Curcumin reduced fat accumulation in \u3cem\u3eCaenorhabditis elegans\u3c/em\u3e

Curcumin, the primary bioactive substance in turmeric, is known to be associated with weight loss. In this study, we employed Caenorhabditis elegans, a well-established in vivo nematode model to explore the role of curcumin in regulating lipid metabolism. C. elegans administrated with curcumin (10, 25 and 50 μM) exhibited significantly reduced fat accumulation, along with smaller body size (width) when compared to the control, without significantly affecting the feeding behavior. Locomotive activity (average moving speed) was significantly increased by curcumin treatment, suggesting a potential increase in energy expenditure. The reduced fat accumulation by curcumin was dependent on lipogenesis-associated genes, sbp-1 (encodes the homolog of sterol response element binding proteins) and fat-6 (encodes a homolog of stearoyl-CoA desaturase), as curcumin significantly down-regulated the expression levels of these two genes and its fat reduction effect was nulled by the mutation of sbp-1 and fat-6. Additionally, the increased locomotive activity by curcumin was dependent on sbp-1. Current results suggest that curcumin decreases fat accumulation by inhibiting sbp-1/fat-6-mediated signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans

trans-Trismethoxy Resveratrol Decreased Fat Accumulation Dependent on Fat-6 and Fat-7 in Caenorhabditis Elegans

trans-Trismethoxy resveratrol (TMR) is a methyl analog of resveratrol. It is found to exhibit enhanced biological effects compared to resveratrol, such as inhibition of cancer cell growth and pro-apoptotic activities. However, the role of TMR in lipid metabolism is not fully understood. In this study, we used Caenorhabditis elegans, an in vivo nematode model which has been widely applied in disease research, including research on obesity, to investigate the effect of TMR on lipid metabolism. Treatment with TMR (100 and 200 μM) for 4 days significantly reduced triglyceride accumulation (14% and 20% reduction over the control, respectively) of C. elegans, without affecting nematode growth, food intake and reproduction. Treatment with TMR significantly downregulated stearoyl-CoA desaturase genes, fat-6 and fat-7, accompanied by a decrease in the desaturation index of fatty acids, the ratio of oleic acid to stearic acid. These results suggest that TMR inhibits fat accumulation by downregulating stearoyl-CoA desaturase in C. elegans

Natural Products in the Prevention of Metabolic Diseases: Lessons Learned from the 20th KAST Frontier Scientists Workshop

The incidence of metabolic and chronic diseases including cancer, obesity, inflammation-related diseases sharply increased in the 21st century. Major underlying causes for these diseases are inflammation and oxidative stress. Accordingly, natural products and their bioactive components are obvious therapeutic agents for these diseases, given their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Research in this area has been significantly expanded to include chemical identification of these compounds using advanced analytical techniques, determining their mechanism of action, food fortification and supplement development, and enhancing their bioavailability and bioactivity using nanotechnology. These timely topics were discussed at the 20th Frontier Scientists Workshop sponsored by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on 23 November 2019. Scientists from South Korea and the U.S. shared their recent research under the overarching theme of Bioactive Compounds, Nanoparticles, and Disease Prevention. This review summarizes presentations at the workshop to provide current knowledge of the role of natural products in the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases

USING CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS AS THE IN VIVO MODEL TO STUDY FOOD BIOACTIVES AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a free-living nematode has been widely applied for numerous disease research. In this study, we employed C. elegans as the in vivo animal model to determine the protective effects of food bioactives on obesity and aging, as well as examine the potential effect of environmental pollutants on reproductive health. trans-Trismethoxy resveratrol (TMR) is a methyl analog of resveratrol, found to exhibit enhanced biological effects over resveratrol. However, its role in lipid metabolism is not fully understood. Our results showed that TMR significantly reduced fat accumulation in C. elegans, without affecting nematode growth, food intake, and reproduction. The fat reduction effect of TMR was dependent on the stearoyl-CoA desaturase genes fat-6 and fat-7. p-Coumaric acid, a hydroxycinnamic acid presents in peanuts, carrots, and garlic, exerts many biological properties. We found that p-coumaric acid significantly reduced the intercellular reactive oxygen species levels and increased the worms’ survival under oxidative and osmosis stressed conditions. The increased oxidative resistance induced by p-coumaric acid was found to be mediated by skn-1, an ortholog of the Nrf2 transcriptional factor and enhanced osmosis resistance may due to the downregulation of osmosis regulatory gene osr-1. PFBS, a shorter chain PFAS cognate of PFOS, has been used as a safer alternative of PFOS. However, emerging evidences suggest the safety concern of PFBS, and its effect on reproductive health is still understudied. We reported that PFOS and PFBS significantly impaired the reproduction capacity of C. elegans. Additionally, the preconception exposure of PFOS and PFBS significantly altered the embryonic nutrient loading and composition, which further lead to abnormalities in growth rate, body size, and locomotive activity in F1 offspring. Though the effective dosages of PFBS is around 100 times higher than PFOS, the internal concentration of PFBS is still around 10 times lower than that of PFOS to produce similar effects of PFOS. The current research can provide useful insight to the future studies of food bioactives and environmental contaminants on human health

Durability and Improvement of Cement-Based Revetment Materials Serving in Subtidal, Intertidal, and Supratidal Environments

To improve the durability of cement-based revetment materials serving in different positions relative to the water level, slag powder and polypropylene fibers were added into cement to prepare paste, mortar, and concrete. Based on three simulated experiments of high-humidity air, dry–wet cycles-coupled chloride erosion, and complete immersion-coupled chloride erosion, the half-year durability of cement-based revetment materials was investigated. An abundant amount of Ettringite containing chloride was formed in the pores of the cement, and its formation was accelerated by dry–wet cycles. Replacing 30% of cement by slag powder and adding 0.1 vol.% of polypropylene fibers helped concrete in the intertidal zone to obtain a compressive strength of 47.58 MPa after erosion, equal to 159% of the reference. Slag powder was found to induce cement to form Friedel’s salt and C-S-H with a more amorphous structure, increasing its chemical binding ability and physical adsorption ability to chloride ions, and reduce the chloride ions’ penetration depth of concrete from 22.5 to 12.6 mm. Polypropylene fibers controlled the direction of surface cracks to be perpendicular to the specimen’s sides. These findings lay a foundation for the design of high-durability cement-based revetment materials serving in costal environments

Highly Valuable Fish Oil: Formation Process, Enrichment, Subsequent Utilization, and Storage of Eicosapentaenoic Acid Ethyl Esters

In recent years, as the demand for precision nutrition is continuously increasing, scientific studies have shown that high-purity eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester (EPA-EE) functions more efficiently than mixed omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid preparations in diseases such as hyperlipidemia, heart disease, major depression, and heart disease; therefore, the market demand for EPA-EE is growing by the day. In this paper, we attempt to review EPA-EE from a whole-manufacturing-chain perspective. First, the extraction, refining, and ethanolysis processes (fish oil and ethanol undergo transesterification) of EPA-EE are described, emphasizing the potential of green substitute technologies. Then, the method of EPA enrichment is thoroughly detailed, the pros and cons of different methods are compared, and current developments in monomer production techniques are addressed. Finally, a summary of current advanced strategies for dealing with the low oxidative stability and low bioavailability of EPA-EE is presented. In conclusion, understanding the entire production process of EPA-EE will enable us to govern each step from a macro perspective and accomplish the best use of EPA-EE in a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly way

Impact Flux on the Moon

The crust of the Moon records the complete history of collisions by different-sized projectiles from various sources since its early solidification. Planetary bodies in the inner Solar System experienced similar sources of impactors, and the Moon is an ideal witness plate for the impact history. Impact flux on the Moon connects planetary endogenic evolution with orbital dynamics of celestial bodies, and the resulting crater chronology enables remote age estimation for geological units on extraterrestrial bodies. Therefore, defining the lunar impact history has long been a core pursuit in planetary sciences. Ubiquitous impact structures on the Moon and their widespread impact melt deposits are the major agents used to untangle lunar crater chronology. Anchored by 10 successful sample return missions from the Moon, cumulative crater densities were derived for 15 geological units based on their interpreted exposure ages (~3.92 Ga to 25 Ma) and superposed crater densities. Afterword, crater production rates in the entire history of the Moon were constructed on the basis of hypothesized change patterns of impact flux. Following this commonly adapted strategy, it has been a consensus that impact flux in the first billion years of the lunar history was orders of magnitude larger than that afterward, and the latter was not only more or less stable but also punctuated by discrete spikes. However, different versions of lunar crater chronology exist because of insufficient constraints by available anchor points and widespread disagreements on both sample ages and crater densities of existing anchor points. Endeavors from various disciplines (e.g., sample analyses, remote observation, and modeling crater formation and accumulation) are making promising progresses, and future sample return missions with both optimized sampling strategy and analyzing techniques are appealed to fundamentally improve the understanding of lunar impact flux

Adequate Platelet Function Inhibition Confirmed by Two Inductive Agents Predicts Lower Recurrence of Ischemic Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack

Background. The correlation between platelet function and recurrent ischemic stroke or TIA remains uncertain. Objective. To investigate two inductive agents to detect platelet functions and assess associations with recurrent ischemic stroke/TIA. Method. The study included 738 ischemic stroke/TIA patients. On days 0, 3, and 9 after antiplatelet therapy, platelet function tests were determined by maximum aggregation rate (MAR) using a PL-11 platelet function analyzer and phase matching reagents. Two induction agents were used: arachidonic acid (AA) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP). At 3-month follow-up, recurrence of stroke/TIA was recorded. Result. Cut-off values of adequate platelet function inhibition were MARADP < 35% and MARAA < 35%. Data showed that antiplatelet therapy could reduce the maximum aggregation rate. More importantly, adequate platelet function inhibition of either MARADP or MARAA was not associated with the recurrence of stroke/TIA, but adequate platelet function inhibition of not only MARADP but also MARAA predicts lower recurrence (0/121 (0.00%) versus 18/459 (3.92%), P = 0.0188). Conclusion. The platelet function tested by PL-11 demonstrated that adequate inhibition of both MARADP and MARAA could predict lower risk of ischemic stroke/TIA recurrence