Gut microbiota contributes to high-altitude hypoxia acclimatization of human populations.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between human gut microbiota and high-altitude hypoxia acclimatization remains highly controversial. This stems primarily from uncertainties regarding both the potential temporal changes in the microbiota under such conditions and the existence of any dominant or core bacteria that may assist in host acclimatization. RESULTS: To address these issues, and to control for variables commonly present in previous studies which significantly impact the results obtained, namely genetic background, ethnicity, lifestyle, and diet, we conducted a 108-day longitudinal study on the same cohort comprising 45 healthy Han adults who traveled from lowland Chongqing, 243 masl, to high-altitude plateau Lhasa, Xizang, 3658 masl, and back. Using shotgun metagenomic profiling, we study temporal changes in gut microbiota composition at different timepoints. The results show a significant reduction in the species and functional diversity of the gut microbiota, along with a marked increase in functional redundancy. These changes are primarily driven by the overgrowth of Blautia A, a genus that is also abundant in six independent Han cohorts with long-term duration in lower hypoxia environment in Shigatse, Xizang, at 4700 masl. Further animal experiments indicate that Blautia A-fed mice exhibit enhanced intestinal health and a better acclimatization phenotype to sustained hypoxic stress. CONCLUSIONS: Our study underscores the importance of Blautia A species in the gut microbiota's rapid response to high-altitude hypoxia and its potential role in maintaining intestinal health and aiding host adaptation to extreme environments, likely via anti-inflammation and intestinal barrier protection.

Identification of the metabolites produced following Iris tectorum Maxim oral administration and a network pharmacology-based analysis of their potential pharmacological properties.

1. Iris tectorum Maxim is a traditional herbal medicine that has been used to treat cancer, abdominal distension, hepatic cirrhosis, and inflammatory diseases. How I. tectorum Maxim is metabolised and the mechanistic basis for its pharmacological activity remain to be defined.2. This study was designed to clarify the metabolism of I. tectorum Maxim and to explore the mechanistic basis for its pharmacological activity.3. In the present study, 51 metabolites were identified via mass spectrometry in samples of bile, urine, and faeces from Wistar rats. Metabolites were mainly formed by glucuronidation, sulphation, methylation, and amino acid conjugation.4. Tectoridin, tectorigenin, irigenin, iristectorigenin A, iristectorigenin B, and 6-hydroxygenistein were identified as potentially be bioactive candidate metabolites for which 36 putative targets and 90 interactions were detected through a network pharmacology analysis. Gene set enrichment analyses and compound-disease networks revealed the targets of these metabolites to regulate important proteins associated with cancer as well as cardiovascular, urogenital, and digestive system diseases.5. Molecular docking confirmed the interactions of these six candidate bioactive metabolites with carbonic anhydrase IV, VII, and XII.6. Overall, these data offer new insights into the metabolism and pharmacological activity of I. tectorum Maxim in vivo.

[The application of DNA molecular markers in conservation of the rare and endangered medicinal plants].

In this paper, the advance in DNA molecular markers techniques in recent years was reviewed. The application of DNA markers in conservation of the rare and endangered medicinal plants was explicated, of which included identification of germ-plasm resource, determination of the habitats unite which should be protected in situ, sampling strategies of ex-situ conservation, evaluation of the conservation effects of the rare and endangered medicinal plants, as well as elucidation of their endangered mechanism etc. The information could help drawing up conservation strategies and conservation measures for references.