Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is major cause of hand, foot and mouth disease. Large epidemics of EV71 infection have been recently reported in the Asian-Pacific region. Currently, no vaccine is available to prevent EV71 infection.

Background: Long-term cultivation of ginseng can cause severe crop disorders and soil sickness. Crop rotation is an effective agricultural management measure to improve soil sustainability and decrease pathogens. However, the suitable ginseng rotation system and the changes in soil microbial community and soil characteristics under the rotation system need to be further explored.Methods: To explore suitable ginseng crop rotation systems and improve soil utilization,Allium fistulosumandBrassica napuswere planted on ginseng cultivation soil for one year. The effects of the two crops on the chemical properties and enzyme activities of the ginseng cultivation soil were evaluated by chemical analysis. In addition, amplicon sequencing targeting 16 s rDNA genes of bacteria and ITS of fungi has been used to characterize the functional and compositional diversity of microbial communities.Results: The results elucidated that the levels of available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) in the soil increased significantly after one year of cultivation for both crops andAllium fistulosumcultivation may also have reduced soil salinity. In addition, the effects of the two crops on the activities of key soil enzymes were different. Catalase (CAT), urease (URE), and acid phosphatase (A-PHO) activities were significantly reduced and sucrase (SUC), and laccase (LAC) activities were significantly increased afterAllium fistulosumplanting. While A-PHO activity was significantly increased and LAC activity was significantly decreased afterBrassica napusplanting.Allium fistulosumsignificantly reduced the abundance of soil fungal communities. The cultivation ofAllium fistulosumandBrassica napussignificantly altered the composition of soil bacterial and fungal communities, where changes in the abundance of dominant microorganisms, such asAscomycota, andMortierellomycota, etc., were closely related to soil chemistry and enzyme activity. Moreover, both significantly reduced the abundance of the pathogenic fungusIlyonectria.Conclusions: Our study clarified the effects ofAllium fistulosumandBrassica napuson the microbial community and physicochemical properties of ginseng cultivated soil and provides a basis for the sustainable application of ginseng cultivation soil and the development of ginseng crop rotation systems.

Macrophages are important inflammatory cells that play a vital role in inflamm‐aging. Bupleurum chinense polysaccharide (BCP), an effective component of the Bupleurum chinense herb, exerts multiple beneficial pharmacological effects, such as improving immunity and antioxidant activity. However, the effects of BCP on macrophage‐aging and inflamm‐aging are yet to be established. In this study, we examined the effects of BCP on proliferation, inflammatory cytokines, β‐galactosidase (SA‐β‐gal), senescence‐associated heterochromatin foci (SAHF), reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential, p53, p16, and p65/NF‐κB signaling proteins in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐stimulated RAW264.7 cells. BCP significantly inhibited production of interleukin‐1α (IL‐1α), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), and tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), reduced the expression of SA‐β‐gal and formation of SAHF, as well as ROS level, and stabilized the mitochondrial membrane potential in RAW264.7 cells stimulated with LPS. Furthermore, BCP inhibited the expression of aging‐related genes, p53 and p16, suppressed phosphorylation of p65 protein, and enhanced the expression of I‐κBα protein through the NF‐κB signaling pathway in LPS‐stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Accordingly, we conclude that BCP effectively suppresses inflamm‐aging by reducing inflammatory cytokine levels and oxidative stress production following activation of the NF‐κB signaling pathway in RAW264.7 cells stimulated with LPS. Our collective findings support the utility of BCP as a novel pharmaceutical agent with potential anti‐inflamm‐aging effects.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the most common causative pathogens of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) associated with severe neurological complications. There is a great need to develop prophylactic vaccine against EV71 infection. EV71 virus-like particle (VLP) was produced in yeast expression system by the co-expression of four EV71 structural proteins VP1–VP4. Immunization with the recombinant VLPs elicited potent anti-EV71 antibody responses in adult mice and anti-VLP sera were able to neutralize EV71 virus in vitro. Neonatal mice model demonstrated VLP immunization conferred protection to suckling mice against the lethal viral challenge. Co-expression of four EV71 structural proteins VP1–VP4 in yeast expression systems is an effective method to produce EV71 VLPs. VLP-based vaccine shows great potential to prevent EV71 infection.