Objective To investigate the effects of p38 MAPK inhibitor on glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln), taurine amino acid (Tau), glycine (Gly) and gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) in hippocampus of rats with vascular dementia (VD).Methods Twenty-four healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, VD model group and inhibitor group. VD model was established by permanent ligation of bilateral carotid artery method, and the sham operation group stripping bilateral carotid artery but not ligation. Rats of the inhibitor group were injected p38 MAPK inhibitor SB202190 after the establishment of VD model. Morris water maze was used to evaluate the learning and memory function of rats. The samples of DG region of hippocampus were collected by microdialysis, and the contents of amino acids were detected. Results The learning and memory abilities were significantly better in sham operation group and p38 MAPK inhibitor group than those of VD model group. The latency time was significantly shorter in p38 MAPK group than that of VD model group. The time of locating the platform quadrant and the number of crossing the original platform were significantly higher in sham operation group and p38 MAPK inhibitor group than those of VD model group (P <0.05). Compared with sham group, the levels of Glu, Gln and Tau were significantly lower, and Gly and GABA were significantly higher, in VD group and p38 MAPK inhibitor group (P<0.05). Compared with VD group, Glu, Gln and Tau were significantly increased, Gly and GABA were significantly decreased in p38 MAPK inhibitor group (P<0.05). Conclusion p38 MAPK inhibitor has protective effect on VD hippocampal injury, which may be related to its ability to inhibit VD-induced abnormal secretion of amino acids and regulate the secretion of various amino acids.

Objective To investigating the microbial communities and physicochemical properties of soil and distribution of Oncomelania hupensis snails in marshlands along the Yangtze River basin at different types of land use, and to examine the effects of soil microorganisms and physicochemical properties on snail distribution, so as to provide insights into snail control and schistosomiasis prevention in marshland along the Yangtze River basin. Methods Marshlands with four types of land use were selected along the Yangtze River basin on April 2021, including poplar forest-crops integrated planting, reed areas, agricultural cultivation lands and ditches. The distribution of snails and physicochemical properties of soil were investigated in marshlands with different types of land use, and the V3 to V4 regions of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene, fungal internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1) gene and algal ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) gene in soils were subjected to high-throughput sequencing. The occurrence of frames with living snails and density of living snails were compared in marshland with different types of land use. The associations of soil microorganisms and physicochemical properties with the density of living snails were examined using Pearson correlation analysis, and the contributions of soil microorganisms and physicochemical properties to the density of living snails were evaluated using variance partitioning analysis. Results In marshlands with four types of land use, the greatest occurrence of frames with living snails [(4.94 ± 2.14)%] and density of living snails [(0.070 ± 0.026) snails/0.1 m²] were seen in ditches, and the lowest were found in [(1.23 ± 1.23)%] agricultural cultivation lands [(0.016 ± 0.019) snails/0.1 m²]. A total of 2 phyla, 5 classes, 8 orders, 9 families and 11 genera of algae were detected in soils at four types of land use, with Chlorophyta as the dominant phylum and Pseudoneochloris as the dominant genus. A total of 44 phyla, 134 classes, 281 orders, 338 families and 516 genera of bacteria were detected in soils at four types of land use, with Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota as the dominant phyla and uncultured Acidobacterium, MND1, Mitrospira, Haliangium and Sphingomonas as dominant genera. A total of 11 phyla, 41 classes, 108 orders, 223 families and 408 genera of fungi were detected in soils at four types of land use, with phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mortierellomycota presenting high relative abundances and genera Cladorrhinum, Mortierella and Humicola presenting high relative abundances. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the density of living snails correlated negatively with the relative abundance of Proteobacteria (r = −0.965, P < 0.05) and soil electronic conductivity (r = −0.962, P < 0.05) and positively with soil moisture (r = 0.951, P < 0.05). Variance partitioning analysis demonstrated that the physicochemical properties and microorganisms of soil contributed 69% and 10% to the density of living snails, respectively. Conclusion The diversity of microbial communities varies in soils at different types of land use in marshland along the Yangtze River basin, and the physicochemical properties and microorganisms of soils may affect the distribution of O. hupensis snails.