OBJECTIVE To study the effects of milk processing method on the content of esculentoside A and hepatotoxicity in Mongolian medicine Phytolacca acinosa. METHODS High performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light-scattering detection was used to determine the content of esculentoside A in raw P. acinosa， milk-soaked P. acinosa and milk-boiled P. acinosa. The rats were randomly divided into normal group， raw P. acinosa group， milk-soaked P. acinosa group and milk-boiled P. acinosa group， with 10 rats in each group. Except for the normal group， the rats in the remaining groups were administered corresponding medicinal solutions at a dose of 0.8 g/kg once daily for 15 consecutive days. After the last administration， the levels of biochemical markers [alanine transaminase （ALT）， aspartate transaminase （AST）] and inflammatory factors [interleukin-2 （IL- 2）， IL-6， tumor necrosis factor- α （TNF- α）] in plasma of rats， as well as the levels of malondialdehyde （MDA）， superoxide dismutase （SOD） and glutathione peroxidase （GSH-Px） in liver tissue， were determined. The pathological changes of liver tissue in rats were observed. RESULTS The contents of esculentoside A in raw P. acinosa， milk-soaked P. acinosa and milk-boiled P. acinosa were 6.46-6.59， 4.79-4.89， 5.04-5.14 mg/g， respectively. Compared with the normal group， the plasma levels of ALT， AST， IL-2 and TNF-α in rats were increased significantly in the raw P. acinosa group （P＜0.05）， while the level of SOD in liver tissue was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）； scattered punctate necrotic foci were observed within the hepatic lobules， and hepatocytes exhibited slight vacuolar degeneration. Compared with the raw P. acinosa group， the levels of ALT and AST in plasma of rats and the level of MDA in liver tissue were all decreased significantly in the milk-soaked P. acinosa group and the milk-boiled P. acinosa group （P＜0.05）， while the level of SOD in liver tissue was increased significantly （P＜0.05）. The plasma level of TNF-α in the rats of the milk-soaked P. acinosa group and the plasma levels of IL-2 and IL-6 in the rats of the milk-boiled P. acinosa group were all decreased significantly （P＜0.05）； additionally， the degree of liver injury was markedly alleviated in both groups. CONCLUSIONS The content of esculentoside A and hepatotoxicity both decrease after processing Mongolian medicine P. acinosa using the milk processing method.

Radiation-induced thrombocytopenia (RIT) faces a perplexing challenge in the clinical treatment of cancer patients, and current therapeutic approaches are inadequate in the clinical settings. In this research, oxymatrine, a new molecule capable of healing RIT was screened out, and the underlying regulatory mechanism associated with magakaryocyte (MK) differentiation and thrombopoiesis was demonstrated. The capacity of oxymatrine to induce MK differentiation was verified in K-562 and Meg-01 cells in vitro. The ability to induce thrombopoiesis was subsequently demonstrated in Tg (cd41:enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP)) zebrafish and RIT model mice. In addition, we carried out network pharmacological prediction, drug affinity responsive target stability assay (DARTS) and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) analyses to explore the potential targets of oxymatrine. Moreover, the pathway underlying the effects of oxymatrine was determined by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses, Western blot (WB), and immunofluorescence. Oxymatrine markedly promoted MK differentiation and maturation in vitro. Moreover, oxymatrine induced thrombopoiesis in Tg (cd41:eGFP) zebrafish and accelerated thrombopoiesis and platelet function recovery in RIT model mice. Mechanistically, oxymatrine directly binds to toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and further regulates the downstream pathway stimulator of interferon genes (STING)/nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), which can be blocked by C29 and C-176, which are specific inhibitors of TLR2 and STING, respectively. Taken together, we demonstrated that oxymatrine, a novel TLR2 agonist, plays a critical role in accelerating MK differentiation and thrombopoiesis via the STING/NF-κB axis, suggesting that oxymatrine is a promising candidate for RIT therapy.

Objective To explore the factors related to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) among middle school students in four provinces (municipality) in China.Methods A total of 3 469 middle school students were recruited from the Children health cohort in eight counties within the four provinces (municipality).We collected information regarding demography,lifestyle,and family and school situation as well as the consumption frequency of SSB in the previous week.High SSB consumption was defined as "positive" if the frequency was once a day or more.Mean consumption time was calculated,and then logistic regressions were performed to explore the factors influencing SSB consumption.Results Prevalence of high SSB consumption was 11.18％ among the subjects of the eight counties,and the consumption frequency of SSB was 0.21 times per day.Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the following factors were associated with high consumption of SSB:higher grade,rural region,male gender,physical exercise,habit of eating snacks,eating out,and fast-food consumption (P＜0.01).Factors influencing high SSB consumption were not completely equal between genders:physical exercise at school was associated with high SSB consumption only in female students (P＜0.01),while higher grade and eating out in the past week were associated with high SSB consumption only in male students (P＜0.05).Conclusion Factors associated with high SSB consumption among middle school students included grade,region,physical exercise at school,snack consumption,eating out,and fast-food consumption.These factors differed between genders.Intervention programs addressing these factors may be beneficial in reducing SSB consumption in middle school students.