Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is an endogenous lipid mediator with powerful anti-inflammatory and analgesic functions. PEA can be hydrolyzed by a lysosomal enzyme N-acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA), which is highly expressed in macrophages and other immune cells. The pharmacological inhibition of NAAA activity is a potential therapeutic strategy for inflammation-related diseases. Fucoxanthinol (FXOH) is a marine carotenoid from brown seaweeds with various beneficial effects. However, the anti-inflammatory effects and mechanism of action of FXOH in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the role of FXOH in the NAAA–PEA pathway and the anti-inflammatory effects based on this mechanism. In vitro results showed that FXOH can directly bind to the active site of NAAA protein and specifically inhibit the activity of NAAA enzyme. In an LPS-induced inflammatory model in macrophages, FXOH pretreatment significantly reversed the LPS-induced downregulation of PEA levels. FXOH also substantially attenuated the mRNA expression of inflammatory factors, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and markedly reduced the production of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and nitric oxide (NO). Moreover, the inhibitory effect of FXOH on NO induction was significantly abolished by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPAR-α) inhibitor GW6471. All these findings demonstrated that FXOH can prevent LPS-induced inflammation in macrophages, and its mechanisms may be associated with the regulation of the NAAA-PEA-PPAR-α pathway.

A new certified reference material (CRM) of D-mannitol (GBW(E) 100681) has been developed in this study. We describe the preparation, structure determination, characterization, homogeneity study, stability study, as well as uncertainty estimation. The main component was 99.91% ± 0.01%. The moisture content of the candidate CRM was 0.036% ± 0.002%, as measured by Karl Fischer titration. The nonvolatile and volatile impurities in the candidate CRM were all much less than 0.01%, which was determined by the ICP–MS and headspace GC–FID methods, respectively. The purity of the D-mannitol CRM was 99.9% ± 1.1% (k = 2), as measured by the two independent approaches involving the mass balance method (MB) and quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance technique (qNMR). The D-mannitol CRM was stable during the monitoring period for each temperature. It is stable for up to 48 months at room temperature and 28 days at 50 °C. The uncertainty was evaluated by combining the contributions from characterization, homogeneity, and stability. The developed D-mannitol CRM would effectively support method validation and proficiency testing, as well as effectively guarantee the accuracy, reliability, and comparability of results.

Background: Much attention has been given to venous thromboembolism (VTE) disease, and many guidelines for prophylaxis have been published. However, there are few published data on patients who underwent thoracotomy. This study is to compare the effect of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) combined mechanical approaches with mechanical approaches alone in prevention of VTE in the post thoracotomy cancer patients. Methods: This study used a prospective, randomized-controlled design. Patients with cancer who were scheduled for thoracotomy were divided into two groups: group A and group B. In group A, patients were given intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) and elastic stockings (ES) postoperatively. Additionally, at 24 hours post-operation, patients were subcutaneously injected with LMWH calcium (nadroparin calcium; GlaxoSmithKline, China) for 7 days. In group B, patients were only given postoperative IPC and ES. The primary end points were incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and the PE severity index (PESI) of PE patients. The secondary end points were hemoglobin (HGB), platelet (PLT), D-dimer, the PO2/FiO2 ratio (P/F) at postoperative day (POD) 7, the chest drainage time (CDT) and the length of stay (LOS) in hospital after operation. Results: A total of 90 patients were included in the final data analysis (40 patients in group A and 50 patients in group B). At POD7, the incidence of PE, DVT and PESI was 17.50%, 5.00% and 102.14±9.87, respectively, in group A. And 8.00%, 8.00% and 97.00±4.24, respectively, in group B. There were no significant differences between two groups (all P values were >0.05). There were no significant differences of HGB, PLT, D-dimer and P/F between two groups at the 7th day post operation (all P value >0.05). Conclusions: LMWH combined mechanical prophylaxis did not significant reduced the rate of VTE in thoracotomy cancer patients.