Mitogen-activated protein kinases MPK3 and MPK6 phosphorylate receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase CDL1 to regulate soybean basal immunity.

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN; Heterodera glycines Ichinohe), one of the most devastating soybean (Glycine max) pathogens, causes significant yield loss in soybean production. Nematode infection triggers plant defense responses; however, the components involved in the upstream signaling cascade remain largely unknown. In this study, we established that a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling module, activated by nematode infection or wounding, is crucial for soybeans to establish SCN resistance. GmMPK3 and GmMPK6 directly interact with CDG1-LIKE1 (GmCDL1), a member of the receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase (RLCK) subfamily VII. These kinases phosphorylate GmCDL1 at Thr-372 to prevent its proteasome-mediated degradation. Functional analysis demonstrated that GmCDL1 positively regulates immune responses and promotes SCN resistance in soybeans. GmMPK3-mediated and GmMPK6-mediated phosphorylation of GmCDL1 enhances GmMPK3 and GmMPK6 activation and soybean disease resistance, representing a positive feedback mechanism. Additionally, 2 L-type lectin receptor kinases, GmLecRK02g and GmLecRK08g, associate with GmCDL1 to initiate downstream immune signaling. Notably, our study also unveils the potential involvement of GmLecRKs and GmCDL1 in countering other soybean pathogens beyond nematodes. Taken together, our findings reveal the pivotal role of the GmLecRKs-GmCDL1-MAPK regulatory module in triggering soybean basal immune responses.

Soybean ethylene response factors GmENS1 and GmENS2 promote nodule senescence.

The final phase in root nodule development is nodule senescence. The mechanism underlying the initiation of nodule senescence requires further elucidation. Here, we investigated the intrinsic signals governing soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) nodule senescence, uncovering ethylene as a key signal in this intricate mechanism. Two AP2/ERF transcription factor genes, GmENS1 and GmENS2 (Ethylene-responsive transcription factors required for Nodule Senescence), exhibit heightened expression levels in both aged nodules and nodules treated with ethylene. Overexpression of either GmENS1 or GmENS2 accelerated senescence in soybean nodules, whereas the knockout or knockdown of both genes delayed senescence and enhanced nitrogenase activity. Furthermore, our findings indicated that GmENS1 and GmENS2 directly bind to the promoters of GmNAC039, GmNAC018, and GmNAC030, encoding three NAC transcription factors essential for activating soybean nodule senescence. Notably, the nodule senescence process mediated by GmENS1 or GmENS2 overexpression was suppressed in the soybean nac039/018/030 triple mutant compared with the wild-type control. These data indicate GmENS1 and GmENS2 as pivotal transcription factors mediating ethylene-induced nodule senescence through the direct activation of GmNAC039/GmNAC018/GmNAC030 expression in soybean.

Serum Exosomes From Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Patients Contain LRP1, Which Promotes the Migration of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cell.

Ovarian cancer is a gynecological tumor with extremely high mortality and poor prognosis. Exosomes derived from tumor cells contain abundant proteins that may influence tumor metastasis. The purpose of our study was to explore the proteomic profile of serum exosomes from epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients and to find potential diagnostic markers for EOC. We obtained purified exosomes from serum using ultracentrifugation. Migration assay was used to evaluate the effects of exosomes on the migration of EOC cells. Proteomic profile of serum exosomes was analyzed by liquid chromatogram-tandem mass spectrometry. The levels of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) in serum and serum exosomes were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Western blot and Immunohistochemistry were used to determine the level of LRP1 in tissues. Moreover, we performed small-interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of LRP1 in EOC cells to obtain SI-LRP1-Exos and SI-NC-Exos. The detailed mechanisms by which exosomal LRP1 affected the migration of EOC cells in vitro and in vivo were also explored. We found that serum exosomes from EOC patients contributed to the migration of EOC cells. The level of serum exosomal LRP1 of EOC patients was significantly upregulated compared with that of healthy volunteers, which was consistent with the result of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found that exosomal LRP1 regulated the expression of MMP2 and MMP9 through ERK signaling pathway and affected the migration of EOC cells in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, we propose that exosomal LRP1 contributes to the migration of EOC and may act as an important diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of EOC.

ASK1 signaling regulates phase-specific glial interactions during neuroinflammation.

Neuroinflammation is well known to be associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase that has been implicated in neuroinflammation, but its precise cellular and molecular mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we generated conditional knockout (CKO) mice that lack ASK1 in T cells, dendritic cells, microglia/macrophages, microglia, or astrocytes, to assess the roles of ASK1 during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We found that neuroinflammation was reduced in both the early and later stages of EAE in microglia/macrophage-specific ASK1 knockout mice, whereas only the later-stage neuroinflammation was ameliorated in astrocyte-specific ASK1 knockout mice. ASK1 deficiency in T cells and dendritic cells had no significant effects on EAE severity. Further, we found that ASK1 in microglia/macrophages induces a proinflammatory environment, which subsequently activates astrocytes to exacerbate neuroinflammation. Microglia-specific ASK1 deletion was achieved using a CX3CR1CreER system, and we found that ASK1 signaling in microglia played a major role in generating and maintaining disease. Activated astrocytes produce key inflammatory mediators, including CCL2, that further activated and recruited microglia/macrophages, in an astrocytic ASK1-dependent manner. Astrocyte-specific analysis revealed CCL2 expression was higher in the later stage compared with the early stage, suggesting a greater proinflammatory role of astrocytes in the later stage. Our findings demonstrate cell-type-specific roles of ASK1 and suggest phase-specific ASK1-dependent glial cell interactions in EAE pathophysiology. We propose glial ASK1 as a promising therapeutic target for reducing neuroinflammation.

OsMADS5 interacts with OsSPL14/17 to inhibit rice root elongation by restricting cell proliferation of root meristem under ammonium supply.

Nitrogen (N) is a vital major nutrient for rice (Oryza sativa). Rice responds to different applications of N by altering its root morphology, including root elongation. Although ammonium ( NH 4 + ) is the primary source of N for rice, NH 4 + is toxic to rice roots and inhibits root elongation. However, the precise molecular mechanism that NH 4 + -inhibited root elongation of rice is not well understood. Here, we identified a rice T-DNA insert mutant of OsMADS5 with a longer seminal root (SR) under sufficient N conditions. Reverse-transcription quantitative PCR analysis revealed that the expression level of OsMADS5 was increased under NH 4 + compared with NO 3 - supply. Under NH 4 + conditions, knocking out OsMADS5 (cas9) produced a longer SR, phenocopying osmads5, while there was no significant difference in SR length between wild-type and cas9 under NO 3 - supply. Moreover, OsMADS5-overexpression plants displayed the opposite SR phenotype. Further study demonstrated that enhancement of OsMADS5 by NH 4 + supply inhibited rice SR elongation, likely by reducing root meristem activity of root tip, with the involvement of OsCYCB1;1. We also found that OsMADS5 interacted with OsSPL14 and OsSPL17 (OsSPL14/17) to repress their transcriptional activation by attenuating DNA binding ability. Moreover, loss of OsSPL14/17 function in osmads5 eliminated its stimulative effect on SR elongation under NH 4 + conditions, implying OsSPL14/17 may function downstream of OsMADS5 to mediate rice SR elongation under NH 4 + supply. Overall, our results indicate the existence of a novel modulatory pathway in which enhancement of OsMADS5 by NH 4 + supply represses the transcriptional activities of OsSPL14/17 to restrict SR elongation of rice.

ABCD4 is associated with mammary gland development in mammals.

BACKGROUND: Mammary gland development is a critical process in mammals, crucial for their reproductive success and offspring nourishment. However, the functional roles of key candidate genes associated with teat number, including ABCD4, VRTN, PROX2, and DLST, in this developmental process remain elusive. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted an in-depth investigation into the dynamic expression patterns, functional implications, and regulatory networks of these candidate genes during mouse mammary gland development. RESULTS: In this study, the spatial and temporal patterns of key genes were characterized in mammary gland development. Using time-series single-cell data, we uncovered differences in the expression of A bcd4, Vrtn, Prox2, and Dlst in cell population of the mammary gland during embryonic and adult stages, while Vrtn was not detected in any cells. We found that only overexpression and knockdown of Abcd4 could inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of HC11 mammary epithelial cells, whereas Prox2 and Dlst had no significant effect on these cells. Using RNA-seq and qPCR, further analysis revealed that Abcd4 can induce widespread changes in the expression levels of genes involved in mammary gland development, such as Igfbp3, Ccl5, Tlr2, and Prlr, which were primarily associated with the MAPK, JAK-STAT, and PI3K-AKT pathways by functional enrichment. CONCLUSIONS: These findings revealed ABCD4 as a candidate gene pivotal for regulating mammary gland development and lactation during pregnancy by influencing PRLR expression.

Behavioral dishonesty in multiscenes: Associations with trait honesty and neural patterns during (dis)honesty video-watching.

Cross-situational inconsistency is common in the expression of honesty traits; yet, there is insufficient emphasis on behavioral dishonesty across multiple contexts. The current study aimed to investigate behavioral dishonesty in various contexts and reveal the associations between trait honesty, behavioral dishonesty, and neural patterns of observing others behave honestly or dishonestly in videos (abbr.: (dis)honesty video-watching). First, the results revealed limitations in using trait honesty to reflect variations in dishonest behaviors and predict behavioral dishonesty. The finding highlights the importance of considering neural patterns in understanding and predicting dishonest behaviors. Second, by comparing the predictive performance of seven types of data across three neural networks, the results showed that functional connectivity in the hypothesis-driven network during (dis)honesty video-watching provided the highest predictive power in predicting multitask behavioral dishonesty. Last, by applying the feature elimination method, the midline self-referential regions (medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex), anterior insula, and striatum were identified as the most informative brain regions in predicting behavioral dishonesty. In summary, the study offered insights into individual differences in deception and the intricate connections among trait honesty, behavioral dishonesty, and neural patterns during (dis)honesty video-watching.

Interbrain substrates of role switching during mother-child interaction.

Mother-child interaction is highly dynamic and reciprocal. Switching roles in these back-and-forth interactions serves as a crucial feature of reciprocal behaviors while the underlying neural entrainment is still not well-studied. Here, we designed a role-controlled cooperative task with dual EEG recording to explore how differently two brains interact when mothers and children hold different roles. When children were actors and mothers were observers, mother-child interbrain synchrony emerged primarily within the theta oscillations and the frontal lobe, which highly correlated with children's attachment to their mothers (self-reported by mothers). When their roles were reversed, this synchrony was shifted to the alpha oscillations and the central area and associated with mothers' perception of their relationship with their children. The results suggested an observer-actor neural alignment within the actor's oscillations, which was related to the actor-toward-observer emotional bonding. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how interbrain synchrony is established and dynamically changed during mother-child reciprocal interaction.

Risk-based lung cancer screening in heavy smokers: a benefit-harm and cost-effectiveness modeling study.

BACKGROUND: Annual screening through low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) is recommended for heavy smokers. However, it is questionable whether all individuals require annual screening given the potential harms of LDCT screening. This study examines the benefit-harm and cost-effectiveness of risk-based screening in heavy smokers and determines the optimal risk threshold for screening and risk-stratified screening intervals. METHODS: We conducted a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis in China, using a cohort-based Markov model which simulated a lung cancer screening cohort of 19,146 heavy smokers aged 50 ~ 74 years old, who had a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years and were either current smokers or had quit for < 15 years. A total of 34 risk-based screening strategies, varying by different risk groups for screening eligibility and screening intervals (1-year, 2-year, 3-year, one-off, non-screening), were evaluated and were compared with annual screening for all heavy smokers (the status quo strategy). The analysis was undertaken from the health service perspective with a 30-year time horizon. The willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold was adopted as three times the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in 2021 (CNY 242,928) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. RESULTS: Compared with the status quo strategy, nine risk-based screening strategies were found to be cost-effective, with two of them even resulting in cost-saving. The most cost-effective strategy was the risk-based approach of annual screening for individuals with a 5-year risk threshold of ≥ 1.70%, biennial screening for individuals with a 5-year risk threshold of 1.03 ~ 1.69%, and triennial screening for individuals with a 5-year risk threshold of < 1.03%. This strategy had the highest incremental net monetary benefit (iNMB) of CNY 1032. All risk-based screening strategies were more efficient than the status quo strategy, requiring 129 ~ 656 fewer screenings per lung cancer death avoided, and 0.5 ~ 28 fewer screenings per life-year gained. The cost-effectiveness of risk-based screening was further improved when individual adherence to screening improved and individuals quit smoking after being screened. CONCLUSIONS: Risk-based screening strategies are more efficient in reducing lung cancer deaths and gaining life years compared to the status quo strategy. Risk-stratified screening intervals can potentially balance long-term benefit-harm trade-offs and improve the cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screenings.

Brown planthopper infestation on rice reduces plant susceptibility to Meloidogyne graminicola by reducing root sugar allocation.

Plants are simultaneously attacked by different pests that rely on sugars uptake from plants. An understanding of the role of plant sugar allocation in these multipartite interactions is limited. Here, we characterized the expression patterns of sucrose transporter genes and evaluated the impact of targeted transporter gene mutants and brown planthopper (BPH) phloem-feeding and oviposition on root sugar allocation and BPH-reduced rice susceptibility to Meloidogyne graminicola. We found that the sugar transporter genes OsSUT1 and OsSUT2 are induced at BPH oviposition sites. OsSUT2 mutants showed a higher resistance to gravid BPH than to nymph BPH, and this was correlated with callose deposition, as reflected in a different effect on M. graminicola infection. BPH phloem-feeding caused inhibition of callose deposition that was counteracted by BPH oviposition. Meanwhile, this pivotal role of sugar allocation in BPH-reduced rice susceptibility to M. graminicola was validated on rice cultivar RHT harbouring BPH resistance genes Bph3 and Bph17. In conclusion, we demonstrated that rice susceptibility to M. graminicola is regulated by BPH phloem-feeding and oviposition on rice through differences in plant sugar allocation.

Copper-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of 2-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)aniline and alkylsilyl peroxides: a route to pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines.

An efficient method was developed for the one-pot construction of pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines via a Cu(II)-catalyzed domino reaction between 2-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)anilines and alkylsilyl peroxides. This reaction proceeds through C-C bond cleavage and new C-C and C-N bond formation. A mechanistic study suggests that alkyl radical species participate in the cascade reaction.

Drug combination of topical ripasudil and brimonidine enhances neuroprotection in a mouse model of optic nerve injury.

PURPOSE: To determine whether combination of topical ripasudil and brimonidine has more effective neuroprotection on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) following injury to axons composing the optic nerve. METHODS: Topical ripasudil, brimonidine, or mixture of both drugs were administered to adult mice after optic nerve injury (ONI). The influence of drug conditions on RGC health were evaluated by the quantifications of surviving RGCs, phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (phospho-p38), and expressions of trophic factors and proinflammatory mediators in the retina. RESULTS: Topical ripasudil and brimonidine suppressed ONI-induced RGC death respectively, and mixture of both drugs further stimulated RGC survival. Topical ripasudil and brimonidine suppressed ONI-induced phospho-p38 in the whole retina. In addition, topical ripasudil suppressed expression levels of TNFα, IL-1ß and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), whereas topical brimonidine increased the expression level of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). CONCLUSIONS: Combination of topical ripasudil and brimonidine may enhance RGC protection by modulating multiple signaling pathways in the retina.

Neuroimaging prognostic factors for treatment response to motor imagery training after stroke.

The efficacy of motor imagery training for motor recovery is well acknowledged, but with substantial inter-individual variability in stroke patients. To help optimize motor imagery training therapy plans and screen suitable patients, this study aimed to explore neuroimaging biomarkers explaining variability in treatment response. Thirty-nine stroke patients were randomized to a motor imagery training group (n = 22, received a combination of conventional rehabilitation therapy and motor imagery training) and a control group (n = 17, received conventional rehabilitation therapy and health education) for 4 weeks of interventions. Their demography and clinical information, brain lesion from structural MRI, spontaneous brain activity and connectivity from rest fMRI, and sensorimotor brain activation from passive motor task fMRI were acquired to identify prognostic factors. We found that the variability of outcomes from sole conventional rehabilitation therapy could be explained by the reserved sensorimotor neural function, whereas the variability of outcomes from motor imagery training + conventional rehabilitation therapy was related to the spontaneous activity in the ipsilesional inferior parietal lobule and the local connectivity in the contralesional supplementary motor area. The results suggest that additional motor imagery training treatment is also efficient for severe patients with damaged sensorimotor neural function, but might be more effective for patients with impaired motor planning and reserved motor imagery.

Vision protection and robust axon regeneration in glaucoma models by membrane-associated Trk receptors.

Activation of neurotrophic factor signaling is a promising therapy for neurodegeneration. However, the transient nature of ligand-dependent activation limits its effectiveness. In this study, we solved this problem by inventing a system that forces membrane localization of the intracellular domain of tropomyosin receptor kinase B (iTrkB), which results in constitutive activation without ligands. Our system overcomes the small size limitation of the genome packaging in adeno-associated virus (AAV) and allows high expression of the transgene. Using AAV-mediated gene therapy in the eyes, we demonstrate that iTrkB expression enhances neuroprotection in mouse models of glaucoma and stimulates robust axon regeneration after optic nerve injury. In addition, iTrkB expression in the retina was also effective in an optic tract transection model, in which the injury site is near the superior colliculus. Regenerating axons successfully formed pathways to their brain targets, resulting in partial recovery of visual behavior. Our system may also be applicable to other trophic factor signaling pathways and lead to a significant advance in the field of gene therapy for neurotrauma and neurodegenerative disorders, including glaucoma.

Combination of click chemistry and Schiff base reaction: Post-synthesis of covalent organic frameworks as an immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography platform for efficient capture of global phosphopeptides in serum with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Reasonable design and construction of functionalized materials are of great importance for the enrichment of global phosphopeptides. In this work, Ti4+ functionalized hydrophilic covalent organic frameworks by introducing glutathione (GSH) and 2,3,4-trihydroxy benzaldehyde (THBA) via click chemistry and Schiff base reaction (COF-V@GSH-THBA-Ti4+ ) was constructed and applied for selective enrichment of phosphopeptides in serum. Benefit from the high surface area, excellent hydrophilicity as well as regular mesoporous structure, COF-V@GSH-THBA-Ti4+ displayed high selectivity (molar ratio of 2000:1), low limit of detection (0.5 fmol), high load capacity (100.0 mg/g) and excellent size-exclusion effect (1:10000) for enrichment of phosphopeptides. For actual bio-sample analysis, 15 phosphopeptides assigned to 10 phosphoproteins with 16 phosphorylated sites and 33 phosphopeptides assigned to 25 phosphoproteins with 34 phosphorylated sites were detected from the serum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and normal controls. Biological processes and molecular functions analysis further disclosed the difference of serums with phosphoproteomics between COPD and normal controls.

ASK1 activation in glial cells in post-mortem multiple sclerosis tissue.

Multiple sclerosis (MS), the leading cause of disability in young adults, is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system characterized by localized areas of demyelination. Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase that has been shown to be implicated in the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a mouse model of MS. Interestingly, ASK1 signaling regulates glial cell interactions and drives neuroinflammation in EAE mice. To further investigate its clinical significance, in the present study, we examined the activation of ASK1 in the post-mortem brain of MS patients. ASK1 activation was found in active lesions of the corpus callosum in both microglia/macrophages and astrocytes. Moreover, ASK1 activation in astrocytes was higher than that in microglia/macrophages, which was in line with our findings in EAE mice. Our results suggest an important role of ASK1 in glial cells, indicating that ASK1 might be a good therapeutic target for MS.

Study on a Pig Vocalization Classification Method Based on Multi-Feature Fusion.

To improve the classification of pig vocalization using vocal signals and improve recognition accuracy, a pig vocalization classification method based on multi-feature fusion is proposed in this study. With the typical vocalization of pigs in large-scale breeding houses as the research object, short-time energy, frequency centroid, formant frequency and first-order difference, and Mel frequency cepstral coefficient and first-order difference were extracted as the fusion features. These fusion features were improved using principal component analysis. A pig vocalization classification model with a BP neural network optimized based on the genetic algorithm was constructed. The results showed that using the improved features to recognize pig grunting, squealing, and coughing, the average recognition accuracy was 93.2%; the recognition precisions were 87.9%, 98.1%, and 92.7%, respectively, with an average of 92.9%; and the recognition recalls were 92.0%, 99.1%, and 87.4%, respectively, with an average of 92.8%, which indicated that the proposed pig vocalization classification method had good recognition precision and recall, and could provide a reference for pig vocalization information feedback and automatic recognition.

Relationship between dietary knowledge, food preference, and long-short term health status among Chinese adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards and changes in dietary patterns, dietary knowledge and food preference have been playing an increasingly crucial role in health. The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between dietary knowledge, food preference, and long-short term health status among Chinese adults aged 18-70. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: This study employed cross-sectional data from the 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey obtained from 4822 adults. We utilized self-assessed health status as an indicator of long-term health status and utilized sickness in the last four weeks as a measure of short-term health status. Taking advantage of ordered probit regression, long-term health status was regressed on all predictors, while the binary logistic regression was used to analyze the factors influencing short-term health status. The propensity score matching is employed to account for potential selection bias in analysis, thereby increasing the robustness and credibility of results. RESULTS: The analysis revealed that dietary knowledge and food preference can improve an individual's long-term health status significantly. However, there is no evidence to show that short-term health status is affected by food preference. Furthermore, dietary knowledge is negatively associated with short-term health status. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of dietary education and healthy eating habits in improving the long-term health status of Chinese adults. The study suggests implications for public health strategies aimed at enhancing the health and well-being of Chinese adults.

Biportal Endoscopic Spinal Cord Stimulation Paddle Lead Implantation: Technical Note and Preliminary Clinical Results.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to elucidate a novel, minimally invasive surgical technique using a biportal endoscope for the implantation of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) paddle leads and to report the preliminary results of its clinical application. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The perioperative data of patients who underwent the biportal endoscopic SCS paddle lead implantation in our department were collected; the surgical procedure was delineated, and the clinical outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: From February 2022 to December 2023, six patients underwent biportal endoscopic SCS paddle lead implantation. The median follow-up time was nine months (range one to three months). The median intraoperative blood loss was 30 mL (range 25-50 mL), and the median operative time was 87.5 minutes (range 75-110 minutes). One patient experienced severe neck pain during the operation, whereas the other five patients experienced no surgical complications. One patient was found to have a slight lead migration three months after surgery, which did not affect the therapeutic effect. The median visual analogue scale (VAS) of the surgical area was 0.5 (range 0-2), 2.5 (range 1-4), and 0.5 (range 0-1) during the operation and one day and one week after the operation, respectively. The median VAS of the six patients' primary disease was 8 (range 7-9) before surgery and 2.5 (range 1-4) at the last postoperative follow-up (pain reduction ≥50%). CONCLUSION: Paddle lead systems for SCS can be implanted successfully using a biportal endoscopic technique.

Follicular fluid lipidomics analysis reveals altered lipid signatures in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: This research investigates the metabolic profiles of follicular fluid (FF) samples from patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing in vitro fertilisation and aims to identify diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for PCOS through lipidomic analysis. METHODS: We performed non-targeted lipid analysis of FF samples from women with PCOS (n = 6) and normal controls (n = 6) using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Differential lipids between the two groups were screened using multidimensional statistical analysis, followed by fold change analysis and t-tests to identify potential PCOS biomarkers. RESULTS: Multivariate statistical analysis revealed significant differences in FF lipid levels between the PCOS and control groups. Five different lipids were selected as standards, with p < .05. Phosphatidylcholine (PC), the main differentially expressed lipid, was significantly increased in the FF of the POCS group and was closely related to other lipids. CONCLUSIONS: Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we investigated lipid biomarkers based on FF lipidomics to provide useful information for the discovery of diagnostic markers for PCOS. Our study identified five distinct lipids as potential markers of PCOS, with PC being the primary aberrant lipid found in the FF of patients with PCOS.

Follicular fluid (FF) is a complex microenvironment involved in oocyte growth, follicular maturation and germ cell­somatic cell communication. All metabolites during oocyte growth are collected from the FF. This study used lipidomic analysis to identify differences in FF lipids between normal women and those diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The pathogenesis of PCOS is associated with abnormal metabolism of glyceroglycolipids and sphingomyelin. Here, we found that phosphatidylcholine is the main abnormal lipid in FF in patients with PCOS. Our study informs the future research into the development of diagnostic markers for PCOS to be used in clinical practice.