Characterization of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome and Phylogenetic Analyses of Eurytrema coelomaticum (Trematoda: Dicrocoeliidae)

Eurytrema coelomaticum, a pancreatic fluke, is recognized as a causative agent of substantial economic losses in ruminants. This infection, commonly referred to as eurytrematosis, is a significant concern due to its detrimental impact on livestock production. However, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding the mitochondrial genome of E. coelomaticum. In this study, we performed the initial sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genome of E. coelomaticum. Our findings unveiled that the mitochondrial genome of E. coelomaticum spans a length of 15,831 bp and consists of 12 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and two noncoding regions. The A+T content constituted 62.49% of the genome. Moreover, all 12 protein-coding genes of E. coelomaticum exhibit the same arrangement as those of E. pancreaticum and other published species belonging to the family Dicrocoeliidae. The presence of a short string of additional amino acids (approximately 20~23 aa) at the N-terminal of the cox1 protein in both E. coelomaticum and E. pancreaticum mitochondrial genomes has contributed to the elongation of the cox1 gene in genus Eurytrema, surpassing that of all previously sequenced Dicrocoeliidae. The phylogenetic analysis displayed a close relationship between E. coelomaticum and E. pancreaticum, along with a genus-level association between Eurytrema and Lyperosomum. These findings underscore the importance of mitochondrial genomic data for comparative studies of Dicrocoeliidae and even Digenea, offering valuable DNA markers for future investigations in the systematic, epidemiological, and population genetic studies of this parasite and other digenean trematodes.

Anthropometric and dietary survey of elderly Chinese

The study was conducted to provide reference values of anthropometry and dietary intakes of elderly Chinese aged greater than or equal to 70 years and to investigate differences between urban and rural groups. A total of 441 subjects comprising 260 urban elderly (126 men and 134 women) and 181 rural elderly (83 men and 98 women) participated in the anthropometric study. One hundred subjects (50 men and 50 women) from both urban and rural locations were selected randomly from the anthropometric cohort for dietary survey using the method of diet recall. For both men and women, the urban elderly had significantly higher intakes of protein, fat, calcium, iron, retinol, thiamin, riboflavin and nicotinic acid than did the rural elderly. Significant sexual differences were also observed: men had higher intakes of total energy and three macronutrients than women. Both regional and sexual differences in anthropometry (but not blood pressure) seemed to be consistent with the results of the dietary survey. Positive correlations were found between systolic blood pressure and the ratio waist:hip circumference for both men and women. As a marker of adipose tissue distribution, it seemed that this ratio was more predictive of high blood pressure than body-weight.