Prospective evaluation of a rapid clinical metagenomics test for bacterial pneumonia

Background: The diagnosis of bacterial pathogens in lower respiratory tract infections (LRI) using conventional culture methods remains challenging and time-consuming.  Objectives: To evaluate the clinical performance of a rapid nanopore-sequencing based metagenomics test for diagnosis of bacterial pathogens in common LRIs through a large-scale prospective study.  Methods: We enrolled 292 hospitalized patients suspected to have LRIs between November 2018 and June 2019 in a single-center, prospective cohort study. Rapid clinical metagenomics test was performed on-site, and the results were compared with those of routine microbiology tests.  Results: 171 bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and 121 sputum samples were collected from patients with six kinds of LRIs. The turnaround time (from sample registration to result) for the rapid metagenomics test was 6.4 ± 1.4 hours, compared to 94.8 ± 34.9 hours for routine culture. Compared with culture and real-time PCR validation tests, rapid metagenomics achieved 96.6% sensitivity and 88.0% specificity and identified pathogens in 63 out of 161 (39.1%) culture-negative samples. Correlation between enriched anaerobes and lung abscess was observed by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. Moreover, 38 anaerobic species failed in culture was identified by metagenomics sequencing. The hypothetical impact of metagenomics test proposed antibiotic de-escalation in 34 patients compared to 1 using routine culture.  Conclusions: Rapid clinical metagenomics test improved pathogen detection yield in the diagnosis of LRI. Empirical antimicrobial therapy could be de-escalated if rapid metagenomics test results were hypothetically applied to clinical management

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of the medicinal plant Crotalaria albida

Crotalaria albida (C. albida) is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant that belongs to Fabaceae family. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of C. albida was sequenced. The genome is 152,743 bp in length and includes two inverted repeat regions of 25,535 bp. It was predicted to contain 127 genes in the chloroplast genome, among which 82 were protein-coding genes, 37 were tRNA genes, and 8 were rRNA genes. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis based on 24 complete chloroplast genome sequences showed that C. albida was closely related to Ormosia semicastrata, Ormosia emarginata, and Ormosia xylocarpa

Stachyose combined with tea polyphenols mitigated metabolic disorders in high fructose diet-fed mice as studied by GC-MS metabolomics approach

High fructose (HF) ingestion is a common risk factor for the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which has become a serious health problem. The underlying mechanism of HF-induced NAFLD needs to be further understood and an effective prevention needs to be established urgently. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer-based metabonomic method was employed to characterize the serum metabolic profile of HF-induced NAFLD in mice. β-Hydroxybutyric acid, elaidic acid and oleic acid that contributed to energy and lipid metabolism were confirmed as potential biomarkers for HF-induced NAFLD. With these changed metabolic pathways as possible drug targets, different administrations revealed that co-administration of stachyose and tea polyphenols was a more effective method than treatment of stachyose or tea polyphenols alone for preventing HF-induced negative changes of metabolic pathways in mice. These findings suggest that β-hydroxybutyric acid, elaidic acid and oleic acid are potential biomarkers in HF-induced NAFLD, and co-administration is a novel preventive strategy

Dietary Lipid Sources Influence Fatty Acid Composition in Tissue of Large Yellow Croaker (Larmichthys crocea) by Regulating Triacylglycerol Synthesis and Catabolism at the Transcriptional Level.

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary lipid sources on growth performance, fatty acid composition, rate-limiting enzyme activities and gene expression related to lipid metabolism in large yellow croaker (Larmichthys crocea). Five iso-nitrogenous and iso-lipidic experimental diets were formulated to contain different lipid sources, such as fish oil (FO), soybean oil (SO), linseed oil (LO), rapeseed oil (RO) and peanut oil (PO), respectively. Triplicate groups of 50 fish (initial weight 13.77±0.07g) were stocked in 15 floating net cages (1.5m×1.5m×2.0m). Fish fed the diets containing RO and LO had lower weight gain and specific growth rates than those fed the FO, SO and PO diets. Survival, feed efficiency, protein efficiency ratio, hepatosomatic index, viscerasomatic index and condition factor were not significantly affected by different dietary lipid sources. Fish fed the diet containing FO had higher lipid content in whole body compared with the other groups, whereas fish fed the SO diet had the lowest muscle lipid content. Fatty acid profiles of muscle and liver reflected the fatty acid composition of the diets. Plasma glucose, triglyceride, and the enzymatic activity of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were significantly influenced by different dietary lipid sources, while total protein, cholesterol, superoxide dismutase or malondialdehyde in plasma were not affected by the different dietary lipid sources. Fish fed the LO diet had lower adipose triglyceride lipase and fatty acid synthase activities in liver than those fed the diets containing FO and RO, while the LO diet resulted in the highest hepatic carnitine palmitoultransferase-1 activity. Hepatic gene relative expression of adipose triglyceride lipase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 in fish fed PO diet was significantly higher than all other groups, whereas fish fed the SO and LO diets had lower relative expression levels of lipoprotein lipase than the other groups. The highest relative expression levels of fatty acid synthase and acyl-CoA diacylglycerol acyltransferase-2 were observed in the FO group, while the highest relative expression of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase occurred in fish fed the FO and RO diets. In summary, based on the growth performance, FO and SO appear to be suitable lipid sources for large yellow croaker, with the findings of this study also providing a molecular insight into the role of lipid metabolic mechanism in response to different dietary lipid sources

Calpain activation and disturbance of autophagy are induced in cortical neurons in vitro by exposure to HA/β-Ga2O3:Cr3+ nanoparticles

The toxicity of engineered nanoparticles remains a concern. The knowledge of biohazards associated with particular nanoparticles is crucial to make this cutting-edge technology more beneficial and safe. Here, we evaluated the toxicity of Ga2O3 nanoparticles (NPs), which are frequently used to enhance the performance of metal catalysts in a variety of catalytic reactions. The potential inflammatory signaling associated with the toxicity of HA/β-Ga2O3:Cr3+ NPs in primary cortical neurons was examined. We observed a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability and an increase in apoptosis in neurons following various concentrations (0, 1, 5, 25, 50, 100 µg/ml) of HA/β-Ga2O3:Cr3+ NPs treatment. Consistently, constitutively active forms of calcineurin (48 kDa) were significantly elevated in cultured primary cortical neurons, which was consistent with calpain activation indicated by the breakdown products of spectrin. Moreover, HA/β-Ga2O3:Cr3+ NPs result in the elevation of LC3-II formation, SQSTM/p62, and Cathepsin B, whereas phosphorylation of CaMKII (Thr286) and Synapsin I (Ser603) were downregulated in the same context. Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that calpain activation and a disturbance of autophagy signaling are evoked by exposure to HA/β-Ga2O3:Cr3+ NPs, which may contribute to neuronal injury in vitro

Epoxyeicosatrienoic acids prevent cisplatin-induced renal apoptosis through a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase-regulated mitochondrial pathway.

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) catalyzes the conversion of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids into less active eicosanoids, and inhibitors of sEH have anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic properties. Based on previous observations that sEH inhibition attenuates cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity by modulating nuclear factor-κB signaling, we hypothesized that this strategy would also attenuate cisplatin-induced renal apoptosis. Inhibition of sEH with AR9273 [1-adamantan-1-yl-3-(1-methylsulfonyl-piperidin-4-yl-urea)] reduced cisplatin-induced apoptosis through mechanisms involving mitochondrial apoptotic pathways and by reducing reactive oxygen species. Renal mitochondrial Bax induction following cisplatin treatment was significantly decreased by treatment of mice with AR9273 and these antiapoptotic effects involved p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. Similar mechanisms contributed to reduced apoptosis in Ephx2(-/-) mice treated with cisplatin. Moreover, in pig kidney proximal tubule cells, cisplatin-induced mitochondrial trafficking of Bax and cytochrome c, caspase-3 activation, and oxidative stress are significantly attenuated in the presence of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs). Collectively, these in vivo and in vitro studies demonstrate a role for EETs in limiting cisplatin-induced renal apoptosis. Inhibition of sEH represents a novel therapeutic strategy for protection against cisplatin-induced renal damage

Visible Light Photocatalytic Degradation of RhB by Polymer-CdS Nanocomposites: Role of the Host Functional Groups

Surface groups of the host polystyrene beads play an important role in the properties of the polymer-based nano-CdS composites in terms of the distribution, dispersion, crystal structure, pH-dependent stability of nano-CdS, and thereafter affect their photocatalytic activity. Surface modification of the host materials can be taken as an effective and general approach to mediate the structure and properties of the nanocomposite materials

Proximate composition in whole body and muscle of the large yellow croaker fed diets containing different lipid sources.

<p>Proximate composition in whole body and muscle of the large yellow croaker fed diets containing different lipid sources.</p