AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an important regulator of cellular energy homeostasis. Recent studies demonstrated that AMPK is a novel signaling molecule modulating inflammatory responses and oxidative stress which are involved in inflammatory pulmonary diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary infectious diseases and pulmonary fibrosis. AMPK attenuates inflammatory lung injury by phosphorylating its downstream targets, such as sirtuin1 (SIRT1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha), p53 and forkhead box O3a (FoxO3a). This review summarized the relationship between AMPK and the development of inflammatory pulmonary diseases.

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an important regulator of cellular energy homeostasis. Recent studies demonstrated that AMPK is a novel signaling molecule modulating inflammatory responses and oxidative stress which are involved in inflammatory pulmonary diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary infectious diseases and pulmonary fibrosis. AMPK attenuates inflammatory lung injury by phosphorylating its downstream targets, such as sirtuin1 (SIRT1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha), p53 and forkhead box O3a (FoxO3a). This review summarized the relationship between AMPK and the development of inflammatory pulmonary diseases.
AMP-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Forkhead Box Protein O3 ; Forkhead Transcription Factors ; metabolism ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Inflammation ; enzymology ; Lung Diseases ; enzymology ; Oxidative Stress ; PPAR gamma ; metabolism ; Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator 1-alpha ; Phosphorylation ; Sirtuin 1 ; metabolism ; Transcription Factors ; metabolism ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVEThis study aims to evaluate the effect of ptxA and ptxB genes, which are important genes in the L-ascorbate phosphotransferase system (PTS) of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans).

METHODSThe ptxA-, ptxB-, and ptxAB-double deficient mutant as well as ptxAB-complemented strain were constructed. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to evaluate the expression of the target genes of wild-type S. mutans when L-ascorbate was used as the sole carbohydrate source. The OD₆₀₀ values of the wild type, deficient, and complemented strains were continuously monitored, and their growth curves were constructed to compare growth capacity.

RESULTSPolymerase chain reaction and sequencing analyses suggested that deficient and complemented strains were successfully constructed. The expression levelsof ptxA and ptxB significantly increased (P < 0.01) when L-ascorbate was used as the sole carbohydrate source. The growth capacity of the deficient mutants decreased compared with that of the wild-type strain. However, the wild-type phenotype could be restored in the complemented strain.

CONCLUSIONptxA and ptxB genes are associated with L-ascorbate metabolism of S. mutans. The construction of deficient strains and complemented strain lay a foundation for further mechanism study on L-ascorbate metabolism in S. mutans.

Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Genes, Bacterial ; Phosphotransferases ; metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Streptococcus mutans ; physiology ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons selectively. Although the motor system lesion is the most predominant clinical manifestation of ALS, with the progression of the understanding of the pathogenesis and clinical detection of the disease, more and more patients are found to have extra-motor features of ALS, such as somatosensory involvement, etc. The research results demonstrated that ALS might be a kind of disorder combined with sensory disturbance according to the electrophysiology, neuropathology, neuroimaging, animal model simulation, genetic evidence, and other methods detected. We, herein, review the prevalence and detection methods especially the aspect of genetic associations implicated in the sensory nerve disturbance of ALS.

[Objective] To investigate the effects of Yangyin Kangdu Powder (YKP) on peripheral blood T-lymphocyte subsets levels in X-ray-irradiated mice. [Methods] Forty-five mice were randomized into normal control, model and YKP groups. Except the normal group, the rats in model and YKP groups were irradiated with 6Gy X-ray to establish models with acute radiation-induced injury. Normal saline was given to the model group while YKP in the dosage of 10 g?kg-1?d-1 was orally administered to YKP group for one week. The changes of CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocyte subsets levels were detected by flow cytometry. [Results] Plasma levels of CD4 and CD8 and the ratio of CD4/CD8 decreased in the model group, the difference being significant as compared with the normal control group (P

Objective To investigate the significance of procalcitonin(PCT),C-reactive protein(CRP),white blood cell(WBC) and other inflammatory markers in the diagnosis of pediatric patients with HFMD.Methods 138 cases of pediatric patients with foot and mouth disease(study group)and 50 cases of healthy children(control group)were recruited in the study.Procalcitonin (PCT),white blood cell(WBC),neutrophil count(NC),lymphocyte count(Ly),immunoglobulins,C-reactive protein and other indi-cators were determined and compared.Results PCT,CRP,WBC,NC,Ly% and IgM levels were higher in study group than those in control group,the differences were all statistically significant(P <0.05 );IgG,IgA levels in control group were lower than that in control group,the differences were statistically significant(P <0.05).Conclusion PCT,WBC,NC,Ly,CRP and IgA,IgG,IgM can provide experimental evidence for diagnosis of children with hand foot and mouth disease.

How to eliminate the background of other tissue and to protrude the blood vessel information is the basic requirements in DSA. Because of the complexity and non-linearity of the X-ray imaging process, the common DSA technique cannot completely remove other tissue's image which lapped over the vessels. By experiments, this paper analyses and corrects the imaging process of the actual DSA system based on the "equivalent single energy" model, and the results indicate the validity of this method.
Algorithms ; Aluminum ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; methods ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Plastics ; Radiographic Image Enhancement ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Objective:To retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics and drug resistance among COVID-19 patients with bacterial and fungal infections.Methods:Clinical data of COVID-19 patients whose blood, urine, sputum and alveolar lavage fluid samples were positive for bacteria and fungi were collected in Tongji Hospital from February 10 to March 31, 2020. WHONET5.6 software was used to analyze drug susceptibility test results.Results:A total of 95 COVID-19 patients positive for pathogenic bacteria were enrolled and among them, 23 were non-critical patients and 72 were critical patients. The main symptoms in these patients included fever, cough with sputum, fatigue and dyspnea. Male and female critical patients accounted for 63.89% and 36.11%, respectively. Most of the patients with bacterial and fungal infections were critical type, accounting for 23.61%. The mortality rates of non-critical and critical patients were 13.04% and 61.11%, respectively. A total of 179 strains of pathogenic bacteria were isolated. The positive rate of Escherichia coli in non-critical patients was 37.50%, which was higher than that in critical patients. However, the positive rates of Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae in critical patients were both 29.87%, higher than those in non-critical patients. There was no significant difference in the positive rate of gram-positive bacteria or fungi between non-critical and critical patients. It was noteworthy that the positive rate of Candida parapsilosis in blood samples of critical patients was relatively high, reaching 36.40%. Drug susceptibility test results showed that no carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli stains were detected and 60.87% of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were resistant to carbapenems. Acinetobacter baumannii strains were 100% resistant to three antimicrobial drugs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains accounted for 71.43%, but no vancomycin-resistant gram-positive cocci were found. Conclusions:Critical COVID-19 patients were mostly male and prone to multiple bacterial and fungal infections. The mortality of critical patients was higher than that of non-critical patients. Critical COVID-19 was often complicated by hospital acquired infections caused by bacteria including Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae with high drug resistance.

Abstract: Schistosomiasis, an important zoonotic parasitic disease, is one of the six major tropical diseases identified by WHO, and also one of the most important parasitic diseases for prevention and control in China. After more than 70 years of efforts, the prevention and control of schistosomiasis in China has made great achievements, and the current epidemic of schistosomiasis in China has entered an extremely low epidemic state, but the distribution base of the only intermediate host of schistosomiasis, Oncomelania hupensis, is still large. For now, the techniques used to monitor schistosomiasis have shortcomings such as time-consuming, laborious and low sensitivity, which cannot meet the current needs of China. Environmental DNA (eDNA) refers to DNA that can be extracted from environmental samples (such as soil, water or air) without isolating any target organisms, which is a complex mixture of genomic DNA and its degradation products from different organisms in the same environment. eDNA technology can reflect the community or species composition information in the ecosystem through DNA extraction and detection of environmental samples. Compared with traditional biological monitoring methods, eDNA technology has the advantages of high efficiency, high sensitivity and environmental friendliness. eDNA has been successfully used for the specific detection of Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma japonicum. This paper reviews the current detection methods of eDNA, the application and technical limitations of eDNA technology in schistosomiasis monitoring, aiming to provide scientific reference for research in the field of schistosomiasis surveillance.

The aim of this study is to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of the adenosine derivative N6-(3-hydroxylaniline) adenosine (WS070117M1) on cigarette smoke plus LPS (lipopolysaccharide)-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in mice and its mechanism. COPD model was established by exposing male BALB/c mice to cigarette smoke and challenged with LPS inhalation. Supernatants of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were harvested and IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TGF-β1 levels were measured by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunesorbent assay). The number of total white blood cells and neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was counted separately. Lung tissue was stained with Mayer 's hematoxylin and eosin for histopathologic examination. pAMPKa protein expression and distribution of lung tissue were analyzed by immunohistochemistry method. In vitro, levels of AMPKα phosphorylation in phorbol-12- myristate-13-acetate (PMA) differentiated THP-1 cells was detected by immunohistochemistry, IL-8 level in supernatants of cigarette smoke condensate stimulating PMA differentiated THP-1 cells was measured by ELISA. The results showed that WS070117M1 treatment significantly activated AMPKa in the lung tissue. It also resulted in down regulation of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TGF-β1 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and IL-8 level in cigarette smoke condensate stimulating PMA differentiated THP-1 cells. In addition, WS070117M1 could inhibit the recruitment of total white blood cells and neutrophils. These results suggest that WS070117M1 may alleviate the airway inflammation by activating AMPK in the lung tissue.