Nephrotoxicity of Herbal Products in Europe—A Review of an Underestimated Problem

Currently in Europe, despite the many advances in production technology of synthetic drugs, the interest in natural herbal medicines continues to increase. One of the reasons for their popular use is the assumption that natural equals safe. However, herbal medicines contain pharmacologically active ingredients, some of which have been associated with adverse effects. Kidneys are particularly susceptible to injury induced by toxins, including poisonous constituents from medicinal plants. The most recognized herb-induced kidney injury is aristolochic acid nephropathy connected with misuse of certain Traditional Chinese herbal medicines. Data concerning nephrotoxicity of plant species of European origin are scarce. Here, we critically review significant data of the nephrotoxicity of several plants used in European phytotherapy, including Artemisia herba-alba, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Euphorbia paralias, and Aloe). Causative mechanisms and factors predisposing to intoxications from the use of herbs are discussed. The basic intention of this review is to improve pharmacovigilance of herbal medicine, especially in patients with chronic kidney diseases.     

Clinical Significance of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Association with Hormone Receptor Expression Patterns in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Hormone receptor expression patterns often correlate with infiltration of specific lymphocytes in tumors. Specifically, the presence of specific tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) with particular hormone receptor expression is reportedly associated with breast cancer, however, this has not been revealed in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Therefore, we investigated the association between hormone receptor expression and TILs in EOC. Here we found that ERα, AR, and GR expression increased in EOC, while PR was significantly reduced and ERβ expression showed a reduced trend compared to normal epithelium. Cluster analysis indicated poor disease-free survival (DFS) in AR+/GR+/PR+ subgroup (triple dominant group); while the Cox proportional-hazards model highlighted the triple dominant group as an independent prognostic factor for DFS. In addition, significant upregulation of FoxP3+ TILs, PD-1, and PD-L1 was observed in the triple dominant group compared to other groups. NanoString analyses further suggested that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and/or NF-κB signaling pathways were activated with significant upregulation of RELA, MAP3K5, TNFAIP3, BCL2L1, RIPK1, TRAF2, PARP1, and AKT1 in the triple dominant EOC group. The triple dominant subgroup correlates with poor prognosis in EOC. Moreover, the TNF and/or NF-κB signaling pathways may be responsible for hormone-mediated inhibition of the immune microenvironment.     

Identification of the Catalytic Residues in the Cyclase Domain of the Class IV Lanthipeptide Synthetase SgbL

Lanthipeptides belong to the family of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) and are subdivided into different classes based on their processing enzymes. The three-domain class IV lanthipeptide synthetases (LanL enzymes) consist of N-terminal lyase, central kinase, and C-terminal cyclase domains. While the catalytic residues of the kinase domains (mediating ATP-dependent Ser/Thr phosphorylations) and the lyase domains (carrying out subsequent phosphoserine/phosphothreonine (pSer/pThr) eliminations to yield dehydroalanine/dehydrobutyrine (Dha/Dhb) residues) have been characterized previously, such studies are missing for LanL cyclase domains. To close this gap of knowledge, this study reports on the identification and validation of the catalytic residues in the cyclase domain of the class IV lanthipeptide synthetase SgbL, which facilitate the nucleophilic attacks by Cys thiols on Dha/Dhb residues for the formation of β-thioether crosslinks.     

宝钢高速线材轧机的产品现状及展望

介绍了具有当前国际线材生产先进水平的宝钢高速线材轧机的产品特点，及该轧机自投产至今的产品开发情况，并对今后新产品开发工作进行了展望。     

牙科钛及钛合金表面烤瓷研究进展

介绍了中国钛工业发展的历史，钛的资源和钛的应用情况以及钛合金发展所取得的进展，中国钛工业经历了４０余年的研究和发展，目前产能已达到年产３６５０ｔ海绵钛和２８００ｔ钛加工材的生产能力，并建立了一个从海绵钛生产到钛锭熔炼，铸造，加工及钛设备制造的完整的钛工业体系，钛材已被广泛用於化学，宇航，航空等各个工业部门。中国已成长为世界上一个重要的钛工业国，同时还总结了中国钛工业发展的经验和教训；展望了中国钛工     

建筑供排水用聚丙烯管道(PP-R)特性简析

PP -R管道具有质轻、连接方便、良好耐热性和较小导热系数、耐腐蚀且管道阻力小等优点 ,属绿色产品 ,本文对施工过程中就PP -R管与混凝土的粘结不密、抗紫外性能差等问题提出了相应的处理措施     

聚碳酸酯的热降解

综述了聚碳酸酯的热稳定性及其影响因素,并详细论述了一些添加剂如偶联剂甲基三甲氧基硅烷、钛酸四丁酯、阻燃剂二苯砜磺酸钾(KSS)、聚氨丙基苯基倍半硅氧烷(PAPSQ)等对聚碳酸酯热稳定性的影响,阐述了Kissinger法和Ozawa法等聚合物热降解动力学的分析方法。重点介绍了近期国内外有关聚碳酸酯热降解产物和热降解机理方面的研究成果。     

高性能水泥基材料及其精细制品的发展

高性能水泥基材料及其精细制品已成为当代胶凝亲的重要研究方向，本文介绍了该方向理论研究与技术研究取得的主要进展，并对其涵义、研究内容及发展进行了探讨。     

我国甲烷氯化物产品成本核算规程的探讨

从核算规程修改的原理、原则及内容等方面对甲烷氯化物产品成本核算规程的修改、规范和完善情况进行了介绍。     

Quantitation of volatile compounds in heated triolein by static headspace capillary gas chromatography/infrared spectroscopy-mass spectrometry

Static headspace and capillary gas chromatography/infrared spectroscopy-mass spectrometry were used to collect, separate, identify and quantitate the oxidative and thermal decomposition products in heated triolein. Approximately 4 L of triolein was heated in a deep-fat fryer at 190°C for 12 h each day for a total of 60 h, until it contained>-20% polymeric material. The concentration of heptane and octane increased after 12 h heating, then decreased upon further heating, while the concentration of volatile aldehydes decreased gradually during heating. After 12 h of heating, the concentrations of the major volatiles changed as follows: heptane (16.36 to 30.17 ppm), octane (24.48 to 40.77 ppm), heptanal (21.68 ppm to 9.11 ppm), octanal (35.53 to 36.64 ppm), nonanal (68.95 to 43.16 ppm), (E)-2-decenal (135.00 to 89.00 ppm) and (E)-2-undecenal (88.50 to 61.00 ppm). After 60 h of heating, when the oil contained over 20% polymeric material, the concentrations of heptane, octane, heptanal, octanol, nonanal, (E)-2-decenal and (E)-2-undecenal were 5.16, 4.39, 5.45, 7.02, 18.07, 12.50 and 6.00 ppm, respectively.