean difference between the measured values of the two instruments was 0.004%. The comparison data of Lanyi AH600 and the reference instrument of all other institutions had significant differences (all P<0.001), however, it was necessary to consider whether it was within the clinical acceptable range in combination with the results of the Bland-Altman consistency analysis. The ROC curve of HbA1c detected by Lanyi AH600 in 985 patients with diabetes and 3 423 patients with non-diabetes was analyzed, the area under curve (AUC) was 0.877, the standard error was 0.007, and the 95% confidence interval 95%CI was (0.864, 0.891), which was statistically significant (P<0.001). The maximum value of Youden index was 0.634, and the corresponding HbA1c cut point was 6.235%. The sensitivity and specificity of diabetes diagnosis were 76.2% and 87.2%, respectively. Conclusion: Among the hospitals and instruments currently included in this study, among these four hospitals included Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital in Jiangsu Province (reference instrument: Arkray HA8180), Tibetan Traditional Medical Hospital of TAR (reference instrument: Bio-Rad Variant Ⅱ), the People's Hospital of Chongqing Liang Jiang New Area (reference instrument: Huizhong MQ-2000PT), and the Taihe Hospital of traditional Chinese Medicine in Anhui Province (reference instrument: Huizhong MQ-2000PT), the comparison between Lanyi AH600 and the reference instruments showed relatively good consistency, while the other 14 hospitals involved four different brands of reference instruments: Arkray, Bio-Rad, DOSOH, and Huizhong, Lanyi AH600 had good consistency with its comparison. The best cut point of the domestic Lanyi AH600 for detecting HbA1c in the diagnosis of diabetes is 6.235%.
Pregnancy ; Child ; Humans ; Female ; Glycated Hemoglobin ; Cohort Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus/diagnosis* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; ROC Curve

This study aimed to explore the anti-inflammatory material basis and molecular mechanism of Artemisia stolonifera based on the analysis of the chemical components in different extracted fractions of A. stolonifera and their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in combination with network pharmacology and molecular docking. Thirty-two chemical components were identified from A. stolonifera by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). Among them, there were 7, 21 and 22 compounds in water, n-butanol and ethyl acetate fractions, respectively. The antio-xidant capacity of different extracted fractions was evaluated by measuring their scavenging ability against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl) hydrazyl(DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)(ABTS) free radicals and total antioxidant capacity [ferric reducing antioxidant power(FRAP) assay]. The inflammatory model of RAW264.7 cells was induced by lipopolysaccharide(LPS), and the levels of nitrite oxide(NO), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-6(IL-6) in the supernatant and the mRNA expression of related inflammatory factors in cells were used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects. The results revealed that ethyl acetate fraction of A. stolonifera was the optimal antioxidant and anti-inflammatory fraction. By network pharmacology, it was found that flavonoids such as rhamnazin, eupatilin, jaceosidin, luteolin and nepetin could act on key targets such as TNF, serine/threonine protein kinase 1(AKT1), tumor protein p53(TP53), caspase-3(CASP3) and epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR), and regulate the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-protein kinase B(PI3K-AKT) and mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signaling pathways to exert the anti-inflammatory effects. Molecular docking further indicated excellent binding properties between the above core components and core targets. This study preliminarily clarified the anti-inflammatory material basis and mechanism of ethyl acetate fraction of A. stolonifera, providing a basis for the follow-up clinical application of A. stolonifera and drug development.
Antioxidants/chemistry* ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Artemisia ; Network Pharmacology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Interleukin-6

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of shading intensity on the growth, yield, and quality of Artemisia stolonifera so as to provide references for the artificial cultivation of A. stolonifera. The seedlings of A. stolonifera with consistent growth underwent shading treatment at four shading intensity levels(0, 55%, 85%, and 95%) with different layers of black shading nets. The agronomic indexes, yield, moxa yield, total ash, quality characteristics of moxa during combustion and pyrolysis, main volatile components, flavonoids, and phenolic acids were measured. The results showed that under shading conditions, the stem diameter, leaf width, 5-leaf spacing, branch number, and yield of A. stolonifera decreased significantly, while the plant height, leaf length, leaf number, chlorophyll content, and moxa yield increased first and then decreased with the increase in shading intensity. The burning performance of moxa under natural light was better than that under moderate and severe shading conditions. The content of eucalyptol first increased and then decreased with the increase in shading intensity. The humulene content was negatively correlated with shading intensity. Other major volatile components showed no significant difference under various shading conditions. The content of neochlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, isoschaftoside, and isochlorogenic acid B was positively correlated with shading intensity, while the content of chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, and isochlorogenic acid C decreased first and then increased with the increase in shading intensity. To sum up, A. stolonifera is a light-loving plant, and shading can greatly reduce the yield, the content of internal components, and the burning performance of moxa. It is the main reason why A. stolonifera is mainly distributed in the forest edge, open forest, roadside, and wasteland grass in the middle and high mountains in the wild. For artificial domestication and cultivation of A. stolonifera, it is better to select plots with sufficient light.

This paper aims to compare the difference of growth and quality between wild and cultivated Artemisia stolonifera, thereby providing references for further development and utilization of A. stolonifera. The wild and cultivated A. stolonifera from different altitudes were collected, and the agronomic characters, moxa yield, volatile components, flavonoids, and phenolic acids were determined. The results showed that the cultivated species were taller and stronger, with more leaves and branches, than the wild species. The moxa yield and combustion quality of wild products were higher than those of cultivated products. The content of main volatile components in cultivated products was higher than that in wild products. The content of flavonoids and phenolic acids in wild products was higher than that in cultivated products. At high altitude, the ignition performance, combustion persistence, comprehensive combustion performance, and heat release during combustion of the wild and cultivated A. stolonifera. were optimal. At middle altitude, the content of main characteristic volatile components and flavone phenolic acids in the leaves of the cultivated and wild A. stolonifera were the highest. At low altitude, the combustion quality and the content of the above components of the cultivated A. stolonifera decrease significantly. Considering the combustion quality and the content of the internal components of the leaf lint, the middle and high altitude areas are suitable for the artificial cultivation of A. stolonifera.
Artemisia ; Agriculture ; Flavonoids ; Plant Leaves ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal