Responses of intestinal morphology, immunity, antioxidant status and cecal microbiota to the mixture of glycerol monolaurate and cinnamaldehyde in laying hens

This study was to determine the effects of the mixture of glycerol monolaurate and cinnamaldehyde (GCM) supplementation on the intestinal morphology, immunity, antioxidant status and cecal microbiota of laying hens. A total of 1,120 healthy laying hens (Jingfen-1 strain) at the age of 14 wk were randomly divided into 4 groups with 10 replicates of 28 layers in each and layers were fed diets containing 0 (control group), or 250, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg GCM for 12 wk. The results showed that dietary supplementation with GCM significantly increased intestinal villus height and villus height/crypt depth, duodenal villus area, total superoxide disumutase activities in the liver and jejunum, jejunal glutathione peroxidase activities while decreased duodenal and jejunal crypt depth, hydrogen peroxide content in the liver and jejunal malondialdehyde content of laying hens aging 28 wk (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, GCM addition significantly increased serum immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin M concentration of layers at the age of 20, 24, and 28 wk (P < 0.05). Moreover, it was observed in the 16S rRNA sequencing that the addition of GCM elevated the abundance and diversity of gut microbiota in laying hens. The predominant bacteria from each group were Bacteroidota and Firmicutes at the phylum level and Bacteroides and Lactobacillus were the dominant genera. The composition and structure of cecal microflora were changed by the addition of GCM to the diet of laying hens. In conclusion, the addition of GCM (500-1,000 mg/kg diet) can improve intestinal morphology, immune function, intestinal and liver antioxidant status and intestinal flora of laying hens, thereby improving intestinal digestion and absorption capacity. These findings provide a new way to further explore the mechanism of GCM improving intestinal health.

[Gastric hamartomatous inverted polyps: a clinicopathological analysis of five cases]

Objective: To investigate the endoscopic and histopathological features, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of gastric hamartomatous inverted polyp (GHIP). Methods: Five cases of GHIP were collected at the University Town Hospital of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China, from May 2021 to May 2023. The endoscopic, pathological and immunohistochemical features of the 5 GHIP cases were analyzed. The relevant literature was reviewed. Results: There were 3 males and 2 females, aged from 49 to 60 years, with a mean age of 56 years. The lesions were located in the fundus and body of the stomach, and presented as polyps or masses under endoscopy. Microscopically, the lesions were mainly in the submucosa and consisted of lobulated or clustered gastric glandular epithelium surrounded by hyperplastic smooth muscle. In some areas, there were differentiated glandular elements mimicking the normal gastric mucosa. The irregularly dilated glandular elements in the center were lined by hyperplastic foveolar epithelium, while the glands in the periphery were fundic or pyloric glands. In addition, in some areas, the glands showed cystic expansion, disordered arrangement and lack of differentiation. The hyperplastic glandular epithelium included foveolar epithelium, fundic gland and pyloric gland. There were scattered neuroendocrine cells and smooth muscle bundles in the stroma. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for MUC5AC, MUC6, Pepsinogen Ⅰ and H+/K+ ATPase β, but negative for MUC2. The scattered neuroendocrine cells were positive for synaptophysin, and the desmin stain highlighted hyperplastic smooth muscle bundles. One case was classified as type 2 gastric inverted polyp, and 4 cases were classified as type 3. Conclusions: GHIP is a rare gastric polyp with unique histological features. It should be distinguished from inverted hyperplastic polyp, gastritis cystica profunda, adenomyoma, hyperplastic polyps and well-differentiated gastric tubular adenocarcinoma, etc. Improving the understanding of its pathogenesis and diagnostic features can help avoid misdiagnoses.

First Report of Leaf Brown Spot Caused by Diaporthe phoenicicola on Pachira glabra in China

Pachira glabra is an increasingly important ornamental landscape tree in southern China. In August 2022, brown spots were observed on P. glabra leaves in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, China (27.932°N, 113.020°E), affecting up to 40% of the 792 trees surveyed. On each diseased tree, nearly 30% leaves had symptoms, with an average severity of 21.2 ± 5.8% (n=100). The disease initially started as small yellow lesions along leaf margins, which later progressed to pale brown to brown with dark brown borders, eventually coalescing into large necrotic areas. Thirty symptomatic leaf samples (2 × 2 mm) were surfaced-sterilized in 75% ethanol for 10 s, 2% NaOCl for 30 s, rinsed in sterile water three times, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 25°C for 5 to 7 days in dark. Eight morphologically similar isolates were obtained from diseased leaf samples through single-spore isolation. On PDA, colonies initially appeared white, turning gray, while the reverse developed a pale yellowish hue. Aerial mycelia were white, cottony, and developed visible black pycnidia with oil droplets at maturity. The α-conidia were unicellular, hyaline, aseptate, oval or fusiform, usually with 1 or 2 guttule(s) and rounded at each end. These conidia were 5.3-8.6 × 1.7-2.5 μm (avg. 6.7 × 2.2 μm, n = 100) and present more frequently than β-conidia.The β-conidia were unicellular, hyaline, aseptate, filiform, straight or hamate, eguttulate, 14.6-23.3 × 0.4-1.3 μm (avg. 18.4 × 0.9 μm, n = 30). Morphologically, the fungi were identified as Diaporthe sp. (Udayanga et al. 2014). For molecular identification, the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), translation elongation factor 1α (EF1-α), calmodulin (CAL), tubulin 2 (TUB2), and histone H3 (HIS3) sequences of all isolates were amplified from genomic DNA, using primers ITS4/ITS5 (White et al. 1990), TEF-2/728F and CALD-38F/CALD-752R (Carbone and Kohn 1999), Bt2a/Bt2b and H3-1a/H3-1b (Glass and Donaldson 1995; Crous et al. 2004), respectively. The GenBank accession numbers for a representative isolate gpg2023-1 were OR533573 (ITS), OR570887 (EF1-α), OR570888 (TUB2), OR570890 (CAL), and OR570889 (HIS3). BLAST results showed that the ITS, EF1-α, TUB2, HIS, and CAL sequences were 99%, 99%, 99%, 99%, and 98% identity, respectively, with those of Diaporthe phoenicicola (GenBank: KC343032.1, KC343758.1, KC344000.1, KC343516.1, and KC343274.1). To confirm the pathogen's identity, phylogenetic analysis using MEGA7.0 based on Maximum Likelihood was constructed. Isolate gpg2023-1 clustered with D. phoenicicola. Based on morphological and molecular data, the fungus was identified as D. phoenicicola. Next, pathogenicity tests were performed three times on one-year-old potted P. glabra plants. For each isolate, twelve healthy leaves on each of three plants were either wounded by a sterile needle or left unwounded, and then sprayed with a conidial suspension (1×106 conidia/ml) for each isolate. Control plants received with sterile water only. Plants were kept in a greenhouse at 25°C, 80% relative humidity, with a 12-h photoperiod. All wounded, inoculated leaves developed brown spot symptoms similar to those observed in the field with six days, while unwounded leaves and control plants remained symptom-free. The fungus was reisolated from all diseased leaves, fulfilling Koch's postulates and proving D. phoenicicola as the causative agent of this brown spot disease on P. glabra. While D. pachirae has been reported to cause leaf spot on P. glabra in Brazil (Milagres et al. 2018), this study marks the first report of D. phoenicicola causing leaf brown spot on P. glabra in China. This finding can help develop control strategies for this disease.

Logical rotation of non-separable states via uniformly self-assembled chiral superstructures

The next generation of high-capacity, multi-task optical informatics requires sophisticated manipulation of multiple degrees of freedom (DoFs) of light, especially when they are coupled in a non-separable way. Vector beam, as a typical non-separable state between the spin and orbital angular momentum DoFs, mathematically akin to entangled qubits, has inspired multifarious theories and applications in both quantum and classical regimes. Although qubit rotation is a vital and ubiquitous operation in quantum informatics, its classical analogue is rarely studied. Here, we demonstrate the logical rotation of vectorial non-separable states via the uniform self-assembled chiral superstructures, with favorable controllability, high compactness and exemption from formidable alignment. Photonic band engineering of such 1D chiral photonic crystal renders the incident-angle-dependent evolution of the spatially-variant polarizations. The logical rotation angle of a non-separable state can be tuned in a wide range over 4π by this single homogeneous device, flexibly providing a set of distinguished logic gates. Potential applications, including angular motion tracking and proof-of-principle logic network, are demonstrated by specific configuration. This work brings important insight into soft matter photonics and present an elegant strategy to harness high-dimensional photonic states.

Application of culturomics in fungal isolation from mangrove sediments

BACKGROUND

Fungi play a crucial role in ecosystems, and they have been widely considered a promising source for natural compounds that are crucial for drug discovery. Fungi have a high diversity, but about 95% of them remain unknown to science. The description rate of fungi is very low, mainly due to the inability of most fungi to grow in artificial media, which could not provide a sufficiently similar environment to their natural habitats. Moreover, many species in nature are in a state of low metabolic activity which cannot readily proliferate without proper resuscitation. Previously developed culturomics techniques are mostly designed and applicable for bacteria, with few attempts for fungal isolation because of their significantly larger cell size and hyphal growth properties.

RESULTS

This study attempted to isolate previously uncultured and rare fungi from mangrove sediments using newly developed fungal enrichment culture method (FECM) and fungal isolation chips (FiChips). Comparison of fungal community composition at different enrichment stages showed that FECM had great influence on fungal community composition, with rare taxa increased significantly, thus improving the isolation efficiency of previously uncultured fungi. Similarly, in situ cultivation using FiChips has a significant advantage in detecting and culturing rare fungi, as compared to the conventional dilution plate method (DPM). In addition, based on morphological comparisons and phylogenetic analyses, we described and proposed 38 new ascomycetous taxa, including three new families, eight new genera, 25 new species, and two new combinations (presented in additional file 1).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated that mangrove sediments harbor a high diversity of fungi, and our new isolation approaches (FECM and FiChips) presented a high efficiency in isolating hitherto uncultured fungi, which is potentially usable for fungal isolation in other similar environments. Video Abstract.

Ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca compartment block for pain control in total hip arthroplasty: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have investigated the effectiveness and safety of ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca compartment block (UGFICB) compared to quadratus lumborum block (QLB) for pain management in total hip arthroplasty (THA). However, there is currently a lack of a systematic review specifically addressing this issue. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the efficacy and safety of UGFICB versus QLB for pain management in THA.

METHODS

An extensive search was conducted in various electronic databases, including PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, China Biomedical Literature Service System, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. This search encompassed all relevant studies published from the inception of these databases until June 30, 2023. The selected outcomes for analysis included moving and resting visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at 12 hours and 24 hours post-surgery, as well as opioids consumption at 24 hours post-surgery. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was utilized to assess the risk of bias in the trials included in the analysis. Statistical analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software.

RESULTS

A total of 8 trials, involving 656 patients, were included in this study. The results of the meta-analysis showed no significant differences between the 2 modalities in terms of moving VAS scores (mean difference [MD] = 0.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.79, 1.14], P = .72) and resting VAS scores (MD = 0.04, 95% CI [-0.27, 0.36], P = .78) at 12 hours post-surgery, and moving VAS scores (MD = 0.27, 95% CI [-0.46, 1.01], P = .47) and resting VAS scores (MD = -0.05, 95% CI [-0.45, 0.35], P = .80) at 24 hours post-surgery. However, there was significant differences in opioids consumption at 24 hours post-surgery (MD = 8.98, 95% CI [2.04, 15.93], P = .01) between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSION

Based on these findings, the study concludes that UGFICB may be more beneficial than QLB for pain management in THA. However, it is important to interpret these results with caution due to certain limitations.

Unravelling the hidden diversity of cave mycobiota in Thailand's Satun Geopark

Karst caves are distinctive ecosystems that have limited nutrients, darkness, low to moderate temperatures, and high moisture levels, which allow for a diverse range of fungal communities to thrive. Despite their significance, little is understood about the fungi found in karst caves in Thailand. In 2019, we studied the cultured mycobiota from five substrate types (air, water, rock, soil/sediment, and organic debris) in two karst caves (Le Stegodon and Phu Pha Phet Caves) of the Satun UNESCO Global Geopark, southern Thailand. A cumulative count of 829 distinct fungal morphological types was identified, encompassing 319 fungal culturable were observed. Based on preliminary analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence using BLAST searches, the most common phylum among the fungal morphotypes was Ascomycota, harboring 282 species in 91 genera, 93.4% of which were distributed in the classes Eurotiomycetes, Sordariomycetes, and Dothideomycetes. The most common fungal genera identified in the two karst caves were Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Talaromyces, Xylaria, and Trichoderma, with 45, 41, 24, 14, 14, and 6 species identified, respectively. Discovering fungi in Thai karst caves highlights the extensive fungal diversity in the Satun UNESCO Global Geopark, implying undiscovered species, and emphasizing the need for comprehensive investigations in other unexplored Thai karst caves.

Dispersal Limitation Controlling the Assembly of the Fungal Community in Karst Caves

As a unique ecosystem, Karst caves harbor an impressive diversity of specific fungi. However, the factors and mechanisms that shape fungal biodiversity in caves remain elusive. In this study, we explored the assembly patterns of fungal communities based on our previous research in eight representative Karst caves in Southwest China. Our results indicated that dispersal limitation plays a crucial role in shaping the overall fungal community as well as specific communities in rock, sediment, and water samples. However, "Undominated" processes contributed more than dispersal limitation in air samples. Interestingly, the dominant assembly processes varied between caves. Consistently, environmental selection had a minor impact on the assembly of fungal communities. Among the examined spatial and environmental variables, latitude, longitude, altitude, and temperature were found to significantly influence fungal communities irrespective of substrate type. These findings provide valuable insights into the ecological factors governing fungal community assembly in Karst caves.

Integrated meta-omics approaches reveal Saccharopolyspora as the core functional genus in huangjiu fermentations

Identification of the core functional microorganisms in food fermentations is necessary to understand the ecological and functional processes for making those foods. Wheat qu, which provides liquefaction and saccharifying power, and affects the flavor quality, is a key ingredient in ancient alcoholic huangjiu fermentation, while core microbiota of them still remains indistinct. In this study, metagenomics, metabolomics, microbial isolation and co-fermentation were used to investigate huangjiu. Although Aspergillus is usually regarded as core microorganism in wheat qu to initiate huangjiu fermentations, our metagenomic analysis showed that bacteria Saccharopolyspora are predominant in wheat qu and responsible for breakdown of starch and cellulose. Metabolic network and correlation analysis showed that Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula, Saccharopolyspora erythraea, and Saccharopolyspora hirsuta made the greatest contributions to huangjiu's metabolites, consisting of alcohols (phenylethanol, isoamylol and isobutanol), esters, amino acids (Pro, Arg, Glu and Ala) and organic acids (lactate, tartrate, acetate and citrate). S. hirsuta J2 isolated from wheat qu had the highest amylase, glucoamylase and protease activities. Co-fermentations of S. hirsuta J2 with S. cerevisiae HJ resulted in a higher fermentation rate and alcohol content, and huangjiu flavors were more similar to that of traditional huangjiu compared to co-fermentations of Aspergillus or Lactiplantibacillus with S. cerevisiae HJ. Genome of S. hirsuta J2 contained genes encoding biogenic amine degradation enzymes. By S. hirsuta J2 inoculation, biogenic amine content was reduced by 45%, 43% and 62% in huangjiu, sausage and soy sauce, respectively. These findings show the utility of Saccharopolyspora as a key functional organism in fermented food products.

Long-read assembled metagenomic approaches improve our understanding on metabolic potentials of microbial community in mangrove sediments

BACKGROUND

Mangrove wetlands are coastal ecosystems with important ecological features and provide habitats for diverse microorganisms with key roles in nutrient and biogeochemical cycling. However, the overall metabolic potentials and ecological roles of microbial community in mangrove sediment are remained unanswered. In current study, the microbial and metabolic profiles of prokaryotic and fungal communities in mangrove sediments were investigated using metagenomic analysis based on PacBio single-molecule real time (SMRT) and Illumina sequencing techniques.

RESULTS

Comparing to Illumina short reads, the incorporation of PacBio long reads significantly contributed to more contiguous assemblies, yielded more than doubled high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), and improved the novelty of the MAGs. Further metabolic reconstruction for recovered MAGs showed that prokaryotes potentially played an essential role in carbon cycling in mangrove sediment, displaying versatile metabolic potential for degrading organic carbons, fermentation, autotrophy, and carbon fixation. Mangrove fungi also functioned as a player in carbon cycling, potentially involved in the degradation of various carbohydrate and peptide substrates. Notably, a new candidate bacterial phylum named as Candidatus Cosmopoliota with a ubiquitous distribution is proposed. Genomic analysis revealed that this new phylum is capable of utilizing various types of organic substrates, anaerobic fermentation, and carbon fixation with the Wood-Ljungdahl (WL) pathway and the reverse tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle.

CONCLUSIONS

The study not only highlights the advantages of HiSeq-PacBio Hybrid assembly for a more complete profiling of environmental microbiomes but also expands our understanding of the microbial diversity and potential roles of distinct microbial groups in biogeochemical cycling in mangrove sediment. Video Abstract.

Detection and Classification of Cotton Foreign Fibers Based on Polarization Imaging and Improved YOLOv5

It is important to detect and classify foreign fibers in cotton, especially white and transparent foreign fibers, to produce subsequent yarn and textile quality. There are some problems in the actual cotton foreign fiber removing process, such as some foreign fibers missing inspection, low recognition accuracy of small foreign fibers, and low detection speed. A polarization imaging device of cotton foreign fiber was constructed based on the difference in optical properties and polarization characteristics between cotton fibers. An object detection and classification algorithm based on an improved YOLOv5 was proposed to achieve small foreign fiber recognition and classification. The methods were as follows: (1) The lightweight network Shufflenetv2 with the Hard-Swish activation function was used as the backbone feature extraction network to improve the detection speed and reduce the model volume. (2) The PANet network connection of YOLOv5 was modified to obtain a fine-grained feature map to improve the detection accuracy for small targets. (3) A CA attention module was added to the YOLOv5 network to increase the weight of the useful features while suppressing the weight of invalid features to improve the detection accuracy of foreign fiber targets. Moreover, we conducted ablation experiments on the improved strategy. The model volume, mAP@0.5, mAP@0.5:0.95, and FPS of the improved YOLOv5 were up to 0.75 MB, 96.9%, 59.9%, and 385 f/s, respectively, compared to YOLOv5, and the improved YOLOv5 increased by 1.03%, 7.13%, and 126.47%, respectively, which proves that the method can be applied to the vision system of an actual production line for cotton foreign fiber detection.

[Application status of metagenomics in quality research of traditional Chinese medicinal materials]

Metagenomics constructs genomic libraries by directly extracting DNA from all microorganisms from environmental samples, and studies microbial diversity and functional composition by microbiology and genomics. The metagenomic technology and genome sequencing can be used to discover the unculturable environmental microorganisms and study the natural products in the medicinal materials related to them, which overcome the limitations of microbial isolation and culture technology and is of great significance for the discovery of new genes or genomes. The quality and safety of traditional Chinese medicine materials(TCMMs) have always been a hot topic in the research on TCMMs. In addition to the intrinsic characteristics, environmental factors and human intervention also affect the quality and clinical efficacy of TCMMs. Environmental microorganisms, rhizosphere microorganisms, and endophytes play an essential role in the growth, secondary metabolism, processing, and storage of medicinal plants. As an emerging discipline, metagenomics has been used in a variety of fields. It can not only avoid the problems caused by the limited technical conditions or strict experimental requirements but also evaluate the quality of TCMMs from a new perspective. This paper introduced the application status of metagenomics in the research of TCMMs and proposed the theoretical basis and research direction for the application of metagenomics in quality research and identification of TCMMs.

[Chinese expert consensus on management of dyslipidemia in the elderly]

Dyslipidemia is an important risk factor of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Statins delay the occurrence and development of ASCVD, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and death. Due to safety concerns, there exist insufficient use of lipid-lowering agents and a high withdrawal rate of the agents in the elderly. To promote the prevention and treatment of ASCVD, this expert consensus is issued and focuses on the management of dyslipidemia of Chinese elderly basing on the clinical evidence of the use of lipid-lowering drugs by the elderly, and the lipid management guidelines and expert consensus recommendations at home and abroad.

[Outcomes at discharge of preterm infants born <34 weeks' gestation]

Objective: To investigate the incidence and trend of short-term outcomes among preterm infants born <34 weeks' gestation. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from the standardized database established by a multicenter cluster-randomized controlled study "reduction of infection in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) using the evidence-based practice for improving quality (REIN-EPIQ) study". This study was conducted in 25 tertiary NICU. A total of 27 192 infants with gestational age <34 weeks at birth and admitted to NICU within the first 7 days of life from May 2015 to April 2018 were enrolled. Infants with severe congenital malformation were excluded. Descriptive analyses were used to describe the mortality and major morbidities of preterm infants by gestational age groups and different admission year groups. Cochran-Armitage test and Jonckheere-Terpstra test were used to analyze the trend of incidences of mortality and morbidities in 3 study-years. Multiple Logistic regression model was constructed to analyze the differences of outcomes in 3 study-years adjusting for confounders. Results: A total of 27 192 preterm infants were enrolled with gestational age of (31.3±2.0) weeks at birth and weight of (1 617±415) g at birth. Overall, 9.5% (2 594/27 192) of infants were discharged against medical advice, and the overall mortality rate was 10.7% (2 907/27 192). Mortality for infants who received complete care was 4.7% (1 147/24 598), and mortality or any major morbidity was 26.2% (6 452/24 598). The incidences of moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sepsis, severe intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia, proven necrotizing enterocolitis, and severe retinopathy of prematurity were 16.0% (4 342/27 192), 11.9% (3 225/27 192), 6.8% (1 641/24 206), 3.6% (939/25 762) and 1.5% (214/13 868), respectively. There was a decreasing of the overall mortality (P<0.001) during the 3 years. Also, the incidences for sepsis and severe retinopathy of prematurity both decreased (both P<0.001). However, there were no significant differences in the major morbidity in preterm infants who received complete care during the 3-year study period (P=0.230). After adjusting for confounders, infants admitted during the third study year showed significantly lower risk of overall mortality (adjust OR=0.62, 95%CI 0.55-0.69, P<0.001), mortality or major morbidity, moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sepsis and severe retinopathy of prematurity, compared to those admitted in the first study year (all P<0.05). Conclusions: From 2015 to 2018, the mortality and major morbidities among preterm infants in Chinese NICU decreased, but there is still space for further efforts. Further targeted quality improvement is needed to improve the overall outcome of preterm infants.

[Neurofibromatosis type 1 initially presented with glaucoma in the Department of Ophthalmology: a case report]

An eleven-year-old boy visited the Department of Ophthalmology due to visual acuity loss accompanied by high intraocular tension in the left eye for one year. Besides glaucoma, the typical ocular manifestations of neurofibromatosis type 1 such as bilateral Lisch nodules of the iris, multiple patchy choroidal nodules and retinal microvascular abnormalities were identified, and Cafe-au-lait macules appeared on the body skin. Based on the medical history, clinical presentation and auxiliary examination results, the diagnosis of neurofibromatosis type 1 with secondary glaucoma in the left eye was confirmed.

Efficacy of Raman Spectroscopy in the Diagnosis of Uterine Cervical Neoplasms: A Meta-Analysis

Background

Uterine cervical neoplasms is widely concerned due to its high incidence rate. Early diagnosis is extremely important for prognosis. The purpose of this article is evaluating the efficacy of Raman spectroscopy in the diagnosis of suspected uterine cervical neoplasms.

Methods

We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Web of science up to September 1, 2021. By analyzing the true positive (TP), false positive (FP), true negative (TN) and false negative (FN) of six included study, we evaluated the pooled and grouping sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative likelihood ratios (LR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), with 95% confidence intervals (CI), based on random effects models. The overall diagnostic accuracy of Raman spectrum was evaluated by SROC curve analysis and AUC.

Results

After screening with inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of six study were included in the study. The pooled sensitivity and specificity was 0.98 (95% Cl, 0.93–0.99) and 0.95 (95% Cl, 0.89–0.98). The total PLR and NLR were 21.05 (95% CI, 8.23–53.86) and 0.03 (95% CI, 0.01–0.07), respectively. And the AUC of the SROC curve which show the overall diagnostic accuracy was 0.99 (0.98–1.00).

Conclusion

Through analysis, we confirmed the role of Raman spectroscopy (RS) in the diagnosis of suspected uterine cervical tumors.

Systematic Review Registration

[https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/], identifier [CRD42021284966].

Interactions of diclazuril enantiomers with serum albumins: Multi-spectroscopic and molecular docking approaches

In this work, multi-spectroscopic and molecular docking methods have been conducted in the investigation of enantioselective interactions between diclazuril enantiomers and human/bovine serum albumins (HSA/BSA). The binding constants between serum albumins (SAs) and diclazuril enantiomers revealed that SAs exhibited stronger binding affinity for (R)-diclazuril than (S)-enantiomer. In addition, the fluorescence quenching of SAs induced by diclazuril enantiomers was ascribed to static quenching mechanism, in which hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals forces were the main interactions. According to the thermodynamic study, binding of diclazuril enantiomers and SAs was an exothermic process driven by enthalpy change. Then, circular dichroism spectroscopy of SAs with diclazuril enantiomers revealed that the SAs conformation had changed in the presence of diclazuril. Moreover, molecular docking technology was applied in exploration of interactions between SAs and diclazuril enantiomers. The docking energy between SAs and (R)-diclazuril was larger than (S)-diclazuril, which indicated that the affinity of SAs with (R)-diclazuril was stronger than (S)-enantiomer. This work may provide valuable information for explaining differences in pharmacokinetics and residue elimination of diclazuril enantiomers in living organisms.

[Analysis of fundus examination results in 8 808 pediatric patients in Northwest China]

Objective: To explore the incidence and age distribution of fundus abnormalities in pediatric patients aged 0-3 years in northwest China. Methods: A retrospective study of the clinical data of 8808 pediatric patients aged 0-3 years who underwent fundus examination with a wide-filed digital retinal imaging system and an indirect ophthalmoscope in our hospital from January 2008 to December 2019 were performed. There were 5092 males and 3716 females, with a median age of 1 month (range, 3 days to 3 years), a mean gestational age of 34.32 (SD 2.92) weeks (range, 24 to 42 weeks) and a mean birth weight of 2006.92 (SD 709.23) g (range, 490 to 5500 g), from Shaanxi Province (7415 cases, 84.18%), Gansu Province (770 cases, 8.74%), Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (94 cases, 1.07%), Qinghai Province (53 cases, 0.60%), Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (14 cases, 0.16%) and other neighboring areas (462 cases, 5.25%). The fundus condition of the enrolled pediatric patients was documented to calculate the annual detection rate. The joinpoint regression model was drawn to estimate the annual percent change and average annual percent change. The constituent ratios and age distribution of different types of fundus abnormalities were finally analyzed. Results: Fundus abnormalities were detected in 2 531 cases (28.74%). During the 12 years, the number of pediatric patients undergoing fundus examination each year in our center increased rapidly in the first 7 years, and then kept almost stable, while the number of fundus abnormality cases increased year by year. The positive detection rate showed an overall upward trend with an average annual percent change of +7.2%, and it was +30.09% from 2016 to 2019. Among all the pediatric patients with fundus abnormalities, there were 1 678 cases with developmental diseases (66.30%), 232 cases with hereditary diseases (9.16%), 140 cases with ocular tumor (5.53%), 64 cases with ophthalmic manifestations of systemic diseases (2.53%), 31 cases with ocular trauma (1.23%), 12 cases with infectious diseases or inflammation (0.48%) and 438 cases with other ocular abnormalities (17.31%). The top 5 abnormalities were retinopathy of prematurity (ROP; 1477 cases, 58.36%), gray patchy retinopathy (225 cases, 8.89%), retinal hemorrhage (157 cases, 6.20%), retinoblastoma (137 cases, 5.41%) and familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (77 cases, 3.04%). Fundus abnormalities varied with age. ROP, developmental diseases other than ROP, hereditary diseases, ocular trauma and infectious diseases were mostly detected in pediatric patients at 0-6 months old, while tumors were mostly detected after 1 year old. Conclusions: The detection rate of fundus abnormalities in the Department of Ophthalmology of Xijing Hospital of Air Force Medical University, a tertiary referral center in northwest China, increased notably year by year. The abnormalities were mainly developmental and hereditary lesions as well as of certain age distribution. They occurred with the highest frequency between birth and 6 months of age, in which ROP was in the ascendancy. Meanwhile, the detection rate of other developmental, hereditary and neoplastic disorders increased with age. Therefore, a comprehensive and objective understanding of the fundus disease in infants is essential. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 777-783).

[A case of CHARGE syndrome confirmed by ophthalmology]

A 31-month-old female patient presented to our department of Ophthalmology in Xijing Hospital with insufficiency closed eyelid in left eye and photophobia for one month. Unsteady gait with asymmetrical face, bilateral auricle deformity and deafness could be observed on the pediatric patient. Esotropia in left eye combined, left facial nerve palsy, with binocular anisometropia was checked out after general eye examination. Echocardiography revealed that she was treated with ligation of the ductus arteriosus. A de novo pathogenic variant, c.3392T>C, was identified in CHD7 gene, which supported the diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 618-620).

Spatio-temporal model of Meox1 expression control involvement of Sca-1-positive stem cells in neointima formation through the synergistic effect of Rho/CDC42 and SDF-1α/CXCR4

AIMS

Neointimal hyperplasia remains a major obstacle in vascular regeneration. Sca-1-positive progenitor cells residing within the vascular adventitia play a crucial role in the assemblage of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) and the formation of the intimal lesion. However, the underlying mechanisms during vascular injury are still unknown.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Aneointimal formation rat model was prepared by carotid artery injury using 2F-Forgaty. After vascular injury, Meox1 expressions time-dependently increased during the neointima formation, with its levels concurrently increasing in the adventitia, media, and neointima. Meox1 was highly expressed in the adventitia on the first day after vascular injury compared to the expression levels in the media. Conversely, by the 14th day post-injury, Meox1 was extensively expressed more in the media and neointima than the adventitia. Analogous to the change of Meox1 in injured artery, Sca-1+ progenitor cells increased in the adventitia wall in a time-dependent manner and reached peak levels on the 7th day after injury. More importantly, this effect was abolished by Meox1 knockdown with shRNA. The enhanced expression of SDF-1α after vascular injury was associated with the markedly enhanced expression levels of Sca1+ progenitor cell, and these levels were relatively synchronously increased within neointima by the 7th day after vascular injury. These special effects were abolished by the knockdown of Meox1 with shRNA and inhibition of CXCR4 by its inhibitor, AMD3100. Finally, Meox1 concurrently regulated SDF-1α expressions in VSMC via activating CDC42, and CDC42 inhibition abolished these effects by its inhibitor, ZCL278. Also, Meox1 was involved in activation of the CXCR4 expression of Sca-1+ progenitor cells by CDC42.

CONCLUSIONS

Spatio-temporal model of Meox1 expression regulates theSca-1+progenitor cell migration during the formation of the neointima through the synergistic effect of Rho/CDC42 and SDF-1α/CXCR4.

Inverse association between systemic immune-inflammation index and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and neutrophil-to-platelet ratio (NLR) were associated with bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 413 postmenopausal women who never received menopause hormone therapy. The relationship between SII, NLR, and BMD was investigated by linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

Significant inverse association was observed between SII and BMD in postmenopausal women. The mean BMD in each quartile of SII level were 0.923, 0.914, 0.900, and 0.876 g/cm², respectively (p = .011). After adjusting for covariates, SII levels remained significantly associated with BMD (regression coefficients for quartiles 1-3 vs. quartile 4 were 0.035, 0.029, and 0.023, respectively; p for trend <.05). An inverse association was also found between NLR and BMD in postmenopausal women. However, there was no significant association between NLR and BMD after adjusting for covariates.

CONCLUSION

The quartile of SII was negatively associated with the mean BMD in postmenopausal women, independent of age, body mass index, sex hormone levels, and other factors. Therefore, SII can be used as a new predictor of bone loss in postmenopausal women.

Biogeography, Assembly Patterns, Driving Factors, and Interactions of Archaeal Community in Mangrove Sediments

Archaea are a major part of Earth's life. They are believed to play important roles in nutrient biogeochemical cycling in the mangrove. However, only a few studies on the archaeal community in mangroves have been reported. In particular, the assembly processes and interaction patterns that impact the archaeal communities in mangroves have not been investigated to date. Here, the biogeography, assembly patterns, and driving factors of archaeal communities in seven representative mangroves across southeastern China were systematically analyzed. The analysis revealed that the archaeal community is more diverse in surface sediments than in subsurface sediments, and more diverse in mangroves at low latitudes than at high latitudes, with Woesearchaeota and Bathyarchaeota as the most diverse and most abundant phyla, respectively. Beta nearest-taxon index analysis suggested a determinant role of homogeneous selection on the overall archaeon community in all mangroves and in each individual mangrove. In addition, the conditionally rare taxon community was strongly shaped by homogeneous selection, while stochastic processes shaped the dominant taxon and always-rare taxon communities. Further, a moderate effect of environmental selection on the archaeal community was noted, with the smallest effect on the always-rare taxon community. Mangrove location, mean annual temperature, and salinity were the major factors that greatly affected the community composition. Finally, network analysis revealed comprehensive cooccurrence relationships in the archaeal community, with a crucial role of Bathyarchaeota. This study expands the understanding of the biogeography, assembly patterns, driving factors, and cooccurrence relationships of the mangrove archaeal community and inspires functional exploration of archaeal resources in mangrove sediments. IMPORTANCE As a key microbial community component with important ecological roles, archaea merit the attention of biologists and ecologists. The mechanisms controlling microbial community diversity, composition, and biogeography are central to microbial ecology but poorly understood. Mangroves are located at the land-ocean interface and are an ideal environment for examining the above questions. We here provided the first-ever overview of archaeal community structure and biogeography in mangroves located along an over-9,000-km coastline of southeastern China. We observed that archaeal diversity in low-latitude mangroves was higher than that in high-latitude mangroves. Furthermore, our data indicated that homogeneous selection strongly controlled the assembly of the overall and conditionally rare taxon communities in mangrove sediments, while the dominant taxon and always-rare taxon communities were mainly controlled by dispersal limitation.

[The prevalence of retinopathy of prematurity in the mainland of China from 2008 to 2018]

With improved neonatal care, the survival rate of premature infants has been greatly increased, and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has already been the leading cause of blindness in children. Thereupon screening and treatment of ROP have been deeply performed in China. However, the implementation and the detection rate vary greatly in different regions. In this article, based on the 20-year prevalence data of ROP in all parts of the country before 2010, we review and summarize the literatures from 2008 to 2018, in order to track and update the screening data of ROP in the mainland of China and to find the incidence trend during the decade. The evidence of the changing prevalence of ROP would benefit further prevention of this serious eye disease. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 379-385).

[Spontaneous regression of the retinopathy of prematurity]

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has become the leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide. It is the key point of ROP prevention and treatment to screen out and deal with severe ROP that require treatment. However, more than 70% ROP regressed spontaneously without treatment. It is useful in deeply understanding the natural course of ROP and is helpful to develop strategies of ROP screening and prevention, that the characteristics of spontaneous regression of ROP are investigated comprehensively. The epidemic characteristics, clinical features, time course, related factors and visual impairment of ROP regression will be systematically summarized in this review.(Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 150-155).

Therapeutic Strategies and Prognostic Factors Based on 121 Spinal Neurenteric Cysts

BACKGROUND

Limited data existed to guide the management of intraspinal neurenteric cysts (ISNECs).

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the risk factors for progression-free survival (PFS), elucidate the radiological features of ISNECs, and propose a treatment protocol.

METHODS

From 2003 to 2015, 121 patients with pathologically confirmed ISNECs treated at our institute were included in this study. Pertinent risk factors were evaluated.

RESULTS

Gross total resection (GTR) was achieved in 55 (44.6%) patients; 106 (87.6%), 12 (9.9%), and 3 (2.5%) ISNECs were classified as Wilkins A, B, and C, respectively. After a median follow-up duration of 64.2 mo, recurrence occurred in 25 (22.7%) patients, with a median PFS time of 43.1 mo. The actuarial PFS rates at 5 and 10 yr were 73.2% and 66.2%, respectively. The actuarial overall survival rates at 5 and 10 yr were 100% and 97.6%, respectively. Non-GTR (hazard ratio [HR], 5.836; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.698-20.058; P = .005), Wilkins B/C (HR, 3.129; 95% CI, 1.009-9.702; P = .048), and a history of surgical resection (HR, 3.690; 95% CI, 1.536-8.864; P = .004) were adverse factors.

CONCLUSION

GTR and Wilkins A were favorable factors for PFS. If tolerable, GTR alone was advocated as an optimal treatment. Because of the benign nature and favorable prognosis, non-GTR was an alternative if GTR failed. Close follow-up was needed because of the recurrent tendency of ISNEC. Future study with a large cohort is necessary to verify our findings.

[Establishment of nutrition literacy core items for Chinese people]

Objective: To establish core items of nutrition literacy for general population in China. Methods: The framework system and preliminary items of nutrition literacy were established through literature review and experts' consultation. Content validity test was used to determine the nutrition literacy item. Thirteen experts in the field of human nutrition, health education and nutrition and diseases were invited to score the importance of each nutrition literacy item via Email. The judgment basis and familiarity of experts towards the items, active coefficient, and content validity were analyzed to generate the final list of nutrition literacy items. Results: 92.3% of questionnaires in two rounds were collected.The active coefficient of experts was satisfied and the authority coefficient was 0.96.In the content validity evaluation, the correlation I-CVI value of each item was above 0.83 and the κ value was above 0.74. The evaluation result was excellent.After the second round of expert consultation, all selected items met the inclusion criteria. We identified the final list of nutrition literacy items consisting of three scales (knowledge and concepts, lifestyles and dietary behaviors, and basic skills), ten subscales (basic nutrition philosophy, food classification and nutrition knowledge, healthy weight, eating behavior and culture, balanced diet, exercise health, food assessment, nutrition information acquisition and decision, nutrition safety, and weight management)with 25 items in total. Conclusions: The framework system and core items of nutrition literacy are established for Chinese people based on the content validity evaluation. The experts involved in the consultation process present a performance with good representativeness, enthusiasm and authority, and the content validity evaluation result is satisfied.

[Establishment of nutrition literacy core items for Chinese old people]

Objective: To establish the nutrition literacy core items for older people in China. Methods: The framework system and preliminary items of nutrition literacy were established through literature review and experts consultation. Content validity test was used to determine the nutrition literacy items. Seven experts in the field of human nutrition, health education and nutrition and diseases were invited to score the importance of each nutrition literacy item via Email. The judgment basis and familiarity of expertstowards the items, active coefficient, and content validitywere evaluated and analyzed to generate the final list of nutritionliteracy items. Results: A total of 85.7% (6/7) of questionnaires in two rounds were collected.The active coefficient of experts was satisfied and the authority coefficient was 0.96. In the content validity evaluation, the correlation I-CVI value of each item was above 0.90 and theκvalue was above 0.74. The evaluation result was excellent. After the second round of consultation, all selected items met the inclusion criteria. We identified the final list of nutrition literacy items consisting of three scales (knowledge and concepts, lifestyles and dietary behaviors, and basic skills), twelve subscales (reasonable nutrition, healthy weight, environment of dining, food classification, nutrition and disease, eat regularly, balanced diet, exercise health, information getting, household food measurement, reading nutrition label and calculating, and food safety)with 20 items in total. Conclusions: The framework system and core items of nutrition literacy are established for Chinese older people based on the content validity evaluation. The experts involved in the consultation process present a performance with good representativeness, enthusiasm and authority, and the content validity evaluation result is satisfied.

Microbiota in the Rhizosphere and Seed of Rice From China, With Reference to Their Transmission and Biogeography

Seeds play key roles in the acquisition of plant pioneer microbiota, including the transmission of microbes from parent plants to offspring. However, the issues about seed microbial communities are mostly unknown, especially for their potential origins and the factors influencing the structure and composition. In this study, samples of rice seed and rhizosphere were collected from northeast and central-south China in two harvest years and analyzed using a metabarcoding approach targeting 16S rRNA gene region. A higher level of vertical transmission (from parent seed microbiota to offspring) was revealed, as compared to the acquisition from the rhizosphere (25.5 vs 10.7%). The core microbiota of the rice seeds consisted of a smaller proportion of OTUs (3.59%) than that of the rice rhizosphere (7.54%). Among the core microbiota, species in Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Blastococcus, Curtobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Ramlibacter have been reported as potential pathogens and/or beneficial bacteria for plants. Both the seed and the rhizosphere of rice showed distance-decay of similarity in microbial communities. Seed moisture and winter mean annual temperature (WMAT) had significant impacts on seed microbiota, while WMAT, total carbon, available potassium, available phosphorus, aluminum, pH, and total nitrogen significantly determined the rhizosphere microbiota. Multiple functional pathways were found to be enriched in the seed or the rhizosphere microbiota, which, to some extent, explained the potential adaptation of bacterial communities to respective living habitats. The results presented here elucidate the composition and possible sources of rice seed microbiota, which is crucial for the health and productivity management in sustainable agriculture.

Inverse association between bone mineral density and fibrinogen in menopausal women

OBJECTIVE

Inflammatory diseases are risk factors for osteoporosis. We aimed to explore whether fibrinogen, which is linked to chronic inflammation, is associated with bone mineral density (BMD) in menopausal women.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed 339 menopausal women from Zhejiang Province between January 2016 and October 2019. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between fibrinogen and BMD.

RESULTS

Significant inverse association was observed between the serum fibrinogen level and BMD in menopausal women. The mean BMD in each quartile of fibrinogen level was 0.901, 0.897, 0.892, and 0.855 g/cm², respectively (p = 0.027). After adjusting for age, body mass index, metabolic profiles, blood inflammatory factors, and serum levels of estradiol, calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase, fibrinogen levels remained significantly associated with BMD (regression coefficients for quartiles 1-3 vs. quartile 4 were 0.046, 0.027, and 0.036, respectively; p for trend <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher fibrinogen levels were associated with lower BMD in menopausal women, which was independent of age, body mass index, estradiol, and other factors. Therefore, serum fibrinogen can be used as a new predictor of reduced BMD in menopausal women.

Arginine is neuroprotective through suppressing HIF-1α/LDHA-mediated inflammatory response after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury

Neuroinflammation is a secondary response following ischemia stroke. Arginine is a non-essential amino acid that has been shown to inhibit acute inflammatory reaction. In this study we show that arginine treatment decreases neuronal death after rat cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and improves functional recovery of stroke animals. We also show that arginine suppresses inflammatory response in the ischemic brain tissue and in the cultured microglia after OGD insult. We further provide evidence that the levels of HIF-1α and LDHA are increased after rat I/R injury and that arginine treatment prevents the elevation of HIF-1α and LDHA after I/R injury. Arginine inhibits inflammatory response through suppression of HIF-1α and LDHA in the rat ischemic brain tissue and in the cultured microglia following OGD insult, and protects against ischemic neuron death after rat I/R injury by attenuating HIF-1α/LDHA-mediated inflammatory response. Together, these results indicate a possibility that arginine-induced neuroprotective effect may be through the suppression of HIF-1α/LDHA-mediated inflammatory response in microglia after cerebral ischemia injury.

Discovery of chemical markers for identifying species, growth mode and production area of Astragali Radix by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

BACKGROUND

Astragali Radix (AR) is a well-known Chinese herbal medicine. The quality of AR can be affected by many factors such as species, growth mode and production area, but there are still no chemical markers to distinguish it.

PURPOSE

To explore chemical markers for improving the quality assessment of AR and discover chemical markers for identifying species, growth mode and production area of AR.

METHODS

A highly sensitive, efficient and accurate method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS) for simultaneous quantitative determination of 14 major chemical components (five flavonoids and nine triterpene saponins) in 94 batches of AR from China, Republic of Korea and Germany was developed for the first time. To explore chemical markers and assess changes in the contents of 14 compounds in the 94 batches of AR samples from different regions, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed.

RESULTS

Astragaloside III was not only an important chemical marker for distinguishing two species of AR, i.e.: Astragalus mongholicus and A. membranaceus, but also a potential chemical marker for the classification of cultivated and semi-wild AR. In addition, in the batches of cultivated AR, the content of isoastragaloside II and cyclocephaloside II were greater in batches from the region of Shaanxi Province than that of other Provinces in China, but the content of calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside and astragaloside IV, which are the quality control markers of AR required by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, were higher than that of other Provinces in China. In addition, the content of calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, ononin, calycosin and astragaloside I could be used to identify samples of AR collected from China, Republic of Korea and Germany.

CONCLUSION

This UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS method could be applied to the quantitative evaluation of AR and could be an important and meaningful reference to develop chemical markers for quality control of AR.

PTEN Inhibition Protects Against Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage-Induced Brain Injury Through PTEN/E2F1/β-Catenin Pathway

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a subtype of stroke with highest mortality and morbidity. We have previously demonstrated that dipotassium bisperoxo (picolinato) oxovanadate (V), (bpV[pic]) inhibits phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and activates extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2. In this study, we examined the effect of bpV[pic] in the rat ICH model in vivo and the hemin-induced injury model in rat cortical cultures. The rat model of ICH was created by injecting autologous blood into the striatum, and bpV[pic] was intraperitoneally injected. The effects of bpV[pic] were evaluated by neurological tests, Fluoro-Jade C (FJC) staining, and Nissl staining. We demonstrate that bpV[pic] attenuates ICH-induced brain injury in vivo and hemin-induced neuron injury in vitro. The expression of E2F1 was increased, but β-catenin expression was decreased after ICH, and the altered expressions of E2F1 and β-catenin after ICH were blocked by bpV[pic] treatment. Our results further show that bpV[pic] increases β-catenin expression through downregulating E2F1 in cortical neurons and prevents hemin-induced neuronal damage through E2F1 downregulation and subsequent upregulation of β-catenin. By testing the effect of PTEN-siRNA, PTEN cDNA, or combined use of ERK1/2 inhibitor and bpV[pic] in cultured cortical neurons after hemin-induced injury, we provide evidence suggesting that PTEN inhibition by bpV[pic] confers neuroprotection through E2F1 and β-catenin pathway, but the neuroprotective role of ERK1/2 activation by bpV[pic] cannot be excluded.

DJ-1 Suppresses Cytoplasmic TDP-43 Aggregation in Oxidative Stress-Induced Cell Injury

DJ-1 (also called PARK7) is a multifunctional redox-sensitive protein that is protective against oxidative stress-induced cell death. TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is a major protein component of pathological inclusions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Reducing aberrant aggregation of TDP-43 is a potential approach to prevent cell death. To investigate whether DJ-1 might inhibit TDP-43 aggregation to exert a protective effect in oxidative stress-induced injury, we tested the protein level and subcellular localization of TDP-43 and DJ-1 in SH-SY5Y cells transfected with wild-type DJ-1, DJ-1 mutant (L166P) cDNA, or DJ-1 siRNA. We show that oxidative stress induced by paraquat leads to the formation of cytosolic TDP-43 aggregation in SH-SY5Y cells. DJ-1 overexpression decreases paraquat-induced cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43 in SH-SY5Y cells and protects against paraquat-induced cell death. Transfection of DJ-1 L166P mutant or DJ-1 siRNA leads to increased cytosolic aggregation of TDP-43 in paraquat-treated SH-SY5Y cells and promotes cell death. These data suggest that DJ-1 may protect against oxidative stress-induced cell death through the suppression of cytoplasmic TDP-43 aggregation.

Preoperative Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet to Lymphocyte Ratio are Associated with the Prognosis of Group 3 and Group 4 Medulloblastoma

Inflammation and immunoreaction markers were correlated with the survival of patients in many tumors. However, there were no reports investigating the relationships between preoperative hematological markers and the prognosis of medulloblastoma (MB) patients based on the molecular subgroups (WNT, SHH, Group 3, and Group 4). A total 144 MB patients were enrolled in the study. The differences of preoperative hematological markers among molecular subgroups of MB were compared by One-way ANOVA method. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the curves of progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The comparison of survival rates in different groups were conducted by the Log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was used to evaluate independent prognostic factors. Increased preoperative NLR (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, PFS, P = 0.004, OS, P < 0.001) and PLR (platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, PFS, P = 0.028, OS, P = 0.003) predicted poor prognosis in patients with MB, while preoperative MLR (monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio), MPV (mean platelet volume), PDW (platelet distribution width), and AGR (albumin-to-globulin ratio) were revealed no predictive value on the prognosis of patients with MB. Furthermore, high preoperative NLR and PLR predicted unfavorable prognosis in childhood MB patients. However, preoperative NLR and PLR were not associated with the prognosis in adult MB patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated preoperative NLR (PFS, P = 0.029, OS, P = 0.005) and PLR (PFS, P = 0.023, OS, P = 0.005) were the independent prognostic factors in MB patients. Emphatically, the levels of preoperative NLR and PLR in Group 3 MB were significantly higher than those in WNT MB. High preoperative NLR was associated with unfavorable OS in Group 3 (P = 0.032) and Group 4 (P = 0.027) tumors. Similarly, increased preoperative PLR predicted poor PFS (P = 0.012) and OS (P = 0.009) in Group 4 tumors. Preoperative NLR and PLR were the potential prognostic markers for MB patients. Preoperative NLR and PLR were significantly associated with the survival of Group 3 and Group 4 tumors.

Diversity, Distribution and Co-occurrence Patterns of Bacterial Communities in a Karst Cave System

Caves are typified by their permanent darkness and a shortage of nutrients. Consequently, bacteria play an important role in sustaining such subsurface ecosystems by dominating primary production and fueling biogeochemical cycles. China has one of the world’s largest areas of karst topography in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, yet the bacteriomes in these karst caves remain unexplored. In this study, bacteriomes of eight karst caves in southwest China were examined, and co-occurrence networks of cave bacterial communities were constructed. Results revealed abundant and diversified bacterial communities in karst caves, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes being the most abundant phyla. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in bacteriomes among the eight caves. However, a PCoA plot did show that the bacterial communities of 128 cave samples clustered into groups corresponding to sampling types (air, water, rock, and sediment). These results suggest that the distribution of bacterial communities is driven more by sample types than the separate caves from which samples were collected. Further community-level composition analysis indicated that Proteobacteria were most dominant in water and air samples, while Actinobacteria dominated the sediment and rock samples. Co-occurrence analysis revealed highly modularized assembly patterns of the cave bacterial community, with Nitrosococcaceae wb1-P19, an uncultured group in Rokubacteriales, and an uncultured group in Gaiellales, being the top-three keystone members. These results not only expand our understanding of cave bacteriomes but also inspires functional exploration of bacterial strains in karst caves.

Sesamin Promotes Osteoblastic Differentiation and Protects Rats from Osteoporosis

Background

Osteoporosis is a common osteopathy, resulting in fractures, especially in elder people. Sesamin has many pharmacological effects, including supplying calcium. However, how sesamin might prevent osteoporosis is still under study.

Material/Methods

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) extracted from rat femur were induced for osteoblastic differentiation. Cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osterix (OSX), SRY-box 9 (SOX9), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), osteocalcin (OCN), β-catenin, low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5), and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) levels in BMSCs were detected in the presence or absence of sesamin (1 μM or 10 μM). In addition, FH535 (1 μM) was used to silence Wnt/β-catenin in vitro. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats were established and intragastrically administrated sesamin (80 mg/kg), and then the rat bones were analyzed by micro-computed tomography. Osteocalcin and collagen type I were measured in the rat femurs.

Results

Sesamin had no influence on BMSC proliferation. Higher sesamin concentration promoted Wnt/β-catenin activity and enhanced more expressions of ALP, OSX, SOX9, RUNX2, and OCN, gradually and significantly (P<0.05). Silencing Wnt/β-catenin weakened the enhancement on RUNX2 and OCN expression. Sesamin (80 mg/kg) promoted bone structure in ovariectomized rats, and significantly enhanced osteocalcin and collage type I expression (P<0.05).

Conclusions

Sesamin promoted osteoblastic differentiation of rat BMSCs by regulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, and improved rat bone structure. Sesamin could have therapeutic and preventive effects on osteoporosis.

Pharmacokinetics Comparison, Intestinal Absorption and Acute Toxicity Assessment of a Novel Water-Soluble Astragaloside IV Derivative (Astragalosidic Acid, LS-102)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Astragaloside IV (AGS IV) is the most important bioactive constituent of Radix Astragali. However, its disappointing clinical application is mainly caused by its very low solubility in biologic fluids, resulting in poor bioavailability after oral administration. We recently obtained a novel water-soluble derivative of AGS IV (astragalosidic acid, LS-102) that displayed significant cardioprotective potential against hypoxia-induced injury. The objective of this study was to investigate the intestinal absorption, main pharmacokinetic parameters and acute toxicity of LS-102 in rodents compared with AGS IV.

METHODS

An oral dose of LS-102 and AGS IV (20 mg/kg) was administered to Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, and blood samples were collected at predetermined time points. The plasma concentrations were detected by a validated UHPLC-MS/MS method, and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using a compartmental model. In the intestinal permeability study, the transport of LS-102 across Caco-2 cell monolayers was investigated at six concentrations from 6.25 to 250 µM. Moreover, the acute toxicity of LS-102 (40-5000 mg/kg) via a single oral administration was investigated in BALB/c mice.

RESULTS

LS-102 was rapidly absorbed, attaining a maximum concentration of 248.7 ± 22.0 ng/ml at 1.0 ± 0.5  h after oral administration. The relative bioavailability of LS-102 was twice that of AGS IV. LS-102 had a P_app (mean) of 15.72-25.50 × 10^-6 cm/s, which was almost 500-fold higher than that of AGS IV, showing that LS-102 had better transepithelial permeability and could be better absorbed in the intestinal tract. The acute toxicity study showed no abnormal changes or mortality in mice treated with LS-102 even at the single high dose of 5000 mg/kg body weight.

CONCLUSIONS

Oral LS-102 produced a pharmacokinetic profile different from AGS IV with higher bioavailability, while the toxic tolerance was similar to previous estimates. Thus, we speculated that LS-102 might provide better clinical efficacy and be a potential candidate for the new drug development of Radix Astragali.

The neuroprotective effect of bisperoxovandium (pyridin-2-squaramide) in intracerebral hemorrhage

Background: The authors have recently designed a new compound bisperoxovandium (pyridin-2-squaramide) [bpV(pis)] and verified that bpV(pis) confers neuroprotection through suppressing PTEN and activating ERK1/2, respectively. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the second most common cause of stroke and has severe clinical outcome. In this study, we investigate the effect of bpV(pis) in ICH model both in vivo and in vitro.

Materials and methods: The novel drug bpV(pis) was synthesized in the Faculty of Pharmacy, Wuhan University School of Medicine. An ICH model was generated on both SD rats and cells. bpV(pis) was injected into intracerebroventricular or culture media. Western blotting was applied to test the signal pathway. To determine the effect of bpV(pis) on PTEN inhibition and ERK1/2 activation, we measured the phosphorylation level of AKT (a direct downstream target of PTEN that negatively regulates AKT) and ERK1/2. FJC, MTT, and LDH were applied to measure the cell viability. Neurobehavioral tests were performed to measure the effect of bpV(pis).

Results: The in vivo results showed that intracerebroventricular administration of bpV(pis) significantly alleviates hematoma, the damage of brain–blood barrier and brain edema. The in vitro results demonstrated that bpV(pis) treatment reduces ICH-induced neuronal injury. Western blotting results identified that bpV(pis) exerts a neuroprotective effect by significantly increasing the phosphorylation level of AKT and ERK1/2 after experimental ICH. Neurobehavioral tests indicate that bpV(pis) promotes functional recovery in ICH animals.

Conclusion: This study provides first and direct evidence for a potential role of bpV(pis) in ICH therapy.

BpV(pic) confers neuroprotection by inhibiting M1 microglial polarization and MCP-1 expression in rat traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of motor and cognitive impairment in young adults. It is associated with high mortality rates and very few effective treatment options. Bisperoxovanadium (pyridine-2-carboxyl) [bpV(pic)] is an commercially available inhibitor of Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN). Previous studies have shown that bpV(pic) has protective effects in central nervous system. However, the role of bpV(pic) in TBI is unclear. In this study we aimed to investigate the neuroprotective role of bpV(pic) in rat TBI model. We found that injection of bpV(pic) significantly reduces brain edema and neurological dysfunction after TBI and this is mediated by AKT pathway. TBI is known to promote the M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype of microglial polarization and this effect is inhibited by bpV(pic) treatment which, instead promotes M2 microglial polarization in vivo and in vitro. We also found evidence of bpV(pic)-regulated neuroinflammation mediated by AKT activation and NF-κB p65 inhibition. BpV(pic) treatment also suppressed microglia in the peri-TBI region. MCP-1 is known to recruit monocytes and macrophages to promote inflammation, we show that bpV(pic) can inhibit TBI-induced up-regulation of MCP-1 via the AKT/NF-κB p65 signaling pathway. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that bpV(pic) plays a neuroprotective role in rat TBI, which may be achieved by inhibiting M1 microglia polarization and MCP-1 expression by modulating AKT/NF-κB p65 signaling pathway.

[Clinical analysis of transcatheter closure of ventricular septal defect with right coronary cusp bulge]

Objective: To access the feasibility, effectiveness and safety of transcatheter closure of ventricular septal defect (VSD) with right coronary cusp bulge. Methods: The study population consisted of 40 children (22 boys and 18 girls) undergoing transcatheter intervention for VSD with right coronary cusp bulge in Shanghai Children's Medical Center from August 2013 to June 2017. All patients were examined using transthoracic echocardiography and cardiovascular angiography before occlusion and received transcatheter closure of VSD by placing an occlude. During the operation, angiography and transthoracic echocardiography were used to detect residual shunts, new-onset or aggravation of aortic regurgitation, and surface electrocardiogram was used to assess the impact of occlusion on the conduction system. The children were followed up to evaluate the degree of aortic regurgitation and the presence of heart block by transthoracic echocardiography and electrocardiogram in outpatient department. Comparative analysis between two groups was used by t test. Results: The average age of the patients was (5.1±3.2) years, weight(20.6±10.7) kg. The diameter of defect shunt was (3.3±0.9) cm. The VSD of all 40 patients were successfully occluded immediately, and three patients (8%) with filament residual shunt were observed during the operation. No major surgical complication such as death, pericardial tamponade, embolism of important organs, infective endocarditis occurred during the perioperative period. During the follow-up period, the positions of all the occluders were good, the residual shunt in three patients disappeared, and no new-onset or aggravated aortic regurgitation occurred. Electrocardiogram did not reveal any atrioventricular block, and one patient suffered from an incomplete right bundle branch block. There were significant differences between pre- and post-occlusion regarding the left ventricular end diastolic diameter ((3.8±0.5) vs. (3.7±0.5) cm, t=2.092, P=0.043), the left ventricular end systolic diameter ( (2.4±0.3) vs. (2.2±0.4) cm, t=2.068, P=0.045), and the QRS interval ((75.4±10.4) vs. (79.8±11.4) ms, t=-2.277, P=0.028). No significant differences were found between pre- and post-operation regarding the left ventricular ejection fraction (67.8%±4.7% vs. 68.1%±4.6%, t=-0.447, P=0.657) and the PR interval ((125.6±14.7) vs. (122.6±14.2) ms, t=1.540, P=0.132). Conclusions: Interventional closure of VSD with right coronary cusp bulge has small impact on aortic valve activity in children. With appropriate indications and methods, transcatheter interventional occlusion should be considered because it is effective for children diagnosed with VSD combined with right coronary cusp bulge.