Effects of Shugan-Jianpi Recipe on the Expression of the p38 MAPK/NF-κB Signaling Pathway in the Hepatocytes of NAFLD Rats

Background: In traditional Chinese medicine, the Shugan-Jianpi recipe is often used in the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aimed to explore the mechanism of the Shugan-Jianpi recipe in relation to rats with NAFLD induced by a high-fat diet. Methods: Rats were randomly divided into eight groups: normal group (NG), model group (MG), low-dose Chaihu–Shugan–San group (L-CG), high-dose Chaihu–Shugan–San group (H-CG), low-dose Shenling–Baizhu–San group (L-SG), high-dose Shenling–Baizhu–San group (H-SG), low dose of integrated-recipes group (L-IG), and high dose of integrated-recipes group (H-IG). After 26 weeks, a lipid profile, aspartate, and alanine aminotransferases in serum were detected. The serum levels of inflammatory factors including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were analyzed using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Hepatic pathological changes were observed with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and oil red O staining. The expression of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway was detected by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting. Results: A pathological section revealed that NAFLD rats have been successfully reproduced. Compared with the model group, each treatment group had different degrees of improvement. The Shugan-Jianpi recipe can inhibit the serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in NAFLD rats. The expression of mRNA and a protein related to the p38 MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway were markedly decreased as a result of the Shugan-Jianpi recipe. Conclusions: The Shugan-Jianpi recipe could attenuate NAFLD progression, and its mechanism may be related to the suppression of the p38 MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway in hepatocytes

Prevention of Nonalcoholic Hepatic Steatosis by Shenling Baizhu Powder: Involvement of Adiponectin-Induced Inhibition of Hepatic SREBP-1c

Background. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common chronic liver disease worldwide, and its incidence is increasing annually, but there is currently no specific drug for treating NAFLD. Shenling Baizhu powder (SL) is a safe herbal compound commonly used in clinical practice. Our previous research has shown that SL has the effect of preventing NAFLD, but its specific mechanism has not been determined. In this study, the potential mechanism of SL on NAFLD was explored by in vivo experiments. Methods. Wistar rats fed a choline-deficient amino acid-defined diet (CDAA) were treated with SL for 8 weeks. Then, serum samples were collected to obtain biochemical indicators; adipose tissue and liver samples were collected for pathological detection; a moorFLPI-2 blood flow imager was used to measure liver microcirculation blood flow, and a rat cytokine array was used to screen potential target proteins. The expression of liver adiponectin/SREBP-1c pathway-related proteins was determined by Western blotting. Results. SL effectively reduced the liver wet weight, as well as the levels of total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) in the liver, and ameliorated liver injury in CDAA-fed rats. Pathological examinations showed that SL markedly reduced liver lipid droplets and improved liver lipid accumulation. In addition, the detection of liver blood flow showed that SL increased liver microcirculation in CDAA-fed rats. Through the cytokine array, a differentially expressed cytokine, namely, adiponectin, was screened in the liver. Western blotting assays showed that SL increased the expression of adiponectin and phosphoacetyl-CoA Carboxylase (p-ACC) in the liver and decreased the expression of steroid regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and fatty acid synthase (FAS). Conclusion. These results suggest that SL can increase the levels of adiponectin in the liver and serum and can inhibit the expression of SREBP-1c, thereby regulating systemic lipid metabolism and reducing liver lipid accumulation

Agro-Based Spent Mushroom Compost Substrates Improve Soil Properties and Microbial Diversity in Greenhouse Tomatoes

Spent mushroom compost (SMC) substrates are commonly used as growth media for greenhouse crops and horticulture production. This study aimed to investigate the responses of physiochemical soil properties, enzyme activities, and microbial community compositions to different cultivation durations and SMC soil treatments on tomatoes. The experiment included the following treatments: SMC substrate and the surrounding soil after planting at 1, 3, and 7 years and comparing control treatments including non-planting SMC substrates and continuous mono-cropping soil. The results revealed that the SMC substrates had higher contents of total N P and organic C nutrients than the surrounding soil treatments. The physicochemical soil properties and soil enzyme activities of the SMC substrates were significantly decreased with longer cultivation duration. Microbial alpha diversity was higher in the SMC substrates regardless of cultivation duration than in the control treatments. It was observed that many beneficial microbes, such as bacteria of the Deinococcus-Thermus, Halanaerobiaeota, and Nitrospirae phyla, and the fungi of the Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Chytridiomycota phyla were enriched in the SMC substrates. The SMC substrate and surrounding soil had enriched several potentially beneficial microorganism genera such as the bacterial Saccharimonadales, Gaiella, Bacillus, and the fungal Thermomyces, Kernia, and Mortierella. Therefore, the agro-based SMC substrate grooved cultivation system is recommended as an environmentally compatible practice for tomato growth in the greenhouse

Comparative Plastomes of <i>Curcuma alismatifolia</i> (Zingiberaceae) Reveal Diversified Patterns among 56 Different Cut-Flower Cultivars

Curcuma alismatifolia (Zingiberaceae) is an ornamental species with high economic value due to its recent rise in popularity among floriculturists. Cultivars within this species have mixed genetic backgrounds from multiple hybridization events and can be difficult to distinguish via morphological and histological methods alone. Given the need to improve identification resources, we carried out the first systematic study using plastomic data wherein genomic evolution and phylogenetic relationships from 56 accessions of C. alismatifolia were analyzed. The newly assembled plastomes were highly conserved and ranged from 162,139 bp to 164,111 bp, including 79 genes that code for proteins, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. The A/T motif was the most common of SSRs in the assembled genomes. The Ka/Ks values of most genes were less than 1, and only two genes had Ka/Ks values above 1, which were rps15 (1.15), and ndhl (1.13) with petA equal to 1. The sequence divergence between different varieties of C. alismatifolia was large, and the percentage of variation in coding regions was lower than that in the non-coding regions. Such data will improve cultivar identification, marker assisted breeding, and preservation of germplasm resources

Manipulation of the rhizosphere microbial community through application of a new bio-organic fertilizer improves watermelon quality and health

<div><p>Bio-organic fertilizers (BOFs) combine functional microbes with a suitable substrate and have been shown to effectively suppress soil-borne diseases and promote plant growth. Here, we developed a novel bio-organic fertilizer (BOF) by fermentation of a cow plus chicken manure (M) compost using Fen-liquor Daqu (FLD) as a fermentation starter and compared the compositions of bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil of watermelon plants after treatment with different fertilizers. Further, we aimed to explore the mechanisms underlying plant-promoting and disease (<i>Fusarium</i> wilt)-suppressing activities of each rhizosphere microbial community. The microbial communities of soil amended with cow plus chicken manure compost (S+M), soil amended with the BOF (S+BOF), and untreated control soil (S) without plants were analyzed through sequence analysis using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The results showed that a new microbial community was formed in the manure compost after fermentation by the Daqu. Application of the BOF to the soil induced remarkable changes in the rhizosphere microbial communities, with increased bacterial diversity and decreased fungal diversity. Most importantly, S+BOF showed the lowest abundance of <i>Fusarium</i>. Moreover, watermelon quality was higher (<i>P</i> < 0.05) in the S+BOF than in the S+M treatment. Thus, application of the BOF favorably altered the composition of the rhizosphere microbial community, suppressing <i>Fusarium</i> wilt disease and promoting plant quality.</p></div

Manipulation of the rhizosphere microbial community through application of a new bio-organic fertilizer improves watermelon quality and health - Fig 3

<p>PLSDA of the bacterial (a, b) and fungal (c, d) communities under the different treatments.</p

Manipulation of the rhizosphere microbial community through application of a new bio-organic fertilizer improves watermelon quality and health - Fig 1

<p>Relative abundances of bacterial (a) and fungal (b) phyla under each treatment.</p

Manipulation of the rhizosphere microbial community through application of a new bio-organic fertilizer improves watermelon quality and health - Fig 4

<p>RDA of bacterial (a) and fungal (b) phyla for individual samples of soils treated with the newly developed BOF (S+BOF; blue) and cow plus chicken manure compost (S+M; red).</p