UDP glycosyltransferase (UGT) is a terminal modifying enzyme for the formation of flavonoid glycosides. In this study, we obtained two glycosyltransferase genes, CtUGT25 and CtUGT18, which are closely related to the synthesis of safflower flavonoids, through the Pierce correlation analysis of the expression of glycosyltransferase genes in the safflower corolla transcriptome database at different developmental stages with the contents of the major constituents of safflower metabolome database, and bioinformatically analyzed the gene and protein sequences of the two genes. Expression pattern analysis revealed that CtUGT25 was mainly expressed in the corolla, with the highest expression on day 3 of flowering stage; CtUGT18 was mainly expressed in the root, with the highest expression on day 1 of flowering stage. Functional validation was verified in safflower by Agrobacterium-mediated pollen-tube pathway transgenesis method, demonstrating that CtUGT25 promoted the accumulation of kaempferol-3-O-glucoside and hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), and CtUGT18 promoted the accumulation of kaempferol-3-O-glucoside and orientin, both of which may be the glycosyl-modifying enzymes for the synthesis of safflower flavonoids. Meanwhile, in vitro experiments demonstrated the catalytic activity of CtUGT25 protein on naringenin, quercetin, apigenin, kaempferol, luteoin, 2-hydroxynaringenin and galangin. This study serves as reference for future advancements in regulating the quality of safflower using molecular biotechnology, particularly focuses on the industrial production of safflower exclusive component HSYA. Additionally, it offers valuable insights for researching related genes in other plants.

Humans ; Consensus ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/therapy* ; Neuroendocrine Tumors/therapy*

METRNL is a recently identified secreted protein with emerging functions. This study is to find major cellular source of circulating METRNL and to determine METRNL novel function. Here, we show METRNL is abundant in human and mouse vascular endothelium and released by endothelial cells using endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi apparatus pathway. By creating endothelial cell-specific Metrnl knockout mice, combined with bone marrow transplantation to produce bone marrow-specific deletion of Metrnl, we demonstrate that most of circulating METRNL (approximately 75%) originates from the endothelial cells. Both endothelial and circulating METRNL decrease in atherosclerosis mice and patients. By generating endothelial cell-specific Metrnl knockout in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice, combined with bone marrow-specific deletion of Metrnl in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice, we further demonstrate that endothelial METRNL deficiency accelerates atherosclerosis. Mechanically, endothelial METRNL deficiency causes vascular endothelial dysfunction including vasodilation impairment via reducing eNOS phosphorylation at Ser1177 and inflammation activation via enhancing NFκB pathway, which promotes the susceptibility of atherosclerosis. Exogenous METRNL rescues METRNL deficiency induced endothelial dysfunction. These findings reveal that METRNL is a new endothelial substance not only determining the circulating METRNL level but also regulating endothelial function for vascular health and disease. METRNL is a therapeutic target against endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis.

Humans ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/drug therapy* ; Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use* ; Acute Kidney Injury

Background::The pharmacokinetic and clinical behaviors of many proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in peptic ulcer treatment are altered by CYP2C19 genetic polymorphisms. This non-inferiority study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the novel PPI anaprazole compared with rabeprazole. We also explored the influence of Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori) infection status and CYP2C19 polymorphism on anaprazole. Methods::In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, positive-drug parallel-controlled, phase III study, Chinese patients with duodenal ulcers were randomized 1:1 to receive rabeprazole 10 mg + anaprazole placebo or rabeprazole placebo + anaprazole 20 mg once daily for 4 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was the 4-week ulcer healing rate assessed by blinded independent review. Secondary endpoints were the proportion of patients with improved overall and individual duodenal ulcer symptoms at 4 weeks. Furthermore, exploratory subgroup analysis of the primary endpoint by H. pylori status and CYP2C19 polymorphism was conducted. Adverse events were monitored for safety. Non-inferiority analysis was conducted for the primary endpoint. Results::The study enrolled 448 patients (anaprazole, n = 225; rabeprazole, n = 223). The 4-week healing rates were 90.9% and 93.7% for anaprazole and rabeprazole, respectively (difference, -2.8% [95% confidence interval, -7.7%, 2.2%]), demonstrating non-inferiority of anaprazole to rabeprazole. Overall duodenal ulcer symptoms improved in 90.9% and 92.5% of patients, respectively. Improvement rates of individual symptoms were similar between the groups. Healing rates did not significantly differ by H. pylori status or CYP2C19 genotype for either treatment group. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was similar for anaprazole (72/220, 32.7%) and rabeprazole (84/219, 38.4%). Conclusions::The efficacy of anaprazole is non-inferior to that of rabeprazole in Chinese patients with duodenal ulcers.Registration::ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04215653.

OBJECTIVES: The advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with pleural effusion have no opportunity for surgery treatment. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the first-line drugs for these patients with EGFR-sensitive mutation. However, the disease progression and drug update during or after treatment of EGFR-TKIs bring more challenges and puzzles to clinical diagnosis and treatment, which inevitably requires archived pleural cell samples for EGFR re-examination or comparative study. Understanding the DNA quality of archived pleural fluid samples and effectively using archival data of pleural fluid cells are of great significance for tracing the origin of cases and basic medical research. This study aims to evaluate the consistency of EGFR mutant gene expression between the 2 methods, and to explore a reliable way for preserving cytological data and making full use of cytological archival data via cell HE staining smear and cell paraffin section. METHODS: A total of 57 pleural fluid cytology cases in the Department of Pathology of China Aerospace Center Hospital from October 2014 to April 2021 were selected. Tumor cells were detected by cell HE staining smears and immunohistochemical staining for TTF-1 and Napsin A in the paired cell paraffin sections. There were more than 200 tumor cells in cell HE staining smear and the proportion of tumor cells were ≥70% in matched cell paraffin sections. Patients with 2 cell smears (one for cell data retention and the other for DNA extraction) were selected as the research subjects, and 57 pleural fluid samples were enrolled. EGFR gene mutation was detected by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction in 57 paired cell HE staining smears and cell paraffin sections. DNA concentration was 2 ng/μL. Cell HE smear was amplified side-by-side with DNA samples from paired cell paraffin sections. Result determination was according to the requirements of the reagent instructions. The external control cycle threshold (Ct) value of the No. 8 well of the samples to be tested was between 13 and 21, which was considered as successful and reliable samples. When the Ct value of EGFR gene mutation was <26, it was considered as positive; when the Ct value was between 26 and 29, it was critical positive; when the Ct value was equal or more than 29, it was negative. ΔCt value was the difference between mutant Ct value and externally controlled Ct value. The smaller the ΔCt value was, the better the quality of DNA of the detected sample was. RESULTS: Among the 57 pleural effusion samples, 42 patients were hospitalized with pleural effusion as the first symptom, accounting for 73.7% (42/57). EGFR mutation was detected in 37 samples [64.9% (37/57)]. The mutation rate for 19del was 37.8% (14/37) while for L858R was 48.6% (18/37). Females were 56.7% (21/37) of mutation cases. The mutation consistency rate of cell HE staining smear and matched cell paraffin sections was 100%. The ΔCt values of cell HE staining smears were less than those of matched cell paraffin sections. The mutation Ct values of 37 cytological samples were statistically analyzed according to the preservation periods of the years of 2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2018-2019, and 2020-2021. There were significant differences in cell paraffin section in the years of 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 compared with the years of 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, while no significant differences were found in cell HE staining smear. Statistical analysis of externally controlled Ct values of 57 cytological samples showed that there were significant differences between cell HE staining smears and cell paraffin section in the years of 2014-2015 and 2016-2017, compared with the years of 2018-2019 and 2020-2021. The mutational Ct values of 37 paired cell blocks and smears were all <26, and the externally controlled Ct values of 57 paired cell paraffin sections and HE staining smears were all between 13 and 21. CONCLUSIONS The DNA quality of cell HE smears and matched cell paraffin section met the qualified requirements. Two methods possess show an excellent consistency in detecting EGFR mutation in NSCLC pleural fluid samples. The DNA quality of cell HE staining smear is better than that of cell paraffin sections, so cell HE staining smear can be used as important supplement of the gene test source. It should be noted that the limitation of cell HE staining smears is non-reproducibility, so multiple smears of pleural fluid are recommended to be prepared for multiple tests.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/drug therapy* ; DNA Mutational Analysis/methods* ; ErbB Receptors/genetics* ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Male ; Mutation ; Paraffin/therapeutic use* ; Pleural Effusion/genetics* ; Protein Kinase Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Staining and Labeling

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is considered an important risk factor for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The commonly anti-hypertensive drugs are the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors, calcium channel blockers (CCBs), and beta-blockers. The association between commonly used anti-hypertensive medications and the clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients with hypertension has not been well studied. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study that included all patients admitted with COVID-19 to Huo Shen Shan Hospital and Guanggu District of the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China. Clinical and laboratory characteristics were extracted from electronic medical records. Hypertension and anti-hypertensive treatment were confirmed by medical history and clinical records. The primary clinical endpoint was all-cause mortality. Secondary endpoints included the rates of patients in common wards transferred to the intensive care unit and hospital stay duration. Logistic regression was used to explore the risk factors associated with mortality and prognosis. Propensity score matching was used to balance the confounders between different anti-hypertensive treatments. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to compare the cumulative recovery rate. Log-rank tests were performed to test for differences in Kaplan-Meier curves between different groups. RESULTS: Among 4569 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, 31.7% (1449/4569) had a history of hypertension. There were significant differences in mortality rates between hypertensive patients with CCBs (7/359) and those without (21/359) (1.95% vs. 5.85%, risk ratio [RR]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13-0.76, χ2 = 7.61, P = 0.0058). After matching for confounders, the mortality rates were similar between the RAAS inhibitor (4/236) and non-RAAS inhibitor (9/236) cohorts (1.69% vs. 3.81%, RR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.13-1.43, χ2 = 1.98, P = 0.1596). Hypertensive patients with beta-blockers (13/340) showed no statistical difference in mortality compared with those without (11/340) (3.82% vs. 3.24%, RR: 1.19, 95% CI: 0.53-2.69, χ2 = 0.17, P = 0.6777). CONCLUSIONS In our study, we did not find any positive or negative effects of RAAS inhibitors or beta-blockers in COVID-19 patients with hypertension, while CCBs could improve prognosis.
Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists/therapeutic use* ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use* ; COVID-19 ; Calcium Channel Blockers/therapeutic use* ; Child ; China ; Humans ; Hypertension/drug therapy* ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2

Objective To investigate the anti-inflammatory role of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) under inflammatory stress and its mechanisms. Methods PNU282987 was used for the activation of α7nAChR and LPS was administrated as inflammatory stressor. Realtime PCR was used for the detection of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, M1 macrophage marker CD68, CD86 and M2 macrophage marker CD206, Arg1. Cell immunofluorescence was used for the detection of M1/M2 ratio and Western blot was applied for the detection of autophagy-related proteins. Results Under the stimulation of LPS, the mRNA levels of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, the proportion of M1 macrophage and autophagy process were increased in BV2 microglial cells. However, the administration of PNU282987 significantly decreased the mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α and the proportion of M1 macrophage while increased the proportion of M2 macrophage and the level of autophagy process. Conclusion Activating α7nAChR plays an anti-inflammatory role in microglial cells under inflammatory stress due to the regulation of M1/M2 macrophage ratio and increase of autophagy level.

The exacerbation of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) is closely associated with obstruction of the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). To discover novel therapeutic compounds for enhancing remyelination by endogenous OPCs, we screened for myelin basic protein expression using cultured rat OPCs and a library of small-molecule compounds. One of the most effective drugs was pinocembrin, which remarkably promoted OPC differentiation and maturation without affecting cell proliferation and survival. Based on these in vitro effects, we further assessed the therapeutic effects of pinocembrin in animal models of demyelinating diseases. We demonstrated that pinocembrin significantly ameliorated the progression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and enhanced the repair of demyelination in lysolectin-induced lesions. Further studies indicated that pinocembrin increased the phosphorylation level of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Taken together, our results demonstrated that pinocembrin promotes OPC differentiation and remyelination through the phosphorylated mTOR pathway, and suggest a novel therapeutic prospect for this natural flavonoid product in treating demyelinating diseases.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; Flavanones ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Myelin Sheath/metabolism* ; Oligodendroglia/metabolism* ; Rats ; Remyelination ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism*

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is considered the primary causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and is related to abnormal glycolipid metabolism, hemodynamic abnormalities, oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Antagonism of vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGF-B) could efficiently ameliorate DN by reducing renal lipotoxicity. However, this pharmacological strategy is far from satisfactory, as it ignores numerous pathogenic factors, including anomalous reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and inflammatory responses. We found that the upregulation of VEGF-B and downregulation of interleukin-22 (IL-22) among DN patients were significantly associated with the progression of DN. Thus, we hypothesized that a combination of a VEGF-B antibody and IL-22 could protect against DN not only by regulating glycolipid metabolism but also by reducing the accumulation of inflammation and ROS. To meet these challenges, a novel anti-VEGFB/IL22 fusion protein was developed, and its therapeutic effects on DN were further studied. We found that the anti-VEGFB/IL22 fusion protein reduced renal lipid accumulation by inhibiting the expression of fatty acid transport proteins and ameliorated inflammatory responses