The synergistic effect of chitosan (CS), glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and ZnO/palygorskite (ZnO/PAL) as potential wound dressing was evaluated in the form of films by the solution casting method. The nanocomposite films were well-characterized with ATR-FTIR, XRD and SEM to explore the interactions between CS, GA and ZnO/PAL. Physical, mechanical and antibacterial properties of the nanocomposite films were systematically investigated for their reliability in end-up utilization. Importantly, it was found that the presence of PAL in the films provided enhanced mechanical properties, whereas CS, GA and ZnO supplied a broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, especially for drug-resistant bacteria such as ESBL—E. coli and MRSA. Overall, this research demonstrated that the prepared films can be a promising candidate for wound-care materials.

Background: Functional mutations or polymorphisms affecting forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) can lead to their abnormal FOXP3 gene expression and/or defective Treg cells generation, thus resulting in autoimmune disease and inflammatory disorders. FOXP3 also plays a key role in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its complications, because the disease usually involves chronic low-grade inflammatory disorders and is associated with long-term immune system imbalance. This study aimed to investigate the association between FOXP3 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to T2DM and type 2 diabetes nephropathy (T2DN) within the Han Chinese populations. Methods: Polymorphisms in rs3761548C/A and rs2294021C/T were examined in 400 patients (which include an equal number of T2DM and T2DN groups) and 200 healthy controls using PCR-HRM and sequence analysis. Results: The genotype and allelic frequencies of the two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were significantly different in T2DM and the progression of diabetes developing to T2DN. The further gender-based evaluation showed that in female subjects, rs3761548C/A was associated with an approximately 3-fold higher threat for T2DM and 4.5-fold for T2DN, while there was no noticeable association with rs2294021C/T; in males, the promoter polymorphism showed an increased predisposition of 5.4-fold and 3.4-fold predisposition to T2DM and T2DN, respectively, while rs2294021 polymorphism could impart a nearly 2-fold risk of developing T2DN. An additional analysis of combined genotypes (rs3761548 C/A-rs2294021C/T) revealed that CC-CC and CC-CT can be considered protective combinations in the predisposition of males with diabetes towards T2DN, while AA-CC and AA-TT have the opposite effect. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the possible involvement of individual and combined genetic associations of rs3761548C/A and rs2294021C/T polymorphisms with the susceptibility to diabetes and diabetic nephropathy in the Han Chinese population, as well as gender bias.

Aim: To investigate the effect and mechanism of Sitagliptin phosphate on inflammation and macrophage polarization in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes.Methods: In vitro, Raw264.7 cells were cultured with a high concentration of glucose (HG) and sitagliptin phosphate (SIG). The levels of inflammatory factors and the regulation of macrophage polarization were investigated, and the differentially expressed genes between HG and HG+SIG intervention were analyzed and enriched through transcriptomics. In vivo, C57BL/6J male mice were treated with HFD+STZ to establish a type 2 diabetes mouse model were investigated the effects of regulation of macrophage polarization in the pancreas and visceral adipose tissue.Results: In vitro cell experiments and transcriptomics showed that Sitagliptin phosphate decreased the secretion of inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-α induced by high-glucose, and increased secretion of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 by enhancing macrophage polarization. In vivo, the body weight and abdominal visceral fat weight, the ratio of visceral fat weight to body weight and fasting blood glucose were significantly increased in the DM group compared with the Control (P<0.05), Sitagliptin phosphate treatments reversed the changes in the DM group. Moreover, histological analysis showed that compared with the Control group, the size of visceral adipocytes, hepatocyte lipid deposition and the ratio of M1/M2 macrophage were higher in the DM group, which were reversed by Sitagliptin phosphate treatments (P0.05). Mechanistically, Western blot showed that compared with the normal group, HG upregulated the expression of mTORc1 protein, P-65 phosphorylation and P-65 protein expression in Raw264.7 cells (P<0.05), downregulated the expression of IKKβ (P<0.05) and PPAR-γ proteins (P<0.05), Sitagliptin phosphate and insulin treatments rescued these changes. Conclusion: These results indicated that Sitagliptin phosphate reduced high glucose-induced inflammation by improving the imbalance of macrophage polarization via modulating the mTORc1/ PPAR-γ/NF-κB in vitro and in vivo.