The aim of this study was to investigate the improvement effect of Wenpi Pills(WPP) on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD). The experiment was divided into two parts, using C57BL/6 mouse models induced by a high-fat diet(HFD) and a methionine and choline deficiency diet(MCD). The HFD-induced experiment lasted for 16 weeks, while the MCD-induced experiment lasted for 6 weeks. Mice in both parts were divided into four groups: control group, model group, low-dose WPP group(3.875 g·kg~(-1), WPP＿L), and high-dose WPP group(15.5 g·kg~(-1), WPP＿H). After sample collection from the HFD-induced mice, lipid content in the serum and liver, liver function indexes in the serum, and hepatic pathology were examined. Real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription PCR(qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of lipid-related genes. After sample collection from the MCD-induced mice, serum liver function indexes and inflammatory factors were measured, and hepatic pathology and lipid changes were analyzed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining and widely targeted lipidomic profiling, respectively. The results from the HFD-induced experiment showed that, compared with the HFD group, WPP administration significantly reduced the levels of aspartate aminotransferase(AST), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), triglyceride(TG), and total cholesterol(TC) in the serum, with the WPP＿H group showing the most significant improvement. HE staining results indicated that, compared with the HFD group, WPP treatment improved the morphology of white adipocytes, reducing their size, and alleviated hepatic steatosis and lipid droplet accumulation. The qRT-PCR results suggested that WPP might increase the mRNA expression of liver cholesterol-converting genes, such as liver X receptor α(LXRα) and cytochrome P450 family 27 subfamily A member 1(CYP27A1), as well as lipid consumption genes like peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α(PPARα) and adenosine mono-phosphate-activated protein kinase(AMPK). Meanwhile, WPP decreased the mRNA expression of lipid synthesis genes, including fatty acid synthetase(FAS), stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1(SCD1), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c(SREBP-1c), thereby reducing liver lipid accumulation. The results from the MCD-induced experiment showed that, compared with the MCD group, WPP administration reduced the levels of ALT, AST, and inflammatory factors in the serum, thereby alleviating liver injury and the inflammatory response. HE staining of liver tissue indicated that WPP effectively improved hepatic steatosis. Non-targeted lipidomics analysis showed that WPP improved lipid metabolism disorders in the liver, mainly by affecting the metabolism of TG and cholesterol esters. In conclusion, WPP can improve hepatic lipid accumulation in NAFLD mice induced by both HFD and MCD. This beneficial effect is primarily achieved by alleviating liver injury and inflammation, as well as regulating lipid metabolism.
Animals ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/genetics* ; Lipid Metabolism/drug effects* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects* ; Liver/drug effects* ; Humans ; Disease Models, Animal ; Methionine

This paper explains the mechanism of the mutual switching between physiological sleep and wakefulness from the aspects of the sleep circadian system and the sleep homeostasis system. In the circadian rhythm system, with the suprachiasmatic nucleus as the core, the anatomical connections between the suprachiasmatic nucleusand various systems that affect sleep are summarized, starting from the suprachiasmatic nucleus, passing through the four pathways of the melatonin system, namely, subventricular area of the hypothalamus, the ventrolateral nucleus of the preoptic area, orexin neurons, and melatonin, then the related mechanisms of their regulation of sleep and wakefulness are expounded. In the sleep homeostasis system, with adenosine and prostaglandin D2 as targets, the role of hypnogen in sleep arousal mechanisms in regulation is also expounded.

Background: Shared decision making using patient decision aids (PtDAs) was established over a decade ago, but few studies have evaluated its efficacy in Asian countries. We therefore evaluated the application of PtDAs in a decision conflict between two muscle relaxant reversal agents, neostigmine and sugammadex, and sequentially analyzed the regional differences and operating room turnover rates. Methods: This multicenter, outcome-assessor-blind, randomized controlled trial included 3,132 surgical patients from two medical centers admitted between March 2020 and August 2020. The patients were randomly divided into the classical and PtDA groups for pre-anesthesia consultations. Their clinicodemographic characteristics were analyzed to identify variables influencing the choice of reversal agent. On the day of the pre-anesthesia consultation, the patients completed the four SURE scale (sure of myself, understand information, risk-benefit ratio, encouragement) screening items. The operating turnover rates were also evaluated using anesthesia records. Results: Compared with the classical group, the PtDA group felt more confident about receiving sufficient medical information (P < 0.001), felt better informed about the advantages and disadvantages of the medications (P < 0.001), exhibited a superior understanding of the benefits and risks of their options (P < 0.001), and felt surer about their choice (P < 0.001). Moreover, the PtDA group had a significantly greater tendency to choose sugammadex over neostigmine (P < 0.001). Conclusions PtDA interventions in pre-anesthesia consultations provided surgical patients with clear knowledge and better support. PtDAs should be made available in other medical fields to enhance shared clinical decision-making.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polymers obtained by esterification of hydroxy fatty acid monomers. Due to similar mechanical characteristics of traditional petroleum-based plastics, 100% biodegradability and biocompatibility, PHAs are considered to be one of the most potential green materials. However, the application and promotion of PHAs as a green and environmentally friendly material are difficult because of the high production costs. This article focuses on the current methods to reduce production cost of PHAs effectively, such as cell morphology regulation, metabolic pathway construction, economic carbon source utilization and open fermentation technology development. Despite most research results are still limited in laboratory, the research methods and directions provide theoretical guidance for the industrial production of economic PHAs.
Fermentation ; Industry ; Petroleum ; Plastics ; Polyhydroxyalkanoates

We used metabolomics technology to identify and understand the biomarkers and therapeutic mechanisms of umbilical compress therapy based on Xiaozhang Tie (XT) to provide scientific evidence for its clinical application. A total of 10 patients with cirrhotic ascites and gastrointestinal motility disorders who were hospitalized in the Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from November 2017 to June 2018 were divided into a placebo group (4 cases) or an XT group (5 cases), and 10 healthy volunteers were included as controls. This clinical trial was approved according to the Ethics Committee of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2017-528-11-01). The patients in the XT group were given umbilical compress therapy with Xiaozhang Tie, and patients in the placebo group were administered a plaster patch in which the drug content was less than 5%, receiving one patch per day for three consecutive days. Non-targeted metabolomics technology and UPLC-Q/Orbitrap-MS/MS analysis technology were utilized to investigate the fluctuations in endogenous metabolic profiles in the patient's urine prior to and after administration of XT. By analyzing and comparing the urine metabolic profiles of patients with cirrhotic ascites to those of healthy volunteers, a total of 31 biomarkers were identified, 14 of which were significantly decreased by the intervention with Xiaozhang Tie (P <0.05). Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that phenylalanine metabolism and tryptophan metabolism are key pathways affected by XT treatment. The results suggest that XT can alleviate cirrhotic ascites by modulating abnormalities in amino acid metabolism.

Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use* ; China ; Consensus ; HIV ; HIV Infections/prevention & control* ; Humans ; Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis

OBJECTIVEThe NOD/SCID/IL2Rγ (NSG) mouse strain is the most widely used immunodeficient strain for xenograft transplantation. However, the existing SCID mutation is a spontaneous mutation of the Prkdc gene, which leads to leaky T cell developmental block and difficulty in genotyping. It is therefore important to develop a new strain of NSG mice with targeted disruption of Prkdc and IL2Rγ genes.

METHODSTargeted disruption of Prkdc and IL2Rγ genes was achieved using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. By intercrossing the knockout and NOD mice, we obtained a novel strain of NOD/SCID/IL2Rγ(NSG) mice, denoted as cNSG (Chinese NSG) mice.

RESULTSIn addition to the NOD mutation, cNSG mice exhibited a complete absence of T cells, B cells and NK cells. cNSG mice allowed more efficient engraftment of human cancer cells than the commonly used immunodeficient nude mice.

CONCLUSIONcNSG mice will provide an important xenotransplantation model for biomedical research.

Objective To study the clinic significance of allergen serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) detection for the flying personnel with allergic rhinitis.Methods One hundred and twentyeight flying personnel with clinically suspected allergic rhinitis were drawn 2 ml venous blood.Serum tIgE (total IgE) and 14 allergen sIgE (specific IgE) including 7 aspiration allergens and 7 food allergens were detected with antibody kit.Strong positive reaction rates of the flying personnel with aspiration allergens and food allergens were compared as well as the correlation of serum tIgE and positive reaction rate of allergen sIgE was analyzed.Results Positive reaction rate of tIgE in 128 flying personnel with allergic rhinitis was 85.9 ％ (110/128) and positive reaction rate of sIgE was 91.4％ (117/128).The top 3 positive reaction rates of aspiration allergens were dust mite (66.4％),tree combination (32.8％) and house dust (23.4％).The top 3 positive reaction rates of food allergens were fruit combination (mango/pineapple/apple/peach/strawberry) (18.0％),seafood combination (shrimp/crab/scallop) (16.4％) and fish combination (ling/trout/weever) (13.3％).Positive response rate of the flying personnel with both aspiration and food allergens was 12.5 ％ (16/128).The aspiration allergens mainly reflected as strong positive reaction while the food allergens mainly expressed as weakly positive reaction.The strong positive reaction showed significance between aspiration and food allergens.(x2=16.881,P＜0.05).The strong positive reaction of allergen serum had the positive correlation to tIgE value (r=0.517,P＜0.01).Conclusions The allergen serum IgE detection have shown its objective,accurate and noninvasive advantages and are with less age,disease,medication,manipulation and other external limitations.The test results can be quantitatively or semi-quantitatively expressed and can determine tIgE level within the detection.So it has certain clinical significance on diagnosis,treatment,evaluation and prevention for the flying personnel with allergic rhinitis.

Objective To study the clinic significance of allergen serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) detection for the flying personnel with allergic rhinitis.Methods One hundred and twentyeight flying personnel with clinically suspected allergic rhinitis were drawn 2 ml venous blood.Serum tIgE (total IgE) and 14 allergen sIgE (specific IgE) including 7 aspiration allergens and 7 food allergens were detected with antibody kit.Strong positive reaction rates of the flying personnel with aspiration allergens and food allergens were compared as well as the correlation of serum tIgE and positive reaction rate of allergen sIgE was analyzed.Results Positive reaction rate of tIgE in 128 flying personnel with allergic rhinitis was 85.9 ％ (110/128) and positive reaction rate of sIgE was 91.4％ (117/128).The top 3 positive reaction rates of aspiration allergens were dust mite (66.4％),tree combination (32.8％) and house dust (23.4％).The top 3 positive reaction rates of food allergens were fruit combination (mango/pineapple/apple/peach/strawberry) (18.0％),seafood combination (shrimp/crab/scallop) (16.4％) and fish combination (ling/trout/weever) (13.3％).Positive response rate of the flying personnel with both aspiration and food allergens was 12.5 ％ (16/128).The aspiration allergens mainly reflected as strong positive reaction while the food allergens mainly expressed as weakly positive reaction.The strong positive reaction showed significance between aspiration and food allergens.(x2=16.881,P＜0.05).The strong positive reaction of allergen serum had the positive correlation to tIgE value (r=0.517,P＜0.01).Conclusions The allergen serum IgE detection have shown its objective,accurate and noninvasive advantages and are with less age,disease,medication,manipulation and other external limitations.The test results can be quantitatively or semi-quantitatively expressed and can determine tIgE level within the detection.So it has certain clinical significance on diagnosis,treatment,evaluation and prevention for the flying personnel with allergic rhinitis.

Objective To study the COLIXA3 gene polymorphism of patients with fluorosis and to explore the pathogenesis of COLIXA3 gene in endemic fluorosis.Methods Fifty one cases of patients with drinking-water borne fluorosis were selected as the case group in Xinzhou city,Shanxi province and 28 cases of healthy people were as the control group.Dental fluorosis was detected by Dean method and skeletal fluorosis was examined by X-ray.COLIXA3 of exon 5 gene product of 103 points was amplified by PCR and the gene locus genotype was sequenced.Results Ten cases of mild dental fluorosis,14 cases of moderate dental fluorosis,15 cases of severe dental fluorosis were detected among the 51 patients.The control group was free of dental fluorosis.All the 51 cases of patients with fluorosis had varying degrees of skeletal fluorosis,mainly osteosclerosis lesions,accounting for 86.27％(44/51 ),and mild skeletal fluorosis patients were all osteosclerosis lesions,and osteosclerosis lesions and multiple skeletal lesions were found among moderate and severe skeletal fluorosis patients in the case group,while control group had no skeletal fluorosis.The differences between genotypes of frequency distribution of AA,Aa,aa of COLIXA3 of case and control groups were not statistically significant [96.08％(49/51 ),3.92％(2/51 ),0.00％(0/51) and 96.43％(27/28),3.57％(1/28),0.00％(0/28),x2 =0.94,P ＞ 0.05].ConclusionsCOLIXA3 gene polymorphism is not significantly correlated to fluorosis.