Introduction: Lung cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease, and the tumor microenvironment (TME) characteristics are closely related to disease progression and treatment outcomes. We elucidated the cell type-specific transcriptome landscape of cancer cells and the effect of the TME on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing of the LUAD tissues and matched adjacent normal tissues of three patients in the early-stage via histopathological and immunohistochemical confirmation. Results: The results revealed the landscape of 68,579 cells in LUAD microenvironment, and highly heterogeneous AT2 cells are crucial source of lung epithelial cell carcinogenesis. Genes KRT81 , SPP1 , PCDH7 , SLC2A1 , and TET1 were significantly upregulated in tumor tissues and associated with poor prognosis and survival, providing insights for exploring lung cancer biomarkers in future studies. Trajectory analysis identified ERBB4 , SEMA4A , GCNT2 and SOX4 as key factors in AT2 cells that may promote cell proliferation, migration, or epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during the progression of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). We elucidated the transcription factor–target gene regulatory network involving NKX2-1 and TEAD1 in malignant tumor cells derived from AT2 cells. The findings indicated that malignant AT2 cells regulate communication between epithelial and immune cells in the TME by predicted FN1-CD44 and CADM1-CADM1 ligand-receptor interactions, which ultimately suppresses the host immune response. Discussion: This comprehensive single-cell analysis increases our understanding of AT2 cells molecular and dynamics of metastatic lung cancer. In summary, single-cell RNA profiling of LUAD offers valuable prognostic insights based on AT2 cell types and identifies potential biomarkers for therapeutic responses, aiding the future development of LUAD treatment strategies.

Weaning impairs intestinal function and growth performance in piglets. This study evaluated a fermented herbal formulation (FHF) composed of five bioactive herbal ingredients—Radix isatidis, Folium isatidis, Radix scutellariae, Fructus forsythiae, and Radix glycyrrhizae—fermented with Enterococcus faecium and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and characterized by flavonoids, phenolic acids, and hydroxylated fatty acids, using the porcine intestinal epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2) and weaned piglets. In vitro, IPEC-J2 cells were pretreated with FHF extract (100–1000 μg/mL) for 3 h prior to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. In vivo, 72 piglets were weaned at 32 days of age and, after a 3-day post-weaning adaptation period, entered a 35-day feeding trial. The piglets were then randomly assigned to three treatment groups: control (basal diet), A1 (basal diet + 0.4% FHF), and A2 (basal diet + 0.6% FHF during days 1–18, followed by 0.3% FHF during days 19–35). FHF dose-dependently alleviated the LPS-induced decrease in cell viability and suppressed IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β, and TNF-α expression. In piglets, the A2 group showed higher final body weight, average daily gain (ADG), and average daily feed intake (ADFI), lower feed conversion ratio (FCR), and a lower diarrhea rate than the control group. FHF also improved intestinal morphology, reduced serum TNF-α and diamine oxidase (DAO) levels, increased jejunal tight junction protein expression, enriched Limosilactobacillus and Lactobacillus, and elevated acetic and butyric acids. FHF improved intestinal health and growth performance in weaned piglets, with the A2 group showing the best overall efficacy.

This study systematically evaluated the toxicological safety of superoxide dismutase (SOD) as a novel food ingredient. Acute oral toxicity testing revealed no toxicity or mortality in mice of both sexes following a single gavage dose of 10 g/kg BW, classifying SOD as a practically nontoxic substance. In the 90‐day subchronic toxicity study, Wistar rats orally administered doses of 8.33, 25, or 75 mg/kg BW/day exhibited the following: Female rats in the high‐dose group showed significantly increased body weight during Weeks 11–13, transient fluctuations in food efficiency occurred in the low‐dose group, and high‐dose males displayed reduced neutrophil percentage (NEUT%) at termination, whereas all observed alterations in hematological, clinical chemistry, and urinalysis parameters lacked dose dependency and were largely disappeared during the recovery period. Histopathological examination revealed no substance‐specific lesions. Teratogenicity testing demonstrated a significant increase in fetal resorption rates in the 8.33 and 25 mg/kg BW groups ( p < 0.01), whereas this effect showed no dose–response association and no structural malformations were observed. Three genotoxicity assays (mammalian erythrocyte micronucleus, chromosome aberration in vitro, and Ames tests) yielded negative results. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a favorable safety profile for SOD at the tested doses, with no evidence of genotoxicity either in vivo or in vitro.