A newly drafted colour test for the determination of triglycerides convenient for manual and mechanized analysis (glycerolphosphate-oxidase — PAP method)

Association between aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 gene rs671 G>A polymorphism and alcoholic liver cirrhosis in southern Chinese Hakka population

BACKGROUND

Alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC) endangering people's health. The association between aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) gene polymorphisms and ALC is not clear. To analyze the relationship between ALDH2 and ALC among Hakka population in southern China.

METHODS

A total of 292 ALC patients and 278 controls were included in the study. The ALDH2 gene rs671 polymorphism was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-gene chip. Relevant information and medical records of these participants were collected.

RESULTS

The ALC patients had higher percentage of smoking, lower prevalence of hypertension, higher level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspertate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), total bile acid (TBA), total bilirubin (Tbil), and direct bilirubin (Dbil), lower level of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) than controls. The proportions of the G/A genotype (p = 0.017), G/A plus A/A genotype (p = 0.023) and A allele (p = 0.031) were significantly higher in ALC patients than that of controls. ALC patients with G/A genotype had higher TC, HDL-C, and Apo-A1 than those with G/G genotype, while with A allele had higher HDL-C, and Apo-A1 than those with G allele. Logistic regression analysis indicated that ALDH2 SNP rs671 G/A plus A/A genotypes (A allele carriers) (OR 2.030, 95% CI 1.109-3.715, p = 0.022) in the dominant model was the risk factor for ALC.

CONCLUSIONS

ALDH2 A allele (G/A + A/A genotypes) increased the risk of developing ALC among Hakka people in southern China. The results should enrich the relevant data and provide valuable information for the future related research.

Lactobacillus plantarum FRT10 alleviated high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice through regulating the PPARα signal pathway and gut microbiota

Previous studies showed that probiotics supplementation contributed to alleviate obesity. This work was to assess the efficacy of Lactobacillus plantarum FRT10 from sour dough in alleviating obesity in mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD), and the underlying mechanisms focusing on modulation of the gut microbiota profile. Kunming mice were fed with a regular diet (CT), a high-fat diet (HFD), and two HFDs containing low and high doses of L. plantarum FRT10 for 8 weeks. The physiological and biochemical modulations in liver were analyzed. Cecal contents were analyzed by high-throughput 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. FRT10 supplementation significantly reduced body weight gain, fat weight, and liver triacylglycerols (TGs) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentrations (P < 0.05). FRT10 significantly ameliorated the HFD-induced gut dysbiosis, as evidenced by increased abundance of microbes, including Butyricicoccus, Butyricimonas, Intestinimonas, Odoribacter, and Alistipes, and decreased abundance of Desulfovibrionaceae, Roseburia, and Lachnoclostridium. Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Akkermansia were markedly increased after FRT10 intervention. In addition, real-time quantitative PCR revealed that FRT10 upregulated the mRNA expression levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1α (CPT1α), and downregulated the mRNA expression levels of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP-1) and TG-synthesizing enzyme diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) in liver. These findings suggested that FRT10 had anti-obesity effects in obese mice partly related to the activation of PPARα/CPT1α pathway. FRT10 can be considered a single probiotic agent for preventing HFD-induced obesity in humans and animals.

Enantioselective mechanism of toxic effects of triticonazole against Chlorella pyrenoidosa

The rational use and the environmental safety of chiral pesticides have attracted significant research interest. Here, enantioselective toxic effects and the selective toxic mechanism of triticonazole (TRZ) against the aquatic microalgae Chlorella pyrenoidosa were studied. The 96h-EC₅₀ values of rac-, (R)-(-)-, and (S)-(+)-TRZ were 1.939, 0.853, and 22.002 mg/L, respectively. At a concentration of 1 mg/L, the contents of photosynthetic pigments of C. pyrenoidosa exposed to (R)-(-)-TRZ were lower than if exposed to S-(+)-form and racemate. Transmission electron microscopic images showed that the R-(-)-form compromised the integrity of cells and disrupted the chloroplast structure. R-(-)-TRZ stimulated vast reactive oxygen species (ROS) and significantly increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, as well as malondialdehyde (MDA) content. For lipid accumulation experiments, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulations in algal cells treated with R-(-)-TRZ were 171.50% and 280.76%, respectively, compared with the control group. This far exceeded levels of algal cells treated with S-(+)- and rac-TRZ. Based on these data, R-(-)-TRZ was concluded to selectively affect the photosynthetic system, antioxidant system, and lipid synthesis of algal cells, thus causing enantioselective toxic effects of TRZ against C. pyrenoidosa, which indicating that the use of racemate may cause unpredictable environmental harm. Therefore, to reduce the hidden dangers of chiral pesticides for the ecological environment, the environmental risk of TRZ should be evaluated at the stereoselective level.

CgHog1 controls the adaptation to both sorbitol and fludioxonil in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

The HOG (high-osmolarity glycerol) pathway is critical for the appropriate adaptation to adverse conditions. Here, we demonstrated that the deletion of CgHog1 resulted in enhanced sensitivity to osmotic stress and increased resistance to fludioxonil in the poplar anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The accumulation of chitin around hyphal tips was obviously decreased in the ΔCgHog1 strain under sorbitol, whereas it strongly was increased in the response to fludioxonil compared with the wild type. To investigate the underlying mechanism of CgHog1-mediated adaption to osmotic stress and fludioxonil, transcriptomic profiles were performed in both the ΔCgHog1 strain and the wild type under the treatment of sorbitol and fludioxonil, respectively. Under sorbitol, genes associated with glycolysis, lipid metabolism, and accumulation of soluble sugars and amino acids were differentially expressed; under fludioxonil, vesicle trafficking-related genes were highly downregulated in the ΔCgHog1 strain, which was consistent with abnormal vacuoles distribution and morphology of hyphae, indicating that the growth defect caused by fludioxonil may be associated with disruption of endocytosis. Taken together, we elucidated the adaptation mechanisms of how CgHog1 regulates appropriate response to sorbitol and fludioxonil via different metabolism pathways. These findings extend our insights into the HOG pathway in fungi.

A two-component histidine kinase Shk1 controls stress response, sclerotial formation and fungicide resistance in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Fungal histidine kinases (HKs) are involved in osmotic and oxidative stress responses, hyphal development, fungicide sensitivity and virulence. Members of HK class III are known to signal through the high-osmolarity glycerol mitogen-activated protein kinase (HOG MAPK). In this study, we characterized the Shk1 gene (SS1G_12694.3), which encodes a putative class III HK, from the plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Disruption of Shk1 resulted in resistance to phenylpyrrole and dicarboximide fungicides and increased sensitivity to hyperosmotic stress and H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress. The Shk1 mutant showed a significant reduction in vegetative hyphal growth and was unable to produce sclerotia. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR and glycerol determination assays showed that the expression of SsHOG1 (the last kinase of the Hog pathway) and glycerol accumulation were regulated by the Shk1 gene, but PAK (p21-activated kinase) was not. In addition, the Shk1 mutant showed no change in virulence. All the defects were restored by genetic complementation of the Shk1 deletion mutant with the wild-type Shk1 gene. These findings indicate that Shk1 is involved in vegetative differentiation, sclerotial formation, glycerol accumulation and adaption to hyperosmotic and oxidative stresses, and to fungicides, in S. sclerotiorum. Taken together, our results demonstrate, for the first time, the role of two-component HKs in Sclerotinia.

Involvement of protein tyrosine phosphatases BcPtpA and BcPtpB in regulation of vegetative development, virulence and multi-stress tolerance in Botrytis cinerea

Tyrosine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation have emerged as fundamentally important mechanisms of signal transduction and regulation in eukaryotic cells, governing many processes, but little has been known about their functions in filamentous fungi. In this study, we deleted two putative protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) genes (BcPTPA and BcPTPB) in Botrytis cinerea, encoding the orthologs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ptp2 and Ptp3, respectively. Although BcPtpA and BcPtpB have opposite functions in conidiation, they are essential for sclerotial formation in B. cinerea. BcPTPA and BcPTPB deletion mutants ΔBcPtpA-10 and ΔBcPtpB-4 showed significantly increased sensitivity to osmotic and oxidative stresses, and to cell wall damaging agents. Inoculation tests showed that both mutants exhibited dramatically decreased virulence on tomato leaves, apples and grapes. In S. cerevisiae, it has been shown that Ptp2 and Ptp3 negatively regulate the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) pathway and the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway. Although both BcPtpA and BcPtpB were able to inactive Hog1 and Mpk1 in S. cerevisiae, in contrast to S. cerevisiae, they positively regulate phosphorylation of BcSak1 (the homologue of Hog1) and BcBmp3 (the homologue of Mpk1) in B. cinerea under stress conditions. These results demonstrated that functions of PTPs in B. cinerea are different from those in S. cerevisiae, and BcPtpA and BcPtpB play important roles in regulation of vegetative development, virulence and in adaptation to oxidative, osmotic and cell-wall damage stresses in B. cinerea.

Apolipoprotein B gene polymorphisms and serum lipids: meta-analysis of the role of genetic variation in responsiveness to diet

BACKGROUND

The genetic variance determining plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations may modify individual responsiveness to alterations in dietary fat and cholesterol content.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to examine the role of apolipoprotein (apo) B DNA polymorphisms in responsiveness of plasma lipids and lipoproteins to diet.

DESIGN

A controlled dietary intervention study was conducted in 44 healthy, middle-aged subjects with a 3-mo baseline, a 1-mo fat-controlled, a 1-mo high-fat, and a 1-mo habitual diet period. We also conducted a meta-analysis of all published dietary trials, including our own.

RESULTS

In our own dietary study, the apo B XbaI restriction-site polymorphism affected the responsiveness to diet of the plasma LDL-cholesterol concentration (P < 0.05, repeated-measures analysis of variance). Especially during the high-fat diet, homozygous absence of the XbaI restriction site (X(-)/X(-)) was associated with a greater increase in LDL cholesterol (44 +/- 5%) than was X(+)/X(+) (27 +/- 7%) or X(+)/X(-) (40 +/- 5%). The high-fat diet also induced a larger increase in plasma LDL cholesterol in subjects with the R(-)/R(-) genotype (homozygous absence of the EcoRI restriction site) (59 +/- 10%) than in those with the R(+)/R(-) (39 +/- 6%) or R(+)/R(+) (36 +/- 4%) genotype. The M(+)/M(+) genotype (homozygous presence of the MspI restriction site) was also more responsive (41 +/- 3% increase in LDL cholesterol) than the M(+)/M(-) genotype (27 +/- 10% increase). The meta-analysis supported the finding of the significant role of the EcoRI and MspI polymorphisms, but not that of the XbaI polymorphism.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study indicated that the apo B EcoRI and MspI polymorphisms are associated with responsiveness to diet.

Clinical and angiographic prediction of myocardial infarction and recurrence of severe angina during a five-year follow-up after coronary artery bypass grafting

In a prospective, angiographically controlled study, 339 consecutive patients were examined to evaluate the pre-, peri- and postoperative risk factors for occurrence of myocardial infarction, and recurrence of severe angina during 5 years after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The incidence of myocardial infarction was 6% and the recurrence of severe angina 13%. No pre- or perioperative variable could predict the occurrence of myocardial infarction. Postoperative ejection fraction was significantly lower in patients with than without myocardial infarction (58 +/- 10% vs 50 +/- 11%; p < 0.001), and the Cox proportional-hazards method showed a low postoperative ejection fraction to be the only significant risk factor for the occurrence of myocardial infarction (p = 0.02). Patients with a recurrence of severe angina had higher blood total cholesterol concentrations (7.7 +/- 1.4 vs 7.0 +/- 1.3 mmol/liter; p < 0.05) and triglyceride levels (2.7 mmol/l +/- 1.5 vs 2.0 +/- 1.0 mmol/liter; p < 0.01) than did those without angina, and also more often had > or = 1 occluded bypass graft 3 months after CABG (p < 0.05). No other pre- or postoperative variable could predict the recurrence of angina. Both total blood cholesterol concentration and triglyceride level were significant predictors of the risk of recurrent severe angina by the Cox proportional-hazards method (p = 0.01 and 0.03, respectively). Thus, reduced ejection fraction is a risk factor for subsequent myocardial infarction, whereas blood lipid abnormalities predict the recurrence of severe angina during the 5 years after CABG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Antilipoprotein antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis

Antibodies against very low-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins (aLA) were found in 26 of 69 (38%) patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but not in any control subjects (ie, 40 patients with psoriatic arthritis, 21 patients with osteoarthritis, and 65 healthy blood donors). In 21 RA patients (30%), lipoproteins were found in the dissociated components of circulating immune complexes. RA patients with aLA had significantly decreased cholesterol levels in all lipoprotein fractions and total serum lipids, while serum triglycerides were significantly increased compared with RA patients without aLA. Anticardiolipin antibodies as measured by the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory test were not found in any subject in this study. These findings suggest a possible autoimmune origin of dyslipoproteinemia in some patients with active RA.

Gallstone cholesterol content is related to apolipoprotein E polymorphism

BACKGROUND

The genetically determined phenotypes of apolipoprotein E are related to variations in lipoprotein levels and in the enterohepatic metabolism of cholesterol and bile acids. The present study was designed to elucidate the role of apolipoprotein E polymorphism in gallstone formation.

METHODS

Apolipoprotein E phenotype was determined in 169 consecutive cholecystectomy patients and in 200 controls. The cholesterol content of the gallstones (n = 169), the presence of cholesterol monohydrate crystals of fresh gallbladder bile (n = 142), and the nucleation time (n = 35) were also analyzed.

RESULTS

The median cholesterol content of the gallstones was higher in the apolipoprotein E4 category (phenotypes E4/4 and E4/3, 97%) than in the E3 (E3/3, 78%) and E2 patients (E2/2 and E2/3, 76%, P = 0.0003). In E4 patients, cholesterol crystals were found immediately after surgery in 27 of 40 (68%), whereas in E3 and E2 groups in 36 of 88 (41%), and 4 of 14 (29%) of the patients (P = 0.0001). The median nucleation time in E4 patients (2.5 days) was shorter than in patients with E3 (5.5 days) or E2 (6.0 days) (P = 0.0016).

CONCLUSIONS

These data indicate that apolipoprotein E polymorphism affects cholesterol content of cholelithiasis. We suggest that this phenomenon is mediated by the altered formation of cholesterol monohydrate crystals in different apolipoprotein E phenotypes.

Dyslipoproteinemia in the course of active rheumatoid arthritis

Concentrations of serum lipids and serum very low-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins (VLDL+LDL, originally called beta lipoproteins) were measured and agarose gel electrophoresis of serum lipoproteins was performed in 69 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 40 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PA), 21 patients with osteoarthritis (OA), and 65 healthy blood donors. These lipid parameters were also compared in 21 RA and 40 PA patients during periods of severe disease activity (SA) versus minimal disease activity (MA). RA patients had significantly decreased concentrations of total serum lipids, total serum cholesterol, cholesterol in LDL, and cholesterol in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) compared with healthy blood donors. RA patients with SA had significantly decreased cholesterol in LDL and HDL compared with patients with MA. As the disease activity decreased, RA patients had normalization of almost all serum lipid concentrations. Electrophoresis of serum lipoproteins showed heterogeneous patterns in RA patients. Patients with PA also had some evidence of dyslipoproteinemia. Serum lipids changed with disease activity in PA patients in a manner similar to that in RA patients. These data show that patients with RA and PA have a dyslipoproteinemia that is related to disease activity.

Magnitude of dietary effects on plasma cholesterol concentration: role of sex and apolipoprotein E phenotype

The effects of fat-controlled, low-cholesterol and high-fat, high-cholesterol diets pursued for 4 weeks on plasma lipids and lipoproteins were studied in 44 healthy middle-aged subjects (22 women and 22 men). All the calories were supplied from the hospital kitchen. When the subjects were switched from the fat-controlled, low-cholesterol diet to the high-fat, high-cholesterol diet the average increase in total cholesterol was 1.2 mmol/l (28%), ranging from 0.2 to 2.7 mmol/l (4-56%). At the same time the average increase in LDL cholesterol was 1.0 mmol/l (39%), ranging from 0.1 to 2.4 mmol/l (3-90%). Interestingly, the men responded to the dietary changes more sensitively than the women. The increase in total cholesterol from the low-fat to the high-fat diet was 31% for the men and 25% for the women (P less than 0.05), the corresponding increases in LDL cholesterol being 42% and 37%, respectively (P less than 0.05). A marked increase in HDL cholesterol was observed when the subjects were switched from the low-fat to the high-fat diet, the increase being 30% for the men and 20% for the women. The absolute and percentage lipid changes on the two diets were equal in the subjects with the common apolipoprotein E phenotype 3/3 and in those homozygous and heterozygous for the epsilon 4 allele (E4/4 and E4/3).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Reagent for the enzymatic determination of serum total triglycerides with improved lipolytic efficiency

A fully enzymatic assay is described for the determination of triglycerides. The coupled activities of triacylglycerol acylhydrolase and glycerol kinase result in the formation of glycerol-3-phosphate. The system also contains L-alpha-glycerol-phosphate oxidase, which produces hydrogen peroxide from glycerol-3-phosphate, and a sensitive chromogenic indicator system, consisting of peroxidase, 4-chlorophenol and 4-aminophenazone. We evaluated this method with respect to kinetics, linearity, blank rates, precision, accuracy, reagent stability and interfering substances. The accuracy of the triglyceride assay demands that each enzymatic reaction step be complete and homogeneous. We therefore developed HPTLC-1) and HPLC-2) methods to monitor the course and completeness of each step.