Studies of the past decade have increased our understanding of the role of adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity and obesity-related insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Although adipose tissue is the body's largest pool of free cholesterol, adipocytes have limited activity in cholesterol synthetic pathway. Thus, the majority of adipocyte cholesterol originates from circulating lipoproteins. To maintain cholesterol homeostasis, adipocytes have developed multiple pathways for cholesterol efflux. Several transcriptional factors, such as sterol regulatory element-binding proteins and liver X receptors may be responsible for the regulation of cholesterol homeostasis in adipocytes. Most notably, because altering cholesterol balance profoundly modifies adipocyte metabolism in a way resembling that seen in hypertrophied adipocytes, cholesterol imbalance is recognized as a characteristic for enlarged adipocytes per se in the obese state. In addition, plasma membrane cholesterol normalization by chromium picolinate can fully restore insulin-stimulated glucose transport, further supporting the role of the adipocyte cholesterol imbalance in obesity and insulin resistance.

Aim To explore the effects of Radix Sophorae Flavescentis carbonisata-based carbon dots (RSFC-CDs) on an ethanol-induced acute gastric ulcer rat model. Methods The structure, optical properties, functional groups and elemental composition of RSFC-CDs synthesized by one-step pyrolysis were characterized. The gastric protective effects of RSFC-CDs were evaluated and confirmed by applying a rat model of ethanol-induced acute gastric ulcers. The underlying mechanisms were investigated through the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signalling pathway and oxidative stress. Results RSFC-CDs with a diameter ranging from 2–3 nm mainly showed gastric protective effects by reducing the levels of NF-κB, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) to inhibit ethanol-induced inflammation and oxidative stress. Conclusion RSFC-CDs have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects, making them promising for application in ethanol-induced gastric injury.

Background Carbon dots (CDs) with multifaceted advantages have provided hope for development brand-new nanodrug for treating thorny diseases. This study developed a green and simple calcination method to prepare novel CDs as promising drug for psoriasis treatment. The as-prepared CDs using Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex (PCC) as sole precursor were characterized by a series of methods, mainly including electron microscopy, optical technology and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results Results displayed that fluorescence (Quantum yield = 5.63%) and nontoxic PCC-based CDs (PCC-CDs) with abundant chemical groups exhibited solubility and tiny sizes at average of (1.93 ± 0.53) nm, which may be beneficial for its inherent biological activity. Moreover, by using the typical imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like skin mouse model, we firstly demonstrated the pronounced anti-psoriasis activity of as-prepared PCC-CDs on ameliorating the appearance, psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores as well as histopathological morphology of both back skin tissues and right ears in IMQ-induced mouse. Further potential mechanisms behind the anti-psoriasis activities may be related to suppress M1 polarization and relatively promote M2 polarization of macrophage both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion These results suggested that PCC-CDs have potential to be an anti-psoriasis candidate for clinical applications to treat psoriasis, which not only provided an evidence for further broadening the biological application of CDs, but also provided a potential hope for application nanodrugs to treat thorny diseases. Graphic Abstract

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