Can the aging influence cold environment mediated cancer risk in the USA female population?

Huoxiang Zhengqi decoction ameliorates gastrointestinal disorders induced by cold and humid environmental stress via modulation of intestinal mucosal microbiota and amino acid metabolism

This study investigates the intestinal microecological mechanisms of Huoxiang Zhengqi (HXZQ) and its potential clinical applications in alleviating gastrointestinal (GI) disorders caused by cold and humid exposure. In this study, an animal model of cold exposure with GI disorders was prepared by simulating cold and humid environmental stress (CHS). Using this model, PacBio HiFi sequencing of intestinal mucosa full-length 16S rRNA and LC-MS targeted amino acid metabolomic analysis were conducted. An interaction network between the two was constructed to assess the microecological mechanism of intervention by HXZQ. Results indicate that HXZQ accelerates the recovery of GI disorders and restores the integrity of the mucus barrier in CHS mice. PacBio HiFi full-length sequencing of intestinal mucosa suggested that HXZQ can regulate the homeostasis of intestinal mucosal microbiota in CHS mice by promoting the proliferation of probiotics such as Lactobacillus reuteri (with a 6% increase in relative abundance) and inhibiting conditional pathogenic bacteria such as Helicobacter (with its relative abundance reduced to 0%). Moreover, the integrated profiling of the microbiota amino acid metabolic function and LC/MS targeted amino acid indicated that Glu and Asp are the main metabolic pathways of HXZQ intervention by intestinal mucosal microbiota in CHS mice, which is significantly associated with Lactobacillus reuteri based on the interaction network of intestinal mucosal microbiota and amino acid metabolism (P < 0.05). In conclusion, HXZQ plays a crucial role in maintaining intestinal mucosal microbiota homeostasis. By modulating the composition structure of intestinal mucosal microbiota, particularly Lactobacillus reuteri, it facilitates the restoration of Glu and Asp amino acid metabolism in the host. These effects collectively contribute to the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders induced by cold and humid environmental stress.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-025-04324-3.

Effect of environmental factors on SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in northern hemisphere countries: a 2-year data analysis

OBJECTIVE

The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in December 2019 brought human life to a standstill. With over 2-year since the pandemic originated from Wuhan, SARS-CoV-2 has caused more than 6 million deaths worldwide. With the emergence of mutant strains and COVID-19 surge waves, it becomes critically important to conduct epidemiological studies that allow us to understand the role of various environmental factors on SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. Our earlier study reported a strong negative correlation between temperature and COVID-19 incidence. This research is an extension of our previous study with an attempt to understand the global analysis of COVID-19 in northern hemisphere countries.

STUDY DESIGN

This research aims at achieving a better understanding of the correlation of environmental factors such as temperature, sunlight, and humidity with new cases of COVID-19 in northern hemisphere from March 2020 to February 2022.

METHODS

To understand the relationship between the different environmental variants and COVID-19, a statistical approach was employed using Pearson, Spearman and Kendall analysis.

RESULTS

Month-wise univariate analysis indicated a strong negative correlation of temperature and sunlight with SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, whereas inconsistencies were observed in correlation analysis in the case of humidity in winter months. Moreover, a strong negative correlation between average temperature of winter months and COVID-19 cases exists as evidenced by Pearson, Spearman, and Kendall analyses. In addition, correlation pattern between monthly temperature and COVID-19 cases of a country mimics to that of sunlight of a country.

CONCLUSION

This pilot study proposes that low temperatures and low sunlight might be additional risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, mostly in northern hemisphere countries.

Combinatorial influence of environmental temperature, obesity and cholesterol on SARS-CoV-2 infectivity

The continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants not only causes a long-term global health concerns but also encounters the vaccine/drug effectiveness. The degree of virus infectivity and its clinical outcomes often depend on various biological parameters (e.g., age, genetic factors, diabetes, obesity and other ailments) of an individual along with multiple environmental factors (e.g., air temperature, humidity, seasons). Thus, despite the extensive search for and use of several vaccine/drug candidates, the combinative influence of these various extrinsic and intrinsic risk factors involved in the SARS-CoV-2 virus infectivity has yet to be explored. Previous studies have reported that environment temperature is negatively associated with virus infectivity for SARS-CoV-2. This study elaborates on our previous findings, investigating the link between environmental temperature and other metabolic parameters, such as average total cholesterol and obesity, with the increase in COVID-19 cases. Statistical analysis conducted on a per country basis not only supports the existence of a significant negative correlation between environmental temperature and SARS-CoV-2 infections but also found a strong positive correlation between COVID-19 cases and these metabolic parameters. In addition, a multiphase growth curve model (GCM) was built to predict the contribution of these covariates in SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. These findings, for first time, support the idea that there might be a combinatorial impact of environmental temperature, average total cholesterol, and obesity in the inflation of the SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.