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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is highly prevalent globally and includes chronic liver diseases ranging from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The neutrophil-to-albumin ratio (NPAR) is a cost-effective, readily available biomarker of inflammation used to assess cancer and cardiovascular disease prognosis, and it may be of predictive value in NAFLD. This study was to evaluate the associations between the NPAR, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and the presence of NAFLD or advanced liver fibrosis, and to assess the predictive value of the NPAR in NAFLD in a nationally representative database. This population-based, cross-sectional, retrospective study analyzed the secondary data of adults with NAFLD or advanced liver fibrosis extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database 2017–2018. NHANES participants with complete information of vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) were enrolled. A logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associations between the variables in the participants with and without NAFLD or advanced liver fibrosis. The mean values of the lymphocyte counts, neutrophil counts, NPAR, aspartate aminotransaminase (AST), alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), total cholesterol, triglycerides, and HbA1c were significantly higher in the participants with NAFLD than in those without NAFLD or advanced liver fibrosis. The mean blood albumin levels of the subjects without NAFLD or advancing fibrosis were considerably greater than those of the individuals with these conditions. The mean values of the NLR, NPAR, AST, ALT, triglycerides, lymphocyte count, neutrophil count, and HbA1c were significantly higher in patients with advanced fibrosis than in those without advanced fibrosis. A multivariate analysis showed that per unit increases in both the NLR and NPAR were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing NAFLD, while neither the NLR nor NPAR was significantly associated with higher odds of advanced fibrosis. In conclusion, the novel biomarker NPAR demonstrates a good association with NAFLD, along with participants’ clinical characteristics, in a nationwide population. The NPAR may serve as a biomarker for NAFLD and help clinicians refine the diagnosis and treatment of chronic liver disease.

In this study, we investigate the ameliorating functions of QDYD (MSP2), ARW (MSP8), DDGGK (MSP10), YPAGP (MSP13) and DPAGP (MSP18) from monkfish swim bladders on an FFA-induced NAFLD model of HepG2 cells. The lipid-lowering mechanisms revealed that these five oligopeptides can up-regulate the expression of phospho-AMP-activated protein kinase ( -AMPK) proteins to inhibit the expression of the sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) proteins on increasing lipid synthesis and up-regulating the expression of the PPAP-α and CPT-1 proteins on promoting the β-oxidation of fatty acids. Moreover, QDYD (MSP2), ARW (MSP8), DDGGK (MSP10), YPAGP (MSP13) and DPAGP (MSP18) can significantly inhibit reactive oxygen species' (ROS) production, promote the activities of intracellular antioxidases (superoxide dismutase, SOD; glutathione peroxidase, GSH-PX; and catalase, CAT) and bring down the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) derived from lipid peroxidation. Further investigations revealed that the regulation of these five oligopeptides on oxidative stress was achieved through activating the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway to raise the expression levels of the heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) protein and downstream antioxidant proteases. Therefore, QDYD (MSP2), ARW (MSP8), DDGGK (MSP10), YPAGP (MSP13) and DPAGP (MSP18) could serve as candidate ingredients to develop functional products for treating NAFLD.

A consistently processed annual global nighttime lights time series (2012–2019) was produced using monthly cloud-free radiance averages made from low light imaging day/night band (DNB) data collected by the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The processing steps are modified from the original methods developed to produce annual nighttime lights products from nightly data. Only two years of VIIRS nighttime lights (VNL) were produced with the V.1 methods: 2015 and 2016. Here we report on methods used to produce a V.2 VNL time series from the monthly averages with filtering to remove extraneous features such as biomass burning, aurora, and background. In this case, outlier removal is achieved with a twelve-month median, which discards high and low radiance outliers, thus isolating the background to a narrow range of radiances under 1 nW/cm2/sr. Background areas with no detectable lighting are further isolated using a statistical measure of texture, 3 × 3 data range (DR). The DR threshold for zeroing out background rises as the number of cloud-free observations falls. The V.2 method extends the temporal leverage in the noise filtering by developing the DR threshold from a multiyear maximum DR and a multiyear percent cloud-free grid. Additional noise filtering is achieved by zeroing out grid cells that have low average radiances (<0.6 nW/cm2/sr) and detection in only one or two years out of eight. The spatial extent and average radiance levels are compared for the V.1 and V.2 2015 VNL. For the vast majority of grid cells, the average radiances are nearly the same in the two products. However, the V.2 product has more areas of dim lighting detected. The key advantages of the V.2 time series include consistent processing and threshold levels across all years, thus optimizing the set for change detection analyses.

In the study, papain was chosen from five proteases to hydrolyze proteins of monkfish swim bladders for effectively utilizing monkfish (Lophius litulon) processing byproducts, and the hydrolysis conditions of papain were optimized as hydrolysis temperature of 65 °C, pH 7.5, enzyme dose 2.5% and time 5 h using single-factor and orthogonal experiments. Eighteen peptides were purified from the swim bladder hydrolysate of monkfish by ultrafiltration and gel permeation chromatography methods and identified as YDYD, QDYD, AGPAS, GPGPHGPSGP, GPK, HRE, GRW, ARW, GPTE, DDGGK, IGPAS, AKPAT, YPAGP, DPT, FPGPT, GPGPT, GPT and DPAGP, respectively. Among eighteen peptides, GRW and ARW showed significant DPPH· scavenging activities with EC50 values of 1.053 ± 0.003 and 0.773 ± 0.003 mg/mL, respectively; YDYD, QDYD, GRW, ARW and YPAGP revealed significantly HO· scavenging activities with EC50 values of 0.150 ± 0.060, 0.177 ± 0.035, 0.201 ± 0.013, 0.183 ± 0.0016 and 0.190 ± 0.010 mg/mL, respectively; YDYD, QDYD, ARW, DDGGK and YPAGP have significantly O2−· scavenging capability with EC50 values of 0.126 ± 0.0005, 0.112 ± 0.0028, 0.127 ± 0.0002, 0.128 ± 0.0018 and 0.107 ± 0.0002 mg/mL, respectively; and YDYD, QDYD and YPAGP showed strong ABTS+· scavenging ability with EC50 values of 3.197 ± 0.036, 2.337 ± 0.016 and 3.839 ± 0.102 mg/mL, respectively. YDYD, ARW and DDGGK displayed the remarkable ability of lipid peroxidation inhibition and Ferric-reducing antioxidant properties. Moreover, YDYD and ARW can protect Plasmid DNA and HepG2 cells against H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Furthermore, eighteen isolated peptides had high stability under temperatures ranging from 25–100 °C; YDYD, QDYD, GRW and ARW were more sensitive to alkali treatment, but DDGGK and YPAGP were more sensitive to acid treatment; and YDYD showed strong stability treated with simulated GI digestion. Therefore, the prepared antioxidant peptides, especially YDYD, QDYD, GRW, ARW, DDGGK and YPAGP from monkfish swim bladders could serve as functional components applied in health-promoting products because of their high-antioxidant functions.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and persistent inflammatory skin disease characterized by eczematous lesions and itching, and it has become a serious health problem. However, the common clinical treatments provide limited relief and are accompanied by adverse effects. Therefore, there is a need to develop novel and effective therapies to treat AD. Neferine is a small molecule compound isolated from the green embryo of the mature seeds of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera). It has a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid structure. Relevant studies have shown that neferine has many pharmacological and biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, and anti-diabetic activities. However, there are very few studies on neferine in the skin, especially the related effects on inflammatory skin diseases. In this study, we proved that it has the potential to be used in the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Through in vitro studies, we found that neferine inhibited the expression of cytokines and chemokines in TNF-α/IFN-γ-stimulated human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells, and it reduced the phosphorylation of MAPK and the NF-κB signaling pathway. Through in vivo experiments, we used 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) to induce atopic dermatitis-like skin inflammation in a mouse model. Our results show that neferine significantly decreased the skin barrier damage, scratching responses, and epidermal hyperplasia induced by DNCB. It significantly decreased transepidermal water loss (TEWL), erythema, blood flow, and ear thickness and increased surface skin hydration. Moreover, it also inhibited the expression of cytokines and the activation of signaling pathways. These results indicate that neferine has good potential as an alternative medicine for the treatment of atopic dermatitis or other skin-related inflammatory diseases.

Cardiac arterial bulbs of Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) are rich in elastin, and its hydrolysates are high quality raw materials for daily cosmetics. In order to effectively utilizing Skipjack tuna processing byproducts-cardiac arterial bulbs and to prepare peptides with high antioxidant activity, pepsin was selected from six proteases for hydrolyzing proteins, and the best hydrolysis conditions of pepsin were optimized. Using ultrafiltration and chromatographic methods, eleven antioxidant peptides were purified from protein hydrolysate of tuna cardiac arterial bulbs. Four tripeptides (QGD, PKK, GPQ and GLN) were identified as well as seven pentapeptides (GEQSN, GEEGD, YEGGD, GEGER, GEGQR, GPGLM and GDRGD). Three out of them, namely the tripeptide PKK and the pentapeptides YEGGD and GPGLM exhibited the highest radical scavenging activities on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl, 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and superoxide anion assays. They also showed to protect plasmid DNA and HepG2 cells against H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Furthermore, they exhibited high stability under temperature ranged from 20-100 °C, pH values ranged from 3-11, and they simulated gastrointestinal digestion for 240 min. These results suggest that the prepared eleven antioxidant peptides from cardiac arterial bulbs, especially the three peptides PKK, YEGGD, and GPGLM, could serve as promising candidates in health-promoting products due to their high antioxidant activity and their stability.

A satellite survey of the cumulative radiant emissions from electric lighting across China reveals a large radiance decline in lighting from December 2019 to February 2020—the peak of the lockdown established to suppress the spread of COVID-19 infections. To illustrate the changes, an analysis was also conducted on a reference set from a year prior to the pandemic. In the reference period, the majority (62%) of China’s population lived in administrative units that became brighter in March 2019 relative to December 2018. The situation reversed in February 2020, when 82% of the population lived in administrative units where lighting dimmed as a result of the pandemic. The dimming has also been demonstrated with difference images for the reference and pandemic image pairs, scattergrams, and a nightly temporal profile. The results indicate that it should be feasible to monitor declines and recovery in economic activity levels using nighttime lighting as a proxy.

For making full use of aquatic by-products to produce high value-added products, Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) cartilages were degreased, mineralized, and separately hydrolyzed by five kinds of proteases. The collagen hydrolysate (SCH) generated by Alcalase showed the strongest 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH·) and hydroxide radical (HO·) scavenging activity. Subsequently, thirteen antioxidant peptides (SCP1-SCP3) were isolated from SCH, and they were identified as GPTGED, GEPGEQ, GPEGPAG, VPPQD, GLEDHA, GDRGAEG, PRGFRGPV, GEYGFE, GFIGFNG, PSVSLT, IELFPGLP, LRGEAGL, and RGEPGL with molecular weights of 574.55, 615.60, 583.60, 554.60, 640.64, 660.64, 885.04, 700.70, 710.79, 602.67, 942.12, 714.82, and 627.70 Da, respectively. GEYGFE, PSVSLT, and IELFPGLP showed the highest scavenging activity on DPPH· (EC50: 1.27, 1.05, and 1.38 mg/mL, respectively) and HO· (EC50: 1.16, 0.97, and 1.63 mg/mL, respectively), inhibiting capability of lipid peroxidation, and protective functions on H2O2-damaged plasmid DNA. More importantly, GEYGFE, PSVSLT, and IELFPGLP displayed significant cytoprotection on HUVECs against H2O2 injury by regulating the endogenous antioxidant enzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) to decrease the contents of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Therefore, the research provided better technical assistance for a higher-value utilization of Siberian sturgeon cartilages and the thirteen isolated peptides—especially GEYGFE, PSVSLT, and IELFPGLP—which may serve as antioxidant additives for generating health-prone products to treat chronic diseases caused by oxidative stress.

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective function and mechanism of TCP3 (PKK), TCP6 (YEGGD) and TCP9 (GPGLM) from skipjack tuna cardiac arterial bulbs on skin photoaging using UVB-irradiated HaCaT cell model. The present results indicated that TCP3 (PKK), TCP6 (YEGGD) and TCP9 (GPGLM) had significant cytoprotective effect on UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells (p < 0.001). Hoechst 33342 staining showed that apoptosis of UV-irradiated HaCaT cells could be significantly reduced by the treatment of TCP3 (PKK), TCP6 (YEGGD) and TCP9 (GPGLM); JC-1 staining showed that TCP3 (PKK), TCP6 (YEGGD) and TCP9 (GPGLM) could protect HaCaT cells from apoptosis by restoring mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP); Furthermore, TCP3 (PKK), TCP6 (YEGGD) and TCP9 (GPGLM) could significantly down-regulate the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and reduce the expression level of the apoptosis-executing protein Caspase-3 by decreasing the expression of protein Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 (p < 0.05). The action mechanism indicated that TCP3 (PKK), TCP6 (YEGGD) and TCP9 (GPGLM) could up-regulate the expression levels of Nrf2, NQO1 and HO-1 (p < 0.05), which further increased the activity of downstream proteases (SOD, CAT and GSH-Px), and scavenged reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreased the intracellular levels of malondialdehyde (MDA). In addition, molecular docking indicated that TCP3 (PKK) and TCP6 (YEGGD) could competitively inhibit the Nrf2 binding site because they can occupy the connection site of Nrf2 by binding to the Kelch domain of Keap1 protein. TCP9 (GPGLM) was inferred to be non-competitive inhibition because it could not bind to the active site of the Kelch domain of Keap1 protein. In summary, the antioxidant peptides TCP3 (PKK), TCP6 (YEGGD) and TCP9 (GPGLM) from cardiac arterial bulbs of skipjack tuna can effectively protect HaCaT cells from UVB-irradiated damage and can be used in the development of healthy and cosmetic products to treat diseases caused by UV radiation.

The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize collagen and angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory (ACEi) peptides from the swim bladders of monkfish (Lophius litulon). Therefore, acid-soluble collagen (ASC-M) and pepsin-soluble collagen (PSC-M) with yields of 4.27 ± 0.22% and 9.54 ± 0.51%, respectively, were extracted from monkfish swim bladders using acid and enzyme methods. The ASC-M and PSC-M contained Gly (325.2 and 314.9 residues/1000 residues, respectively) as the major amino acid, but they had low imino acid content (192.5 and 188.6 residues/1000 residues, respectively) in comparison with collagen from calf skins (CSC) (216.6 residues/1000 residues). The sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) patterns and ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectrums of ASC-M and PSC-M illustrated that they were mainly composed of type I collagen. Subsequently, three ACEi peptides were isolated from a PSC-M hydrolysate prepared via a double-enzyme system (alcalase + neutrase) and identified as SEGPK (MHP6), FDGPY (MHP7) and SPGPW (MHP9), with molecular weights of 516.5, 597.6 and 542.6 Da, respectively. SEGPK, FDGPY and SPGPW displayed remarkable anti-ACE activity, with IC50 values of 0.63, 0.94 and 0.71 mg/mL, respectively. Additionally, a molecular docking assay demonstrated that the affinities of SEGPK, FDGPY and SPGPW with ACE were −7.3, −10.9 and −9.4 kcal/mol, respectively. The remarkable ACEi activity of SEGPK, FDGPY and SPGPW was due to their connection with the active pockets and/or sites of ACE via hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic force. Moreover, SEGPK, FDGPY and SPGPW could protect HUVECs by controlling levels of nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1). Therefore, this work provides an effective means for the preparation of collagens and novel ACEi peptides from monkfish swim bladders, and the prepared ACEi peptides, including SEGPK, FDGPY and SPGPW, could serve as natural functional components in the development of health care products to control hypertension.