(E)-1-{4-[Bis(4-meth­oxy­phen­yl)meth­yl]piperazin-1-yl}-3-(4-fluoro­phen­yl)prop-2-en-1-one

In the title compound, C28H29FN2O3, the conformation about the ethene bond is E. The piperazine ring adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Increasing Ceftriaxone Resistance in Salmonellae, Taiwan

In Taiwan, despite a substantial decline of Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis infections, strains resistant to ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone persist. A self-transferable blaCMY-2-harboring IncI1 plasmid was identified in S. enterica serotypes Choleraesuis, Typhimurium, Agona, and Enteritidis and contributed to the overall increase of ceftriaxone resistance in salmonellae

Ellagic Acid, the Active Compound of Phyllanthus urinaria, Exerts In Vivo Anti-Angiogenic Effect and Inhibits MMP-2 Activity

This study aimed to assess the potential anti-angiogenic mechanism of Phyllanthus urinaria (P. urinaria) and characterize the major compound in P. urinaria that exerts anti-angiogenic effect. The water extract of P. urinaria and Ellagic Acid were used to evaluate the anti-angiogenic effect in chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) in chicken embryo and human vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs). The matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) activity was determined by gelatin zymography. The mRNA expressions of MMP-2, MMP-14 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) were analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Level of MMP-2 proteins in conditioned medium or cytosol was determined by western blot analysis. We confirmed that P. urinaria's in vivo anti-angiogenic effect was associated with a reduction in MMP-2 activity. Ellagic acid, one of the major polyphenolic components as identified in P. urinaria by high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS), exhibited the same anti-angiogenic effect in vivo. Both P. urinaria and Ellagic Acid inhibited MMP-2 activity in HUVECs with unchanged mRNA level. The mRNA expression levels of MMP-14 and TIMP-2 were not altered either. Results from comparing the change of MMP-2 protein levels in conditioned medium and cytosol of HUVECs after the P. urinaria or Ellagic Acid treatment revealed an inhibitory effect on the secretion of MMP-2 protein. This study concluded that Ellagic Acid is the active compound in P. urinaria to exhibit anti-angiogenic activity and to inhibit the secretion of MMP-2 protein from HUVECs

Sex differences in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Accumulated evidence revealed that male was much more likely to higher severity and fatality by SARS-CoV-2 infection than female patients, but few studies and meta-analyses have evaluated the sex differences of the infection and progression of COVID-19 patients. AIM: We aimed to compare the sex differences of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics in COVID-19 patients; and to perform a meta-analysis evaluating the severe rate, fatality rate, and the sex differences of the infection and disease progression in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: We analyzed clinical data of patients in Changchun Infectious Hospital and Center, Changchun, Northeast China; and searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library without any language restrictions for published articles that reported the data of sex-disaggregated, number of severe, and death patients on the confirmed diagnosis of adult COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: The pooled severe rate and fatality rate of COVID-19 were 22.7% and 10.7%. Male incidence in the retrospective study was 58.1%, and the pooled incidence in male was 54.7%. CONCLUSION: The pooled severe rate in male and female of COVID-19 was 28.2% and 18.8%, the risky of severe and death was about 1.6folds higher in male compared with female, especially for older patients (> 50 y)

Central and Peripheral Changes in FOS Expression in Schizophrenia Based on Genome-Wide Gene Expression

Schizophrenia is a chronic, debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder. Multiple transcriptomic gene expression profiling analysis has been used to identify schizophrenia-associated genes, unravel disease-associated biomarkers, and predict clinical outcomes. We aimed to identify gene expression regulation, underlying pathways, and their roles in schizophrenia pathogenesis. We searched the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database for microarray studies of fibroblasts, lymphoblasts, and post-mortem brains of schizophrenia patients. Our analysis demonstrated high FOS expression in non-neural peripheral samples and low FOS expression in brain tissues of schizophrenia patients compared with healthy controls. FOS exhibited predictive value for schizophrenia patients in these datasets. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that “amphetamine addiction” was among the top 10 significantly enriched KEGG pathways. FOS and FOSB, which are implicated in the amphetamine addiction pathway, were up-regulated in schizophrenia fibroblast samples. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis revealed that proteins closely interacting with FOS-encoded protein were also involved in the amphetamine addiction pathway. Pearson correlation test indicated that FOS showed positive correlation with genes in the amphetamine pathway. The results revealed that FOS was acceptable as a biomarker for schizophrenia and may be involved in schizophrenia pathogenesis

Metabolic syndrome and abdominal fat are associated with inflammation, but not with clinical outcomes, in peritoneal dialysis patients

BACKGROUND: In the general population, metabolic syndrome (MetS) is correlated with visceral fat and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, little is known about the significance of abdominal fat and its association with inflammation and medication use in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. We investigated the relationship of visceral fat area (VFA) with C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and medication use in PD patients and followed their clinical outcomes. METHODS: In a prospective study from February 2009 to February 2012, we assessed diabetes mellitus (DM) status, clinical and PD-associated characteristics, medication use, CRP levels, components of MetS, and VFA in 183 PD patients. These patients were categorized into 3 groups based on MetS and DM status: non-MetS (group 1, n = 73), MetS (group 2, n = 65), and DM (group 3, n = 45). VFA was evaluated by computed tomography (CT) and corrected for body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: Patients in group 1 had smaller VFAs than patients in groups 2 and 3 (3.2 ± 1.8, 4.6 ± 1.9, and 4.9 ± 2.0 cm(2)/[kg/m(2)], respectively, P < 0.05) and lower CRP levels (0.97 ± 2.31, 1.27 ± 2.57, and 1.11 ± 1.35 mg/dL, respectively, P < 0.05). VFA increased with the number of criteria met for MetS. After adjusting for age, body weight, and sex, CRP and albumin levels functioned as independent positive predictors of VFA; on other hand, the use of renin-angiotensin system blockers was inversely correlated with VFA in PD patients without DM. In the survival analysis, DM patients (group 3) had the poorest survival among the 3 groups, but no significant differences were found between groups 1 and 2. CONCLUSION: This study showed that VFA and MetS are associated with CRP levels but cannot predict survival in PD patients without DM. The complex relationship of nutritional parameters to VFA and MetS may explain these results. The type of antihypertensive medication used was also associated with the VFA. The mechanisms behind these findings warrant further investigation

Chloroplast genomes of four Carex species: Long repetitive sequences trigger dramatic changes in chloroplast genome structure

The chloroplast genomes of angiosperms usually have a stable circular quadripartite structure that exhibits high consistency in genome size and gene order. As one of the most diverse genera of angiosperms, Carex is of great value for the study of evolutionary relationships and speciation within its genus, but the study of the structure of its chloroplast genome is limited due to its highly expanded and restructured genome with a large number of repeats. In this study, we provided a more detailed account of the chloroplast genomes of Carex using a hybrid assembly of second- and third-generation sequencing and examined structural variation within this genus. The study revealed that chloroplast genomes of four Carex species are significantly longer than that of most angiosperms and are characterized by high sequence rearrangement rates, low GC content and gene density, and increased repetitive sequences. The location of chloroplast genome structural variation in the species of Carex studied is closely related to the positions of long repeat sequences; this genus provides a typical example of chloroplast structural variation and expansion caused by long repeats. Phylogenetic relationships constructed based on the chloroplast protein-coding genes support the latest taxonomic system of Carex, while revealing that structural variation in the chloroplast genome of Carex may have some phylogenetic significance. Moreover, this study demonstrated a hybrid assembly approach based on long and short reads to analyze complex chloroplast genome assembly and also provided an important reference for the analysis of structural rearrangements of chloroplast genomes in other taxa

Chromosome-level reference genome assembly provides insights into the evolution of Pennisetum alopecuroides

Pennisetum alopecuroides is an important forage grass resource, which plays a vital role in ecological environment improvement. Therefore, the acquisition of P. alopecuroides genome resources is conducive to the study of the adaptability of Pennisetum species in ecological remediation and forage breeding development. Here we assembled a P. alopecuroides cv. 'Liqiu' genome at the chromosome level with a size of approximately 845.71 Mb, contig N50 of 84.83Mb, and genome integrity of 99.13% as assessed by CEGMA. A total of 833.41-Mb sequences were mounted on nine chromosomes by Hi-C technology. In total, 60.66% of the repetitive sequences and 34,312 genes were predicted. The genomic evolution analysis showed that P. alopecuroides cv. 'Liqiu' was isolated from Setaria 7.53–13.80 million years ago and from Cenchrus 5.33–8.99 million years ago, respectively. The whole-genome event analysis showed that P. alopecuroides cv. 'Liqiu' underwent two whole-genome duplication (WGD) events in the evolution process, and the duplication events occurred at a similar time to that of Oryza sativa and Setaria viridis. The completion of the genome sequencing of P. alopecuroides cv. 'Liqiu' provides data support for mining high-quality genetic resources of P. alopecuroides and provides a theoretical basis for the origin and evolutionary characteristics of Pennisetum