Effect of Free-range Rearing on Meat Composition, Physical Properties and Sensory Evaluation in Taiwan Game Hens

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of an outdoor-grazed raising model on meat composition, physical properties and sensory attributes of Taiwan game hens. Six hundred 1-d old female chicks were raised on a floor for 8 weeks. On day 57, 600 healthy birds, with similar body weight, were selected and randomly assigned to three treatment groups (cage, floor-pen and free-range). The results showed that different feeding models had no effect on drip loss, cooking loss, moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, zinc and calorie contents in breast meat and moisture content in thigh meat. The free-range group had the lowest fat content in both breast and thigh meat, and the lowest calorie content in thigh meat. The firmness and toughness in both thigh and breast of the free-range group were the highest values (p<0.05). The crude protein, total collagen, zinc and iron contents in thigh meat and total collagen content in breast meat of the free-range group were significantly higher than those of the cage-feeding group (p<0.05). The meat sensory scores of flavor, chewiness and overall acceptability of both thigh and breast meat of the free-range group were significantly (p<0.05) better than those of the other two groups. Moreover, the current findings also indicate that the Taiwan game hens of the free-range feeding model displayed well-received carcass traits and meat quality, with higher scores for flavor, chewiness and overall acceptability for greater sensory satisfaction in both breast and thigh meat. In addition, the thigh meat contained high protein and total collage but low fat, offering a healthier diet choice

Light-Independent Inactivation of Dengue-2 Virus by Carboxyfullerene C3 Isomer

AbstractCarboxyfullerene (C60) is known as a photosensitizer for virus inactivation. Its regioisomer with C3 symmetry, named the C3 isomer, could also inactivate the dengue-2 virus without light when the dose of C3 isomer was increased to 40 μM, indicating the possible involvement of a light-independent mechanism. Further analysis showed that the C3 isomer blocked viral replication at the attachment and penetration stages, suggesting that a direct interaction between the C3 isomer and the virion is required for inactivation. The C3 isomer with a bipolar structure showed better lipid interaction and dengue-2 virus suppression than D3, another isomer that contains evenly distributed hydrophilic side chains. Moreover, the C3 isomer selectively inactivated enveloped viruses (viz., dengue-2 virus and Japanese encephalitis virus) instead of nonenveloped viruses (viz., enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus B3). Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that C3 isomer suppression of enveloped viruses is effected through its hydrophobic interaction with the viral lipid envelope. Our report, which demonstrates the light-dependent and -independent mechanisms of C60 on viral inactivation, will aid in the development of novel anti-viral agents for use against enveloped viruses

Gfi-1 is the transcriptional repressor of SOCS1 in acute myeloid leukemia cells

ABSTRACT Silencing of SOCS1, a TSG, has been detected in various malignancies, including AML. However, the underlying mechanism of SOCS1 inactivation remains elusive. In this study, we explored the role of histone methylation in SOCS1 expression in AML cells. By ChIP assay, we demonstrated that G9a and SUV39H1, two enzymes catalyzing H3K9 methylation, were physically associated with the SOCS1 promoter, and treatment with chaetocin, a histone methyltransferase inhibitor, suppressed H3K9 methylation on the SOCS1 promoter and enhanced SOCS1 expression. Furthermore, knockdown of G9a and SUV39H1 by siRNA could also induce SOCS1 expression. On the other hand, SOCS1 knockdown by shRNA eliminated chaetocin-induced cell apoptosis. To investigate further whether any transcription factor was involved in H3K9 methylation-related SOCS1 repression, we scanned the sequences of the SOCS1 gene promoter and found two binding sites for Gfi-1, a transcription repressor. By DNA pull-down and ChIP assays, we showed that Gfi-1 directly bound the SOCS1 promoter, and ectopic Gfi-1 expression suppressed STAT5-induced SOCS1 promoter activation. In contrast, Gfi-1 knockdown by shRNA enhanced SOCS1 expression and inhibited STAT5 expression. Moreover, the knockdown of G9a completely rescued the repressive effect of Gfi-1 on STAT5A-induced SOCS1 promoter activation. Collectively, our study indicates that the expression of Gfi-1 contributes to SOCS1 silencing in AML cells through epigenetic modification, and suppression of histone methyltransferase can provide new insight in AML therapy. J. Leukoc. Biol. 95: 000 -000; 2014

Increased Risk for Entamoeba histolytica Infection and Invasive Amebiasis in HIV Seropositive Men Who Have Sex with Men in Taiwan

Entamoeba histolytica, morphologically identical to but genetically different from E. dispar and E. moshkovskii, is the causative agent of amebiasis. Recently there have been reports of increased risk for amebiasis among men who have sex with men (MSM) due to oral-anal sexual contact in several developed countries. In this longitudinal follow-up study, the incidence of amebiasis was determined among HIV-infected patients using serological and specific amebic antigen assays. DNA extracted from stool samples containing E. histolytica were analyzed by PCR, sequenced, and compared. Clinical manifestations and treatment response of invasive amebiasis in HIV-infected patients were reviewed. The results demonstrated that HIV-infected MSM were at significantly higher risk of amebiasis than patients from other risk groups. Clustering of E. histolytica isolates by sequencing analyses from geographically unrelated patients suggested person-to-person transmission. Despite immunosuppression, amebic liver abscesses and colitis responded favorably to metronidazole therapy. It is important to investigate in areas of high incidence of both amebiasis and HIV (sub-Saharan Africa) how generalizable these findings are

Correlation of virulence genes to clinical manifestations and outcome in patients with Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis bacteremia

Background/PurposeStreptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) is increasingly recognized as a human pathogen responsible for invasive infection and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). The pathogen possesses virulence genes that resemble those found in Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS). We analyzed the association between these specific toxic genes, clinical presentations, and outcome in patients with SDSE infections.MethodsPatients (older than 18 years) with community-acquired invasive bacteremia caused by SDSE bacteremia who were undergoing treatment at China Medical University Hospital from June 2007 to December 2010 were included in this study. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction was performed to identify virulence genes of the SDSE isolates. Demographic data, clinical presentations, and outcome in patients with SDSE infections were reviewed and analyzed.ResultsForty patients with 41 episodes of SDSE bacteremia were reviewed. The median age of the patients with SDSE infection was 69.7 years; 55% were female and 78% had underlying diseases. Malignancy (13, 33%) and diabetes mellitus (13, 33%) were the most common comorbidities. The 30-day mortality rate was 12%. Compared with the survivors, the non-survivors had a higher rate of diabetes mellitus (80% vs. 26%), liver cirrhosis (60% vs.11%), shock (60% vs.17%), STSS (60% vs. 8%), and a high Pittsburgh bacteremia score >4 (40% vs. 6%). Most isolates had scpA, ska, saga, and slo genes, whereas speC, speG, speH, speI, speK, smez, and ssa genes were not detected. speA gene was identified only in one patient with STSS (1/6, 17%). All isolates were susceptible to penicillin, cefotaxime, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, vancomycin, and linezolid.ConclusionIn invasive SDSE infections, most isolates carry putative virulence genes, such as scpA, ska, saga, and slo. Clinical SDSE isolates in Taiwan remain susceptible to penicillin cefotaxime, and levofloxacin

The efficacy and safety of cuttlebone for lowering serum phosphate in patients with end-stage renal disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: The efficacy of cuttlebone for treating hyperphosphatemia in patients with end-stage renal disease and its safety remained unclear.Methods: Randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of cuttlebone with conventional interventions were retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Airiti Library, and other major Chinese databases until 1 February 2023. The primary outcome was circulating phosphate concentration, while secondary outcomes included circulating calcium and intact parathyroid hormone levels, calcium–phosphorus product, and treatment-related side-effects.Results: Analysis of nine studies published between 2000 and 2019 including 726 participants showed a lower circulating phosphate concentration in the cuttlebone group than in controls [mean difference (MD) = −0.23, 95% CI: −0.39 to −0.06, p = 0.006, I2 = 94%, 726 patients] and a dose-dependent effect of cuttlebone against hyperphosphatemia. Therapeutic benefits were noted after both short-term (1–2 months) and long-term (3–6 months) treatments. Besides, patients receiving hemodialysis showed a better response to cuttlebone than those receiving peritoneal dialysis. There was no difference in circulating calcium level (mean difference = 0.03, 95% CI: −0.01 to 0.07, p = 0.17, I2 = 34%, 654 patients), while patients receiving cuttlebone showed lower circulating iPTH level and calcium-phosphorus product (MD = −43.63, 95% CI: −74.1 to −13.16, p = 0.005, I2 = 76%, 654 patients), (MD = −0.38, 95% CI: −0.38 to −0.01, p = 0.04, I2 = 83%, 520 patients). No difference in the risks of constipation, gastrointestinal discomfort, and elevated blood calcium was noted between the two groups.Conclusion: Compared with conventional phosphate-binding agents, cuttlebone more efficiently suppressed hyperphosphatemia with a dose-dependent effect. The limited number of included studies warrants further clinical investigations to verify our findings.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023396300

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

H2B ubiquitylation is part of chromatin architecture that marks exon-intron structure in budding yeast

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The packaging of DNA into chromatin regulates transcription from initiation through 3' end processing. One aspect of transcription in which chromatin plays a poorly understood role is the co-transcriptional splicing of pre-mRNA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we provide evidence that H2B monoubiquitylation (H2BK123ub1) marks introns in <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</it>. A genome-wide map of H2BK123ub1 in this organism reveals that this modification is enriched in coding regions and that its levels peak at the transcribed regions of two characteristic subgroups of genes. First, long genes are more likely to have higher levels of H2BK123ub1, correlating with the postulated role of this modification in preventing cryptic transcription initiation in ORFs. Second, genes that are highly transcribed also have high levels of H2BK123ub1, including the ribosomal protein genes, which comprise the majority of intron-containing genes in yeast. H2BK123ub1 is also a feature of introns in the yeast genome, and the disruption of this modification alters the intragenic distribution of H3 trimethylation on lysine 36 (H3K36me3), which functionally correlates with alternative RNA splicing in humans. In addition, the deletion of genes encoding the U2 snRNP subunits, Lea1 or Msl1, in combination with an <it>htb-K123R </it>mutation, leads to synthetic lethality.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data suggest that H2BK123ub1 facilitates cross talk between chromatin and pre-mRNA splicing by modulating the distribution of intronic and exonic histone modifications.</p

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk–outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk–outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk–outcome associations. Methods We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk–outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017. Findings In 2017, 34·1 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 33·3–35·0) deaths and 1·21 billion (1·14–1·28) DALYs were attributable to GBD risk factors. Globally, 61·0% (59·6–62·4) of deaths and 48·3% (46·3–50·2) of DALYs were attributed to the GBD 2017 risk factors. When ranked by risk-attributable DALYs, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) was the leading risk factor, accounting for 10·4 million (9·39–11·5) deaths and 218 million (198–237) DALYs, followed by smoking (7·10 million [6·83–7·37] deaths and 182 million [173–193] DALYs), high fasting plasma glucose (6·53 million [5·23–8·23] deaths and 171 million [144–201] DALYs), high body-mass index (BMI; 4·72 million [2·99–6·70] deaths and 148 million [98·6–202] DALYs), and short gestation for birthweight (1·43 million [1·36–1·51] deaths and 139 million [131–147] DALYs). In total, risk-attributable DALYs declined by 4·9% (3·3–6·5) between 2007 and 2017. In the absence of demographic changes (ie, population growth and ageing), changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs would have led to a 23·5% decline in DALYs during that period. Conversely, in the absence of changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs, demographic changes would have led to an 18·6% increase in DALYs during that period. The ratios of observed risk exposure levels to exposure levels expected based on SDI (O/E ratios) increased globally for unsafe drinking water and household air pollution between 1990 and 2017. This result suggests that development is occurring more rapidly than are changes in the underlying risk structure in a population. Conversely, nearly universal declines in O/E ratios for smoking and alcohol use indicate that, for a given SDI, exposure to these risks is declining. In 2017, the leading Level 4 risk factor for age-standardised DALY rates was high SBP in four super-regions: central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; north Africa and Middle East; south Asia; and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania. The leading risk factor in the high-income super-region was smoking, in Latin America and Caribbean was high BMI, and in sub-Saharan Africa was unsafe sex. O/E ratios for unsafe sex in sub-Saharan Africa were notably high, and those for alcohol use in north Africa and the Middle East were notably low. Interpretation By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning