Objective To investigate the relationships between the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic syndrome (MS).Methods One hundred and twenty-seven cases of NAFLD patients were selected from March 2011 to August 2012 in the First Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University,of them,61 patients with mild NAFLD,45 patients with moderate and 21 patients with severe.And 21 cases without NAFLD were selected as control group during the same hospitalized period.All objects received the measures of height,body weight,waist circumference (WC),blood pressure; Liver ultrasonic examination,the examination of fasting plasma glucose,blood fat and hepatic function detections were also handed by special people.Results The proportion of overweight in the control group and the three NAFLD subgroups were 57.1％ (12/21),88.5％ (54/61),95.6％ (43/45) and 100％ (21/21) respectively (x2 =18.376,P ＜0.001) ;The proportion of the obesity in control group and the three NAFLD subgroups were 19.0％ (4/21),44.3％ (27/61),64.4％ (29/45) and 71.4％ (15/21) respectively(x2 =16.440,P =0.001).The proportion of the metabolic syndrome of the control group and the three NAFLD subgroups were 14.3％ (3/21),45.9％(28/61),71.1％ (32/45) and 71.4％ (15/21) respectively (x2 =22.637,P ＜ 0.05).All three subgroups of NAFLD were higher than the control group (x2 =6.641,P ＜ 0.05 ; x2 =18.562,P ＜ 0.05 ; x2 =14.000,P ＜0.05,respectively).The severity of NAFLD was positively correlated with BMI,WC,TG,FBG,SBP,and DBP (r =0.467,0.503,0.386,0.369,0.279,0.295,P ＜ 0.01),and negatively correlated with HDL-C (r =-0.209,P ＜0.05).Conclusion The severity of NAFLD had significant correlations with metabolic syndrome's components.

Objective: To investigate the impact and its possible mechanism of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on myocardial collagen remodeling in experimental rats with diabetic mellitus (DM).
Methods: Rat’s DM model was established by intraperitoneal injection of STZ at 40 mg/kg. A total of 40 SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:Control group, DM group, DM+NaHS group, in which NaHS worked as exogenous donor of H2S and NaHS control group. n=10 in each group, all animals were treated for 8 weeks. The cardiac collagen deposition was observed by Masson staining, protein expressions of cardiac collagen types I, III, IV and transforming growth factorβ1 (TGF-β1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) were examined by Western blot analysis.
Results: Compared with Control group, DM group showed increased protein expressions of cardiac collagen types I and III, up-regulated expressions of TGF-β1 and CTGF, P<0.05;while the expressions of collagen type IV were similar between 2 groups. Compared with DM group, DM+NaHS group presented reduced cardiac collagen expression, decreased expression of collagen types I and III, down-regulated expressions of TGF-β1 and CTGF, P<0.05;while the expressions of collagen type IV were similar between 2 groups.
Conclusion: H2S may improve the myocardial collagen remodeling in experimental DM rats, the mechanism might be related to the down-regulation of TGF-β1 and CTGF expression.

A new molecular method for simultaneously rapid detection and differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium paratuberculosis was established by using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) combined with multiplex nucleic acid amplification. These 4 important pathogenic mycobacteria were identified by separation of 4 specific PCR-amplified target fragments by DHPLC analysis. A total of 51 Mycobacterium strains and 22 other bacterial species were tested to confirm the specificity of the multiplex PCR-DHPLC assay. The sensitivity of the assay was as low as 10~2-10~3 gene copies. This method rapidly identify the positive clinical samples from human and bovine with higher detection ratio than traditional culture method and was able to identify simultaneously four pathogenic Mycobacterium, which provided a new molecular tool for rapid detection of tuberculosis and paratuberculosis in human and animals.

Objective:To optimize the ultrasonic extraction process of total alkaloids from Oxytropis falcata bunge. Methods:The independent variables were solvents ratio, extracting time and ethanol concentration, and the dependent variable was content of total al-kaloids. Based on single factor tests, central composite design and response surface methodology was adopted to optimize the extraction technology. Results:The optimal extraction conditions were as follows: extracted twice with 36-fold amount of 72% ethanol ( contai-ning 1% acetic acid) at 60 ℃, and extracted 77 minutes each time. Under the above conditions, the content of total alkaloids was 2. 793 mg·g-1 with the bias ratio less than 2% when compared with the model predictions. Conclusion:Ultrasonic extraction process of total alkaloids from Oxytropis falcata Bunge optimized by central composite design and response surface method is simple, highly pre-cise, reliable and predictable.

Objective To explore the effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on myocardial fibrosis and expressions of MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 in diabetic rats. Methods Forty adult male SD rats were randomized into 4 groups, namely the control group, diabetes mellitus group (STZ group), diabetes mellitus with H2S treatment group (STZ+H2S group), and normal rats with H2S treatment group (H2S group). Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injections of 40 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). The rats in the control group received daily intraperitoneal injections of saline, and those in STZ+H2S group and H2S group were given NaHS (100μmol/kg) injections. After 8 weeks, the pathologies of cardiac fibrosis were examined with HE staining, and the expressions of collagen I, MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 were analyzed with Western blotting. Results Compared with the control group, the diabetic rats showed increased collagen content and obvious interstitial fibrosis in the myocardial tissue with significantly increased expression levels of collagen I, MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 (P<0.05); all these changes were obviously reversed by treatment with H2S (P<0.05). Collagen I, MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 expression levels and the degree of myocardial fibrosis were comparable between H2S group and control group (P>0.05). Conclusion Hydrogen sulfide can attenuate cardiac fibrosis in diabetic rats, and the mechanism may involve the inhibition of MAPK1/3/MMP-8 signal pathway.

Objective To explore the effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on myocardial fibrosis and expressions of MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 in diabetic rats. Methods Forty adult male SD rats were randomized into 4 groups, namely the control group, diabetes mellitus group (STZ group), diabetes mellitus with H2S treatment group (STZ+H2S group), and normal rats with H2S treatment group (H2S group). Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injections of 40 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). The rats in the control group received daily intraperitoneal injections of saline, and those in STZ+H2S group and H2S group were given NaHS (100μmol/kg) injections. After 8 weeks, the pathologies of cardiac fibrosis were examined with HE staining, and the expressions of collagen I, MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 were analyzed with Western blotting. Results Compared with the control group, the diabetic rats showed increased collagen content and obvious interstitial fibrosis in the myocardial tissue with significantly increased expression levels of collagen I, MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 (P<0.05); all these changes were obviously reversed by treatment with H2S (P<0.05). Collagen I, MAPK1/3 and MMP-8 expression levels and the degree of myocardial fibrosis were comparable between H2S group and control group (P>0.05). Conclusion Hydrogen sulfide can attenuate cardiac fibrosis in diabetic rats, and the mechanism may involve the inhibition of MAPK1/3/MMP-8 signal pathway.

Objective To investigate the situation of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the distribution of HPV genotypes among women attending hospital in Meizhou,Guangdong province.Methods Flow-through hybridization and gene chip technique was used to detect HPV in cervical exfoliated cell specimens collected from 24 450 women for HPV screening in Department of Gynecology,Meizhou People's Hospital,Meizhou Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University,and then the situation of HPV infection and distribution of HPV genotypes were analyzed.Results Among 24 450 female exfoliated cell specimens,3 922 were found to be positive for HPV infection,with the total infection rate of 16.04％.Among 3 922 samples,the top three high-risk subtypes of HPV were HPV-16 (30.37％),HPV-52 (17.77％) and HPV-58 (15.53％),the majority of low-risk HPV was HPV-CP8304 (5.61％).The positivity of various HPV types peaked among 30-50 years old.The differences of the HPV positive rates in different age groups was statistical significance (P ＜ 0.001).Conclusions The majority of women attending hospital detected with HPV-16 in Meizhou and the positivity of various HPV types peaked among women aged 30-50 years.Genotyping of HPV was meaningful for preventing and treating cervical cancer.

Background::Adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP) is the commonest pediatric sellar tumor. No effective drug is available and interpatient heterogeneity is prominent. This study aimed to identify distinct molecular subgroups of ACP based on the multi-omics profiles, imaging findings, and histological features, in order to predict the response to anti-inflammatory treatment and immunotherapies.Methods::Totally 142 Chinese cases diagnosed with craniopharyngiomas were profiled, including 119 ACPs and 23 papillary craniopharyngiomas. Whole-exome sequencing (151 tumors, including recurrent ones), RNA sequencing (84 tumors), and DNA methylome profiling (95 tumors) were performed. Consensus clustering and non-negative matrix factorization were used for subgrouping, and Cox regression were utilized for prognostic evaluation, respectively.Results::Three distinct molecular subgroups were identified: WNT, ImA, and ImB. The WNT subgroup showed higher Wnt/β-catenin pathway activity, with a greater number of epithelial cells and more predominantly solid tumors. The ImA and ImB subgroups had activated inflammatory and interferon response pathways, with enhanced immune cell infiltration and more predominantly cystic tumors. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MEK/MAPK) signaling was activated only in ImA samples, while IL-6 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition biomarkers were highly expressed in the ImB group, mostly consisting of children. The degree of astrogliosis was significantly elevated in the ImA group, with severe finger-like protrusions at the invasive front of the tumor. The molecular subgrouping was an independent prognostic factor, with the WNT group having longer event-free survival than ImB (Cox, P = 0.04). ImA/ImB cases were more likely to respond to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy than the WNT group ( P <0.01). In the preliminary screening of subtyping markers, CD38 was significantly downregulated in WNT compared with ImA and ImB ( P = 0.01). Conclusions::ACP comprises three molecular subtypes with distinct imaging and histological features. The prognosis of the WNT type is better than that of the ImB group, which is more likely to benefit from the ICB treatment.

The discovery of new enzymes for poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) degradation has been a hot topic of research globally. Bis-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) is an intermediate compound in the degradation of PET and competes with PET for the substrate binding site of the PET-degrading enzyme, thereby inhibiting further degradation of PET. Discovery of new BHET degradation enzymes may contribute to improving the degradation efficiency of PET. In this paper, we discovered a hydrolase gene sle (ID: CP064192.1, 5085270-5086049) from Saccharothrix luteola, which can hydrolyze BHET into mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (MHET) and terephthalic acid (TPA). BHET hydrolase (Sle) was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli using a recombinant plasmid, and the highest protein expression was achieved at a final concentration of 0.4 mmol/L of isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactoside (IPTG), an induction duration of 12 h and an induction temperature of 20 ℃. The recombinant Sle was purified by nickel affinity chromatography, anion exchange chromatography, and gel filtration chromatography, and its enzymatic properties were also characterized. The optimum temperature and pH of Sle were 35 ℃ and 8.0, and more than 80% of the enzyme activity could be maintained in the range of 25-35 ℃ and pH 7.0-9.0 and Co²⁺ could improve the enzyme activity. Sle belongs to the dienelactone hydrolase (DLH) superfamily and possesses the typical catalytic triad of the family, and the predicted catalytic sites are S129, D175, and H207. Finally, the enzyme was identified as a BHET degrading enzyme by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This study provides a new enzyme resource for the efficient enzymatic degradation of PET plastics.
Actinomycetales/genetics* ; Hydrolases/metabolism* ; Phthalic Acids/chemistry* ; Polyethylene Terephthalates/metabolism*