Isoprene is an important precursor of synthetic rubber material. In our previous study, metabolic engineered Escherichia coli strain (BW-01) was constructed and used to produce isoprene. Based on the theory of protein budget, using synthetic biology strategies including the increased copy number of genes and rare codons, we regulated the expression of key enzyme to improve isoprene production in Escherichia coli strain. Under shake-flask conditions, isoprene productivity of the engineered strain (BW-07) increased by 73% compared with BW-01, reached 761.1 mg/L. It provides a reference for further studies.
Butadienes ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Dosage ; Hemiterpenes ; biosynthesis ; Industrial Microbiology ; Metabolic Engineering ; Mevalonic Acid ; Pentanes ; Synthetic Biology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on postoperative short-term outcomes of laparoscopy radical gastrectomy by meta-analysis.

METHODSA literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library databases, CNKI, and CBM, Wanfang database to screen clinical trials published before October 2014 that compared short-term outcomes between high BMI and low BMI patients undergoing laparoscopy radical gastrectomy. RevMan 5.2 was used to perform the meta-analysis. Begg's and Egger's tests were carried out with Stata 12.0 software to evaluate the publication bias of enrolled literatures.

RESULTSTwelve studies involved a total of 4798 gastric cancer patients after laparoscopy radical gastrectomy. There were 1215 patients in high BMI group(BMI≥25 kg/m2) and 3583 patients in the low BMI group (BMI<25 kg/m2). Compared with the low BMI group, the high BMI group were associated with longer operation time (SMD=0.64, 95%CI:0.35-0.93, P=0.000), more intraoperative blood loss(SMD=0.63, 95%CI:0.24-1.03, P=0.002), less retrieved lymph nodes(SMD=-0.44, 95%CI:-0.72--0.17, P=0.002), and more postoperative complications(OR=1.44, 95%CI:1.19-1.74, P=0.000). There were no significant differences in postoperative hospital stay, the time to first flatus and initial complication(P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe higher BMI may result in a longer operation time, more intraoperative blood loss and a higher rate of postoperative complication after laparoscopy radical gastrectomy.

Blood Loss, Surgical ; Body Mass Index ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Lymph Nodes ; Operative Time ; Postoperative Complications ; Postoperative Period ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDHemifacial spasm (HFS) is a facial nerve disorder characterized by episodic involuntary ipsilateral facial muscle contraction. Information on Chinese patients with HFS has not been well-characterized. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical feature and the treatment status of HFS across China.

METHODSA cross-sectional study including 1003 primary HFS patients had been carried out in 15 movement disorder clinics in China in 2012. The investigated information was acquired from questionnaires and medical records including demographic data, site of onset, aggravating and relieving factors, treatments prior to the investigation, etc.

RESULTSIn this study, the ratio of male to female was 1.0:1.8, the mean age at onset was (46.6 ± 11.5) years. About 1.0% patients were bilaterally affected. The most often site of initial onset was the orbicularis oculi muscle. The most often affected sites were orbicularis oculi, zygomatic, and orbicularis oris muscles. Stress/anxiety and relaxation were most often aggravating and relieving factors, respectively; 2.3% patients had family history, 28.4% cases were combined with hypertension, and 1.4% patients were with trigeminal neuralgia. Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injection was the most commonly used treatment, followed by acupuncture and oral medication. BTX-A maintained the highest repeat treatment ratio (68.7%), while 98.4% patients gave up acupuncture. The mean latency of BTX-A effect was (5.0 ± 4.7) days, the mean total duration of the effect was (19.5 ± 11.7) weeks, and 95.9% patients developed improvements no worse than moderate in both severity and function. The most common side effect was droopy mouth.

CONCLUSIONSThe onset age of HFS in China is earlier than that in western countries. The most often used two treatments are BTX-A injection and acupuncture, while the latter kept the poor repeat treatment ratio because of dissatisfactory therapeutic effect.

Adult ; Botulinum Toxins, Type A ; therapeutic use ; China ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Hemifacial Spasm ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuromuscular Agents ; therapeutic use