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Grey mullet protein hydrolysate possessed high antioxidant activity and was prepared using neutrase. The hydrolysis conditions were optimised by the response surface methodology (RSM): enzyme to substrate ratio 5.8:1 (U of enzyme/mg of substrate), pH 7.3, 51°C, and 3.5 h. The hydrolysate obtained under the optimal conditions (HGM) possessed superior radical scavenging activity (IC50 values: 0.786 mg/mL for DPPH; 1.294 mg/mL for superoxide anion radical) to that of unhydrolysed grey mullet protein (GM). HGM also possessed better ferric-reducing power and higher ferrous ion-chelating activity. Electrophoretic analysis indicated that HGM mainly consisted of peptides with molecular weights below 10 kDa. The amino acid composition indicated a high nutritional value for HGM. The solubility, foamability, and emulsion activity index of HGM were improved as compared to those of GM. These results indicated that HGM has potential as a bioactive ingredient in the formulation of functional foods.

Addition of whole quinoa flour (WQF) into wheat flour is a promising approach to make quinoa food efficient, but the amount of WQF addition has a great influence on the quality of the quinoa food. The water-soluble index, swelling power, pasting property, dough rheological properties, and steam bread textural property of wheat flour containing 10 - 50% (w/w) WQF were investigated in the present work. Results showed that water soluble index and swelling power of mixed flour decreased gradually as the WQF content increased. Mixed flour containing higher WQF content (30 - 50%) had a lower peak viscosity, breakdown, and setback value than mixed flour containing lower content WQF (10 - 20%). Doughs containing 30 - 50% WQF had a weaker dough stability, less dough development time, but an increased water absorption and softening degree than the doughs containing 10 - 20% WQF. Dough's extension resistance increased and then decreased with the addition of WQF. Dough energy and extensibility of the mixed flour decreased with increasing level of WQF (10 - 50%). In addition, hardness and chewiness of steam bread made by mixed flour increased with increasing amount of WQF (10 - 50%). In view of the practical point, the maximum addition level of WQF was 20% when making a quinoa-wheat steam bread without any food additives.

Song Guo,1,* Xiaowei Lu,1,* Ruihuan Gu,2 Di Zhang,3 Yijuan Sun,2 Yun Feng1 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Medicine Center, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 2Gynecology, Shanghai Ji Ai Genetics & In Vitro Fertilization Institute, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 3Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Jinan Military General Hospital, Jinan, People's Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Adenomyosis is a common, benign gynecological condition of the female reproductive tract characterized by heavy menstrual bleeding and dysmenorrhea. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists are one of the medications used in adenomyosis treatment; however, their underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Moreover, it is difficult to obtain endometrial samples from women undergoing such treatment. To overcome this, we generated an adenomyosis mouse model, which we treated with an GnRH agonist to determine its effect on pregnancy outcomes. We also analyzed endometrial gene expression following GnRH agonist treatment to determine the mechanisms that may affect pregnancy outcome in individuals with adenomyosis.Methods: Neonatal female mice were divided into a control group, an untreated adenomyosis group, and an adenomyosis group treated with a GnRH agonist (n=6 each). The pregnancy outcome was observed and compared among the groups. Then, three randomly chosen transcriptomes from endometrial tissues from day 4 of pregnancy were analyzed between the adenomyosis group and the GnRH agonist treatment group by RNA sequencing and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results: The litter size was significantly smaller in the adenomyosis group than in the control group (7±0.28 vs 11±0.26; P<0.05). However, the average live litter size was increased (10±0.28 vs 7±0.28; P<0.05) after GnRH agonist treatment. Three hundred and fifty-nine genes were differentially expressed in the GnRH agonist-treated group compared with the untreated group (218 were downregulated and 141 were upregulated). Differentially expressed genes were related to diverse biological processes, including estrogen metabolism, cell cycle, and metabolite biosynthesis.Conclusion: GnRH agonist treatment appears to improve the pregnancy outcome of adenomyosis in a mouse model. Besides pituitary down-regulation, other possible mechanisms such as the regulation of cell proliferation may play a role in this. These new insights into GnRH agonist mechanisms will be useful for future adenomyosis treatment. Keywords: adenomyosis, GnRH agonist, mouse, RNA-seq, pregnancy outcome