A Comprehensive Review on the Benefits and Problems of Curcumin with Respect to Human Health

Curcumin is the most important active component in turmeric extracts. Curcumin, a natural monomer from plants has received a considerable attention as a dietary supplement, exhibiting evident activity in a wide range of human pathological conditions. In general, curcumin is beneficial to human health, demonstrating pharmacological activities of anti-inflammation and antioxidation, as well as antitumor and immune regulation activities. Curcumin also presents therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In this review article, we summarize the advancements made in recent years with respect to curcumin as a biologically active agent in malignant tumors, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), hematological diseases and viral infectious diseases. We also focus on problems associated with curcumin from basic research to clinical translation, such as its low solubility, leading to poor bioavailability, as well as the controversy surrounding the association between curcumin purity and effect. Through a review and summary of the clinical research on curcumin and case reports of adverse effects, we found that the clinical transformation of curcumin is not successful, and excessive intake of curcumin may have adverse effects on the kidneys, heart, liver, blood and immune system, which leads us to warn that curcumin has a long way to go from basic research to application transformation.     

MiR-1224-5p modulates osteogenesis by coordinating osteoblast/osteoclast differentiation via the Rap1 signaling target ADCY2

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) broadly regulate normal biological functions of bone and the progression of fracture healing and osteoporosis. Recently, it has been reported that miR-1224-5p in fracture plasma is a potential therapy for osteogenesis. To investigate the roles of miR-1224-5p and the Rap1 signaling pathway in fracture healing and osteoporosis development and progression, we used BMMs, BMSCs, and skull osteoblast precursor cells for in vitro osteogenesis and osteoclastogenesis studies. Osteoblastogenesis and osteoclastogenesis were detected by ALP, ARS, and TRAP staining and bone slice resorption pit assays. The miR-1224-5p target gene was assessed by siRNA-mediated target gene knockdown and luciferase reporter assays. To explore the Rap1 pathway, we performed high-throughput sequencing, western blotting, RT-PCR, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays and immunohistochemical staining. In vivo, bone healing was judged by the cortical femoral defect, cranial bone defect and femoral fracture models. Progression of osteoporosis was evaluated by an ovariectomy model and an aged osteoporosis model. We discovered that the expression of miR-1224-5p was positively correlated with fracture healing progression. Moreover, in vitro, overexpression of miR-1224-5p slowed Rankl-induced osteoclast differentiation and promoted osteoblast differentiation via the Rap1-signaling pathway by targeting ADCY2. In addition, in vivo overexpression of miR-1224-5p significantly promoted fracture healing and ameliorated the progression of osteoporosis caused by estrogen deficiency or aging. Furthermore, knockdown of miRNA-1224-5p inhibited bone regeneration in mice and accelerated the progression of osteoporosis in elderly mice. Taken together, these results identify miR-1224-5p as a key bone osteogenic regulator, which may be a potential therapeutic target for osteoporosis and fracture nonunion.Subject terms: Translational research, Cell signalling     

Stepwise Diagnostic Product Ions Filtering Strategy for Rapid Discovery of Diterpenoids in Scutellaria barbata Based on UHPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS

Diterpenoids are considered the major bioactive components in Scutellaria barbata to treat cancer and inflammation, but few comprehensive profiling studies of diterpenoids have been reported. Herein, a stepwise diagnostic product ions (DPIs) filtering strategy for efficient and targeted profiling of diterpenoids in Scutellaria barbata was developed using UHPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS. After UHPLC-HRMS/MS analysis of six diterpenoid reference standards, fragmentation behaviors of these references were studied to provide DPIs. Then, stepwise DPIs filtering aimed to reduce the potential interferences of matrix ions and achieve more chromatographic peaks was conducted to rapidly screen the diterpenoids. The results demonstrated that stepwise DPIs were capable of simplifying the workload in data post-processing and the effective acquisition of low abundance compounds. Subsequently, DPIs and MS/MS fragment patterns were adopted to identify the targeted diterpenoids. As a result, 381 diterpenoids were unambiguously or tentatively identified, while 141 of them with completely new molecular weights were potential new diterpenoids for Scutellaria barbata. These results demonstrate that the developed stepwise DPIs filtering method could be employed as an efficient, reliable, and valuable strategy to screen and identify the diterpenoid profile in Scutellaria barbata. This might accelerate and simplify target constituent profiling from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) extracts.     

The Luminescence of The Phosphor Sr_2ZrO_4 with One-dimensional Chains Structure

IntroductionThenumberofzirconateswhichcanbeexcitedbyconventionalUVexcitation(X>240urn)issmall,sothatzirconateemissioniseasilyoverlooked.SomecompoundswhichabsorbcoventionalUVradiation.ig.ZrO,andBaZrO,(240urn)donotluminenceowingtoenergymigration=.Ontheotherhand,althoughseveralzircinatessuchasZrP,O,:.BaZrSi,O,'andSrZrSi=O,'showefficientUVzirconateemission(around300"m),theirexcitationwavelengthsareshorterthanusual(200"m).Moreover.theirluminescenceareatverylowtemperature(4.2K),whichlimits…     

衍生荧光法测定盐酸西布曲明

通过衍生反应，建立了用荧光光度法测定盐酸西布曲明的新方法。并对衍生体系、反应条件、产物稳定性等进行了研究。实验确定丙二酸和乙酸酐混合试剂与盐酸西布曲明在75℃的水浴中加热15min，所得产物发射强荧光，最大激发波长λcx=456nm，最大发射波长λem=496nm。在上述波长下，荧光强度与盐酸西布曲明的质量浓度在0．11～9．5μg／mL范围内呈良好的线性关系，检出限为13．4ng／mL，标准加入回收率在95．4％～104．2％。用于曲美胶囊中盐酸西布曲明的测定。     

Colloidal woodpile structure: three-dimensional photonic crystal with a dual periodicity

With planar photolithography and self-assembly techniques, multilayer colloidal crystals with a woodpile structure were fabricated. They represent a new kind of photonic crystals, that is, three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals with a dual periodicity; one comes from the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure within the colloidal crystal strips and the other one results from the periodic arrangement of the colloidal crystal strips.     

新型L-羟脯氨酸聚合物键合手性固定相的制备及对手性化合物的拆分

以单分散亲水性交联聚甲基丙烯酸环氧丙酯-甲基丙烯酸乙二醇双酯(PGMA/EDMA)树脂为载体,制备新型L-羟脯氨酸聚合物键合高效手性配体交换固定相。该固定相在配体交换分离模式下,以0.2mol/LNaAc和0.1mmol/LCu(Ac)2水溶液(pH5.2)为流动相,柱温为30℃～50℃,对衍生和非衍生的D,L-氨基酸和α-羟基酸等9种手性化合物进行了高效液相色谱拆分。详细考察了流动相pH值、温度、流速和进样量对手性分离的影响,选择了合适的色谱分离条件。结果表明,所拆分的9种手性化合物,有5种手性化合物能得到基线分离,最好的分离因子α=2.32。     

离子色谱法测定威力酸中的有机酸

采用离子排斥分离,电导检测模式,对威力酸中的4种有机酸成份进行分离测定。将威力酸样品通过萃取、洗涤、过滤之后进样,可以测定其柠檬酸、乳酸、苹果酸、富马酸4种有机酸,在一定的色谱条件下,4种阴离子都具有很好的线性和较低的检出限。威力酸中的柠檬酸,乳酸,苹果酸,富马酸的检出限分别是0.10、0.14、0.30和0.12μg/L,线性相关系数r2在0.9997~0.9999范围内,样品中待测离子峰面积的RSD在4.3%以下(n=10),回收率在94%~105%之间。采用抑制电导的离子色谱法是分析威力酸中的有机酸成份的高效与准确的方法。     

近红外光谱法研究升温导致的尼龙1010结晶区域的变化

采用近红外光谱技术和二维相关分析法研究尼龙1010膜在升温过程中的结构变化. 为了排除非晶区域酰胺基团的影响, 事先对尼龙1010的样品膜进行了氘代, 并测量了其最终氘代率. 结果证明, 尼龙1010的结晶区域在升温过程中被逐渐破坏, 首先是其主链碳氢结构发生调整, 进一步影响到结合酰胺, 导致氢键作用减弱并最后生成自由胺基.