Hydatid disease imposing serious threat on human health and great loss in livenotstock pastoralism remains a major public health problem in western China. To assess and monitor the effect of control program on transmission dynamics, we used the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis in slaughtered sheep at slaughterhouse as an indicator during the period of 2007 to 2013 in Emin County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The results showed a significant decline trend of prevalence in all age groups during the 7 years when the control program was implemented; particularly, the rate was reduced by 72% after first 3 years. Among the sheep slaughtered, the age distribution evidenced that the prevalence increased significantly as the sheep grew older. The baseline data indicated that the rate was 4.5% at the age <1, 6.7% at age 2~, and reached to the highest 17.9% at age > or =4 years. Earlier response to the intervention pressure was seen in the sheep at the younger age. Significant decline started from 2008 at the age <1, from 2009 at age of 1~, 2010 at 2~ to 3~, and the latest, in 2012 at age > or =4. This study demonstrated that the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis in slaughtered sheep may be used as an indicator to assess and monitor the transmission status during and after control program providing information for betterment of performance to sustain control strength.
Abattoirs/statistics & numerical data ; Animals ; China/epidemiology ; Echinococcosis/epidemiology/parasitology/prevention & control/*veterinary ; Female ; Male ; Prevalence ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/epidemiology/parasitology/*prevention & control

Alzheimer's disease （AD） is a common degenerative disease of the central nervous system in the elderly， with memory impairment and behavioral changes as the main clinical manifestations. Modern research has demonstrated that many herbs with both medicinal and edible values have anti-oxidation and anti-aging activities. In addition， these herbs are naturally safe and play a role in disease prevention and health care. The 110 medicinal and edible herbs announced by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic ofChina in 2021 were studied. The relevant papers published in the last five years were searched against CNKI， VIP， Wanfang Data， PubMed and other databases. The effects， mechanism， and active ingredients of the medicinal and edible herbs against Alzheimer's disease were summarized. The results showed that more than 30 herbs including Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma， Curcumae Longae Rhizoma， Astragali Radix， Corni Fructus， Gastrodiae Rhizoma， Angelicae Sinensis Radix， Cistanches Herba， Croci Stigma， Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Ganoderma and their active ingredients were effective in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Among them， ten herbs that met the requirements were screened out for analysis. The medicinal and edible herbs and their active ingredients can act on multiple targets and treat Alzheimer's disease via multiple signaling pathways such as nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）， mitogen-activated protein kinase 5 （MEK5）/extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 （ERK5）， cytochrome C （CytC） and cysteine aspartate-specific protease （Caspase）-3/（Caspase）-9， Wnt/β-catenin， and brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF）/tyrosine kinase receptor B （TrkB）/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）， thus improving learning， cognitive ability， and memory ability. Most of the medicinal and edible herbs have the tropism to the heart， spleen， liver， and kidney meridians and tonifying effect.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal carcinogenesis and progression are related to the gut microbiota and the tumor immune microenvironment. Our previous clinical trial demonstrated that berberine (BBR) hydrochloride might reduce the recurrence and canceration of colorectal adenoma (CRA). The present study aimed to further explore the mechanism of BBR in preventing colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: We performed metagenomics sequencing on fecal specimens obtained from the BBR intervention trial, and the differential bacteria before and after medication were validated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We further performed ApcMin/+ animal intervention tests, RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: The abundance of fecal Veillonella parvula ( V . parvula ) decreased significantly after BBR administration ( P = 0.0016) and increased through the development from CRA to CRC. Patients with CRC with a higher V. parvula abundance had worse tumor staging and a higher lymph node metastasis rate. The intestinal immune pathway of Immunoglobulin A production was activated, and the expression of TNFSF13B (Tumor necrosis factor superfamily 13b, encoding B lymphocyte stimulator [BLyS]), the representative gene of this pathway, and the genes encoding its receptors (interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor beta) were significantly upregulated. Animal experiments revealed that V. parvula promoted colorectal carcinogenesis and increased BLyS levels, while BBR reversed this effect. CONCLUSION: BBR might inhibit V. parvula and further weaken the immunomodulatory effect of B cells induced by V. parvula , thereby blocking the development of colorectal tumors. TRIAL REGISTRAION ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT02226185.
Animals ; Humans ; Berberine/therapeutic use* ; Carcinogenesis ; Veillonella ; Colorectal Neoplasms/genetics* ; Tumor Microenvironment