Olfactory receptors (ORs) form the largest superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Traditionally recognized for their role in the nasal olfactory epithelium, where they mediate the sense of smell, accumulating evidence has firmly established their ectopic expression in non-olfactory tissues, including the intestine, lungs, and kidneys. The intestine, as the primary site for nutrient digestion and absorption, harbors a highly complex chemical environment. To adapt to this environment, the gut employs a sophisticated network of “chemosensors” to monitor luminal contents and maintain homeostasis. Among these sensors, intestinal ORs have emerged as crucial functional components, serving as a molecular bridge that connects environmental chemical signals—such as food-derived odorants—to specific physiological responses. This discovery has significantly deepened our understanding of how dietary flavors and compounds influence intestinal physiology at the molecular level. This review systematically summarizes the expression profiles, ligand classification, and biological functions of ORs within the gastrointestinal tract. Studies indicate that intestinal ORs exhibit distinct spatial distribution patterns across different gut segments and display cell-type specificity, particularly within enterocytes and enteroendocrine cells. These receptors function as versatile sensors capable of recognizing a wide variety of ligands, including exogenous dietary components, gut microbiota metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, and endogenous small molecules like azelaic acid. Upon activation by specific ligands, intestinal ORs trigger intracellular signaling cascades, primarily involving the AC-cAMP-PKA pathway or calcium influx channels. A major focus of this review is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which these receptors regulate the secretion of gut hormones. Activation of specific ORs in enteroendocrine cells has been shown to stimulate the release of hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide YY (PYY), and serotonin (5-HT), thereby modulating systemic energy metabolism, glucose homeostasis, and gastrointestinal motility. Furthermore, the review addresses the critical roles of ORs in immune regulation and pathology. Evidence suggests that specific ORs contribute to the maintenance of intestinal immune homeostasis and may offer protection against inflammation. Beyond their involvement in inflammatory responses, ORs such as Olfr78 have been shown to regulate the differentiation and function of intestinal endocrine cells. Similarly, Olfr544 has been demonstrated to alleviate intestinal inflammation by remodeling the gut microbiome and metabolome. These findings collectively suggest that specific ORs hold promise as therapeutic targets for mitigating intestinal inflammation and maintaining gut homeostasis. Additionally, the review explores the emerging role of ORs in cancer. Although OR expression is often downregulated in tumor tissues compared to normal mucosa, activation of specific ORs by certain ligands can inhibit tumor cell proliferation and migration and induce apoptosis via pathways such as MEK/ERK and p38 MAPK. Conversely, other receptors, such as OR7C1, may serve as biomarkers for cancer-initiating cells. In conclusion, intestinal ORs represent a vital component of the gut’s sensory network. The review also discusses the translational potential of these findings. By elucidating the precise pairing relationships between dietary components and specific ORs, novel therapeutic strategies could be developed. Intestinal ORs may thus emerge as promising targets for nutritional and pharmacological interventions in metabolic diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and malignancies.

Objective: To optimize the technology and process for recovering immune cells from discarded leukocyte filter through reverse flushing, and to investigate the effects of different reverse flushing solutions and physical conditions (temperature, soaking, and ultrasound) on the cell recovery rate. Additionally, to evaluate the feasibility and quality of isolating and culturing NK cells from the recovered cells. Methods: Normal saline, PBS, and PBS-EDTA were used as reverse flushing solutions to backwash the filter, and the white blood cell recovery rates were compared. The reverse flushing efficiency was optimized by adjusting the temperature of the reverse flushing solution, filter soaking treatment and ultrasonic treatment. The Ficoll separation method was employed to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from the elution solution and conduct in vitro expansion and culture. Lymphocyte subsets were identified and quantified using flow cytometry. Results: The physiological saline served as the backflush fluid was the most stable. The reverse temperature had a significant impact on the recovery rate of white blood cell subgroups. The recovery rates of lymphocytes and monocytes at 37℃ were significantly higher than those at 4℃ [(35.56±5.55)% vs (22.88±0.31)%, (32.42±4.82)% vs (8.00±1.6)%, t=5.581 and 5.758, respectively, both P<0.001)], and at 25℃ [(35.56±5.55)% vs (22.42±6.13)%, t=5.904, P<0.001; (32.4±4.82)% vs (21.11±1.23)%, t=2.629, P=0.030)]. The recovery rates of white blood cell subgroups after 37℃ immersion were higher than those after direct reverse flow at 37℃, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The recovery rate of cells after ultrasonic immersion at 25℃ was further increased compared to that after immersion at 25℃, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The purity of the NK cells obtained through sorting reached (94.2±4.5)%, and the viability was (94.8±0.9)%. After 15 days of culture, the cell count was expanded approximately 450 times, yielding more than 10 /mL highly active NK cells. Conclusion: By optimizing the backflushing process, immune cells can be efficiently recovered from discarded filters. The 37℃ backflow liquid has the best backflow effect; soaking and ultrasonic treatment can be used as auxiliary methods to improve recovery rates. The NK cells from this source have high purity, good activity, and strong expansion ability, and can be used as a reliable cell source for immunotherapy research, and in line with the circular economy concept of resource reuse.

Objective:To investigate alterations in the immune lineage of T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGLL) at the single-cell transcriptome level and to elucidate its pathogenic mechanisms.Methods:Peripheral blood samples were collected from 5 T-LGLL patients before and after treatment (from June 2019 to December 2020) and 3 healthy controls at the Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, CAMS & PUMC. Single-cell transcriptome sequencing libraries were prepared and sequenced using 10× Genomics technology. Differentially expressed genes in immune cells were compared between patients and healthy donors, followed by pathway enrichment analyses.Results:Profiling 67,237 immune cells revealed that, in T-LGLL: 1) Effector CD8+ T cells exhibited increased numbers, enhanced cytotoxicity, and greater proliferative capacity. Following effective immunosuppressive therapy, both the proliferative capacity and effector functions of these cells significantly decreased ( P<0.05). 2) The proportion of regulatory T (Treg) cells was reduced, accompanied by increased apoptosis. After effective immunosuppressive therapy leading to remission, Treg cell proportions increased, and apoptotic pathways were downregulated ( P<0.05). 3) Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) showed enhanced functionality. Monocytes and dendritic cells were enriched in antigen synthesis and presentation pathways, while B cells displayed increased antigen-binding capacity and were enriched in pathways related to T-cell activation ( P<0.05). 4) Natural killer (NK) cells exhibited attenuated cytotoxic function but demonstrated an enhanced regulatory capacity over T cells ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:T-LGLL patients present a characteristic immunological profile marked by an imbalance in immune homeostasis. This profile includes abnormal activation and expansion of effector CD8 + T cells, and a reduction in Treg cell numbers accompanied by functional impairment. Furthermore, APCs and NK cells were found to positively regulate T-lymphocyte activation, differentiation, and proliferation.

Objective:To characterize fine motor function in middle-aged and elderly individuals utilizing a novel wearable inertial motion capture device.Additionally, it seeks to investigate the relationship between fine motor deficits and overall cognitive function, as well as various cognitive dimensions.Methods:Participants aged 50 years and older were recruited between November 2022 and April 2023.The Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale(MoCA)was employed to evaluate the cognitive function of the subjects, and a radar chart was utilized to illustrate the extent of impairment across different cognitive dimensions.An independent computerized fine motor evaluation system was developed using the motion capture technology of a novel wearable microelectromechanical system(MEMS)inertial sensor, enabling a quantitative assessment of fine motor skills.The differences in fine motor function characteristics between the two groups were compared.Spearman's correlation analysis and multivariate logistic regression were conducted to examine the relationship between fine motor deficits and cognitive dysfunction.Results:A total of 289 participants were recruited, among whom 140(48.4%)were classified into the cognitive impairment group.The mean MoCA scores for the cognitive impairment group and the non-cognitive impairment group were 22.2 ± 2.79 and 27.7 ± 1.19, respectively( P<0.001).The electronic assessment of fine motor function revealed that the motion parameters of hand function in the cognitive impairment group were significantly poorer across all three numerical evaluation tasks.Spearman's correlation analysis demonstrated a robust correlation between deficits in fine motor function and cognitive dysfunction.Furthermore, in the multiple logistic regression model, after adjusting for potential confounding factors including age, gender, and education level, a significant association between cognitive dysfunction and fine motor dysfunction persisted. Conclusions:A novel wearable motion capture technology was employed to facilitate the digital assessment of fine motor function.The findings revealed a significant correlation between deficits in fine motor function and cognitive dysfunction among middle-aged and elderly populations.

Objective:To investigate the association of blood lipids and body mass index (BMI) with hyperuricemia (HUA) in the elderly.Methods:It was a cross-sectional study. A total of 114 391 elderly individuals received health examinations at primary healthcare institutions in Wujin District from January to December in 2022. The health examination included questionnaire survey, physical examination and laboratory examination. The multivariate logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) plots were used to analyze the association and dose-response relationship of blood lipid and BMI with HUA. The mediating effect model was used to explore the mediation effect of BMI on the association between blood lipid and HUA.Results:Among the 112 415 subjects, 18 506 (16.46%) were checked with HUA. After adjusting for relevant confounders, total cholesterol (TC) ( OR=1.20, 95% CI: 1.16-1.23), triglyceride (TG) ( OR=1.46, 95% CI: 1.44-1.49), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ( OR=0.74, 95% CI: 0.73-0.76), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ( OR=1.14, 95% CI: 1.12-1.15) and BMI ( OR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.39-1.44) were all associated with HUA (all P0.05). The RCS analysis revealed that TG, HDL-C, and LDL-C each exhibited a nonlinear dose-response relationship with HUA, the inflection points was 3.00 mmol/L, 1.57 mmol/L and 2.50 mmol/L, respectively (all P-nonlinear0.001). The results of interaction showed that there were additive interaction between high TC( S=1.27 , 95% CI: 1.17-1.37), high TG( S=1.32 , 95% CI: 1.25-1.40), high LDL-C( S=1.23 , 95% CI: 1.14-1.34) and overweight/obesity with HUA (all P0.05). The results of mediation effect analysis showed that the mediation effect of BMI on the association between blood lipids (HDL-C, LDL-C, TG and TC) and HUA, from high to low, were as follows: 22.5% (95% CI: 20.8%-24.2%), 13.9% (95% CI: 12.0%-16.2%), 13.5% (95% CI: 12.7%-14.4%) and-3.9% (95% CI:-6.6%--1.8%). Conclusion:The blood lipid levels and BMI are positively correlated with HUA in the elderly.

Body weight abnormalities, including overweight, obesity, and underweight, have become a dual public health challenge in Chinese adults: overweight and obesity lead to a variety of chronic complications, while underweight increases the risks of malnutrition, sarcopenia, and organ dysfunction. To systematically address these issues, multidisciplinary experts in endocrinology, sports science, nutrition, and psychiatry from various regions have held multiple weight management seminars. Based on the latest epidemiological data and clinical evidence, they expanded the guideline to include assessment and intervention strategies for underweight, in addition to the core content of obesity management. This guideline outlines the etiological mechanisms, evaluation methods, and multidimensional management strategies for overweight and obesity, covering key areas such as diagnosis and assessment, medical nutrition therapy, exercise prescription, pharmacological intervention, and psychological support. It is intended to provide a scientific and standardized approach to weight management across the adult population, aiming to curb the rising prevalence of obesity, mitigate complications associated with abnormal body weight, and improve nutritional status and overall quality of life.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application value of the half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin echo(HASTE)sequence based on deep learning(DL)in pancreatic T2WI.Methods Data were collected from 41 patients who un-derwent both BLADE and DL-HASTE sequence scans during pancreatic T2WI at some hospital from February to July 2023.Qualitative assessments were made regarding overall image quality,pancreatic edge sharpness,pancreatic duct edge sharp-ness,pancreatic duct visua-lization(proximal,middle and distal segments)and lesion visibility of BLADE-sequence and DL-HASTE-sequence images.Quantitative assessments were carried out in terms of scan time,signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)and contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR).Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 24.0.Results DL-HASTE sequence behaved significantly better than BLADE in pancreatic duct edge sharpness,pancreatic duct visualization,lesion visibility,scan time and CNR,while worse in pane-reatic edge sharpness(all P＜0.05).There were significant differences between DL-HASTE and BLADE sequences in overall image quality and SNR(all P＞0.05).Conclusion The DL-HASTE sequence maintains image quality while significantly shor-tening scan time,making it suitable for patients with irregular respiratory rates.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(3):59-63]

Poly(lactic-co-glycolide)(PLGA)is a key excipient in long-acting sustained-release preparations,and its degradation properties directly affect the drug release behavior.In this study,PLGA microspheres were prepared by microfluidic techniques,and the morphology changes of the microspheres were observed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM).In alkaline environment,due to the accelerated hydrolysis of ester bonds,the surface of the microspheres was rapidly dissolved and eroded,and the degradation rate was significantly higher than that in acidic environment.High temperature accelerated the degradation of PLGA microspheres.Under neutral and alkaline conditions,the microspheres showed aggregation and adhesion.Under acidic conditions,the microspheres gradually decomposed into irregular fragments.The high ionic strength further promoted the surface corrosion of the microspheres,especially under extreme pH conditions.Simultaneously,PLGA microspheres encapsulating coumarin were prepared to simulate the microsphere formulation.The release rate of coumarin after degradation of the microspheres under different conditions was observed by measuring the absorbance with ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry.The results were consistent with those of the blank microspheres.This study revealed that the degradation of PLGA microspheres was significantly pH-dependent,temperature sensitive and ion strength responsive.These findings not only helped to understand and optimize the long-term stability and controlled release performance of drug-carrying microspheres,but also provided a theoretical basis for further improvement of PLGA-based drug carrier design.

An effective method for simultaneously detecting four semivolatile earthy-musty odors in freshwater fish by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)was developed.The concurrent extraction of geosmin(GSM),2-methylisoborneol(MIB),2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine(IPMP),and 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine(IBMP)in fish tissue was conducted with n-hexane.The optimized QuEChERS material was implemented,and it was found that C18,primary secondary amine(PSA)and MgSO4 could adsorb the target analytes in n-hexane.So only the graphitized carbon black(GCB)could be used to purify the extraction.The adsorption rates of different materials for the four kinds of odors materials were explored in n-hexane and ethyl acetate.The experimental results revealed that the adsorption rates of silica for the four targets were 99.5%-100%in n-hexane and 0.7%-5.0%in ethyl acetate respectively.Then the silica solid phase extraction(SPE)method was utilized to eluent the compounds using 1.0 mL n-hexane/ethyl acetate in different proportions.The results of the comparative analysis demonstrated that n-hexane/ethyl acetate(4∶1,V/V)was the optimized eluent.Based on the obtained results,n-hexane extraction and GCB purification combined with silica SPE were used to isolate GSM,MIB,IPMP and IBMP from fish and the method was validated.It was found that the method showed good linearity in the range of 0.5-200 ng/mL,and with detection limits of 0.6 μg/kg for GSM and MIB,0.2 μg/kg for IPMP and IBMP.The limits of quantitation(LOQ)were 1.0 μg/kg for GSM and MIB,0.6 μg/kg for IPMP and IBMP.Good recoveries(77.5%-112.0%)and relative standard deviations(1.56%-9.42%)were also obtained.The use of silica SPE greatly mitigated the issue that the off-flavor compounds were easily lost in the gas blowing concentration process.There was no cross contamination in this method because the sample pretreatments were conducted separately,which was different with the most commonly used HS-SPME method for detecting semi-volatile substances.The sensitivity of this method was high enough to produce good quantitative results below the odor thresholds of the examined off-flavor compounds.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between eight serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and regional fat depots, we analyzed the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2018 cycles. METHODS: Multiple linear regression models were developed to explore the associations between serum PFAS concentrations and six fat compositions along with a fat distribution score created by summing the concentrations of the six fat compositions. The associations between structurally grouped PFASs and fat distribution were assessed, and a prediction model was developed to estimate the ability of PFAS exposure to predict obesity risk. RESULTS: Among females aged 39-59 years, trunk fat mass was positively associated with perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Higher concentrations of PFOS, perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorodecanoate (PFDeA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), and n-perfluorooctanoate (n-PFOA) were linked to greater visceral adipose tissue in this group. In men, exposure to total perfluoroalkane sulfonates (PFSAs) and long-chain PFSAs was associated with reductions in abdominal fat, while higher abdominal fat in women aged 39-59 years was associated with short-chain PFSAs. The prediction model demonstrated high accuracy, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.9925 for predicting obesity risk. CONCLUSION PFAS exposure is associated with regional fat distribution, with varying effects based on age, sex, and PFAS structure. The findings highlight the potential role of PFAS exposure in influencing fat depots and obesity risk, with significant implications for public health. The prediction model provides a highly accurate tool for assessing obesity risk related to PFAS exposure.
Humans ; Fluorocarbons/blood* ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Environmental Pollutants/blood* ; Abdominal Fat ; Nutrition Surveys ; Alkanesulfonic Acids/blood* ; Obesity ; Environmental Exposure