Food Chem. 2022 Nov 1;405(Pt A):134803. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134803. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an important indicator for fungal-infected wheat identification. This work proposes a novel approach for toxigenic Aspergillus flavus infected wheat identification through characteristic VOCs analyzed by nano-composite colorimetric sensors. Nanoparticles of poly styrene-co-acrylic acid (PSA), porous silica nanoparticles (PSN), and metal-organic framework (MOF) were combined with boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) to fabricate nano-composite colorimetric sensors. The combination mechanisms for nanoparticles and the information extracted from nano-colorimetric sensors by digital images were analyzed in the current work. Furthermore, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) were used comparatively to analyze the data from images, and toxigenic Aspergillus flavus infected wheat samples could be 100.00% correctly identified when using the optimal KNN model. This research contributes to the practical analysis of VOCs and the detection of toxigenic Aspergillus flavus infected wheat.

PMID:36371840 | DOI:10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134803

Curr Eye Res. 2021 Nov 19. doi: 10.1080/02713683.2021.2008982. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect and antifungal effect of punicalagin in murine fungal keratitis.

METHODS: We used in vitro and in vivo protocols to assess the anti-inflammatory effect and antifungal effect of punicalagin. In vitro, time kill and mycelial stain were done. In vivo, murine fungal keratitis was established and treated with PBS or PUN. clinical scores were taken on days 1, 3, and 5 post infection. The mRNA and protein levels of inflammatory factors were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot, and the number and location of macrophages were analyzed by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. Also, fungal plate counting was used to assess the antifungal effect. DCFH-DA fluorescence Probe detected the ROS level.

RESULTS: In vitro, PUN showed activity against A.fumigatus. (A.F.), with MIC90 values of 250 μg/ml, and significantly reduced A.F. biofilm formation (p<0.001). In vivo, mouse fungal keratitis model after punicalagin treatment exhibited less disease, lower clinical scores (p<0.05), lower reduced macrophage infiltrate (p<0.001), and fungal load (p<0.001) than those treated with PBS. Treatment with punicalagin also reduced the mRNA expression and protein level of pro-inflammatory factors. At the cellular level, PUN significantly reduced the mRNA expression of inflammatory factors and ROS production caused by stimulation of mycelia in RAW264.7 (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The results show that punicalagin is beneficial in the treatment of murine fungal keratitis. The mechanism of its anti-inflammatory effect was synthetical, including antifungal activity, an inhibitory effect of proinflammatory factor and macrophages, and anti-oxidation.

PMID:34797193 | DOI:10.1080/02713683.2021.2008982