Objective To investigate the causal relationship between metabolic syndrome and breast cancer by using a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. Methods Genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for metabolic syndrome and breast cancer were acquired from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit GWAS database and the GWAS Catalog, with populations encompassing the United States and East Asia. A bidirectional causal design was employed: a forward analysis with metabolic syndrome as the exposure and breast cancer as the outcome, followed by a reverse analysis wherein their roles were interchanged. The inverse-variance weighting (IVW) method was primarily used for effect estimation, supplemented by MR-Egger regression, the weighted median method, the simple mode method, and the weighted mode method. Instrument variable strength was screened using the F-statistic (F>10). Robustness of the results was assessed through heterogeneity tests, horizontal pleiotropy tests, forest plots, and leave-one-out sensitivity analyses. Results The IVW analysis indicated no significant causal relationship between metabolic syndrome and breast cancer (OR=1.00, 95%CI: 0.97-1.03), P>0.05). Sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results, suggesting the good robustness of the study findings. Conclusion This study found no evidence to support a causal relationship, either positive or negative, between metabolic syndrome and breast cancer.

ObjectiveTo investigate the protective effect of genistein （Gen） on etoposide-induced chondrocyte senescence and its underlying mechanism. MethodsThe C28/I2 cell line was treated with different concentrations of Gen and etoposide， and the cell viability was detected by the CCK-8 assay. The senescence model of C28/I2 chondrocytes was induced by etoposide， with Gen intervention. Senescence-associated β-galactosidase （SA-β-gal） staining was performed to detect the senescence-positive rate and staining characteristics of chondrocytes. The expressions of peroxiredoxin 6 （Prdx6）， cyclin-dependent kinaseto clarify the functional necessity of Prdx6. ResultsCompared with the etoposide group， the C28/I2 chondrocyte viability significantly increased （P<0.01）， the expression ofsenescence-associated proteins p21 and p16 decreased （P<0.01， P<0.05）， the expression of senescence-associated genes p21 and p16 reduced （both P<0.01）， the fluorescence intensity of senescence-associated proteins p21 and p16 was diminished （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the proportion of SA-β-gal-positive cells decreased （P<0.01） in the Gen+etoposide group. Compared with the Control group， the expression of Prdx6 was downregulated in the etoposide group （P<0.05）. Compared with the etoposide group， the expression of Prdx6 was upregulated in the Gen+etoposide group （P<0.01）. Compared with the Control group， the GPx activity significantly decreased in the si-Prdx6 group （P<0.01）. Furthermore， compared with the si-Prdx6 group， the GPx activity increased in the si-Prdx6+Gen group （P<0.05）. Molecular docking results revealed that Gen formed hydrogen bond interactions with the active site of Prdx6. After Prdx6 knockdown， the expression of senescence-associated genes p21 and p16 and the fluorescence intensity of senescence-associated proteins p21 and p16 both increased in the Gen+etoposide+si-Prdx6 group （both P<0.01）. ConclusionGen can inhibit etoposide-induced senescence of C28/I2 chondrocytes by upregulating the expression of Prdx6. This study provides potential drug targets and experimental basis for the prevention and treatment of chondrocyte senescence-related diseases.

AIM:To evaluate the accuracy of a portable non-contact tonometer(PNCT)compared with a traditional non-contact tonometer(NCT)in measuring intraocular pressure(IOP)at different levels.METHODS:Patients who presented to Ningbo Eye Hospital between January 2025 and January 2026 were retrospectively included. All patients underwent measurements using PNCT, NCT, and Goldmann applanation tonometry(GAT). Based on the GAT measurements, the patients were categorized into a low IOP group(IOP≤16 mmHg), a moderate IOP group(16 mmHg0.05). Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the IOP values measured by both PNCT and NCT were positively correlated with those measured by GAT(rs=0.86 and 0.84, respectively, P<0.05). Intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC)analysis demonstrated an ICC of 0.89 between PNCT and GAT(P<0.05), and 0.88 between NCT and GAT(P<0.05), with an overall ICC of 0.88 among the three instruments(P<0.05). Bland-Altman analysis indicated a mean bias of 0.1 mmHg [95% limits of agreement(LoA): -7.3 to 7.6 mmHg] between PNCT and GAT, and a mean bias of 0.1 mmHg(95%LoA: -8.4 to 8.6 mmHg)between NCT and GAT. Based on the GAT measurements, the eyes were categorized into a low IOP group(60 eyes, 32.6%, IOP≤16 mmHg), a moderate IOP group(63 eyes, 34.2%, 16 mmHg0.05), whereas the difference between NCT and GAT showed a positive correlation with CCT(rs=0.23, P<0.05).CONCLUSION:The IOP measurements obtained by PNCT, NCT, and GAT demonstrated strong correlation and good agreement, with PNCT being less influenced by CCT. However, as IOP levels increased, the measurement errors of both PNCT and NCT also increased. Therefore, PNCT and NCT readings should only serve as references and cannot replace GAT.

Stresses induced by the deficiency or excess of trace mineral elements, such as manganese (Mn), represent a common limiting factor for the production of crops like Brassica napus. To identify key genes involved in Mn allocation in B. napus and elucidate the underlying mechanisms, a member of the metal tolerance protein (MTP) family obtained in the previous screening of cDNA library of B. napus under Mn stress was selected as the research subject. Based on the sequence information and phylogenetic analysis, it was named as BnMTP10. It belongs to the Mn-cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) subfamily. Expression of BnMTP10 in yeast significantly improved the tolerance of transformants to excessive Mn and iron (Fe) and reduced the accumulation of Mn and Fe. However, the yeast transformants exhibited no significant changes in tolerance to excess cadmium, boron, aluminum, zinc, or copper. The qRT-PCR results demonstrated that the flowers of B. napus had the highest expression of BnMTP10, followed by roots and leaves. Subcellular localization studies revealed that BnMTP10 was localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Compared with wild-type plants, transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing BnMTP10 exhibited enhanced tolerance to excessive Mn stress but showed no significant difference under Fe stress. Correspondingly, under excessive Mn stress, the Mn content in the roots of transgenic Arabidopsis increased significantly. However, under excessive Fe stress, the Fe content in transgenic Arabidopsis did not alter significantly. According to the results, we hypothesize that BnMTP10 may alleviate excessive Mn stress in plants by mediating Mn transport to the ER. This study facilitated our understanding of efficient mineral nutrients, and provided theoretical foundations and gene resources for breeding B. napus.
Brassica napus/genetics* ; Manganese/metabolism* ; Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics* ; Plant Proteins/physiology* ; Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Phylogeny ; Cation Transport Proteins/metabolism* ; Stress, Physiological

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic interstitial lung disease, is characterized by aberrant wound healing, excessive scarring and the formation of myofibroblastic foci. Although the role of alternative splicing (AS) in the pathogenesis of organ fibrosis has garnered increasing attention, its specific contribution to pulmonary fibrosis remains incompletely understood. In this study, we identified an up-regulation of serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 7 (SRSF7) in lung fibroblasts derived from IPF patients and a bleomycin (BLM)-induced mouse model, and further characterized its functional role in both human fetal lung fibroblasts and mice. We demonstrated that enhanced expression of Srsf7 in mice spontaneously induced alveolar collagen accumulation. Mechanistically, we investigated alternative splicing events and revealed that SRSF7 modulates the alternative splicing of pyruvate kinase (PKM), leading to metabolic dysregulation and fibroblast activation. In vivo studies showed that fibroblast-specific knockout of Srsf7 in conditional knockout mice conferred resistance to bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Importantly, through drug screening, we identified lomitapide as a novel modulator of SRSF7, which effectively mitigated experimental pulmonary fibrosis. Collectively, our findings elucidate a molecular pathway by which SRSF7 drives fibroblast metabolic dysregulation and propose a potential therapeutic strategy for pulmonary fibrosis.

Microbial communities such as those residing in the human gut are highly diverse and complex, and many with important implications for health and diseases. The effects and functions of these microbial communities are determined not only by their species compositions and diversities but also by the dynamic intra- and inter-cellular states at the transcriptional level. Powerful and scalable technologies capable of acquiring single-microbe-resolution RNA sequencing information in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of complex microbial communities together with their hosts are therefore utterly needed. Here we report the development and utilization of a droplet-based smRNA-seq (single-microbe RNA sequencing) method capable of identifying large species varieties in human samples, which we name smRandom-seq2. Together with a triple-module computational pipeline designed for the bacteria and bacteriophage sequencing data by smRandom-seq2 in four human gut samples, we established a single-cell level bacterial transcriptional landscape of human gut microbiome, which included 29,742 single microbes and 329 unique species. Distinct adaptive response states among species in Prevotella and Roseburia genera and intrinsic adaptive strategy heterogeneity in Phascolarctobacterium succinatutens were uncovered. Additionally, we identified hundreds of novel host-phage transcriptional activity associations in the human gut microbiome. Our results indicated that smRandom-seq2 is a high-throughput and high-resolution smRNA-seq technique that is highly adaptable to complex microbial communities in real-world situations and promises new perspectives in the understanding of human microbiomes.
Humans ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/genetics* ; Bacteriophages/physiology* ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Sequence Analysis, RNA/methods* ; Bacteria/virology*

Objective:To evaluate the role of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in long-term cognitive impairment after multiple sevoflurane anesthesia in newborn mice.Methods:Clean-grade healthy male C57BL/6 mice, aged 6 days, were used in this study. Ten mice were divided into 2 groups ( n=5 each) by the random number table method: control group (group C) and sevoflurane group (group S). The animals inhaled 3% sevoflurane for 2 h at 6, 7 and 8 days after birth. The DHA content was detected by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry at 9 days of age. Fifty-two mice were selected and divided into 4 groups ( n=13 each) by a random number table method: control+ normal saline group (group C+ S), sevoflurane anesthesia + normal saline group (group S+ S), control+ DHA group (group C+ D), and sevoflurane anesthesia+ DHA group (group S+ D). The sevoflurane anesthesia method was the same as the one mentioned above. DHA 50 mg/kg was administered by intragastric gavage from postnatal days 6-19 (at 6, 7 and 8 days after birth, 2 h before anesthesia) in C+ D and S+ D groups. The equal volume of normal saline was given instead in C+ S group and S+ S group. The novel object recognition test was conducted at 37 days of age, and the Morris water maze test was performed at 42 days of age. The corpus callosum and hippocampal tissues were isolated at 47 days of age for examination of the ultrastructure of myelin (with a transmission electron microscope) and for determination of the expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) in hippocampal tissues (by Western blot). The G-ratio was calculated. Results:Compared with group C, the content of DHA in hippocampal tissues was significantly decreased in group S ( P<0.05). Compared with group C+ S, the discrimination index was significantly decreased, the percentage of duration of staying at the target platform quadrant and the number of crossing the original platform were decreased, the expression of MBP was down-regulated, and the G-ratio in the original platform and hippocampus was increased in S+ S group ( P<0.05). Compared with group S+ S, the discrimination index was significantly increased, the percentage of duration of staying at the target platform quadrant and the number of crossing the original platform were increased, the expression of MBP was up-regulated, and the G-ratio in the original platform and hippocampus was decreased in S+ D group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The mechanism of long-term cognitive impairment following multiple sevoflurane anesthesia may be related to a decrease in the content of DHA, which subsequently leads to myelin structural damage in neonatal mice.

Objective:To evaluate the relationship between preoperative gut microbiota and post-operative ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.Methods:This was a secondary analysis of a previous research project study. Patients who received invasive mechanical ventilation treatment after elective off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from April to September 2023 were selected and divided into VAP group and non-VAP group based on whether VAP occurred after surgery. Fecal samples were collected from patients before surgery, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to analyze the characteristics of preoperative gut microbiota in the two groups. The differences in the diversity of gut microbiota between the two groups were compared. The linear discriminant analysis was used to identify the gut microbiota with significant differences between groups (differential bacteria), and logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between differential bacteria and VAP. Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn to analyze the predictive value of the differential bacteria for VAP.Results:A total of 79 patients were finally included, with 25 in VAP group and 54 in non-VAP group. The Beta diversity analysis showed statistically significant differences between VAP group and non-VAP group (pseudo- F=2.00, P=0.002). The linear discriminant analysis indicated that Bifidobacterium, Blautia and Megamonas were enriched in non-VAP group, while Klebsiella was enriched in VAP group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium was a protective factor for postoperative VAP ( OR=0.32, 95% confidence interval [ CI] 0.15-0.71, P=0.005), and the relative abundance of Klebsiella was a risk factor for postoperative VAP ( OR=2.49, 95% CI 1.143-5.43, P=0.022). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium for predicting VAP was 0.80 (95% CI 0.69-0.90, P<0.001) and of the relative abundance of Klebsiella was 0.70 (95% CI 0.57-0.83, P=0.005). Conclusions:Bifidobacterium is a protective factor, while Klebsiella is a risk factor for postoperative VAP in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, and the relative abundance of both bacteria has a certain predictive value for VAP.

Objective To explore the value of the albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio(AAPR)with modified Glasgow prognostic score(mGPS)in assessing the response to and prognosis of intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin(BCG)therapy in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer(NMIBC).Methods A total of 153 high-risk NMIBC patients treated with intravesical BCG in our hospital during Jan.2018 and Oct.2021 were enrolled.Patients were divided into response and non-response groups based on the treatment efficacy,and into good and poor prognosis groups based on the clinical outcomes.AAPR and mGPS were calculated.The relationship between AAPR,mGPS and BCG treatment non-response was analyzed with multivariate logistic regression.Clinical data and scores were compared between prognosis groups.The associations between AAPR,mGPS,and poor prognosis after BCG treatment were assessed with a Cox proportional hazards model.Patients were stratified into high-and low-A APR groups,and into mGPS 0,1,and 2 groups.Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted for progression-free survival(PFS)across different AAPR and mGPS strata.The diagnostic performance of AAPR combined with mGPS in predicting treatment non-response and poor prognosis was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.Results Among the 153 patients,the response rate to BCG treatment was 71.90％(110/153),the 3-year poor prognosis rate was 45.75％(70/153),and the 3-year PFS rate was 54.25％(83/153).Increased AAPR was identified as an independent protective factor for both treatment response and good prognosis,while higher mGPS was an independent risk factor(P＜0.05).The 3-year PFS rate was significantly higher in the high-AAPR group than in the low-A APR group(P＜0.001).Among the mGPS groups,the 3-year PFS rate was lowest in the mGPS 2 group,followed by mGPS 1 and mGPS 0 groups(P＜0.001).The area under the ROC curve(AUC)for AAPR with mGPS in predicting BCG treatment non-response and poor prognosis was 0.864 and 0.901,respectively,significantly higher than using AAPR(0.774,0.781)or mGPS alone(0.798,0.809)(P＜0.05).Conclusion Lower AAPR and higher mGPS are associated with non-response and poor prognosis in NMIBC patients undergoing intravesical BCG therapy.The combination of AAPR and mGPS has high predictive value.

OBJECTIVE:To systematically evaluate the correlation between phase angle and sarcopenia and its diagnostic indexes.METHODS:The PubMed,EMbase,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,CNKI,WanFang Data,VIP and SinoMed databases were electronically searched to collect studies on the correlation between phase angle and sarcopenia and its diagnostic indexes from database inception to May 8,2024. Two reviewers independently screened literature,extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 14.0 software. RESULTS:A total of 50 eligible articles were included. Meta-analysis results showed that compared with the non-sarcopenic population,the phase angle was significantly reduced in sarcopenic patients[standardized mean difference (SMD)=-0.99,95％ confidence interval (CI) (-1.09,-0.90),P<0.00001]. The results of subgroup analysis indicated that the difference of phase angle was more significant in patients with severe sarcopenia and Asian sarcopenia. Moreover,reduction in the phase angle was more obvious in patients with malignant tumors and respiratory diseases with sarcopenia. And skeletal muscle mass index (Pearson's r=0.565,P<0.00001),grip strength (Pearson's r=0.446,P<0.00001),and gait speed (Pearson's r=0.405,P<0.00001) all showed a moderate positive correlation with phase angle. However,appendicular skeletal muscle mass index showed a very weak positive correlation with phase angle (Pearson's r=0.139,P=0.02). CONCLUSION:Phase angle has a significant difference between sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia population,and it is correlated with the diagnostic indexes of sarcopenia to different extents. It suggests that phase angle has some clinical values in the objective diagnosis of sarcopenia. However,the results may be influenced by some factors such as sarcopenia severity and detection instruments of phase angle. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies,more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.