Green tea or green tea extract (GT/GTE) has been demonstrated to reduce insulin resistance and improve glycemic control. However, evidence for this health beneficial effect is inconsistent. This systematic review evaluated the effect of GT/GTE on insulin resistance and glycemic control in people with pre-diabetes/type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, AMED, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched up to April 2017 for randomised controlled trials of participants with pre-diabetes or T2DM, where the intervention was GT/GTE. Meta-analysis was performed to assess the standardised mean difference (SMD) in biomarkers of insulin resistance and glycemic control between GT/GTE and placebo groups. Six studies (n=382) were pooled into random-effects meta-analysis. Overall, no differences were found between GT/GTE and the placebo for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c: SMD, −0.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.86 to 0.23), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR: SMD, 0.10; 95% CI, −0.17 to 0.38), fasting insulin (SMD, −0.25; 95% CI, −0.64 to 0.15), and fasting glucose (SMD, −0.10; 95% CI, −0.50 to 0.30). No evidence support the consumption of GT/GTE could reduce the levels of HbA1c, HOMA-IR, fasting insulin, or fasting glucose in people with pre-diabetes/T2DM. However, the studies included were small and of varying quality.
Biomarkers ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Insulin Resistance* ; Insulin* ; Tea*

Objective:To observe the effect of irradiation on the production of IL-8 in lung cancer cell line A549 and explore its possible mechanism.Methods:A549 cells irradiated with different doses of X-rays were used to collect cell supernatant, cellular RNA and protein at different time points after irradiation. The expression level of IL-8 mRNA in A549 cells after irradiation was detected by RT-PCR, which was further validated by real-time quantitative PCR. The expression level of IL-8 in the cell supernatant was quantitatively measured by ELISA. The expression levels of cellular signaling pathway molecules in A549 cells after irradiation were detected by Western Blot. The A549 cells were pretreated with p38 MAPK inhibitor, NF-κB inhibitor and ROS scavenger. The effect of these inhibitors on the expression of IL-8 in A549 cells induced by irradiation was evaluated by ELISA.Results:Irradiation up-regulated the expression of IL-8 in A549 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner. Irradiation activated the p38 MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathway in A549 cells. p38 MAPK and NF-κB inhibitors blocked the induction of IL-8 of A549 cells by irradiation. Inhibition of ROS failed to inhibit the induction of IL-8 of A549 cells by irradiation.Conclusion:Irradiation can increase the production of IL-8 in lung cancer cells A549, possibly through the activation of p38 MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways in a ROS-independent pattern.

Objective To investigate the protective effect of augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) against acute liver injury and related mechanisms.Methods HL-7702 cells were divided into normal control group,carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury group,ALR+CCl4 intervention group,3-methyladerine (3-MA)+CCl4 intervention group,and ALR+3-MA+CCl4 intervention group.The ALR+CCl4 and ALR+3-MA+CCl4 intervention groups were transfected with ALR plasmids at 8 hours before CCl4 treatment.All groups except the normal control group were treated with CC14,and 30 minutes later,the 3-MA+CC14 and ALR+3-MA+CCl4 intervention groups were treated with 3-MA.The cells were collected at 24 hours after CCl4 treatment.The HL-7702 cells and supematant were collected to measure the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (IU/L).Westem blot was used to measure the levels ofALR,cyclin D,cyclin E,proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA),autophagy-related gene 7 (Atg7),and autophagy genes LC3,p62,and Beclin-1.Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression ofALR.A oneway analysis of variance was used for comparison of means between any two groups.Results The ALR+CCl4 intervention group had significant increases in the protein and mRNA expression of ALR compared with the acute liver injury group (both P ＜ 0.05).The CC14-induced acute liver injury group had significant increases in the protein and mRNA expression of ALR compared with the normal control group (both P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the CCl4-induced acute liver injury group,the ALR+CCl4 intervention group had significant reductions in ALT (0.73±0.17 IU/L vs 1.43±0.38 IU/L,P ＜ 0.05) and AST (19.85±1.83 IU/L vs 56.73±6.25 IU/L,P ＜ 0.05) in supematant,significantly increased expression of cyclin D,cyclin E,PCNA,LC3,Atg7,and Beclin-1 in hepatocytes,and significantly reduced expression of p62,which suggested that ALR protected the liver against acute liver injury,promoted the regeneration of hepatocytes,and enhanced the autophagy of hepatocytes.The ALR+3-MA+CCl4 intervention group had a significant reduction in the expression of regeneration-associated proteins compared with the ALR+CCl4 intervention group,while there was no significant difference between the ALR+3-MA+CCL4 intervention group and 3-MA+CCL4 intervention group,which suggested that after the inhibition of autophagy,there were significant reductions in the regeneration of hepatocytes and liver regeneration promoted by ALR.Conclusion ALR can promote the regeneration of hepatocytes in liver parenchyma,which is achieved by the regulation of autophagy.

Objective:To analyze and summarize the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, a variant of concern (VOC), in Henan Province in 2021 in order to provide a basis for epidemic prevention and control.Methods:According to the feedback of sequencing results from Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 111 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC were selected from the Henan imported and local cases in 2021. Basic patient information was obtained from the pandemic website. The differences in age, gender, vaccination history, the number of vaccine doses and different clinical types were analyzed. Moreover, the differences in RT-qPCR results of ORF1 ab gene and N gene Ct values between cases of different genders and symptoms were analyzed statistically. Sequencing results of the nucleotide and S protein mutation sites were analyzed. Results:There was no significant difference in the gender distribution of 111 cases between different age groups (χ 2=2.217, P=0.529). There was also no significant difference in clinical types between patients with different vaccination history (χ 2=12.074, P=0.209). The Ct values of most SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid-positive specimens were distributed in the lower range and the viral loads were higher. The difference in the Ct value of ORF1 ab gene between different gender groups was not statistically significant (χ 2=1.646, P=0.439), but were significantly different among asymptomatic, mild, normal, and severe cases (χ 2=13.257, P=0.039). There was no significant difference in N gene Ct value among cases of different genders or different symptoms (all P>0.05). The 111 patients in this study were mainly found through close-contact screening and full-staff nucleic acid screening and accounted for 62.2% (69 cases) of the total. The sequencing length coverage was basically greater than 99% (accounting for 90.1%, 100/111); the total number of nucleotide mutation sites was mostly in the range of 46-50 (86.4%, 89/103); the total number of S protein mutation sites was mostly 12 (82.5%, 85/103). The 103 Delta mutants all contained nine mutation sites, which were T19R, R158G, L452R, T478K, D614G, P681R, D950N, E156del and F157del, with a mutation rate of 100%. Conclusions:People were highly susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 Delta in Henan Province in 2021. High viral load and increase in the ORF1 ab gene load would aggravate the clinical symptoms.

Objective:To analyze the dynamic changes and possible influencing factors of anti-2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) neutralizing antibody in confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.Methods:Microneutralization was used to test the anti-2019-nCoV neutralizing antibody. Excel 2007 and SPSS 22.0 were used for data processing and analysis.Results:There were 420 serum samples collected from 155 confirmed COVID-19 cases. These serum samples contained acute phase serum, convalescent phase serum and serum from cases recovered for about six months. The sampling time was 0-221 days after the onset of COVID-19. The geometric mean titer (GMT) of anti-2019-nCoV neutralizing antibody was 1∶13 at 1 week, and 1∶31 at 2 week. The titers of anti-2019-nCoV neutralizing antibody of individual cases were still<1∶4 on the 15 th day. The GMT was all over 1: 52 (13×4) at 6-32 week. Taking 1: 64 as the cut-off point, the serum anti-2019-nCoV neutralizing antibody positive rates was 30.56% in acute phase serum samples (0-14 d, 0-2 w), 82.31% in convalescent phase serum samples (36-63 d, 6-9 w) and 86.52% in serum samples from cases recovered for about six months (183-210 d, 27-30 w). Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in anti-2019-nCoV neutralizing antibody levels at the other weeks except 1-2 week ( χ2=9.270, P=0.931), there was no statistically differences in gender, age and occupation of the cases, and also between the normal and mild cases ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The serum anti-2019-nCoV neutralizing antibody level is only statistically correlated with the disease progression of COVID-19, and maintain the protective level from 3 to 30 week.

To unravel the genetic mechanisms of disease and physiological traits, it requires comprehensive sequencing analysis of large sample size in Chinese populations. Here, we report the primary results of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Precision Medicine Initiative (CASPMI) project launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including the de novo assembly of a northern Han reference genome (NH1.0) and whole genome analyses of 597 healthy people coming from most areas in China. Given the two existing reference genomes for Han Chinese (YH and HX1) were both from the south, we constructed NH1.0, a new reference genome from a northern individual, by combining the sequencing strategies of PacBio, 10× Genomics, and Bionano mapping. Using this integrated approach, we obtained an N50 scaffold size of 46.63 Mb for the NH1.0 genome and performed a comparative genome analysis of NH1.0 with YH and HX1. In order to generate a genomic variation map of Chinese populations, we performed the whole-genome sequencing of 597 participants and identified 24.85 million (M) single nucleotide variants (SNVs), 3.85 M small indels, and 106,382 structural variations. In the association analysis with collected phenotypes, we found that the T allele of rs1549293 in KAT8 significantly correlated with the waist circumference in northern Han males. Moreover, significant genetic diversity in MTHFR, TCN2, FADS1, and FADS2, which associate with circulating folate, vitamin B12, or lipid metabolism, was observed between northerners and southerners. Especially, for the homocysteine-increasing allele of rs1801133 (MTHFR 677T), we hypothesize that there exists a "comfort" zone for a high frequency of 677T between latitudes of 35-45 degree North. Taken together, our results provide a high-quality northern Han reference genome and novel population-specific data sets of genetic variants for use in the personalized and precision medicine.