No abstract

The traditional antidepressants have a major disadvantage in delayed onset of efficacy, and the emerging fast-acting antidepressant ketamine has adverse behavioral and neurotoxic effects. Yueju pill, an herb medicine formulated eight hundred years ago by Doctor Zhu Danxi, has been popularly prescribed in China for alleviation of depression-like symptoms. Although several clinical outcome studies reported the relative short onset of antidepressant effects of Yueju, this has not been scientifically investigated. We, therefore, examined the rapid antidepressant effect of Yueju in mice and tested the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that acute administration of ethanol extract of Yueju rapidly attenuated depressive-like symptoms in learned helpless paradigm, and the antidepressant-like effects were sustained for at least 24 hours in tail suspension test in ICR mice. Additionally, Yueju, like ketamine, rapidly increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus, whereas the BDNF mRNA expression remained unaltered. Yueju rapidly reduced the phosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2), leading to desuppression of BDNF synthesis. Unlike ketamine, both the BDNF expression and eEF2 phosphorylation were revered at 24 hours after Yueju administration. This study is the first to demonstrate the rapid antidepressant effects of an herb medicine, offering an opportunity to improve therapy of depression.

Polydatin and resveratrol, as major active components in Polygonum cuspidatum, have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antitumor functions. However, the effect and mechanism of polydatin and resveratrol on enterovirus 71 (EV71) have not been reported. In this study, resveratrol revealed strong antiviral activity on EV71, while polydatin had weak effect. Neither polydatin nor resveratrol exhibited influence on viral attachment. Resveratrol could effectively inhibit the synthesis of EV71/VP1 and the phosphorylation of IKKα, IKKβ, IKKγ, IKBα, NF-κB p50 and NF-κB p65, respectively. Meanwhile, the remarkably increased secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α in EV71-infected rhabdosarcoma (RD) cells could be blocked by resveratrol. These results demonstrated that resveratrol inhibited EV71 replication and cytokine secretion in EV71-infected RD cells through blocking IKKs/NF-κB signaling pathway. Thus, resveratrol may have potent antiviral effect on EV71 infection.

With the growing demand for high energy and high power density rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, increasing research is focused on improving the output voltage of these batteries. Herein, a series of pyrrolidinium and piperidinium cations with various N-substituents (including cyanomethyl, benzyl, butyl, hexyl, and octyl groups) were synthesized and investigated with respect to their electrochemical stability under high voltages. The influence of substitutions at the N-position of pyrrolidinium and piperidinium cations on their high-voltage resistance was studied by both theoretical and experimental approaches. The voltage resistance was enhanced as the electron-donating ability of the substitutes increased. Furthermore, 1-hexyl-1methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([C 6 Py][TFSI]) exhibited the highest decomposition voltage at approximately 5.12 V and showed promising potential in a lithium-ion battery.

Clinical isolates of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) strains are being increased worldwide. Five pan-resistant K. pneumoniae strains have been isolated from respiratory and ICU wards in a Chinese hospital, and reveal strong resistance to all β-lactams, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides. Totally 27 β-lactamase genes and 2 membrane pore protein (porin) genes in 5 K. pneumoniae strains were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results indicated that all of 5 K. pneumoniae strains carried blaTEM-1 and blaDHA-1 genes, as well as base deletion and mutation of OmpK35 or OmpK36 genes. Compared with carbapenem-sensitive isolates by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), the resistant isolates markedly lacked the protein band of 34–40 kDa, which might be the outer membrane proteins of OmpK36 according to the electrophoresis mobility. In addition, the conjugation test was confirmed that blaDHA-1 mediated by plasmids could be transferred between resistant and sensitive strains. When reserpine (30 μg/mL) and carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) (50 μg/mL) were added in imipenem and meropenem, the MICs had no change against K. pneumoniae strains. These results suggest that both DHA-1 β-lactamase and loss or deficiency of porin OmpK36 may be the main reason for the cefoxitin and carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae strains in our hospital.