[Effect of moxibustion at "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Guanyuan" (CV 4) on immune function in healthy rats based on intestinal flora]

OBJECTIVE

To observe the effects of moxibustion at "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Guanyuan" (CV 4) on immune function and intestinal flora in healthy rats, thereby investigating the underlying mechanism of moxibustion on immune function.

METHODS

Twenty 8-week-old SD rats were randomly divided into a young blank group and a young moxibustion group, with 10 rats in each group. Similarly, twenty 8-month-old SD rats were randomly divided into a middle-aged blank group and a middle-aged moxibustion group, with 10 rats in each group. The rats in the two moxibustion groups received moxibustion at "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Guanyuan" (CV 4), 15 min per session, once daily, five times a week, for a total of four months. The rats in the two blank groups were fed under normal conditions. After the intervention, thymus and spleen indexes were calculated; the morphology of thymus and spleen tissues was observed using HE staining; the flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of CD and CD T lymphocytes and the CD/CD ratio was calculated; ELISA was used to measure the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interleukin-17 (IL-17); 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the intestinal flora. Additionally, the correlation between the relative abundance of intestinal flora and serum levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17 was analyzed.

RESULTS

Compared with the young blank group, the young moxibustion group exhibited an increase in the cortical area of thymus tissue with tighter lymphocyte arrangement; compared with the middle-aged blank group, the middle-aged moxibustion group showed an increase in thymus index (P<0.05) and an increase in the cortical area of thymus tissue. There were no significant differences in spleen index between the 2 moxibustion groups and the 2 blank groups (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in the expression of CD, CD, and CD/CD ratio between the 2 moxibustion groups and the corresponding blank groups (P>0.05). Compared with the young blank group, the young moxibustion group had elevated IL-6 level (P<0.05); compared with the middle-aged blank group, the middle-aged moxibustion group had decreased IL-10 and IL-17 levels (P<0.05). Compared with the young blank group, the young moxibustion group exhibited increased Sobs index, Ace index, and Chao index (P<0.01, P<0.05), as well as increased relative abundance of Spirochaetota, Treponema, Turicibacter, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group (P<0.05), and decreased relative abundance of Dubosiella (P<0.05). Compared with the middle-aged blank group, the middle-aged moxibustion group had increased relative abundance of Spirochaetota, Treponema, norank_f_Peptococcaceae (P<0.05), and decreased relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Allobaculum, and Faecalibaculum (P<0.05). Correlation analysis revealed that relative abundance of Eubacterium_xylanophilum_group and unclassified _f_Lachnospiraceae was negatively correlated with serum TNF-α level (r=-0.39, P=0.03; r=-0.24, P=0.04), while relative abundance of norank_f_norank_o_Clostridia_UCG-014 and Lactobacillus was positively correlated with serum TNF-α level (r=0.37, P=0.04; r=0.43, P=0.02). The relative abundance of Roseburia and Monoglobus was negatively correlated with serum IFN-γ level (r=-0.40, P=0.02; r=-0.44, P=0.01), while relative abundance of Lactobacillus was positively correlated with serum IL-10 level (r=0.43, P=0.02).

CONCLUSION

Moxibustion could improve immune function in healthy rats, and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of relative abundance of intestinal flora.

Impact of metabolic syndrome and its components on clinical severity and long-term prognosis in patients with premature myocardial infarction

Background

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is involved in the occurrence, development and prognosis of cardiovascular diseases, especially acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In recent years, the trend of AMI at a younger age has gradually attracted people's attention. Relevant studies have confirmed that MetS affects the prognosis of people aged ≥45 with AMI. However, there is still a lack of research on MetS in people with premature myocardial infarction (PMI).

Purpose

To explore the impact of MetS and its components on clinical severity and long-term prognosis in PMI patients.

Methods

772 Patients with AMI who aged ≤45 years old from 2015 to 2020 in a hospital were enrolled. The patients were divided into MetS group (n=417) and non-MetS group (n=355) according to the criteria proposed by NCEP ATP III in 2005 (Any 3 of the following 5): 1) Hypertension: BP ≥130/85 mmHg or consistent hypertensive patients undergoing treatment; 2) Hypertriglyceridemia: fasting plasma triglyceride ≥1.7 mmol/L; 3) Fasting HDL-C &lt;1.0 mmol/L in men and &lt;1.3 mmol/L in women. 4) Hyperglycemia: fasting blood glucose level ≥6.1 mmol/L or known diabetic patients undergoing treatment; 5) Central obesity: BMI ≥28.0 kg/m2. Patients were followed for median of 42 months for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). The parameters of clinical severity were compared using logistic regression analysis. Cox regression were used to analyze the relationship between MetS and its components and prognosis.

Results

A total of 772 patients were included in the analysis. Hyperglycemia was associated with multi-vessel disease (OR=1.700, 95% CI 1.172–2.464, P=0.005) and Syntax score ≥33 (OR=2.736, 95% CI 1.241–6.032, P=0.013).Increased MACE were observed in the MetS group (17.9% vs 10.3%, P=0.004) after 42 months follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier curve also showed significant differences (P&lt;0.001). MetS was an independent risk factor for MACE (HR=2.181, 95% CI 1.392–3.418, P=0.001). Of each component of the definition, BMI ≥28.0 kg/m2 (HR=2.047, 95% CI 1.229–3.410, P=0.006) and hyperglycemia (HR=2.911, 95% CI 1.850–4.580, P&lt;0.001) were independent risk factors for MACE.

Conclusions

In patients with PMI, (1) hyperglycemia usually indicates more severe lesions; (2) MetS as a whole was an independent risk factor for MACE; (3) Of each component of the MetS, BMI ≥28.0 kg/m2 and hyperglycemia were associated with MACE.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Public hospital(s). Main funding source(s): This research was supported by the Key Project of Scientific and Technological Support Plan of Tianjin in 2020

Effects of honeycomb extract on the growth performance, carcass traits, immunity, antioxidant function and intestinal microorganisms of yellow bantam broilers

Although many studies have already described the physiological effects of bee products, such as honey, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly, on livestock farming, the health benefits of the honeycomb are still not fully understood. The problem of drug residues and bacterial resistance caused by the abuse of antibiotics is becoming increasingly serious. For this reason, a safe, green substitute has to be sought. We conducted a comparative study of honeycomb extract (HE) and an antibiotic on growth performance, carcass traits, immunity, antioxidant function and intestinal microorganisms of yellow bantam broilers. A total of four hundred eighty 21-day-old female yellow bantam broilers were randomly divided into 5 groups of 6 replicates of 16 birds each. The 5 groups were as follows, with birds receiving a basal diet supplemented with 150 ppm (mg/kg) of chlortetracycline (CTE), a basal diet without HE (control group), and a basal diet with 0.1%, 0.15%, or 0.2% HE for 60 days. The results showed that HE addition significantly increased average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), decrease feed gain ratio (F/G) from 21 to 80 and 51 to 80 days of age compared to the control group, with all 3 HE addition groups having statistically identical values to the antibiotic group. HE implementation dramatically increased spleen index, serum immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin M (IgM,), glutathione peroxide (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and total cecum bacteria and Lactobacillus compared to the control group, numerically at the same level as, or even better than, the antibiotic group. HE and CTE both markly reduced serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration compared to the control group, with higher concentrations of HE reducing the effect more dramatically than antibiotics. Both HE and CTE significantly raised dressed yield compared to the control group. In summary, HE, as a potential antibiotic alternative, improved growth performance, carcass traits, immune function, serum antioxidant capacity and intestinal microorganisms in yellow bantam broilers. According to the cubic regression analyses, the recommended supplemental dose of HE was calculated to be 0.15 to 0.17% for female yellow bantam broilers between 21 and 80 d of age.

Identification of immune responsible fibrinogen beta chain in the liver of large yellow croaker using a modified annealing control primer system

In this article, we used a modified ACP system (mACP) developed in our laboratory to analyze differentially expressed genes in the liver of large yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena crocea (Richardson). By using 20 pairs of mACPs, 7 differentially expressed genes were obtained. One of the genes we identified encodes for a fibrinogen beta chain (FGB). The full-length cDNA of FGB was 1645 bp, including 5 bp of 5' untranslated region (5'-UTR), 1479 bp of open reading frame (ORF), and 161 bp of 3'-UTR. The ORF was capable of encoding 492 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 55.6 kDa, giving it a predicted pI of 5.94. The deduced amino acid sequence included an FGB profile (V(238)-Y(488)) and an FGB family signature (WWYNRCHSANPNG). Multiple sequence alignments indicated that the large yellow croaker FGB showed homology with FGB sequences of other species (45-77% identity). Real time PCR analysis demonstrated that the expression of FGB in the liver of large yellow croaker injected with Vibrio parahaemolyticus was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than that of the control group at 8 d, which confirmed the expression patterns of the results of mACP differential display.