Tanshinone IIA (Tan-IIA) is derived from the dried roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, a traditional Chinese medicine. Although Salvia miltiorrhiza has been applied for many years, the toxicity of the mono-constituent of Salvia miltiorrhiza, tanshinone IIA, is still understudied. This study evaluated the cardiotoxicity and developmental malformations of Tan-IIA by using zebrafish normal embryos and dechorionated embryos. After treatment with Tan-IIA in different concentrations for four-day periods, obvious pericardial edema, spinal curvature, and even missing tails were observed in zebrafish embryos. The LC₅₀ values in the dechorionated embryo group at 72 h post-fertilization (hpf) and 96 hpf were 18.5 μM and 12.8 μM, respectively, and the teratogenicity was manifested at a concentration of about 1 µM. The main endpoints of teratogenicity were scoliosis, malformation of tail, and pericardium edema. Our findings displayed the potential cardiotoxicity and severe impact on the abnormal development of Tan-IIA in zebrafish embryo at high concentrations, which may help avoid the risk of its clinical application.

Novel ruthenium(ii) complex 1 can be developed as a low toxicity fluorescence probe for living cell nuclei in future.

Noninvasive and simple indicators for diagnosing latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) and tracking progression from latent infection to active TB infection are still desperately needed. The aim of this study was to screen and identify possible biomarkers for diagnosing LTBI and monitoring the progression from latent infection to active TB infection, as well as to investigate the underlying processes and functions. To assess changes in metabolite composition associated with active tuberculosis infection in humans, whole blood supernatants were collected from patients with LTBI, drug-susceptible TB patients, drug-resistant TB patients, and healthy controls. The metabolites in all serum samples were extracted by oscillatory, deproteinization, and then detected by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry/MS analysis. Normalization by Pareto-scaling method, the difference analysis was carried out by Metaboanalyst 4.0 software, and 1-way analysis of variance analysis among groups showed that P-value < 0.05 was regarded as a different metabolite. To clarify the dynamic changes and functions of differential metabolites with disease progression, and explore its significance and mechanism as a marker by further cluster analysis, functional enrichment analysis, and relative content change analysis of differential metabolites. 65 metabolites were substantially different in four groups. Differential metabolites such as Inosine and Prostaglandin E1 may be important blood indicators for diagnosing mycobacterium tuberculosis latent infection, which were all tightly connected to amino acid metabolism, Biosynthesis of various secondary metabolites, Nucleotide metabolism, Endocrine system, Immune system, Lipid metabolism, and Nervous system. This study screened and identified Inosine, 16, 16-dimethyl-6-keto Prostaglandin E1, Theophylline, and Cotinine as potential serum biomarkers for diagnosing latent TB infection, and Cotinine as potential biomarkers for monitoring disease progression from healthy population to LTBI and then to active TB including drug-resistant TB infection and sensitive TB infection. Furthermore, this research provides a preliminary experimental basis to further investigate the development of metabolomics-based diagnosis of LTBI and monitoring the progress from latent infection to active TB infection.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and recurrent gastrointestinal inflammation, the pathophysiological mechanisms of that is not fully understood, and the current conventional treatment drugs are often associated with serious side effects. Saikosaponins(SSs) are the main active component of Bupleurum chinense DC. (BC). Saikosaponin A has been reported to have a positive effect on the remission of DSS induced colitis. Aim: However, the studies on the mechanism and safety of SSs are still limited. Materials and methods: We established zebrafish colitis model induced by sodium glucan sulfate (DSS) and gave intervention treatment with different saikosaponins. Results : It was found that saikosaponin B1 (SSB1) and saikosaponin D (SSD) had the most prominent inhibitory ability on neutrophils infiltration in the larval intestine among the 6 saikosaponin monomers. In this study, we explored the effect and mechanism of SSB1 and SSD on DSS induced colitis in zebrafish. The results showed that both SSB1 and SSD could reduce the histological injury, tissue inflammatory cytokines and ROS expression in zebrafish. Moreover, we observed that both SSB1 and SSD significantly inhibited ferroptosis in DSS stimulated zebrafish colitis. In Conclusion: conclusion, our results suggested that Saikosaponin B1/D play a protective role in inhibiting ferroptosis by up-regulating NRF2/HO-1 pathway.