Bazi Bushen maintains intestinal homeostasis through inhibiting TLR4/NFκB signaling pathway and regulating gut microbiota in SAMP6 mice

BACKGROUND

Bazi Bushen is a Chinese patented medicine with multiple health benefits and geroprotective effects, yet, no research has explored its effects on intestinal homeostasis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of Bazi Bushen on intestinal inflammation and the potential mechanism of gut microbiota dysbiosis and intestinal homeostasis in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 6 (SAMP6). The hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and immunohistochemistry were performed to assess the function of the intestinal mucosal barrier. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting were used to determine the level of intestinal inflammation. The aging-related β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining and Western blotting were used to measure the extent of intestinal aging. The 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) was performed to analyze the change in gut microbiota composition and distribution.

RESULTS

Bazi Bushen exerted remarkable protective effects in SAMP6, showing a regulated mucosal barrier and increased barrier integrity. It also suppressed intestinal inflammation through down-regulating pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) and inhibiting TLR4/NFκB signaling pathway (MYD88, p-p65, and TLR4). Bazi Bushen improved intestinal aging by reducing the area of SA-β-gal-positive cells and the expression of senescence markers p16, p21, and p53. In addition, Bazi Bushen effectively rebuilt the gut microbiota ecosystem by decreasing the abundance of Bacteroides and Klebsiella, whiles increasing the ratio of Lactobacillus/Bacteroides and the abundance of Akkermansia.

CONCLUSION

Our study shows that Bazi Bushen could serve as a potential therapy for maintaining intestinal homeostasis. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of zwitterionic surfactants on the separation of proteins by capillary electrophoresis

The effect of zwitterionic surfactants on capillary electrophoretic separation of proteins was investigated using an uncoated silica capillary column and different buffers containing zwitterionic surfactants. The effects of N-alkyl-N,N-dimethyl ammonio-1-propane-sulfonates on the electrophoretic mobility of three different proteins, namely albumin, lysozyme and myoglobin, were examined. The addition of N-alkyl-N,N-dimethylammonio-1-propane sulfonate in phosphate saline buffer is important in minimizing protein-capillary wall interactions, and facilitated an efficient electrophoretic mobility of myoglobin and lysozyme. The separation efficiency of proteins also depends on the injection pressure for the control of migration time and the peak sharpness. The electrophoretic conditions were applied to evaluate the separation of lysozyme, myoglobin and albumin. The zwitterion surfactants can form a dynamic coating on the capillary surface, thereby reducing the number of adsorption sites to which proteins may adsorb.

Simultaneous chromatographic analysis of eight fat-soluble vitamins in plasma

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the simultaneous analysis of eight fat-soluble vitamins including A acid, retinol and retinal, vitamins D2 and D3 together with menadione (vitamin K3) is described. The eight vitamins extracted from plasma were analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC with UV detection at 245 nm. The mobile phase was composed of methanol and ethanol (85:15, v/v) with 0.1% triethylamine. The extraction efficiency of different solvents, namely, dichloromethane, benzene, methanol, ethanol, chloroform and hexane, with or without the addition of detergents was studied. There is no single solvent system that could extract all eight vitamins in one step. A recovery study of the vitamins was performed using rabbit plasma. An average recovery for individual vitamins was about 40% or more with the described extraction methods. The absorbance response was linear at the nanogram level. The present method may be broadly applied with alternative extraction methods for the eight vitamins from different sources.