Emerging evidences have indicated the role of ferroptosis in the progression of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD); thus, inhibiting ferroptosis is a promising strategy for the development of MAFLD therapeutics. Recent studies have demonstrated the antioxidative effect of the gut commensal bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muc); however, whether it can alleviate ferroptosis remains unclear. The current study indicates A. muc intervention efficiently reversed high-fat high-fructose diet (HFHFD)-induced lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis in the liver. These beneficial effects were mediated by activation of the hepatic AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α axis, as evidenced by the finding that AMPK deficiency abrogated the amelioration of lipid peroxidation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were enriched upon A. muc treatment, and acetate was identified as a key activator of hepatic AMPK signalling. Mechanistically, microbiota-derived acetate was transported to the liver and metabolized to adenosine monophosphate (AMP), which triggered AMPK activation. Furthermore, a colonization assay in germ-free mice confirmed that A. muc mediated antiferroptotic effects in the absence of other microbes. These data indicated that A. muc exerts antiferroptotic effects against MAFLD, at least partially by producing acetate, which activates the hepatic AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α axis to alleviate ferroptosis via the inhibition of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthesis.

Rubi fructus mainly contains contents of flavonoids,coumarins,phenolic acids,polysaccharides,alkaloids and trace elements.Meanwhile,it has activity effects of anti-tumor,anti-oxidation,anti-aging and anti-inflammation,and is widely used in medicine,food,health food and other fields.Research progress on chemical constituents,pharmacological action and clinical application of Rubi fructus were summarized in this paper,in order to provide the theoretical guidance for the rational use of Rubi fructus and the sustainable development of the resources.

Objective:To explore the relationship between calcitonin receptor (CALCR) expression and clinicopathologic features and prognosis of gastric cancer patients.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed to collect 108 samples of gastric cancer patients treated in Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College from January 2014 to November 2017. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to analyze the differential expression of calcitonin receptors in gastric cancer and adjacent tissues, and the relationship and significance between their expression and clinical pathological parameters were analyzed K-M and ROC curves were used to assess the K-M and ROC curves were used to evaluate the effect of CALCR expression on patients' postoperative survival and to predict the 5-year postoperative survival rate. The comparison of inter group rates in count data was performed using χ2 test, and the Kaplan Meier method was used to estimate overall survival and progression free survival. The comparison of survival differences was performed using the Log-rank method test. Results:CALCR was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm and its expression in gastric cancer tissues(62.04%(67/108)) was higher than that in paracancerous tissues (13.89% (15/108)), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=53.16, P<0.001). The tissue infiltration depth (91.04% (61/67)), lymph node metastasis (73.1% (49/67)), and peripheral blood CA19-9 (32.8% (22/67)) in gastric cancer patients with high expression of CALCR were higher than those in the low expression group of CALCR (63.41% (26/41), 53.7% (22/41), 12.2% (5/41)), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2 values were 12.40, 4.28, and 4.78; P values were <0.001, 0.038, and 0.016). The results of K-M curve and Log-rank test showed that among gastric cancer patients, the postoperative 5-year survival rate of patients with high expression of CALCR was lower than that of patients with low expression (11.9% (8/67) and 43.9% (18/41), Log-rank χ2=29.92, P<0.001). The results of the ROC curve showed that the area under the curve was 0.772, sensitivity was 87.8%, specificity was 53.7%, indicating that CALCR is of high value in predicting the 5-year survival rate of gastric cancer patients after surgery. Conclusion:CALCR is highly expressed in gastric cancer tissue and is associated with the pathological characteristics of patients. High expression of CALCR suggests poor prognosis, indicating that it has the potential to become an important indicator for evaluating the survival prognosis of gastric cancer patients.

Many recent studies have shown that the gut microbiome plays important roles in human physiology and pathology. Also, microbiome-based therapies have been used to improve health status and treat diseases. In addition, aging and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, have become topics of intense interest in biomedical research. Several researchers have explored the links between these topics to study the potential pathogenic or therapeutic effects of intestinal microbiota in disease. But the exact relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and gut microbiota remains unclear. As technology advances, new techniques for studying the microbiome will be developed and refined, and the relationship between diseases and gut microbiota will be revealed. This article summarizes the known interactions between the gut microbiome and neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting assay techniques for the gut microbiome, and we also discuss the potential therapeutic role of microbiome-based therapies in diseases.
Alzheimer Disease/therapy* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Microbiota ; Neurodegenerative Diseases/therapy* ; Parkinson Disease/therapy*

Many recent studies have shown that the gut microbiome plays important roles in human physiology and pathology. Also, microbiome-based therapies have been used to improve health status and treat diseases. In addition, aging and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, have become topics of intense interest in biomedical research. Several researchers have explored the links between these topics to study the potential pathogenic or therapeutic effects of intestinal microbiota in disease. But the exact relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and gut microbiota remains unclear. As technology advances, new techniques for studying the microbiome will be developed and refined, and the relationship between diseases and gut microbiota will be revealed. This article summarizes the known interactions between the gut microbiome and neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting assay techniques for the gut microbiome, and we also discuss the potential therapeutic role of microbiome-based therapies in diseases.

Objective:To analyze the predictive value of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) fraction in patients with breast cancer treat-ed with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Clinicopathological data of 156 female patients with breast cancer diagnosed using core needle biopsy and treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery between November 2015 and April 2017 in Tianjin Medi-cal Uninvertity Cancer Institute and Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were assigned into 3 groups based on the TIL frac-tim, namely high, intermediate and low TIL fractin gronp. The response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was evaluated using the histo-pathological criteria for assessment of therapeutic response in breast cancer. The relation between TIL fraction and response to neoad-juvant chemotherapy was then analyzed. Results:Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was effective in 78.2%(122/156) of the patients. Pa-tients harboring tumors with a higher TIL fraction were more likely to achieve a better response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy than those harboring tumors with a lower TIL fraction (P<0.01). Patients harboring hormonal receptor (HR)-negative tumors generally exhib-ited a higher TIL fraction than those harboring HR-positive tumors (P<0.01). The TIL fraction, but not HR status, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status, or Ki-67 index, correlated with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion:TIL frac-tion is an independent predictive factor of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. Patients with breast cancer exhibiting higher TIL fraction achieve better response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy than those exhibiting lower TIL fraction.

Objective: In this study, we evaluated the effect of supraclavicular lymph node dissection in breast cancer patients who presented with ipsilateral supraclavicular lymph node metastasis (ISLM) without distant metastasis. Methods: A total of 90 patients with synchronous ISLM without distant metastasis between 2000 and 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were retrospectively divided into two groups, namely supraclavicular lymph node dissection group(34 patients) and non-dissection group(56 patients), according to whether they underwentsupraclavicular lymph node dissection or not.The Kaplan-Meier method was applied to analyze the locoregional relapse free survival (LRFS) and overall survival(OS). Results: Median follow-upwas 85 months(range, 6 to 11 months). Local recurrence in 32 cases, 47 cases of distant metastasis, of which 25 patients were accompanied by both locoregional relapse and distant metastasis. Of the 32 patients with locoregional relapse, 11 patients were in the lymph node dissection group and 21 patients in the control group. Of the 47 patients with distant metastases, 17 were treated with lymph node dissection, 30 in the control group. Thirty-two patients died in the whole group and 16 patients underwentlymph node dissection and 16 patients didn′t. There was no significant difference between the rate of 5-year LRFS and 5-year OS (P=0.359, P=0.246). For patients of ER negative, the 5-year loco-regional relapse free survival rates were 63.7% and 43.3% in supraclavicular lymph node dissection group and control group, respectively. The 5-year overall survival rates were 52.1% and 52.3%, respectively, and there were no statistically significant differences (P=0.118, P=0.951). For patients of PR negative, the 5-yearloco-regional relapse free rates were 59.8% and 46.2%, respectively, and the 5-year overall survival rates were 50.6% and 43.2%, respectively, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.317, P=0.973). The 5-year recurrence-free survival rates of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive patients were 61.2% and 48.0%(P=0.634), respectively, and the 5-year overall survival rates were 37.2% and 65.4%(P=0.032). Forty-seven patients suffered distant metastases and the 5-year metastases free survival rates were 37.3% and 38.5% in supraclavicular lymph node dissection group and control group, respectively. Conclusion Supraclavicular lymph node dissection maybe an effective approach to improve the loco-regional control for the patients with ISLM, especially for ER negative and PR negative subtypes, but it might has adverseeffects for the patients with negative HER2 status.