ObjectiveTo study the effect of Taikong Yangxin Pills on the metabolism of simulated weightless rats based on metabolomics and discuss the metabolism mechanism. MethodsIn the simulated space capsule environment on the ground， the rat model of simulated weightlessness was established by the tail suspension method. Rats were randomly grouped as follows： out-of-capsule control， in-capsule control， model， and high （3.0 g·kg^-1） and low （1.5 g·kg^-1） doses of Taikong Yangxin Pills， and they were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 28 days. The serum levels of endogenous metabolites in rats were determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry （UPLC-Q-TOF/MS）. The obtained data were processed by principal component analysis （PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA） to screen for differential metabolites and potential biomarkers. MetaboAnalyst 5.0 was used for pathway enrichment analysis to explain the metabolic regulation mechanism of the drug. ResultsCompared with the out-of-capsule control group， the in-capsule control group showed elevated levels of thirteen metabolites， including 14-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid， linoleic acid， and α-linolenic acid （P<0.05）， which suggested that the space capsule environment mainly affected the metabolism of α-linolenic acid and linoleic acid in the rats. Compared with the in-capsule control group， the model group showed lowered levels of fourteen metabolites， including 4-imidazolone-5-propionic acid， isocitric acid/citric acid， and L-tyrosine （P<0.05）， which were recovered after the treatment with Taikong Yangxin pills （P<0.05）. The pathway enrichment analysis revealed that weightlessness induced by tail suspension and drug intervention mainly involved the phenylalanine， tyrosine， and tryptophan biosynthesis， tyrosine metabolism， histidine metabolism， and citric acid cycle. ConclusionThe simulated space capsule environment and simulated weightlessness induced by tail suspension can both affect the metabolism level of rats. Taikong Yangxin pills can ameliorate the metabolic abnormality in the rat model of weightlessness by regulating various amino acids and energy metabolism-related pathways.

Although clinical evidence suggests that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is an established major risk factor for heart failure, it remains unexplored whether sleep disorder-caused hepatic damage contributes to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here, our findings revealed that sleep fragmentation (SF) displayed notable hepatic detrimental phenotypes, including steatosis and oxidative damage, along with significant abnormalities in cardiac structure and function. All these pathological changes persisted even after sleep recovery for 2 consecutive weeks or more, displaying memory properties. Mechanistically, persistent higher expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 4 (NOX4) in the liver was the key initiator of SF-accelerated damage phenotypes. SF epigenetically controlled the acetylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27ac) enrichment at the Nox4 promoter and markedly increased Nox4 expression in liver even after sleep recovery. Moreover, fine coordination of the circadian clock and hepatic damage was strictly controlled by BMAL1-dependent Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) transcription after circadian misalignment. Accordingly, genetic manipulation of liver-specific Nox4 or Sirt1, along with pharmacological intervention targeting NOX4 (GLX351322) or SIRT1 (Resveratrol), could effectively erase the epigenetic modification of Nox4 by reducing the H3K27ac level and ameliorate the progression of liver pathology, thereby counteracting SF-evoked sustained CVD. Collectively, our findings may pave the way for strategies to mitigate myocardial injury from persistent hepatic detrimental memory in diabetic patients.

A major obstacle in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is sleep fragmentation (SF), which negatively affects testicular function. However, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrate that SF induces testicular damage through a mechanism involving lipid metabolism, specifically mediated by melatonin (MEL) receptor 1a (MT1). T2DM mice with SF intervention displayed several deleterious phenotypes such as apoptosis, deregulated lipid metabolism, and impaired testicular function. Unexpectedly, sleep recovery (SR) for 2 consecutive weeks could not completely abrogate SF's detrimental effects on lipid deposition and testicular function. Interestingly, MEL and MT1 agonist 2-iodomelatonin (2IM) effectively improved lipid homeostasis, highlighting MEL/2IM as a promising therapeutic drug for SF-trigged testicular damage. Mechanistically, MEL and 2IM activated FGFR1 and sequentially restrained the crosstalk and physical interaction between TAB1 and TAK1, which ultimately suppressed the phosphorylation of TAK1 to block lipid deposition and cell apoptosis caused by SF. The ameliorating effect of MEL/2IM was overtly nullified in Fgfr1 knockout (Fgfr1-KO ^+/- ) diabetic mice. Meanwhile, testicular-specific overexpression of Tak1 abolished the protective effect of FGF1^mut on diabetic mouse testis. Our findings offer valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the testicular pathogenesis associated with SF and propose a novel therapeutic approach for addressing male infertility in T2DM.

Objective:To explore the role of arginine metabolism in the inflammatory response to influenza A virus (FluA) infection.Methods:Eighteen-month-old mice were infected with FluA via nasal drip, with samples collected on the 6th day post-infection. The concentration of cytokines was determined by the Luminex multifactor assay, while the metabolites in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were analyzed using targeted metabolomic method. Correlation analysis was employed to examine the correlation between cytokines and metabolites. Macrophages were infected with FluA at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1 and cultured with different concentrations of arginine for 24 h. The mRNA and protein expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and IL-10 were detected by real time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and Cytometric Bead Array (CBA).Results:In comparison to the control group, the levels of surfactant protein D (SP-D), TNF-α, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), IL-1α, IL-6, IL-10, recombinant S100 calcium binding protein (S100) A9, interferon inducible protein 10 (IP-10), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), matrix metalloprotein-9 (MMP-9), and Complement Factor D in BALF of FluA infection exhibited a significant elevation. The concentrations of arginine, aspartate, citrulline, glutamic acid, ornithine, proline, creatine, and sarcosine in arginine metabolism were up-regulated, which was correlated with most of elevated cytokine levels. The supplementation of arginine after FluA infection significantly decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, but increased the level of IL-10 in macrophages.Conclusions:Arginine reduces the inflammatory response induced by FluA infection in macrophages, suggesting that it may be a potential intervention target for severe pulmonary inflammation following FluA infection.

Objective This study investigated whether gut microbiota and its metabolites are altered in myasthenia gravis(MG)patients.Methods We collected fresh stool specimens from MG patients and healthy controls.16S rRNA gene sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to measure abundance of gut microbiota and metabolite levels in two groups,respectively.Clinical data of the subjects were also collected including quantitative MG score(QMGS),MG-activities of daily living(MG-ADL),MG-specific quality-of-life 15(MG-QOL15),manual muscle testing(MMT),and the acetylcholine receptor antibody(AchR-Ab)titers.The correlation between the differential microbiota and the clinical characteristics was investigated.Results A total of 50 MG patients and 15 healthy controls were recruited.Simpson's index was significantly higher in the MG group(0.936±0.041)than in the control group(0.888±0.123).Alpha diversity was significantly decreased in the MG group(t=2.349,P=0.022).There was a significant difference in microbial phenotype between the two groups(R=0.966,P=0.001,Adonis).The results of LEfSe showed that the abundance of Esherichia-Shigella,Succinivibrio,Fusobacterium,and Ruminococcus-gnavus-group were up-regulated while the abundance of Lachnospira,Roseburia,Desulfovibrio,and Coprococcus were down-regulated.The results showed that the metabolites of the MG group were significantly different from those of the control group.There were 28 metabolites up-regulated and 71 metabolites down-regulated in the MG patient group.Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses demonstrated that the majority of metabolic pathways in which differential metabolites were involved were related to amino acid metabolism and nucleotide metabolism.61.2% (30/49)of bacterial amplicon sequence variant(ASV)were significantly associated with multiple metabolites(P<0.001).The relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae in the group with MG was negatively correlated with the QMGS(r=-0.496,P<0.001),MG-ADL(r=-0.542,P<0.001),MG-QOL15(r=-0.464,P=0.007),and the AchR-Ab(r=-0.315,P=0.026).The relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae in the group with MG was positively correlated with the MMT(r=0.374,P=0.008).Conclusion The intestinal flora of MG patients is down-regulated in the abundance of beneficial bacteria and up-regulated in the abundances of harmful bacteria.Disturbance of metabolites are also present in MG patients.Regulating gut microbiota in MG patients may be a new target for treating the disease.

Objective To explore the risk factors for suicidal ideation among the relatives and friends of suicide victims through psychological support hotline.Methods Calls from the relatives and friends of suicide victims to the Beijing psychological support hotline between 2009 and 2023 were included.Their current suicidal ideation was assessed by asking whether they had suicidal thoughts in the past two weeks.Demographic information of the callers was collected and the severity of their depression was assessed using the depression diagnostic screening scale.Interviews were conducted to evaluate distress,sense of hope,history of suicide attempts,and suicide risk factors.Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the risk factors for suicidal ideation among callers.Results A total of 360 cases were included in this study.There were 50.3%(181 cases)of the callers reporting suicidal ideation within 2 weeks before the call.Years of education(OR=0.86,95%CI:0.79-0.94)and high levels of hope(OR=0.19,95%CI:0.11-0.32)were protective factors against suicidal ideation in callers.History of suicide attempts(OR=2.01,95%CI:1.20-3.36),high levels of distress(OR=3.28,95%CI:1.92-5.61),and high levels of depression(OR=1.73,95%CI:1.05-2.84)were independent risk factors for suicidal ideation in callers.Conclusions History of suicide attempts,high levels of distress and high levels of depression among the relatives and friends of suicide victims calling the psychological support hotline are risk factors for their own suicidal ideation.

Objective To develop a Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)syndrome diagnosis scale suitable for evaluating the overall health status of participants in long-term simulated weightlessness experiments,and preliminarily evaluate its reliability and validity.Methods Based on the understanding of the pathogenesis of TCM in different stages of long-term manned spaceflight,a scale was developed through literature research and expert consultation.Test-retest reliability and internal consistency coefficient were used to test the reliability of the scale.Item analysis and factor principal component analysis were used to evaluate the validity of the scale,and a rotating component matrix was used to analyze the correlation between each item and dimension using 36 volunteers in a 90 days head down bed rest experiment as the research subjects.Results The scale contains eight dimensions and 57 items.The reliability analysis showed that the correlation coefficient of the total score of the scale for the first and second tests of 30 participants was 0.889,indicating high stability of the scale.The Cronbach coefficient of the scale was 0.934,indicating very good internal consistency.The split half reliability after correction was 0.858,indicating a high reliability of the scale.The validity analysis showed that the difference between the high score group and the low score one for each of the 57 items was statistically significant(P<0.01),and the Pearson correlation coefficient between each item and the total score of the scale was greater than 0.4(P<0.001).The cumulative contribution rate of 8 common factors extracted using principal component factor analysis was 55.293%,and the results of rotating component matrix analysis,after applying TCM theory and expert feedback,had a coincidence of up to 87.5%with the initial 8 dimensions,indicating good structural validity of the scale.Conclusion The scale has good reliability and validity,and can diagnose TCM syndromes.It is suitable for long-term simulated weightlessness experiment and provides an objective and quantitative new method for evaluating the subjective feelings of participants.

WRKY transcription factor family plays an important role in plant growth and development, secondary metabolite synthesis, and biotic and abiotic stress responses. The present study performed full-length transcriptome sequencing of Polygonatum cyrtonema by virtue of the PacBio SMRT high-throughput platform, identified the WRKY family by bioinformatics methods, and analyzed the physicochemical properties, subcellular localization, phylogeny, and conserved motifs. The results showed that 30.69 Gb nucleotide bases and 89 564 transcripts were obtained after redundancy removal. These transcripts had a mean length of 2 060 bp and an N50 value of 3 156 bp. Based on the full-length transcriptome sequencing data, 64 candidate proteins were selected from the WRKY transcription factor family, with the protein size of 92-1 027 aa, the relative molecular mass of 10 377.85-115 779.48 kDa, and the isoelectric point of 4.49-9.84. These WRKY family members were mostly located in the nucleus and belonged to the hydrophobic proteins. According to the phylogenetic analysis of WRKY family in P. cyrtonema and Arabidopsis thaliana, all WRKY family members were clustered into seven subfamilies and WRKY proteins from P. cyrtonema were distributed in different numbers in these seven subgroups. Expression pattern analysis confirmed that 40 WRKY family members had distinct expression patterns in the rhizomes of 1-and 3-year-old P. cyrtonema. Except for PcWRKY39, the expression of 39 WRKY family members was down-regulated in 3-year-old samples. In conclusion, this study provides abundant reference data for genetic research on P. cyrtonema and lays a foundation for the in-depth investigation of the biological functions of the WRKY family.
Transcription Factors ; Polygonatum ; Phylogeny ; Transcriptome ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Arabidopsis

Purpose/Significance To solve the problems of limited types,insufficient depth of disclosure and low fusion correlation of diagnosis and treatment resources,so as to lay the foundation for semantic fusion and discovery of multi-source heterogeneous diagnosis and treatment resources.Method/Process The paper proposes some fusion methods,such as resource aggregation based on knowledge system,data association based on enhanced knowledge representation,content integration based on entity alignment,etc.,which a-chieves deep standardized description,semantic integration and correlation of thematic resources,literature resources and public health education resources.Result/Conclusion A diagnosis and treatment resource fusion and discovery platform has been developed to support the multi-dimensional fusion and discovery of diagnosis and treatment resources through services such as intelligent retrieval and recom-mendation,result clustering and faceted classification,semantic association,etc.

Objective:To explore the risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM), and establish their nomogram predictive models.Methods:Three hundred and fifty-eight patients with TBM, admitted to Department of Neurology, 940 th Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force from January 2010 to February 2022, were chosen and divided into model group ( n=287) and validation group ( n=71) according to the simple random sampling at a ratio of 8:2. Their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. Independent risk factors for poor prognosis of TBM were analyzed by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Logistic regression, and the risk factors were visualized by nomogram. Bootstrap method was used for 1 000 repeated samples for internal verification, and data from validation group were used for external verification. The discrimination and calibration of the models were evaluated by area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test. Results:Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that mental symptoms ( OR=3.593, 95% CI: 1.790-7.211, P<0.001), limb weakness ( OR=3.087, 95% CI: 1.551-6.144, P=0.001), pulmonary infection ( OR=5.162, 95% CI: 2.373-11.227, P<0.001), improved British Medical Research Council (mBMRC) staging II ( OR=4.291, 95% CI: 2.037-9.039, P<0.001), mBMRC staging III ( OR=13.073, 95% CI: 3.352-50.975, P<0.001) were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in TBM patients. Consistency indexes indicated by area under ROC curves by internal verification and external verification were 0.880 and 0.823, respectively; the calibration curve coincided with the ideal curve, enjoying good Hosmer-Lemeshow fit ( P=0.546, P=0.401). Conclusion:Based on these 4 prognostic factors (mental symptoms, limb weakness, lung infection and mBMRC stages), the nomogram is helpful in predicting the risk of poor prognosis in TBM patients.