This study explored the effects and underlying mechanism of Raf kinase inhibitory protein(RKIP)on apoptosis in mast cells sensitized by Echinococcus granulosus cyst fluid.Bone marrow-derived mast cells(BMMCs)were isolated and cultured from RKIP knockout(KO)and wild-type(WT)C57BL/6 mice.Cells were divided into control and sensitized groups.The sensitized group was incubated for 24 h in RPMI1640 medium containing 10%serum from mice infected with E.granulosus,then activated for 3 h or 6 h with E.granulosus cyst fluid.The control group was incubated for 24 h in RPMI1640 medium,and then received an equal vol-ume of PBS.Cells and supernatants were collected for analysis.Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of CD117 and FcεRⅠα on BMMCs.The levels of β-hexosaminidase,IL-4,and TNF-α in the supernatant were quantified with ELISA.Western blot analy-sis was used to assess expression changes in RKIP,apoptosis-related proteins,and pathway proteins in BMMC before and after sensi-tization.Flow cytometry analysis revealed that after 4 weeks of induction,the CD117 and FcεRⅠα double-positivity rates on both WT and KO BMMC exceeded 90%.ELISA indicated that the E.granulosus cyst fluid resulted in significantly greater β-hexosaminidase re-lease(F=16.88,P<0.05),and levels of IL-4(F=16.51,P<0.05)and TNF-α(F=9.78,P<0.05)in the KO sensitized group than the WT sensitized group.With respect to the WT control group,the WT sensitized group showed significantly down-regulated pro-tein expression levels of RKIP(F=8.20,P<0.05)and Bcl-2(F=101.40,P<0.01)after 3 h,but significantly up-regulated levels of p-PI3K(F=8.04,P<0.05),p-Akt(F=32.52,P<0.01),p-P65(F=13.29,P<0.05),and cleaved-caspase-3(F=46.34,P<0.01).With respect to the WT sensitized group,the KO sensitized group showed significantly up-regulated protein expression of p-PI3K(F=8.45,P<0.05),p-Akt(F=8.58,P<0.05),p-P65(F=11.02,P<0.05),and Bcl-2(F=84.50,P<0.001)after 3 h,but significantly down-regulated expression of cleaved-caspase-3(F=15.66,P<0.05).In conclusion,RKIP may inhibit the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathway,thereby inducing apoptosis in mast cells sensitized by E.granulosus cyst fluid.This process may help ease aller-gic reactions caused by mast cells in echinococcosis,thus offering a promising new approach for preventing and treating such reactions.

In view of the characteristics of H5N6 subtype avian influenza virus(AIV)that it has both high pathogenicity and the risk of cross-species transmission,posing a serious threat to the poultry farming industry and public health security,in order to effectively prevent and control the spread of H5N6 avian influenza,a rapid,sensitive and specific detection technolo-gy was established in this study.The specific monoclonal antibodies against the neuraminidase N6 protein of avian influenza A virus subtype H5N6 were obtained through hybridoma and monoclonal antibody technology.These antibodies were coupled and labeled with carboxyl-functionalized fluorescent quantum dots,along with previously prepared specific antibodies against the hemagglutinin H5 protein.A rapid fluorescence immunochromatographic detection method for the H5N6 subtype of avian influ-enza virus was established according to the principle of double-antibody sandwich immunochromatography.This method a-chieved a detection sensitivity of 1 ng/mL for recombinant hemagglutinin H5 subtype protein and 0.1 ng/mL for recombinant neuraminidase N6 subtype protein.Moreover,the method exhibited no cross-reactivity with other influenza subtypes or patho-gens,such as Newcastle disease(ND),infectious bronchitis(IB),and infectious laryngotracheitis(ILT),thus demonstrating good specificity.The method effectively identified the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5 subtype and directly distin-guished the H5N6 subtype with good accuracy.The fluorescent quantum dot immunochromatographic typing detection method established herein met the sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy requirements for H5N6 subtype detection,and can be further used for rapid detection of the H5 and H5N6 subtypes of avian influenza virus.

This study explored the effects and underlying mechanism of Raf kinase inhibitory protein(RKIP)on apoptosis in mast cells sensitized by Echinococcus granulosus cyst fluid.Bone marrow-derived mast cells(BMMCs)were isolated and cultured from RKIP knockout(KO)and wild-type(WT)C57BL/6 mice.Cells were divided into control and sensitized groups.The sensitized group was incubated for 24 h in RPMI1640 medium containing 10%serum from mice infected with E.granulosus,then activated for 3 h or 6 h with E.granulosus cyst fluid.The control group was incubated for 24 h in RPMI1640 medium,and then received an equal vol-ume of PBS.Cells and supernatants were collected for analysis.Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of CD117 and FcεRⅠα on BMMCs.The levels of β-hexosaminidase,IL-4,and TNF-α in the supernatant were quantified with ELISA.Western blot analy-sis was used to assess expression changes in RKIP,apoptosis-related proteins,and pathway proteins in BMMC before and after sensi-tization.Flow cytometry analysis revealed that after 4 weeks of induction,the CD117 and FcεRⅠα double-positivity rates on both WT and KO BMMC exceeded 90%.ELISA indicated that the E.granulosus cyst fluid resulted in significantly greater β-hexosaminidase re-lease(F=16.88,P<0.05),and levels of IL-4(F=16.51,P<0.05)and TNF-α(F=9.78,P<0.05)in the KO sensitized group than the WT sensitized group.With respect to the WT control group,the WT sensitized group showed significantly down-regulated pro-tein expression levels of RKIP(F=8.20,P<0.05)and Bcl-2(F=101.40,P<0.01)after 3 h,but significantly up-regulated levels of p-PI3K(F=8.04,P<0.05),p-Akt(F=32.52,P<0.01),p-P65(F=13.29,P<0.05),and cleaved-caspase-3(F=46.34,P<0.01).With respect to the WT sensitized group,the KO sensitized group showed significantly up-regulated protein expression of p-PI3K(F=8.45,P<0.05),p-Akt(F=8.58,P<0.05),p-P65(F=11.02,P<0.05),and Bcl-2(F=84.50,P<0.001)after 3 h,but significantly down-regulated expression of cleaved-caspase-3(F=15.66,P<0.05).In conclusion,RKIP may inhibit the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathway,thereby inducing apoptosis in mast cells sensitized by E.granulosus cyst fluid.This process may help ease aller-gic reactions caused by mast cells in echinococcosis,thus offering a promising new approach for preventing and treating such reactions.

In view of the characteristics of H5N6 subtype avian influenza virus(AIV)that it has both high pathogenicity and the risk of cross-species transmission,posing a serious threat to the poultry farming industry and public health security,in order to effectively prevent and control the spread of H5N6 avian influenza,a rapid,sensitive and specific detection technolo-gy was established in this study.The specific monoclonal antibodies against the neuraminidase N6 protein of avian influenza A virus subtype H5N6 were obtained through hybridoma and monoclonal antibody technology.These antibodies were coupled and labeled with carboxyl-functionalized fluorescent quantum dots,along with previously prepared specific antibodies against the hemagglutinin H5 protein.A rapid fluorescence immunochromatographic detection method for the H5N6 subtype of avian influ-enza virus was established according to the principle of double-antibody sandwich immunochromatography.This method a-chieved a detection sensitivity of 1 ng/mL for recombinant hemagglutinin H5 subtype protein and 0.1 ng/mL for recombinant neuraminidase N6 subtype protein.Moreover,the method exhibited no cross-reactivity with other influenza subtypes or patho-gens,such as Newcastle disease(ND),infectious bronchitis(IB),and infectious laryngotracheitis(ILT),thus demonstrating good specificity.The method effectively identified the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5 subtype and directly distin-guished the H5N6 subtype with good accuracy.The fluorescent quantum dot immunochromatographic typing detection method established herein met the sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy requirements for H5N6 subtype detection,and can be further used for rapid detection of the H5 and H5N6 subtypes of avian influenza virus.

Objective:To explore the plasma metabolomic characteristics of children with transfusion-dependent thalassemia(TDT),and reveal the changes of metabolic pattern in children with TDT.Methods:23 children with TDT who received regular blood transfusion in Ganzhou Women and Children's Health Care Hospital in 2021 were selected,and 11 healthy children who underwent physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group.The routine indexes between children with TDT and the control group were compared,and then the metabolic composition of plasma samples from children with TDT and the control group was detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.An OPLS-DA model was established to perform differential analysis on the detected metabolites,and the differential metabolic pathways between the two groups were analyzed based on the differential metabolites.Results:The results of routine testing showed that the indexes of ferritin,bilirubin,total bile acid,glucose and triglycerides in children with TDT were significantly higher than those in healthy controls,while hemoglobin and total cholesterol were significantly lower(all P＜0.05).However there was no significant difference in lactate dehydrogenase between the two groups(P＞0.05).Compared with the control group,190 differential metabolites(VIP＞1)were identified in TDT children.Among them,168 compounds such as arginine,proline and glycocholic acid were significantly increased,while the other 22 compounds such as myristic acid,eleostearic acid,palmitic acid and linoleic acid were significantly decreased.The metabolic pathway analysis showed that the metabolic impact of TDT on children mainly focused on the upregulation of amino acid metabolism and downregulation of lipid metabolism.Conclusion:The amino acid and lipid metabolism in children with TDT were significantly changed compared with the healthy control group.This finding is helpful to optimize the treatment choice for children with TDT,and provides a new idea for clinical treatment.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of Aconiti Coreani Radix and Typhonii Rhizoma on the urinary metabolites of gerbils with stroke by non-targeted metabolomics technique， and then to clarify the mechanism of the two， as well as their similarities and differences. MethodTwenty-four gerbils were randomly divided into control group（CG）， model group（MG）， Aconiti Coreani Radix group（RA） and Typhonii Rhizoma group（RT）. Except for the CG， ischemic stroke model was constructed using right unilateral ligation of gerbil carotid artery in the remaining groups. Except for the CG and MG， rats in the other groups received whole powder suspension（0.586 mg·g^-1） was administered for 14 days. The neurological deficit in each group was scored by Longa scoring on days 0， 3， 7 and 14. After the end of administration， the serum， brain tissue and urine of gerbils in each group were collected， and the rate of cerebral infarction was detected by 2，3，5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride（TTC）， and the levels of interleukin（IL）-6， tumor necrosis factor（TNF）-α， malondialdehyde（MDA）， superoxide dismutase（SOD）， glutathione（GSH）， and nitric oxide（NO） in serum and brain tissue were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. The urine metabolomics of gerbils in each group was studied by ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-electrostatic field orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS）， and the data were processed by multivariate statistical analysis， and differential metabolites were screened based on value of variable importance in the projection（VIP） of the first principal component>1 and t-test P<0.05. Metabolic pathway analysis of the screened differential metabolites was performed using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） database and Metaboanalyst 5.0. ResultCompared with the CG， the neurological deficit score was significantly increased in the MG（P<0.05）， compared with the MG， the neurological deficit scores in the RA and RT were significantly reduced after 7 d and 14 d（P<0.05）. Compared with the CG， the rate of cerebral infarction was significantly increased in the MG（P<0.05）， compared with the MG， the rates of cerebral infarction in the RA and RT were significantly reduced（P<0.05）. Compared with the CG， the levels of IL-6， TNF-α， and MDA in the serum and brain tissue of gerbils from the MG were significantly increased（P<0.05）， and the levels of SOD， GSH and NO were significantly reduced（P<0.05）. Compared with the MG， Aconiti Coreani Radix and Typhonii Rhizoma could down-regulate the levels of IL-6， TNF-α and MDA， and up-regulated the levels of SOD， GSH and NO. A total of 112 endogenous differential metabolites were screened by urine metabolomics， of which 16 and 26 metabolites were called back by Aconiti Coreani Radix and Typhonii Rhizoma， and could be used as potential biomarkers for both treatments in stroke gerbils， respectively. The results of the pathway analysis showed that both Aconiti Coreani Radix and Typhonii Rhizoma had regulatory effects on arginine and proline metabolism， pyrimidine metabolism， and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis. In addition， Aconiti Coreani Radix could also regulate riboflavin metabolism， Typhonii Rhizoma could also regulate purine metabolism， glycine， serine and threonine metabolism， arachidonic acid metabolism， biosynthesis of pantothenate and coenzyme A， and β-alanine metabolism. ConclusionBoth Aconiti Coreani Radix and Typhonii Rhizoma have better therapeutic effects on stroke， with Aconiti Coreani Radix having stronger effects. From the metabolomics results， the main metabolic pathways regulated by Aconiti Coreani Radix involve amino acid metabolism， oxidative stress and so on， while Typhonii Rhizoma mainly involve amino acid metabolism， lipid metabolism， energy metabolism， etc.

Objective:To investigate the association between plasma anti-Müllerian hormone(AMH) levels and ischemic stroke.Methods:In this case-control study, 93 ischemic stroke patients were randomly selected as the case group from a study on the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome, which was conducted in 2018-2019 in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, while 372 nonischemic stroke patients were selected as the control group according to the principle of 1∶4 matching.An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure plasma AMH levels.The conditional logistic regression model and restricted cubic spline were used to analyze the relationship between AMH levels and ischemic stroke.Results:A total of 465 subjects with an average age of (68.7±7.4)years were included in this study, of whom 215(46.2%)were men and 250(53.8%)were women.According to our conditional Logistic regression analysis, the risk of ischemic stroke was reduced by 44% for every unit increase in the log-AMH level( OR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.37-0.85)in the overall population after multivariate adjustment.Compared with the tertile with the lowest AMH level, the risk of ischemic stroke in the tertile with the highest AMH level decreased significantly( OR=0.37, 95% CI: 0.19-0.69). When subgrouped by sex, the tertiles with the highest AMH levels were associated with a 66% lower risk of ischemic stroke in men( OR=0.34, 95% CI: 0.13-0.88)and a 64% lower risk of ischemic stroke in women( OR=0.36, 95% CI: 0.15-0.87), compared with the tertiles with the lowest AMH levels.The results of restricted cubic spline analysis showed that there was a linear dose-response relationship between plasma AMH levels and ischemic stroke both in the general population and in male or female population( Pvalues for linear trends were 0.0002, 0.008 and 0.007, respectively). Conclusions:Higher plasma AMH levels decrease the risk of ischemic stroke with a dose-response pattern.

Background: Diabetes-induced cardiac fibrosis is one of the main mechanisms of diabetic cardiomyopathy. As a common histone methyltransferase, enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) has been implicated in fibrosis progression in multiple organs. However, the mechanism of EZH2 in diabetic myocardial fibrosis has not been clarified. Methods: In the current study, rat and mouse diabetic model were established, the left ventricular function of rat and mouse were evaluated by echocardiography and the fibrosis of rat ventricle was evaluated by Masson staining. Primary rat ventricular fibroblasts were cultured and stimulated with high glucose (HG) in vitro. The expression of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) trimethylation, EZH2, and myocardial fibrosis proteins were assayed. Results: In STZ-induced diabetic ventricular tissues and HG-induced primary ventricular fibroblasts in vitro, H3K27 trimethylation was increased and the phosphorylation of EZH2 was reduced. Inhibition of EZH2 with GSK126 suppressed the activation, differentiation, and migration of cardiac fibroblasts as well as the overexpression of the fibrotic proteins induced by HG. Mechanical study demonstrated that HG reduced phosphorylation of EZH2 on Thr311 by inactivating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which transcriptionally inhibited peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ) expression to promote the fibroblasts activation and differentiation. Conclusion Our data revealed an AMPK/EZH2/PPAR-γ signal pathway is involved in HG-induced cardiac fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of Dayuanyin decoction （DYY） on lung injury and gut microbiota in mice with RSV-Hanshi yufei syndrome. METHODS Thirty-six BALB/c mice were divided into the normal group （NC group）， model group （MC group）， positive control group （LBM group， 57.59 mg/kg ribavirin）， DYY low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （LDYY，MDYY，HDYY groups，1.67，3.34，6.68 g/kg，calculated by crude drug）， with 6 mice in each group. Except for NC group， RSV-Hanshi yufei syndrome model was induced by “Hanshi modeling+RSV infection”； after the second cold and wet stimulation， RSV solution was dripped into the nasal cavity at 50% tissue culture infectious dose， once a day， for 3 consecutive days； each administration group was given corresponding solution intragastrically 4 hours after each nasal drip， once a day， for 5 consecutive days. The levels of motilin （MTL） and gastrin （GAS） in serum， the levels of IL-6 and IL-1β in supernatant of lung tissue， and the percentage of peripheral blood lymphocytes were all determined. The pathological changes of lungs were observed， and the changes of gut microbiota were analyzed. RESULTS Compared with MC group， the levels of MTL in serum （except for HDYY group）， and the levels of IL-6 and IL-1β in supernatant of lung tissue were all decreased significantly in DYY groups， while the level of GAS （except for HDYY group） in serum was increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. The pathology of lung tissue was improved， the percentage of T lymphocytes in LDYY group and the percentages of T lymphocyte and B lymphocyte in MDYY group were all increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with the NC group， Bacteroidetes， Actinobacteria， Bacteroides， Alistipes， Bacteroidota， Bacteroides acidfaciens and Alloprevotella were expressed in high abundance， while Firmicutes， Proteobacteria， Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group， Kineothrix and Clostridiales unclassified were expressed in low abundance. After the intervention of medium-dose DYY， the relative abundance of each microbiota tended to be adjusted back， with different species including Lachnospiraceae_UCG-Ruminococcus， etc. CONCLUSIONS Dayuanyin decoctioncan reduce the lung injury caused by RSV， the mechanism of which may be associated with relieving inflammation， regulating gastrointestinal hormone levels， the percentage of lymphocytes and the abundance of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the intestinal tract.

Betulinic acid (BA) exerts protective effects on organs in septic animals. However, whether BA can improve cardiac function in sepsis and the underlying mechanism remain unclear. Here, male Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with BA (25 mg/ kg/ d, i. g.) for 5 days and then intraperitoneally injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 mg/ kg). The rats were anesthetized to determine transthoracic echocardiography using a high-resolution imaging system for small animals after they were treated with LPS for 6 h. Histopathologic alterations were examined by HE staining. Myocardial injury markers (cTnI and CK-MB) and inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) in the serum were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Autophagy-related proteins (p62 and LC3 Ⅱ) and AKT-modulated autophagy pathways in the myocardium were determined by Western blotting. Pretreatment with BA markedly improved left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) and fraction shortening (FS) (P<0. 05), improved myocardial histomorphology, and significantly inhibited cTnI, CK-MB, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 (P<0. 05) in the septic rat serum. BA markedly decreased p62 (P<0. 01), increased LC3 Ⅱ (P< 0. 001), and significantly down-regulated p-AKT (Thr308), p-AMPKα (Ser485/ 491), p-mTOR (Ser2448) and p-S6K (Thr389) (P<0. 05), while markedly up-regulated p-AMPKα (Thr172) and pULK1 (Ser317) (P<0. 01) in septic rat hearts. The findings indicate that BA can attenuate sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunctions associated with down-regulating autophagy inhibiting pathways mediated by AKT/ mTOR and AKT/ AMPK pathways.