Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling reveals the drought tolerance mechanism of Illicium difengpi (Schisandraceae).

Illicium difengpi (Schisandraceae), an endangered medicinal plant endemic to karst areas, is highly tolerant to drought and thus can be used as an ideal material for investigating adaptive mechanism to drought stress. The understanding of the drought tolerance of I. difengpi, especially at the molecular level, is lacking. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the molecular mechanism underlying drought tolerance in endemic I. difengpi plant in karst regions. The response characteristics of transcripts and changes in metabolite abundance of I. difengpi subjected to drought and rehydration were analyzed, the genes and key metabolites responsive to drought and rehydration were screened, and some important biosynthetic and secondary metabolic pathways were identified. A total of 231,784 genes and 632 metabolites were obtained from transcriptome and metabolome analyses, and most of the physiological metabolism in drought-treated I. difengpi plants recovered after rehydration. There were more upregulated genes than downregulated genes under drought and rehydration treatments, and rehydration treatment induced stable expression of 65.25% of genes, indicating that rehydration alleviated drought stress to some extent. Drought and rehydration treatment generated flavonoids, phenolic acids, flavonols, amino acids and their derivatives, as well as metabolites such as saccharides and alcohols in the leaves of I. difengpi plants, which alleviated the injury caused by excessive reactive oxygen species. The integration of transcriptome and metabolome analyses showed that, under drought stress, I. difengpi increased glutathione, flavonoids, polyamines, soluble sugars and amino acids, contributing to cell osmotic potential and antioxidant activity. The results show that the high drought tolerance and recovery after rehydration are the reasons for the normal growth of I. difengpi in karst mountain areas.

Risk factors for severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients: A review.

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has caused an unprecedented global social and economic impact, and high numbers of deaths. Many risk factors have been identified in the progression of COVID-19 into a severe and critical stage, including old age, male gender, underlying comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, chronic lung diseases, heart, liver and kidney diseases, tumors, clinically apparent immunodeficiencies, local immunodeficiencies, such as early type I interferon secretion capacity, and pregnancy. Possible complications include acute kidney injury, coagulation disorders, thoromboembolism. The development of lymphopenia and eosinopenia are laboratory indicators of COVID-19. Laboratory parameters to monitor disease progression include lactate dehydrogenase, procalcitonin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1ß, Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6), and ferritin. The development of a cytokine storm and extensive chest computed tomography imaging patterns are indicators of a severe disease. In addition, socioeconomic status, diet, lifestyle, geographical differences, ethnicity, exposed viral load, day of initiation of treatment, and quality of health care have been reported to influence individual outcomes. In this review, we highlight the scientific evidence on the risk factors of severity of COVID-19.

Comparative efficacy and safety of oral antidiabetic drugs and insulin in treating gestational diabetes mellitus: An updated PRISMA-compliant network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The safety and efficacy of different drugs in treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) patients who could not maintain normal glucose level only through diet and exercise remains to be debated. We performed this network meta-analysis (NAM) to compare and rank different antidiabetic drugs in glucose level control and pregnancy outcomes in GDM patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase up to December 31, 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to different drugs in the treatment of GDM patients were enrolled. We extracted the relevant information and assessed the risk of bias with the Cochrane risk of bias tool. We did pair-wise meta-analyses using the fixed-effects model or random-effects model and then adopted random-effects NAM combining both direct and indirect evidence within a Bayesian framework, to calculate the odds ratio (OR) or standardized mean difference (SMD) and to draw a surface under the cumulative ranking curve of the neonatal and maternal outcomes of different treatments in GDM patients. RESULTS: Thirty-two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in this NAM, including 6 kinds of treatments (metformin, metformin plus insulin, insulin, glyburide, acarbose, and placebo). The results of the NAM showed that regarding the incidence of macrosomia and LGA, metformin had lower incidence than glyburide (OR, 0.5411 and 0.4177). In terms of the incidence of admission to the NICU, insulin had higher incidence compared with glyburide (OR, 1.844). As for the incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia, metformin had lower incidence than insulin and glyburide (OR, 0.6331 and 0.3898), and insulin was lower than glyburide (OR, 0.6236). For mean birth weight, metformin plus insulin was lower than insulin (SMD, -0.5806), glyburide (SMD, -0.7388), and placebo (SMD, -0.6649). Besides, metformin was observed to have lower birth weight than glyburide (SMD, 0.2591). As for weight gain, metformin and metformin plus insulin were lower than insulin (SMD, -0.9166, -1.53). Ranking results showed that glyburide might be the optimum treatment regarding average glucose control, and metformin is the fastest in glucose control for GDM patients; glyburide have the highest incidence of macrosomia, preeclampsia, hyperbilirubinemia, neonatal hypoglycemia, shortest gestational age at delivery, and lowest mean birth weight; metformin (plus insulin when required) have the lowest incidence of macrosomia, PIH, LGA, RDS, low gestational age at delivery, and low birth weight. Besides, insulin had the highest incidence of NICU admission, acarbose had the lowest risk of neonatal hypoglycemia. CONCLUSION: Our study concluded that metformin is fastest in glucose control, with a more favorable pregnancy outcomes-would be a better option, but its rate of glucose control is the lowest.However, glyburide is the optimumtreatment regarding the rate of glucose control, but withmore adverse outcomes. This NAMbased on 32 RCTs will strongly help to guide further development of management for GDM patients, clinicians should carefully balance the risk-benefit profile of different treatments according to various situations.

Association between killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) polymorphisms and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in populations: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recently, a growing number of studies show that the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) gene polymorphisms may play a role in the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility. Nonetheless, the results were inconsistent. Thus, a meta-analysis was carried out by integrating multiple research to clarify the association between KIR polymorphisms and SLE susceptibility. METHODS: The Web of Science, Embase (Ovid), PubMed, Elsevier Science Direct, the Chinese Biomedical Database and CNKI, Wanfang databases (last search was updated on May 15, 2016) were systematically searched to select studies on addressing the association between the KIR polymorphisms and susceptibility to SLE in populations. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated. RESULTS: A total of 10 published case-control studies involving 1450 SLE patients and 1758 controls were available for this meta-analysis. Results suggested that KIR2DL1 might be a risk factor for SLE (OR 2DL1 =1.047, 95% CI=1.011-1.083) in all subjects. The KIR2DL3, KIR2DL5 were identified as protective factors for SLE in Asian populations (OR2DL3= 0.215, 95% CI = 0.077-0.598; OR2DL5 = 0.588, 95% CI = 0.393-0.881), but not in Caucasians. CONCLUSIONS: The meta-analysis results suggested that 2DL1 might be a potential risk factor and 2DL3, 2DL5 might be protective factors for SLE in Asians but not in Caucasians.

Supramolecular interaction of ethylenediamine linked beta-cyclodextrin dimer and berberine hydrochloride by spectrofluorimetry and its analytical application.

The supramolecular interaction of beta-cyclodextrin dimer with berberine hydrochloride was studied in aqueous KH2PO4-H3PO4 buffer solution of pH 2.00 at room temperature by spectrofluorimetry. The apparent association constant of the complex was 1.53 x 10(4) L mol(-1). Based on the significant enhancement of fluorescence intensity of supramolecular sandwich complexes, a spectrofluorimetric method with high sensitivity and selectivity was developed for the determination of berberine hydrochloride in aqueous solution in presence of ethylenediamine linked beta-CD dimer. The linear range of the method was 12.8-1.00 x 10(4 )ng mL(-1) with the detection limit 3.6 ng mL(-1). There was no interference from the normally used in tablets and serum constituents. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of berberine hydrochloride in tablets and serum. And then it has a promising potential in therapeutic drug monitoring, pharmacokinetics and clinical application.

[Investigation and controlling measure of main diseases and pests on Artemisia annua].

According to the investigations in Guangxi area, there are 3 kind diseases and 11 kind insect pests on Artemisia annua L. In which main diseases and peste are the stem rot, cataplexy, Myzus persicase, Agrotis ypsilon and Diarthronomyia chrysanthemi. This article reports the main symptom, the cause of disease, the shape characteristic, the harm situation emphatically as well as the preventing and controlling measure.

Synthesis of ethylenediamine linked beta-cyclodextrin dimer and its analytical application for tranilast determination by spectrofluorimetry.

A synthesis of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) dimer, containing two beta-CD moieties that are linked through their sides by ethylenediamine, was presented. The dimer was characterized by means of IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, and elemental analysis. The inclusion complexation behavior of beta-cyclodextrin dimer with tranilast was studied in an aqueous KH(2)PO(4)-citric acid buffer solution of pH 2.00 at room temperature by spectrofluorimetry. Based on the significant enhancement of fluorescence intensity of tranilast, a spectrofluorimetric method with high sensitivity and selectivity was developed for the determination of tranilast in bulk aqueous solution in the presence of ethylenediamine beta-CD dimer. The apparent association constant of the complex was 8.39 x 10(3) L mol(-1), and the linear range was 10.8-1.40 x 10(4) ng mL(-1) with the detection limit 3.2 ng mL(-1). There was no interference from the excipients normally used in tablets and serum constituents. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of tranilast in serum.