Adipose tissues of MPC1± mice display altered lipid metabolism-related enzyme expression levels

Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1 (MPC1) is a component of the MPC1/MPC2 heterodimer that facilitates the transport of pyruvate into mitochondria. Pyruvate plays a central role in carbohydrate, fatty, and amino acid catabolism. The present study examined epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) and intrascapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT) from MPC1± mice following 24 weeks of feeding, which indicated low energy accumulation as evidenced by low body and eWAT weight and adipocyte volume. To characterize molecular changes in energy metabolism, we analyzed the transcriptomes of the adipose tissues using RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq). The results showed that the fatty acid oxidation pathway was activated and several genes involved in this pathway were upregulated. Furthermore, qPCR and western blotting indicated that numerous genes and proteins that participate in lipolysis were also upregulated. Based on these findings, we propose that the energy deficiency caused by reduced MPC1 activity can be alleviated by activating the lipolytic pathway

Risk factor analysis and construction of prediction models of gallbladder carcinoma in patients with gallstones

BackgroundGallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a biliary tract tumor with a high mortality rate. The objectives of this study were to explore the risk factors of GBC in patients with gallstones and to establish effective screening indicators.MethodsA total of 588 patients from medical centers in two different regions of China were included in this study and defined as the internal test samples and the external validation samples, respectively. We retrospectively reviewed the differences in clinicopathologic data of the internal test samples to find the independent risk factors that affect the occurrence of GBC. Then, we constructed three different combined predictive factors (CPFs) through the weighting method, integral system, and nomogram, respectively, and named them CPF-A, CPF-B, and CPF-C sequentially. Furthermore, we evaluated these indicators through calibration and DCA curves. The ROC curve was used to analyze their diagnostic efficiency. Finally, their diagnostic capabilities were validated in the external validation samples.ResultsIn the internal test samples, the results showed that five factors, namely, age (RR = 3.077, 95% CI: 1.731-5.496), size of gallstones (RR = 13.732, 95% CI: 5.937-31.762), course of gallstones (RR = 2.438, 95% CI: 1.350-4.403), CEA (RR = 9.464, 95% CI: 3.394-26.392), and CA199 (RR = 9.605, 95% CI: 4.512-20.446), were independent risk factors for GBC in patients with gallstones. Then, we established three predictive indicators: CPF-A, CPF-B, and CPF-C. These models were further validated using bootstrapping with 1,000 repetitions. Calibration and decision curve analysis showed that the three models fit well. Meanwhile, multivariate analysis showed that CPF-B and CPF-C were independent risk factors for GBC in patients with gallstones. In addition, the validation results of the external validation samples are essentially consistent with the internal test samples.ConclusionAge (≤58.5 vs. >58.5 years), size of gallstones (≤1.95 vs. >1.95cm), course of gallstones (≤10 vs. >10 years), CEA (≤5 vs. >5 ng/ml), and CA199 (≤37 vs. >37 U/ml) are independent risk factors for GBC in patients with gallstones. When positive indicators were ≥2 among the five independent risk factors or the score of the nomogram was >82.64, the risk of GBC was high in gallstone patients

One-pot melamine derived nitrogen doped magnetic carbon nanoadsorbents with enhanced chromium removal

Novel nitrogen doped magnetic carbons (NMC), in-situ synthesized through facile pyrolysis-carbonization processes using Fe(NO3)3 and melamine as precursors, were demonstrated as excellent nanoadsorbents to remove Cr(VI) effectively. The achieved removal capacity in both neutral and acidic solution was 29.4 and 2001.4 mg g−1 respectively, much higher than the reported adsorbents so far. The unprecedented high adsorption performance can be attributed to the incorporation of the nitrogen dopant, which increased the negative charge density on the surface of adsorbent and thereby enhanced the interaction between the adsorbents and Cr(VI) ions. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation demonstrated that the nitrogen dopants can decrease the adsorption energy between the Cr(VI) ions and NMC (−3.456 kJ mol−1), lower than the undoped sample (−3.344 kJ mol−1), which boosted the adsorption behavior. Chemical rather than physical adsorption was followed for these magnetic nanoadsorbents as revealed from the pseudo-second-order kinetic study. Furthermore, the NMC showed high stability with recycling tests for the Cr(VI) removal

Analyzing Dynamic Changes of Laboratory Indexes in Patients with Acute Heart Failure Based on Retrospective Study

Background. Changes of N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) have been studied whether in the long term or the short term in patients of acute heart failure (AHF); however, changes of NT-proBNP in the first five days and their association with other factors have not been investigated. Aims. To describe the dynamic changes of relevant laboratory indexes in the first five days between different outcomes of AHF patients and their associations. Methods and Results. 284 AHF with dynamic values recorded were analyzed. Changes of NT-proBNP, troponin T, and C-reactive protein were different between patients with different outcomes, with higher values in adverse group than in control group at the same time points ( < 0.05). Then, prognostic use and risk stratification of NT-proBNP were assessed by receiver-operating characteristic curve and logistic regression. NT-proBNP levels at day 3 showed the best prognostic power (area under the curve = 0.730, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.657 to 0.794) and was an independent risk factor for adverse outcome (odds ratio, OR: 2.185, 95% CI: 1.584-3.015). Classified changes of NT-proBNP may be predictive for adverse outcomes in AHF patients. Conclusions. Sequential monitoring of laboratory indexes within the first 5 days may be helpful for management of AHF patients

Construction and validation of a novel prognostic model for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma based on a combined scoring system of systemic immune-inflammation index and albumin-bilirubin: a multicenter study

BackgroundThe degree of inflammation and immune status is widely recognized to be associated with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and is closely linked to poor postoperative survival. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII) and the albumin bilirubin (ALBI) grade together exhibit better predictive strength compared to SII and ALBI separately in patients with ICC undergoing curative surgical resection.MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on a cohort of 374 patients with histologically confirmed ICC who underwent curative surgical resection from January 2016 to January 2020 at three medical centers. The cohort was divided into a training set comprising 258 patients and a validation set consisting of 116 patients. Subsequently, the prognostic predictive abilities of three indicators, namely SII, ALBI, and SII+ALBI grade, were evaluated. Independent risk factors were identified through univariate and multivariate analyses. The identified independent risk factors were then utilized to construct a nomogram prediction model, and the predictive strength of the nomogram prediction model was assessed through Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) survival curves and calibration curves.ResultsUnivariate analysis of the training set, consisting of 258 eligible patients with ICC, revealed that SII, ALBI, and SII+ALBI grade were significant prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed the independent significance of SII+ALBI grade as a risk factor for postoperative OS and RFS (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we conducted an analysis of the correlation between SII, ALBI, SII+ALBI grade, and clinical features, indicating that SII+ALBI grade exhibited stronger associations with clinical and pathological characteristics compared to SII and ALBI. We constructed a predictive model for postoperative survival in ICC based on SII+ALBI grade, as determined by the results of multivariate analysis. Evaluation of the model’s predictive strength was performed through ROC survival curves and calibration curves in the training set and validation set, revealing favorable predictive performance.ConclusionThe SII+ALBI grade, a novel classification based on inflammatory and immune status, serves as a reliable prognostic indicator for postoperative OS and RFS in patients with ICC

Establishment of a viable cell detection system for microorganisms in wine based on ethidium monoazide and quantitative PCR

Fermentability and contamination level of wine can be assessed through the detection of viable fermentation-related and spoilage-related microorganisms. Ethidium monoazide in combination with quantitative PCR (EMA-qPCR) has been considered as a promising method to enumerate viable cells. Milling for 80 s by O 500-mu m glass beads is demonstrated to be optimal for DNA extraction from yeasts, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and acetic acid bacteria (AAB) in wine to be used as a template for PCR. EMA-qPCR results from experiments using DNA extracted by this method correlate well with the results of a plating assay (R-2 > 0.99), and a PCR efficiency between 96% and 105% was obtained. Moreover, for all of these microorganisms, EMA treatment of pure cultures at a low concentration (10 mu g/mL) for 20 min photoactivation resulted in effective differentiation between viable and non-viable cells and had no effect on viable cells. Due to sublethal injury to some cells, underestimation of cell counts was found in most of the wine samples tested using the EMA-qPCR method, and a 40-min incubation in recovery medium could completely offset this error. Our results suggest an optimal glass-bead DNA extraction method and EMA treatment suitable for all of the main microorganisms in wine. The EMA-qPCR method was successfully applied to quantify yeasts. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae), LAB, non-Oenococcus oeni LAB (non-O. oeni LAB) and AAB in wine samples. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A Novel Universal Primer-Multiplex-PCR Method with Sequencing Gel Electrophoresis Analysis

In this study, a novel universal primer-multiplex-PCR (UP-M-PCR) method adding a universal primer (UP) in the multiplex PCR reaction system was described. A universal adapter was designed in the 5′-end of each specific primer pairs which matched with the specific DNA sequences for each template and also used as the universal primer (UP). PCR products were analyzed on sequencing gel electrophoresis (SGE) which had the advantage of exhibiting extraordinary resolution. This method overcame the disadvantages rooted deeply in conventional multiplex PCR such as complex manipulation, lower sensitivity, self-inhibition and amplification disparity resulting from different primers, and it got a high specificity and had a low detection limit of 0.1 ng for single kind of crops when screening the presence of genetically modified (GM) crops in mixture samples. The novel developed multiplex PCR assay with sequencing gel electrophoresis analysis will be useful in many fields, such as verifying the GM status of a sample irrespective of the crop and GM trait and so on

Transcript and protein profiling analysis of OTA-induced cell death reveals the regulation of the toxicity response process in Arabidopsis thaliana

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic isocoumarin derivative produced by various species of mould which mainly grow on grain, coffee, and nuts. Recent studies have suggested that OTA induces cell death in plants. To investigate possible mechanisms of OTA phytotoxicity, both digital gene expression (DGE) transcriptomic and two-dimensional electrophoresis proteomic analyses were used, through which 3118 genes and 23 proteins were identified as being up- or down-regulated at least 2-fold in Arabidopsis leaf in response to OTA treatment. First, exposure of excised Arabidopsis thaliana leaves to OTA rapidly causes the hypersensitive reponse, significantly accelerates the increase of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde, and enhances antioxidant enzyme defence responses and xenobiotic detoxification. Secondly, OTA stimulation causes dynamic changes in transcription factors and activates the membrane transport system dramatically. Thirdly, a concomitant persistence of compromised photosynthesis and photorespiration is indicative of a metabolic shift from a highly active to a weak state. Finally, the data revealed that ethylene, salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling molecules mediate the process of toxicity caused by OTA. Profiling analyses on Arabidopsis in response to OTA will provide new insights into signalling transduction that modulates the OTA phytotoxicity mechanism, facilitate mapping of regulatory networks, and extend the ability to improve OTA tolerance in Arabidopsis