Killing two birds with one stone:ARC-BBBE can simultaneously green control aflatoxin and promote peanut super-nodulation

Peanut(Arachis hypogaea L.)is a dual-purpose crop that supplies vegetable oil and food protein,which plays an important role in agriculture and national economy(Akram et al.,2018).One of the major problems in peanut worldwide is Aspellgills flavus infection and subsequent aflatoxin(AFT)contamination,which can occur during production,harvesting,storage,processing,etc.,thereby seriously threatening people's health and food safety,and restricting export trade(Klich et al.,2007;Ding et al.,2015).AFTs are the most toxic class of mycotoxins discovered to date,which can cause carcinogenicity,teratogenicity and mutagenesis(Smith et al.,2017;Mwakinyali et al.,2019).

The near-infrared dye IR-61 restores erectile function in a streptozotocin-induced diabetes model via mitochondrial protection

This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of IR-61,a novel mitochondrial heptamethine cyanine dye with antioxidant effects,on diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction(DMED).Eight-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin(STZ)to induce type 1 diabetes.Eight weeks after STZ injection,all rats were divided into three groups:the control group,DM group,and DM+IR-61 group.In the DM+IR-61 group,the rats were administered IR-61(1.6 mg kg-1)twice a week by intravenous injection.At week 13,erectile function was evaluated by determining the ratio of the maximal intracavernous pressure to mean arterial pressure,and the penises were then harvested for fluorescent imaging,transmission electron microscopy,histological examinations,and Western blot analysis.Whole-body imaging suggested that IR-61 was highly accumulated in the penis after intravenous injection.IR-61 treatment significantly improved the maximal ICP of diabetic rats.Additionally,IR-61 ameliorated diabetes-induced inflammation,apoptosis,and phenotypic transition of corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells(CCSMCs)in penile tissue.IR-61 also attenuated mitochondrial damage,reduced reactive oxygen species production in the corpus cavernosum and upregulated sirtuinl(SIRT1),sirtuin3(SIRT3),nuclear factor(erythroid-derived 2)-like 2(Nrf2),and heme oxygenase expression in penile tissue.In conclusion,IR-61 represents a potential therapeutic option for DMED by protecting the mitochondria of CCSMCs,which may be mediated by activation of the SIRT1,SIRT3,and Nrf2 pathways.