The effects of yam gruel on lowering fasted blood glucose in T2DM rats

© 2020 Xinjun Lin et al., published by De Gruyter 2020. There is increasing evidence of the linkage between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and gut microbiota. Based on our previous studies, we investigated the hypoglycemic mechanisms of yam gruel to provide a scientific basis for its popularization and application. Wistar rats were randomly divided into control and T2DM model groups. Rats in the model group were stimulated by a high-sugar/high-fat diet combined with an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin to induce T2DM. The T2DM rats were further subdivided randomly into three groups: (1) DM, (2) DM + yam gruel, and (3) DM + metformin. After 4 weeks of intervention, the changes in gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) (acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid), the expression of G protein-coupled receptor 43 (GPR43), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide YY (PYY), and fasted blood glucose (FBG) levels were observed. Yam gruel intervention elevated the abundance of probiotic bacteria and increased the expression of SCFAs, GPR43 receptor, GLP-1, and PYY. It also reduced FBG levels. We conclude that yam gruel can lower FBG by promoting the growth of probiotic bacteria, increasing the content of SCFAs, and enhancing the expression of GPR43 receptor to increase the content of GLP-1 and PYY in serum

The role of the triangle singularity in Λ(1405)\Lambda(1405) production in the π−p→K0πΣ\pi^-p\rightarrow K^0\pi\Sigma and pp→pK+πΣpp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma processes

We have investigated the cross section for the $\pi^-p\rightarrow K^0\pi\Sigma$ and $pp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma$ reactions paying attention to a mechanism that develops a triangle singularity. The triangle diagram is realized by the decay of a $N^*$ to $K^*\Sigma$ and the $K^*$ decay into $\pi K$, and the $\pi\Sigma$ finally merges into $\Lambda(1405)$. The mechanism is expected to produce a peak around $2140$ MeV in the $K\Lambda(1405)$ invariant mass. We found that a clear peak appears around $2100$ MeV in the $K\Lambda(1405)$ invariant mass which is about $40$ MeV lower than the expectation, and that is due to the resonance peak of a $N^*$ resonance which plays a crucial role in the $K^*\Sigma$ production. The mechanism studied produces the peak of the $\Lambda(1405)$ around or below 1400 MeV, as is seen in the $pp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma$ HADES experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Effects of Dioscorea polystachya \u27yam gruel\u27 on the cognitive function of diabetic rats with focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury via the gut-brain axis

© 2020 Pang et al. Published by IMR press. Focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury is closely related to hyperglycemia and gut microbiota imbalance, while gut microbiota contributes to the regulation of brain function through the gut-brain axis. Previous studies in patients with diabetes have found that \u27yam gruel\u27 is a classic medicated diet made from Dioscorea polystachya, increases the content of Bifidobacterium, regulates oxidative stress, and reduces fasting blood glucose levels. The research reported here investigated the effects of \u27yam gruel\u27 on the cognitive function of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats with focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury and explored the mechanism underlying the role of the gut-brain axis in this process. \u27Yam gruel\u27 was shown to improve cognitive function as indicated by increased relative content of probiotic bacteria, and short-chain fatty acids in the intestinal tract and cerebral cortex reduced oxidative stress and inflammatory response and promotion of the expression of neurotransmitters and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Thus, it is concluded that \u27yam gruel\u27 has a protective effect on cognitive function via a mechanism related to the gut-brain axis

Molecular phylogeny reveals food plasticity in the evolution of true ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Coccinellini)

The tribe Coccinellini is a group of relatively large ladybird beetles that exhibits remarkable morphological and biological diversity. Many species are aphidophagous, feeding as larvae and adults on aphids, but some species also feed on other hemipterous insects (i.e., heteropterans, psyllids, whiteflies), beetle and moth larvae, pollen, fungal spores, and even plant tissue. Several species are biological control agents or widespread invasive species (e.g., Harmonia axyridis (Pallas)). Despite the ecological importance of this tribe, relatively little is known about the phylogenetic relationships within it. The generic concepts within the tribe Coccinellini are unstable and do not reflect a natural classification, being largely based on regional revisions. This impedes the phylogenetic study of important traits of Coccinellidae at a global scale (e.g. the evolution of food preferences and biogeography).Funding for this study was provided by a grant from the Polish National Science Center (Narodowe Centrum Nauki), No. 2012/07/B/NZ8/02815 to W. Tomaszewska and A. Ślipiński; grant GA JU 152/2016/P by University of South Bohemia to O. Nedvěd; Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to H. Escalona; National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grants No. 31572052 to H. Pang and No. 31501884 to X. Wang and National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), Grant No. 2013CB127605 to H. Li and H. Pan

Pan-cancer analysis reveals that G6PD is a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for a variety of cancers

BackgroundDespite accumulating evidence revealing that Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is highly expressed in many tumor tissues and plays a remarkable role in cancer tumorigenesis and progression, there is still a lack of G6PD pan-cancer analysis. This study was designed to analyze the expression status and prognostic significance of G6PD in pan-cancer.MethodsG6PD expression data were obtained from multiple data resources including the Genotype-Tissue Expression, the Cancer Genome Atlas, and the Tumor Immunity Estimation Resource. These data were used to assess the G6PD expression, prognostic value, and clinical characteristics. The ESTIMATE algorithms were used to analyze the association between G6PD expression and immune-infiltrating cells and the tumor microenvironment. The functional enrichment analysis was also performed across pan-cancer. In addition, the GDSC1 database containing 403 drugs was utilized to explore the relationship between drug sensitivity and G6PD expression levels. Furthermore, we also performed clinical validation and in vitro experiments to further validate the role of G6PD in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and its correlation with prognosis. The R software was used for statistical analysis and data visualization.ResultsG6PD expression was upregulated in most cancers compared to their normal counterparts. The study also revealed that G6PD expression was a prognostic indicator and high levels of G6PD expression were correlated with worse clinical prognosis including overall survival, disease-specific survival, and progression-free interval in multiple cancers. Furthermore, the G6PD level was also related to cancer immunity infiltration in most of the cancers, especially in KIRC, LGG, and LIHC. In addition to this, G6PD expression was positively related to pathological stages of KIRP, BRCA, KIRC, and LIHC. Functional analysis and protein-protein interactions network results revealed that G6PD was involved in metabolism-related activities, immune responses, proliferation, and apoptosis. Drug sensitivity analysis showed that IC50 values of most identified anti-cancer drugs were positively correlated with the G6PD expression. Notably, in vitro functional validation showed that G6PD knockdown attenuated the phenotypes of proliferation in HCC.ConclusionG6PD may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for cancers and may be a potential therapeutic target gene for tumor therapy

Prevalence and Characterization of Food-Related Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in China

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an emerging pathogen that is difficult to treat due to the multiresistance of the bacteria upon infection. From 2011 to 2016, 1581 S. aureus strains were isolated from 4300 samples from retail foods covering most provincial capitals in China. To determine the prevalence of food-related MRSA and its genetic background in China, antibiotic resistance, staphylococcal toxin genes, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, spa-typing and MLST were carried out in this study. In total, 108 (7.4%) isolates were confirmed for MRSA by phenotyping (cefoxitin) and genotyping (mecA/mecC gene). A total of 52.8% (57/108) of the MRSA isolates belonged to clonal complex 59 (CC59) (ST59, ST338, and ST3355), which was the predominant clone in this study. These CC59 isolates carried SCCmec elements of type IV, V, or III and exhibited spa type t437, t441, t543, t163, t1785, or t3485, and half of them carried major virulence genes, such as the Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) gene. The secondary clones belonged to ST9 (15.7%, 17/108) with a type of t899-SCCmec III and showed a broader range of antimicrobial resistance. The remaining MRSA isolates (31.5%, 34/108) were distributed in 12 different STs and 18 different spa types. All isolates harbored at least one of the enterotoxin genes, whereas only 4 isolates (3.70%) were positive for the toxic shock syndrome toxin tsst alleles. For antibiotic susceptibility testing, all isolates were resistant to more than three antibiotics, and 79.6% of the isolates were resistant to more than 10 antibiotics. Amoxycillin/clavulanic acid, ampicillin, cefoxitin, penicillin, ceftazidime, kanamycin, streptomycin, clindamycin, and telithromycin was the most common antibiotic resistance profile (55.6%, 60/108) in the study. In summary, the results of this study implied that the major food-related MRSA isolate in China was closer to community-associated MRSA, and some of the remaining isolates (ST9-t899-SCCmec III) were supposed to livestock-associated MRSA. In addition, most MRSA isolates showed resistance to multiple drugs and harbored staphylococcal toxin genes. Thus, the pathogenic potential of these isolates cannot be ignored. In addition, further studies are needed to elucidate the transmission routes of MRSA in relation to retail foods and to determine how to prevent the spread of MRSA