Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of Liuwei Dihuang Capsules for type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)with yin deficiency syndrome and the effects on intestinal flora and inflammatory factors.Methods Totally 60 patients of T2DM with yin deficiency syndrome in Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from September 2022 to June 2023 were selected as the study objects,and were divided into control group and observation group according to the method of block randomization,with 30 cases in each group.Both groups received basic treatment.The control group was given a simulated agent of Liuwei Dihuang Capsules,while the observation group was given Liuwei Dihuang Capsules.The treatment course for both groups was 4 weeks.Clinical efficacy,blood glucose levels[fasting plasma glucose(FPG),2-hour postprandial plasma glucose(2 hPG),glycated albumin(GA)],serum insulin levels[fasting insulin(FINS)and insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR)],changes in gut microbiota,and serum inflammatory cytokine levels[interleukin(IL)-6,tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α]of both groups were compared.Results The total effective rate of the observation group(76.67%)was better than that of the control group(50.00%)(P<0.05).Compared with before treatment,the FPG,2 hPG,GA,FINS and HOMA-IR decreased in the observation group,while the FPG,2 hPG and FINS decreased in the control group(P<0.05);after treatment,the Shannon index of the observation group increased after treatment(P<0.05),and the diversity of the microbiota increased;the abundance of the microbial communities such as Coprococcus 3,Cutibacterium,Pseudomonas,Faecalibaculum,Dubosiella and Mucispirillum significantly increased(P<0.05);the abundance of Sphingomonas,Corynebacterium 1,Ileibacterium,Ruminiclostridium and other microbiota communities significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with before treatment,the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in both groups were significantly reduced after treatment(P<0.01,P<0.05).After treatment,the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion Liuwei Dihuang Capsules can effectively reduce blood glucose levels in patients of T2DM with yin deficiency syndrome,improve insulin resistance,increase gut microbiota diversity,increase beneficial bacterial abundance,reduce harmful bacterial abundance,and alleviate inflammatory cytokine levels.

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of Liuwei Dihuang Capsules for type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)with yin deficiency syndrome and the effects on intestinal flora and inflammatory factors.Methods Totally 60 patients of T2DM with yin deficiency syndrome in Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from September 2022 to June 2023 were selected as the study objects,and were divided into control group and observation group according to the method of block randomization,with 30 cases in each group.Both groups received basic treatment.The control group was given a simulated agent of Liuwei Dihuang Capsules,while the observation group was given Liuwei Dihuang Capsules.The treatment course for both groups was 4 weeks.Clinical efficacy,blood glucose levels[fasting plasma glucose(FPG),2-hour postprandial plasma glucose(2 hPG),glycated albumin(GA)],serum insulin levels[fasting insulin(FINS)and insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR)],changes in gut microbiota,and serum inflammatory cytokine levels[interleukin(IL)-6,tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α]of both groups were compared.Results The total effective rate of the observation group(76.67%)was better than that of the control group(50.00%)(P<0.05).Compared with before treatment,the FPG,2 hPG,GA,FINS and HOMA-IR decreased in the observation group,while the FPG,2 hPG and FINS decreased in the control group(P<0.05);after treatment,the Shannon index of the observation group increased after treatment(P<0.05),and the diversity of the microbiota increased;the abundance of the microbial communities such as Coprococcus 3,Cutibacterium,Pseudomonas,Faecalibaculum,Dubosiella and Mucispirillum significantly increased(P<0.05);the abundance of Sphingomonas,Corynebacterium 1,Ileibacterium,Ruminiclostridium and other microbiota communities significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with before treatment,the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in both groups were significantly reduced after treatment(P<0.01,P<0.05).After treatment,the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion Liuwei Dihuang Capsules can effectively reduce blood glucose levels in patients of T2DM with yin deficiency syndrome,improve insulin resistance,increase gut microbiota diversity,increase beneficial bacterial abundance,reduce harmful bacterial abundance,and alleviate inflammatory cytokine levels.

Interleukin (IL)-17A, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, is a fundamental function in the onset and advancement of multiple immune diseases. To uncover the primary compounds with IL-17A inhibitory activity, a large-scale screening of the library of traditional Chinese medicine constituents and microbial secondary metabolites was conducted using splenic cells from IL-17A-GFP reporter mice cultured under Th17-priming conditions. Our results indicated that some aureane-type sesquiterpene tetraketides isolated from a wetland mud-derived fungus, Myrothecium gramineum, showed remarkable IL-17A inhibitory activity. Nine new aureane-type sesquiterpene tetraketides, myrogramins A-I ( 1, 4- 11), and two known ones ( 2 and 3) were isolated and identified from the strain. Compounds 1, 3, 4, 10, and 11 exhibited significant IL-17A inhibitory activity. Among them, compound 3, with a high fermentation yield dose-dependently inhibited the generation of IL-17A and suppressed glycolysis in splenic cells under Th17-priming conditions. Strikingly, compound 3 suppressed immunopathology in both IL-17A-mediated animal models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and pulmonary hypertension. Our results revealed that aureane-type sesquiterpene tetraketides are a novel class of immunomodulators with IL-17A inhibitory activity, and hold great promise applications in treating IL-17A-mediated immune diseases.

Plastics are widely used in daily life. Due to poor management and disposal, about 80% of plastic wastes were buried in landfills and eventually became land and ocean waste, causing serious environmental pollution. Recycling plastics is a desirable approach, but not applicable for most of the plastic waste. Microbial degradation offers an environmentally friendly way to degrade the plastic wastes, and this review summarizes the potential microbes, enzymes, and the underpinning mechanisms for degrading six most commonly used plastics including polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polystyrene and polyurethane. The challenges and future perspectives on microbial degradation of plastics were proposed.
Biodegradation, Environmental ; Plastics ; Polyurethanes ; Recycling

Four interesting sequoiatones stereoisomers (-) were isolated from a wetland soil-derived fungusby chiral HPLC. On the basis of comprehensive NMR and mass analyses, their planar structures were elucidated as the same as that of sequoiatone B. Among them,and(orand) were a pair of enantiomers, andand(orand) were a pair of stereoisomers with epimerization at C-12, which indicated that sequoiatione-type metabolites exist as enantiomers rather than as optically pure compounds in some strains. With the quantum chemical ECD calculations, the absolute configurations of C-8 in-were determined, which is the first report to establish the absolute configuration of C-8 in sequoiatones. However, the absolute configurations of C-12 in sequoiatones are still unsolved.

Objective To observe clinical efficacy of Qilin Pills combined with Three-Spot Caressing in the treatment of acquired non-consolidated kidney qi premature ejaculation (PE). Methods Totally 129 acquired non-consolidated kidney qi PE patients were randomly divided into TCM group, Fangzhognshu group and combination group. TCM group was given Qilin Pills, 6 g each time, three times a day, orally. Fangzhognshu group was guided to conduct Three-spot Caressing during sexual intercourse, no less than twice a week. Combination group was given Qilin Pills and Three-spot Caressing with the same method as Fangzhognshu group. The treatment course for each group lasted for 8 weeks. Before and after treatment of 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 4 weeks after with drawal, the intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT), Chinese Index of Sexual Function for Premature Ejaculation-5 (PECI-5) scores and TCM syndrome scores (TCMS) were compared. Results Compared with before treatment, IELT increased in three groups at different time points after treatment (P<0.05). In the combination group, IELT was superior to the other two groups (except for TCM group after 4-week treatment), with statistical significance (P<0.05). Compared with before treatment, PECI-5 scores improved in three groups (except for Q6 and Q7 in Fangzhongshu group after 4-week treatment) at different time point after treatment (P<0.05). The improvement of Q5, Q6 and Q7 scores in PECI-5 of combination group was significantly better than that in the other two groups at 8-week treatment and 4-week after treatment (P<0.05). Compared with before treatment, TCMS in TCM group and combination group were improved significantly (P<0.05), PE and loss of libido score improved significantly in Fangzhongshu group (P<0.05);mental malaise and move spontaneous perspiration were significantly improved at 8-week treatment and 4 weeks after treatment (P<0.05). The improvement in TCMS was significantly better in combination group than that in the other two groups at 8-week treatment and 4 weeks after treatment (P<0.05). Conclusion Qilin Pills combined with Three-Spot Caressing has definite and long-term efficay for the treatment of acquired non-consolidated kidney qi PE.

Objective To investigate the characteristics of cognitive function and mental behavior symp-toms in patients with Parkinson′s disease dementia(PDD)and dementia with lewy body(DLB).Methods Forty-eight patients with DLB and 38 with PDD were collected in Tianjin Huanhu Hospital and Tianjin Jianhua Hospital. All patients were assessed on cognitive function and mental behavior symptoms using Montreal Cognitive Assess-ment Scale,Mini-Mental State Examination,Hamilton Depression Scale,Hamilton Anxiety Scale and The Neuro-psychiatric Inventory Questionnaire.The Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale-Part 3(UPDRSⅢ)and modified Hoehn Yahr staging were used to assess the severity of motor symptoms in patients. Results Scores of UPDRSⅢ,posture and gait disorder were higher in DLB group than those in PDD group but the score of tremor was lower in DLB group than that in PDD group. The proportions of non tremor onset and bilateral onset were also lower in DLB group than those in PDD group,and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).Cognitive func-tion impairment was more serious in DLB group than that in PDD group in all cognitive fields including execution, attention,visual space,orientation and the difference was statistically significant(P < 0.05). Hallucinations (81.3%)and irritability/emotional instability(62.5%)were more common in DLB group but apathy(76.9%),de-pression(73.7%)and anxiety(73.7%)were more common in PDD group. Conclusions Cognitive impairment is more progressive in DLB patients than that in PDD patients.Hallucinations and irritability/emotional instability are more common in DLB group but apathy,depression and anxiety are more common in PDD group.

Objective To investigate the correlation between serum lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2 (Lp‐PLA2) level and severity of coronary artery stenosis in the patients with coronary heart disease(CHD) and its clinical significance .Methods A total of 243 cases of CHD and suspected CHD were divided into the high‐risk group(at least 1 coronary artery vessel stenosis >50% ,n=102) and low‐risk group(single coronary artery vessel stenosis≤50% ,n=141) according to the coronary angiography re‐sults .The clinical data were collected and Lp‐PLA2 level was detected by ELISA .Results The serum Lp‐PLA2 level in the high‐risk group was significantly higher than that in the low‐risk group ,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0 .01) ,the sensitivity of Lp‐PLA2 for judging the high‐risk patients with CHD was 86 .3% ,the specificity was 96 .6% ,and the overall diagno‐sis accuracy was 98 .0% .Conclusion Lp‐PLA2 can better assess the risk of CHD patients and the serum Lp‐PLA2 level can reflect the severity of coronary artery lesion .

Objective To investigate the significance of combined detection of homocysteine(Hcy) and ischemia modified albu‐min(IMA) in serum to the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction(AMI) .Methods The serum levels of Hcy and IMA were detec‐ted in 80 patients with acute myocardial infarction ,60 patients with angina pectoris and 40 healthy subjects(control group) ,and the results were statistically analyzed .Results The concentration of Hcy and IMA in AMI patients was significantly higher than which in the control group ,the difference is statistically significant(P<0 .05);the sensitivity of the Hcy+ IMA combined diagnosis was higher than that of the single project .Hcy and IMA was positively related(P<0 .05) .Conclusion The combined detection of Hcy and IMA levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction has a good effect on early diagnosis and monitoring ,and it is worth popularizing .

Predacious fungi form specialized hyphae structures to trap nematodes and other microscopic animals. Among the six kinds of trapping devices, the constricting ring is the only one that actively captures nematodes. When a nematode enters the aperture of the ring, which is formed by three cells, the cells rapidly triple their volume, close the aperture and hold the nematode in place. Hyphae then penetrate and consume the nematode. This paper reviews the data and hypotheses on conserving the evolution of constricting rings and their cytological and molecular mechanisms.
Adaptation, Physiological ; Animals ; Fungi ; cytology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Hyphae ; cytology ; growth & development ; metabolism ; Morphogenesis ; Nematoda ; physiology