Global research on vitamin D and coronavirus disease 2019: A bibliometric and visualized study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Vitamin D play a substantial role in immune function, but little is known about its prevention in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A detail bibliometric analysis of the published scientific literature indexed in Web of Science on vitamin D as a therapeutic option for the COVID-19 patients' treatment is lacking. Thus, the current study was conducted to determine the key bibliometric indices and plot the global research on vitamin D and COVID-19. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection database was utilized to retrieve publications on vitamin D and COVID-19. A Boolean search strategy was applied and the obtained data were exported to Microsoft Excel to generate relevant graphs. Furthermore, VOSviewer software version 1.6.17 for Windows was used to generate co-authorship countries, bibliographic coupling sources and co-occurrence keyword network visualization mapping. In addition, RStudio and Bibliometric online tool were used to generate WordCloud and thematic map, and intercountries relation map, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 818 publications on vitamin D and COVID-19 were included in the final analysis. These publications were cited 10,713 times, with an H-index of 50. The number of publications and citations score from 2020 to November 2021 increased from 317 (2423 citations) to 501 (8290 citations). Delanghe JR and Speeckaert MM were the most prolific authors with 13 publications each. The most productive journal was Nutrients (n = 63). The most studied research area is nutrition dietetics. The most widely used author keywords were COVID-19 (n = 444), Vitamin D (n = 312), and SARS-CoV-2 (n = 190). The National Institute of Health and US Department of Health and Human Services were the leading funding agencies. Harvard University was the most active institution with 25 publications. The United States of America was the highly contributing and influential country in terms of publications (n = 203) and total link strength (n = 185). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that an increasing trend in the number of publications on vitamin D and COVID-19 has been observed. Significantly, the majority of the research has been conducted in developed countries. Most importantly, over the time, the direction of research has been changed and the recent trend topics are vitamin D deficiency, risk and infection, and vitamin D supplementation based on KeyWords Plus. The use of vitamin D supplement is one of the promising therapeutic options for COVID-19 treatment. Therefore, the current study not only highlight the global research trends but also provide standard bibliographic information for future studies.

Fatty acid and mineral contents of Lycium ruthenicum Murr. and antioxidant activity against isoproterenol-induced acute myocardial ischemia in mice.

Dried fruits of black goji were investigated for their fatty acid, mineral contents, and antioxidant activity against isoproterenol-induced acute myocardial ischemia in mice was revealed. It was observed that the key fatty acids from Lycium ruthenicum Murr. (LRM) oil studied included linoleic (59.38%), oleic (20.85%), palmitic (7.07%), linolenic (2.98%), and stearic acids (5.31%), which together comprised 95.59% of the total fatty acids. The key mineral nutrients studied were potassium (17,631.15 mg/kg), calcium (2004.4 mg/kg), and magnesium (1,274.6 mg/kg), while copper, iron, manganese, and zinc were found in trace. Moreover, oral administration of water extraction of LRM exhibited significant reduction of enzyme activities, and MDA level triggered by ISO to be near normal level, while exhibited a significant increase of SOD and GSH activities. Our results provide deep insight on LRM as a potential source of high-value phytochemicals for the development of new functional food and beverage products.

Draft genome sequence of a clinical Acinetobacter baumannii isolate of new sequence type ST1688 from Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a prevalent multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen worldwide. Here we report the draft genome sequence of A. baumannii strain Ab174 isolated from a neonatal patient diagnosed with acute peritonitis. METHODS: The draft genome sequence of A. baumannii Ab174 was determined using a MiSeq platform (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA) using v.3, 2×30-bp chemistry. Genomic assembly was performed using SPAdes 3.9 algorithm. RESULTS: The draft genome of A. baumannii Ab174 is 3 747 065bp in length and was classified as a new sequence type (ST1688). The genome of A. baumannii Ab174 has a G+C content of 39% and harbours two plasmids. The antimicrobial resistance gene blaADC-25 and the virulence factor gene for penicillin-binding protein G (pbpG) as well as 17 genomic islands and 14 insertion sequences were identified in the genome of A. baumannii Ab174. CONCLUSION: The genome sequence of A. baumannii strain Ab174 can be used as a reference sequence for the new ST1688. These data will facilitate further understanding of genomic variation in isolates from different geographical regions.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility and Molecular Characterization of Clinical Strains of Acinetobacter baumannii in Western Saudi Arabia.

Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a problematic multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogen worldwide. The aim of this study was to characterize clinical isolates of A. baumannii from Jeddah, a coastal city in the western region of Saudi Arabia that has an ∼50% expatriate population. In this study, 135 nonrepetitive clinical isolates of A. baumannii were identified through MALDI-TOF and susceptibility was determined with VITEK-2 systems and broth microdilution method. Genotypic characterization of the isolates was performed by using M13 primer typing and polymerase chain reaction screening was performed for carbapenemase genes, insertion sequences, metallo-ß-lactamases, and cephalosporinase genes. The isolates were recovered from heterogeneous clinical specimens, and the majority of the cases of A. baumannii infection were acquired in the hospital and predominantly involved patients who were older than 50 years. Total, 58.5% of the isolates were MDR, and 55.6% isolates were resistant to carbapenem antibiotics. Approximately half of the isolates were resistant to ceftazidime, and cefepime among the ß-lactam antibiotics and ciprofloxacin from the quinolone group. The blaOXA-23-like gene and ISAba1 upstream of blaOXA-23-like were detected in 92% of the carbapenem-resistant isolates, while all carbapenem-resistant isolates were found to carry blaOXA-51-like, and blaADC-type cephalosporinase gene. The blaIMP gene was detected in 84% isolates, and two isolates carried the blaNDM-1 gene. Data demonstrate the coexistence of multiple carbapenem resistance determinants in A. baumannii from the western region of Saudi Arabia.

Circular RNAs as diagnostic biomarkers in gastric cancer: A meta-analysis review.

PURPOSE: Gastric cancer is a malignant tumor in the world and circRNA has a close connection with it. However, the effects of circRNA on gastric cancer is still not clear. METHODS: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Web of Science and Embase for published experimental studies about circRNA from 2013 to June 2018 was conducted with two investigators. Diagnostic OR (DOR) was calculated to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy by STATA 12.0. RESULTS: Total 11 studies were found, including 12 kinds of circRNAs, 11 in tissues, 5 in plasma, and all down regulated. The combined DOR and AUC (Area Under the Curve of Receiver Operating Characteristic) with their 95%CI were 8.778 [6.108, 12.614] and 0.81 [0.78, 0.84] respectively, indicating that circRNAs can reflect gastric cancer as well. Subgroup analysis revealed that circRNAs in plasma were higher than tissues as well as in subgroup with different sample sizes. We speculated that the heterogeneity of the literatures was mainly due to the different backgrounds of gastric cancer and the differences in experimental design and operation process. And the Deeks' funnel map revealed there was no obvious public biasness in the literature. CONCLUSION: CircRNAs have high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of gastric cancer, and it may become an auxiliary diagnostic biomarker of gastric cancer.