Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacogenetic Factors Contributing to Platelet Function Recovery After Single Dose of Ticagrelor in Healthy Subjects

Objectives: This study aimed to elucidate the contribution of candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to pharmacokinetics on the recovery of platelet function after single dose of ticagrelor was orally administered to healthy Chinese subjects.Methods: The pharmacokinetic profiles of ticagrelor and its metabolite AR-C124910XX (M8), and the platelet aggregation (PA), were assessed after 180 mg of single-dose ticagrelor was orally administered to 51 healthy Chinese subjects. Effects of CYP2C19*2, CYP2C19*3, CYP3A5*3, UGT1A1*6, UGT1A1*28, UGT2B7*2, UGT2B7*3, SLCO1B1 388A>G, and SLCO1B1 521T>C, on the pharmacokinetics of ticagrelor and M8, and platelet function recovery were investigated.Results: The time to recover 50% of the maximum drug effect (RT50) ranging from 36 to 126 h with 46.9% CV had a remarkable individual difference and was positively associated with the half-life (t1/2) of M8 (r = 0.3901, P = 0.0067). The time of peak concentration (Tmax) of ticagrelor for CYP2C19*3 GG homozygotes was significantly higher than that of GA heterozygotes (P = 0.0027, FDR = 0.0243). Decreased peak concentration (Cmax) of M8 was significantly associated with SLCO1B1 388A>G A allele (P = 0.0152, FDR = 0.1368). CYP2C19*2 A was significantly related to decreased Cmax of M8 (P = 0.0455, FDR = 0.2048). While, the influence of these nine SNPs on the recovery of platelet function was not significant.Conclusion: Our study suggests that the elimination of M8 is an important factor in determining the recovery of platelet function. Although CYP2C19 and SLCO1B1 genetic variants were related to the pharmacokinetics of ticagrelor or M8, they did not show a significant effect on the platelet function recovery in this study.Clinical Trial Registration:https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03092076, identifier: NCT0309207

Impacts of Ecological Shading by Roadside Trees on Tea Foliar Nutritional and Bioactive Components, Community Diversity of Insects and Soil Microbes in Tea Plantation

Roadside trees not only add aesthetic appeal to tea plantations, but also serve important ecological purposes for the shaded tea plants. In this study, we selected tea orchards with two access roads, from east to west (EW-road) and from south to north (SN-road), and the roadside trees formed three types of ecological shading of the adjoining tea plants; i.e., south shading (SS) by the roadside trees on the EW-road, and east shading and west shading (ES and WS) by the roadside trees on the SN-road. We studied the impacts of ecological shading by roadside trees on the tea plants, insects, and soil microbes in the tea plantation, by measuring the contents of soluble nutrients, bioactive compounds in the tea, and tea quality indices; and by investigating the population occurrence of key species of insects and calculating insect community indexes, while simultaneously assaying the soil microbiome. The results vividly demonstrated that the shading formed by roadside tree lines on the surrounding tea plantation (SS, ES, and WS) had adverse effects on the concentration of tea soluble sugars but enhanced the foliar contents of bioactive components and improved the overall tea quality, in contrast to the no-shading control tea plants. In addition, the roadside tree lines seemed to be beneficial for the tea plantation, as they reduced pest occurrence, and ES shading enhanced the microbial soil diversity in the rhizosphere of the tea plants

Analysis of serum syphilis screening results of 364 MSM patients: Based on the results of serum test and mobile app

Objective To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of syphilis in MSM patients in Guangzhou. Methods Yang Cheng Yi Fang smart application integrated a set of assessment questionnaire for syphilis infection risk was developed for MSM to self-evaluate the risk of syphilis at voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) clinic in the study. The syphilis risk is classified into high-, middle- and low-risk levels. Subjects with middle to high risk were automatically referred to a STD prevention institution or general hospital for further screen for syphilis and HIV. The individuals′ test results and their respective questionnaire were analyzed. Results Among the 364 evaluated MSM individuals, individuals at low-, middle- and high-risk accounted for 6.04% (22/364), 81.32% (296/364) and 12.64% (46/364), respectively. The positive rates of syphilis and HIV were 9.07% (33/364) and 3.02% (11/364), respectively. The positive rates of syphilis did not differ significantly between middle- and high-risk groups (9.12% vs 13.04%,χ2=0.33,P=0.569). The risk of syphilis was higher in individuals who occasionally or never or often used condom than in those who always used condom (χ2=7.06,P=0.030). Moreover, the risk of syphilis was higher in subjects whose sexual partner had syphilis than in those whose sexual partner did not have syphilis (χ2=36.27, P<0.001). Conclusions The rate of syphilis infections is higher in MSM individuals in Guangzhou. Online assessment of the risk of syphilis infections and referral, followed by serum test can be helpful to precisely prevent and control syphilis infections in MSM individuals

Impacts of Intercropped Maize Ecological Shading on Tea Foliar and Functional Components, Insect Pest Diversity and Soil Microbes

Ecological shading fueled by maize intercropping in tea plantations can improve tea quality and flavor, and efficiently control the population occurrence of main insect pests. In this study, tea plants were intercropped with maize in two planting directions from east to west (i.e., south shading (SS)) and from north to south (i.e., east shading (ES) and west shading (WS)) to form ecological shading, and the effects on tea quality, and the population occurrence and community diversity of insect pests and soil microbes were studied. When compared with the non-shading control, the tea foliar nutrition contents of free fatty acids have been significantly affected by the ecological shading. SS, ES, and WS all significantly increased the foliar content of theanine and caffeine and the catechin quality index in the leaves of tea plants, simultaneously significantly reducing the foliar content of total polyphenols and the phenol/ammonia ratio. Moreover, ES and WS both significantly reduced the population occurrences of Empoasca onukii and Trialeurodes vaporariorum. Ecological shading significantly affected the composition of soil microbial communities in tea plantations, in which WS significantly reduced the diversity of soil microorganisms