The protective role of phlorizin against lipopolysaccharide-induced acute orchitis in mice associated with changes in gut microbiota composition.

Objective: Orchitis is a common reproductive disease of male animals, which has serious implications to human and animal reproduction. Additionally, phlorizin (PHN), a common polyphenol in apples and strawberries, has a variety of biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-aging activities. We aimed to determine the protective effects and potential mechanisms of PHN in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute orchitis in mice. Method: After 21 days of PHN pretreatment, mice were injected with LPS to induce testicular inflammation, and then the changes of testicular tissue structure, expression of inflammatory factors, testosterone level, expression of testosterone-related genes, adhesion gene and protein expression were detected, and the structural changes in the intestinal flora after PHN treatment were further detected by 16SRNA. Result: Our results demonstrated that PHN treatment reduced LPS-induced testicular injury and body and testicular weight losses. The mRNA expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines-related genes and antioxidant enzyme activity were also decreased and elevated, respectively, by PHN administration; however, PHN treatment also reduced the LPS-induced decrease in testosterone levels in the testes. Additionally, further studies found that PHN increased the expression of marker proteins zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and occludin associated with the blood testosterone barrier compared with that in LPS treatment groups. To further examine the potential mechanisms of the protective effect of PHN on LPS-induced testicular injury, we compared the differences of gut microbiota compositions between the 100 mg/kg PHN treatment group and the control group using 16SRNA. Metagenomic analyses indicated that the abundances of Bacteroidetes, Muribaculaceae, Lactobacillaceae, uncultured bacterium f Muribaculaceae, and Lactobacillus in the PHN treatment group improved, while potential microbes that can induce intestinal diseases, including Verrucomicrobia, Epsilonbacteraeota, Akkermansiaceae, and Akkermansia decreased in the PHN treatment group. Conclusion: Our results indicate that PHN pretreatment might alleviate orchitis by altering the composition of gut microflora, which may provide a reference for reducing the occurrence of acute orchitis in male animals.

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: current development, challenges, and clinical perspectives.

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are highly heterogeneous and potentially malignant tumors arising from secretory cells of the neuroendocrine system. Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) are the most common subtype of NENs. Historically, GEP-NENs have been regarded as infrequent and slow-growing malignancies; however, recent data have demonstrated that the worldwide prevalence and incidence of GEP-NENs have increased exponentially over the last three decades. In addition, an increasing number of studies have proven that GEP-NENs result in a limited life expectancy. These findings suggested that the natural biology of GEP-NENs is more aggressive than commonly assumed. Therefore, there is an urgent need for advanced researches focusing on the diagnosis and management of patients with GEP-NENs. In this review, we have summarized the limitations and recent advancements in our comprehension of the epidemiology, clinical presentations, pathology, molecular biology, diagnosis, and treatment of GEP-NETs to identify factors contributing to delays in diagnosis and timely treatment of these patients.

Host-plant adaptation in xylophagous insect-microbiome systems: Contributionsof longicorns and gut symbionts revealed by parallel metatranscriptome.

Adaptation to host plants is of great significance in the ecology of xylophagous insects. The specific adaptation to woody tissues is made possible through microbial symbionts. We investigated the potential roles of detoxification, lignocellulose degradation, and nutrient supplementation of Monochamus saltuarius and its gut symbionts in host plant adaptation using metatranscriptome. The gut microbial community structure of M. saltuarius that fed on the two plant species were found to be different. Plant compound detoxification and lignocellulose degradation genes have been identified in both beetles and gut symbionts. Most differentially expressed genes associated with host plant adaptations were up-regulated in larvae fed on the less suitable host (Pinus tabuliformis) compared to larvae fed on the suitable host (Pinus koraiensis). Our findings indicated that M. saltuarius and its gut microbes respond to plant secondary substances through systematic transcriptome responses, allowing them to adapt to unsuitable host plants.

Dexamethasone affects the chemotaxis and phagocytic activity of neutrophils for boar spermatozoa and the quality of liquid preserved boar semen in vitro.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of dexamethasone (DEX) on chemotaxis and phagocytic activity of neutrophils for spermatozoa and semen quality of preserved boar semen. The different concentrations of dexamethasone were added to boar semen dilutions to detect its effects on the chemotaxis of neutrophils and phagocytosis of neutrophils and sperm motility sperm malformation rate, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, and spermatozoa motility parameters. The study results showed that the experimental groups of DEX significantly inhibited the phagocytosis and chemotaxis of PMNs for spermatozoa. With the increased concentration of DEX, there was an inhibition effect on PMNs activity. In addition, under 17 °C storage conditions, the addition of DEX 1 × 10-6 mol/mL concentration has the best preservation effect on boar semen, which can effectively improve the sperm motility, movement parameters, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, T-AOC activity, and significantly reduce the sperm malformation rate and H2O2 content. Therefore, the most suitable concentration of DEX to preserve boar semen at 17 °C is 1 × 10-6 mol/mL. The significant increase of conception rate of sows and litter size of piglets proved that DEX has practical application value. Thus, it is shown that the use of DEX to inhibit uterine inflammation is effective and feasible for sperm damage providing new methods for developing low-dose artificial insemination technology.