Single-Molecule Cross-Plane Conductance of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Derivatives.

In the cross-plane single-molecule junctions, the correlation between molecular aromaticity and conductance remained puzzling. Cross-plane break junction (XPBJ) provides new insight into understanding the role of aromaticity and conjugation to molecules on charge transport through the planar molecules. In this work, we investigated the modulation of cross-plane charge transport in pyrene derivatives by hydrogenation and substituents based on the XPBJ method that differs from those used in-plane transport. We measured the electrical conductance of the hydrogenated derivatives of the pyrenes and found that hydrogenation reduces conductance, and the fully hydrogenated molecule has the lowest conductance. Conductance of pyrene derivatives increased after substitution by both electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups. By calculating, the trend in decreased conductance of hydrogenated pyrene was found to be consistent with the change in aromaticity. Electron-withdrawing substituents reduce the aromaticity of the molecule and narrow the HOMO-LUMO gap, while electron-donating groups increase the aromaticity but also narrow the gap. Our work reveals the potential of fine-tuning the structure of the pyrene molecule to control the cross-plane charge transport through the single-molecule junctions.

Discovery of an antitumor compound from xenorhabdus stockiae HN_xs01.

Xenorhabdus, known for its symbiotic relationship with Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family. This dual-host symbiotic nematode exhibits pathogenic traits, rendering it a promising biocontrol agent against insects. Our prior investigations revealed that Xenorhabdus stockiae HN_xs01, isolated in our laboratory, demonstrates exceptional potential in halting bacterial growth and displaying anti-tumor activity. Subsequently, we separated and purified the supernatant of the HN_xs01 strain and obtained a new compound with significant inhibitory activity on tumor cells, which we named XNAE. Through LC-MS analysis, the mass-to-nucleus ratio of XNAE was determined to be 254.24. Our findings indicated that XNAE exerts a time- and dose-dependent inhibition on B16 and HeLa cells. After 24 h, its IC50 for B16 and HeLa cells was 30.178 µg/mL and 33.015 µg/mL, respectively. Electron microscopy revealed conspicuous damage to subcellular structures, notably mitochondria and the cytoskeleton, resulting in a notable reduction in cell numbers among treated tumor cells. Interestingly, while XNAE exerted a more pronounced inhibitory effect on B16 cells compared to HeLa cells, it showed no discernible impact on HUVEC cells. Treatment of B16 cells with XNAE induced early apoptosis and led to cell cycle arrest in the G2 phase, as evidenced by flow cytometry analysis. The impressive capability of X. stockiae HN_xs01 in synthesizing bioactive secondary metabolites promises to significantly expand the reservoir of natural products. Further exploration to identify the bioactivity of these compounds holds the potential to shed light on their roles in bacteria-host interaction. Overall, these outcomes underscore the promising potential of XNAE as a bioactive compound for tumor treatment.

Supramolecular Radical Electronics.

Supramolecular radical chemistry is an emerging area bridging supramolecular chemistry and radical chemistry, and the integration of radicals into the supramolecular architecture offers a new dimension for tuning their structures and functions. Although various efforts have been devoted to the fabrication of supramolecular junctions, the charge transport characterization through the supramolecular radicals remained unexplored due to the challenges in creating supramolecular radicals at the single-molecule level. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication and charge transport investigation of a supramolecular radical junction using the electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope-based break junction (EC-STM-BJ) technique. We found that the conductance of a supramolecular radical junction was more than 1 order of magnitude higher than that of a supramolecular junction without a radical and even higher than that of a fully conjugated oligophenylenediamine molecule with a similar length. The combined experimental and theoretical investigations revealed that the radical increased the binding energy and decreased the energy gap in the supramolecular radical junction, which leads to the near-resonant transport through the supramolecular radical. Our work demonstrated that the supramolecular radical can provide not only strong binding but also efficient electrical coupling between building blocks, which provides new insights into supramolecular radical chemistry and new materials with supramolecular radicals.

Recombineering using RecET-like recombinases from Xenorhabdus and its application in mining of natural products.

Xenorhabdus can produce a large number of secondary metabolites with insecticidal, bacteriostatic, and antitumor activities. Efficient gene editing tools will undoubtedly facilitate the functional genomics research and bioprospecting in Xenorhabdus. In this study, BlastP analysis using the amino acid sequences of Redαß or RecET recombinases as queries resulted in the identification of an operon (XBJ1_operon 0213) containing RecET-like recombinases encoding genes from the genome of Xenorhabdus bovienii strain SS-2004. Three proteins encoded by this operon was indispensable for full activity of recombineering, namely XBJ1-1173 (RecE-like protein), XBJ1-1172 (RecT-like protein), and XBJ1-1171 (single-strand annealing protein). Using this newly developed recombineering system, a gene cluster responsible for biosynthesis of a novel secondary metabolite (Min16) was identified from X. stockiae HN_xs01 strain. Min16 which exhibited antibacterial and cytotoxic activities was determined to be a cyclopeptide composed of Acyl-Phe-Thr-Phe-Pro-Pro-Leu-Val by using high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, and was designated as changshamycin. This host-specific recombineering system was proven to be effective for gene editing in Xenorhabdus, allowing for efficient discovery of novel natural products with attractive bioactivities. KEY POINTS: • Screening and identification of efficient gene editing tools from Xenorhabdus • Optimization of the Xenorhabdus electroporation parameters • Discovery of a novel cyclopeptide compound with multiple biological activities.

The Hessian fly recessive resistance gene h4 mapped to chromosome 1A of the wheat cultivar 'Java' using genotyping-by-sequencing.

KEY MESSAGE: The recessive Hessian fly resistance gene h4 and flanking SNP markers were located to a 642 kb region in chromosome 1A of the wheat cultivar 'Java.' Hessian fly (HF), Mayetiola destructor, is one of the most destructive insect pests in wheat worldwide. The wheat cultivar 'Java' was reported to carry a recessive gene (h4) for HF resistance; however, its chromosome location has not been determined. To map the HF resistance gene in Java, two populations of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were developed from 'Bobwhite' × Java and 'Overley' × Java, respectively, and were phenotyped for responses to infestation of HF Great Plains biotype. Analysis of phenotypic data from the F1 and the RIL populations confirmed that one recessive gene conditioned HF resistance in Java. Two linkage maps were constructed using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). The h4 gene was mapped to the distal end of the short arm of chromosome 1A, which explained 60.4 to 70.5% of the phenotypic variation for HF resistance in the two populations. The GBS-SNPs in the h4 candidate interval were converted into Kompetitive Allele-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (KASP) markers to eliminate the missing data points in GBS-SNPs. Using the revised maps with KASP markers, h4 was further located to a 642 kb interval (6,635,984-7,277,935 bp). The two flanking KASP markers, KASP3299 and KASP1871, as well as four other closely linked KASP markers, may be useful for pyramiding h4 with other HF resistance genes in breeding.

Effect of nitrogen fertilisation and irrigation on phenolic content, phenolic acid composition, and antioxidant activity of winter wheat grain.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the variance of antioxidant in wheat grain responses to irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertiliser management will improve the nutrient quality of wheat grain. Four N rates (0, 180, 240, and 300 kg ha(-1)) combined with irrigation times (I0, no irrigation; I1, jointing time irrigation; I2, jointing + flowering time irrigation), were used to determine the effect of N fertilisation and irrigation on total phenolic content (TPC), phenolic acid composition, and antioxidant activity (AOA) of wheat grain. RESULTS: Irrigation, N fertilisation and their interactions had significant effect on TPC, total flavonoid content (TFC), AOA, p-coumaric acid (PCA), as well as vanillic acid (VA) and chlorogenic acid (CA). I1 N300 treatment had the highest TPC at Zhengzhou and Wenxian (1451.5 µg g(-1) and 1397.9 µg g(-1), respectively) location, while I1 N240 resulted in the highest TFC (0.75 mg g(-1)) and VA (19.77 µg g(-1)) at Wenxian. TPC, TFC, AOA, ferulic acid (FA), PCA and VA increased with N application rate (from 180 to 300 kg N ha(-1)). CONCLUSION: An appropriate irrigation and N management improved antioxidant content and AOA in wheat grain. Generally, I1 N240 and I1 N300 treatment resulted in the higher TPC, TFC, AOA, as well as phenolic acid, i.e. FA and VA.

Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Virulent Phage ASG01 of Aeromonas salmonicida and Its Cell Wall Hydrolase Activity.

Aeromonas salmonicida is an important pathogen that causes furunculosis in trout and salmon with high morbidity and mortality, resulting in significant economic losses in aquaculture. Overuse of antibiotics has led to the continuous emergence of drug-resistant strains. Hence, there is an urgent need to find an alternative environmentally friendly antimicrobial agent. In this study, we isolated a virulent phage of A. salmonicida, named ASG01, which belongs to the Myoviridae family and maintains lytic activity at a pH value range from 4 to 12 and in the temperature range from 30 °C to 60 °C. The whole genomic sequence of ASG01 showed 82% similarity to Aeromonas phage pAh6-C. The cell wall hydrolase (Cwh)-encoding gene from the genome of ASG01 was predicted and heterologously expressed. Notably, in the absence of additional phage genes, endogenous expression of Cwh could lyse E. coli cells and greatly inhibit the growth of tested fish pathogenic bacteria. The lytic activity of Cwh was eliminated when the predicted active site was mutated. These results indicate that Cwh of ASG01 possessed excellent lytic activity and a wide antibacterial spectrum, suggesting its potential as an effective enzybiotic.

Case Report: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing assists in dynamic pathogen monitoring: powerful tool for progressing severe pneumonia.

Background: Severe community-acquired pneumonia (sCAP) is life-threatening and characterized by intensive care unit (ICU) admission and high mortality. And they are vulnerable to hospital-acquired infection. In such a severe condition, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) outperforms for short turnaround time and broad detection spectrum. Case presentation: A 15-year-old male with severe influenza and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia progressed rapidly, initially misdiagnosed as influenza co-infected with Aspergillus for misleading bronchoscopy manifestations. The turnaround time of mNGS is 13 h, which has the potential to expedite the clinical medication process. With the powerful support of mNGS and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), anti-infective therapy was adjusted accordingly, and vital signs gradually stabilized. After tortuous treatment and unremitting efforts, the patient recovered well. Conclusions: Rapid mNGS applications, timely medication adjustments, strong ECMO support and active family compliance contribute to this miracle of life. False-negative or false-positive results are alarming, anti-infective medications should be adjusted after a comprehensive review of physical status and other indicators.

A van der Waals heterojunction strategy to fabricate layer-by-layer single-molecule switch.

Single-molecule electronics offer a unique strategy for the miniaturization of electronic devices. However, the existing experiments are limited to the conventional molecular junctions, where a molecule anchors to the electrode pair with linkers. With such a rod-like configuration, the minimum size of the device is defined by the length of the molecule. Here, by incorporating a single molecule with two single-layer graphene electrodes, we fabricated layer-by-layer single-molecule heterojunctions called single-molecule two-dimensional van der Waals heterojunctions (M-2D-vdWHs), of which the sizes are defined by the thickness of the molecule. We controlled the conformation of the M-2D-vdWHs and the cross-plane charge transport through them with the applied electric field and established that they can serve as reversible switches. Our results demonstrate that the M-2D-vdWHs, as stacked from single-layer 2D materials and a single molecule, can respond to electric field stimulus, which promises a diverse class of single-molecule devices with unprecedented size.

Clinical application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in tuberculosis diagnosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical diagnostic value of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) for tuberculosis (TB). Methods: This retrospective study included 52 patients with suspected TB infection. mNGS, targeted PCR, acid-fast staining and, T-SPOT.TB assay were performed on the specimen. The positive rate of mNGS and traditional detection methods was statistically analyzed. Pathological tests were performed when necessary. Results: In total, 52 patients with suspected of TB in this study were included in the analysis, and 31 patients were finally diagnosed with TB. Among 52 patients, 14 (26.9%) cases were positive for acid-fast staining. The positive rate of T-SPOT.TB assay in 52 patients was 73.1% (38/52). Among 52 patients, 39 (75%) were detected positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) by mNGS. Regarding the detection rate of MTB, mNGS were as high as 75% (39/52), whereas acid-resistant staining was only 26.9% (14/52), which showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). The positive rates of T-SPOT.TB assay and mNGS were not statistically significant (p>0.05). Of the 52 suspected TB patients, 24 had targeted PCR, of which 18 were PCR positive. In 24 patients, the positive rate of PCR was 75%, and the positive rate of mNGS was 100%, with statistical difference between them (p<0.05). Conclusions: The detection rate of MTB by mNGS was higher than that by conventional acid-fast staining and PCR, but not statistically significant compared with T-SPOT.TB assay. As an adjunctive diagnostic technology, mNGS can be combined with traditional detection methods to play a guiding role in the diagnosis and treatment of TB.

Application of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection.

The fight against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has been going on for thousands of years, while it still poses a threat to human health. In addition to routine detections, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has begun to show presence as a comprehensive and hypothesis-free test. It can not only detect MTB without isolating specific pathogens but also suggest the co-infection pathogens or underlying tumor simultaneously, which is of benefit to assist in comprehensive clinical diagnosis. It also shows the potential to detect multiple drug resistance sites for precise treatment. However, considering the cost performance compared with conventional assays (especially Xpert MTB/RIF), mNGS seems to be overqualified for patients with mild and typical symptoms. Technology optimization of sequencing and analyzing should be conducted to improve the positive rate and broaden the applicable fields.

Gut microbiota alteration and modulation in hepatitis B virus-related fibrosis and complications: Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic inventions.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has posed a threat to public health, mainly resulting in liver damage. With long-term accumulation of extracellular matrix, patients with chronic hepatitis B are at high risk of developing into liver fibrosis and cirrhosis and even life-threatening hepatic carcinoma. The occurrence of complications such as spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and hepatic encephalopathy greatly increases disability and mortality. With deeper understanding of the bidirectional interaction between the liver and the gut (gut-liver axis), there is a growing consensus that the human health closely relates to the gut microbiota. Supported by animal and human studies, the gut microbiota alters as the HBV-related liver fibrosis initials and progresses, characterized as the decrease of the ratio between "good" and "potentially pathogenic" microbes. When the primary disease is controlled via antiviral treatment, the gut microbiota dysfunction tends to be improved. Conversely, the recovery of gut microbiota can promote the regression of liver fibrosis. Therapeutic strategies targeted on gut microbiota (rifaximin, probiotics, engineered probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation) have been applied to animal models and patients, obtaining satisfactory results.

Alcohol-Related Elevation of Liver Transaminase Is Associated With Gut Microbiota in Male.

Alcoholic liver damage has become a widespread health problem as alcohol consumption increases and is usually identified by elevated liver transaminase. We conducted this study to investigate the role of the gut microbiome in the individual susceptibility to alcoholic liver injury. We divided the participants into four groups based on alcohol consumption and liver transaminase elevation, which were drinking case group, drinking control group, non-drinking case group, and non-drinking control group. The drinking case group meant participants who were alcohol consumers with elevated liver transaminase. We found that alpha and beta diversities of the drinking case group differed from the other three groups. Species Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Roseburia hominis were significantly in lower abundance in the drinking case group and were proved the protective effect against inflammatory liver damage in the former study. Ruminococcus gnavus exhibited the most positive association to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and contributed to liver inflammation.

Clinical Application and Influencing Factor Analysis of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS) in ICU Patients With Sepsis.

Objective: To analyze the clinical application and related influencing factors of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in patients with sepsis in intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: The study included 124 patients with severe sepsis admitted to the ICU in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from June 2020 to September 2021. Two experienced clinicians took blood mNGS and routine blood cultures of patients meeting the sepsis diagnostic criteria within 24 hours after sepsis was considered, and collection the general clinical data. Results: mNGS positive rate was higher than traditional blood culture (67.74% vs. 19.35%). APACHE II score [odds ratio (OR)=1.096], immune-related diseases (OR=6.544), and hypertension (OR=2.819) were considered as positive independent factors for mNGS or culture-positive. The sequence number of microorganisms and pathogen detection (mNGS) type had no effect on prognosis. Age (OR=1.016), female (OR=5.963), myoglobin (OR=1.005), and positive virus result (OR=8.531) were independent risk factors of sepsis mortality. Adjusting antibiotics according to mNGS results, there was no statistical difference in the prognosis of patients with sepsis. Conclusion: mNGS has the advantages of rapid and high positive rate in the detection of pathogens in patients with severe sepsis. Patients with high APACHE II score, immune-related diseases, and hypertension are more likely to obtain positive mNGS results. The effect of adjusting antibiotics according to mNGS results on the prognosis of sepsis needs to be further evaluated.

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing assists in the diagnosis of Cryptococcus pneumonia: Case series and literature review.

Background: Pulmonary cryptococcosis (PC) was once thought to occur only in patients with immune deficiencies, such as tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). However, in recent years, it has been discovered that more than half of the patients with PC in our nation are individuals with normal immune function. As more and more PC cases are recorded, our diagnosis and treatment approaches, as well as our understanding of PC, are gradually improving. In reality, most PC patients still have a high incidence of misdiagnosis on their initial visit. It is primarily linked to the diverse clinical manifestations, atypical imaging findings, and inaccurate diagnostic approaches. Methods: The research was conducted from 2019 to 2020. We performed traditional microbiological testing and mNGS on sample from patients with fever of Pulmonary nodules or lung infections. Furthermore, we collected patients' baseline information, clinical features, laboratory and imaging examination results, diagnosis, treatment and outcome. In the end, we confirmed three cases of PC using biopsy and mNGS. Conclusion: Our data demonstrates that mNGS can be utilized as an auxiliary method for PC diagnosis. Early mNGS aids in the identification of pathogens, enabling early diagnosis and treatment, as well as a reduction in the rate of misdiagnosis and illness progression.

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing provides prognostic warning by identifying mixed infections in nocardiosis.

Nocardia is an opportunistic pathogen that mainly involves immunosuppressed patients and causes a high mortality rate. As an emerging approach to detect infectious pathogens, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was reported in the detection of Nocardia. However, there is no evidence demonstrating the effect of mNGS on the prognosis of Nocardia infection. In this retrospective study, we included 18 nocardiosis patients. Nocardia species were detected by mNGS from their clinical samples. All the patients were diagnosed with nocardiosis by clinical experts through a comprehensive evaluation. Of these 18 patients, fever is the most frequent initial symptom. Compared to traditional culture methods, mNGS provides a faster turnaround time (TAT) and higher sensitivity. Pulmonary nocardiosis was the most common clinical presentation in the study. mNGS detected 13 types of Nocardia species, of which Nocardia abscessus and Nocardia cyriacigeorgica were the most common species. The study's most noteworthy discovery is that mNGS outperforms culture at detecting mixed infections (more than one pathogen detected in one clinical specimen, including bacteria, fungi, and excluding virus), and number of infectious species was an independent risk factor for nocardiosis patients' prognostics after adjusting age, ICU days, gender and underlying diseases (adjusted HR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.09-1.98, p = 0.011). As a result, we believe that by detecting mixed infections (more than one pathogenic species), mNGS can provide a clinical risk warning for the prognosis of nocardiosis.

Simulation of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) breeding guided by practices to accelerate genetic gains.

Though Saccharina japonica cultivation has been established for many decades in East Asian countries, the domestication process of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) in the Northeast United States is still at its infancy. In this study, by using data from our breeding experience, we will demonstrate how obstacles for accelerated genetic gain can be assessed using simulation approaches that inform resource allocation decisions. Thus far, we have used 140 wild sporophytes that were sampled in 2018 from the northern Gulf of Maine to southern New England. From these sporophytes, we sampled gametophytes and made and evaluated over 600 progeny sporophytes from crosses among the gametophytes in 2019 and 2020. The biphasic life cycle of kelp gives a great advantage in selective breeding as we can potentially select both on the sporophytes and gametophytes. However, several obstacles exist, such as the amount of time it takes to complete a breeding cycle, the number of gametophytes that can be maintained in the laboratory, and whether positive selection can be conducted on farm-tested sporophytes. Using the Gulf of Maine population characteristics for heritability and effective population size, we simulated a founder population of 1,000 individuals and evaluated the impact of overcoming these obstacles on rate of genetic gain. Our results showed that key factors to improve current genetic gain rely mainly on our ability to induce reproduction of the best farm-tested sporophytes, and to accelerate the clonal vegetative growth of released gametophytes so that enough gametophyte biomass is ready for making crosses by the next growing season. Overcoming these challenges could improve rates of genetic gain more than 2-fold. Future research should focus on conditions favorable for inducing spring reproduction, and on increasing the amount of gametophyte tissue available in time to make fall crosses in the same year.

Skinny kelp (Saccharina angustissima) provides valuable genetics for the biomass improvement of farmed sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima).

Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp) is one of the most widely cultivated brown marine macroalgae species in the North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific Oceans. To meet the expanding demands of the sugar kelp mariculture industry, selecting and breeding sugar kelp that is best suited to offshore farm environments is becoming necessary. To that end, a multi-year, multi-institutional breeding program was established by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (MARINER) program. Hybrid sporophytes were generated using 203 unique gametophyte cultures derived from wild-collected Saccharina spp. for two seasons of farm trials (2019-2020 and 2020-2021). The wild sporophytes were collected from 10 different locations within the Gulf of Maine (USA) region, including both sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) and the skinny kelp species (Saccharina angustissima). We harvested 232 common farm plots during these two seasons with available data. We found that farmed kelp plots with skinny kelp as parents had an average increased yield over the mean (wet weight 2.48 ± 0.90 kg m-1 and dry weight 0.32 ± 0.10 kg m-1) in both growing seasons. We also found that blade length positively correlated with biomass in skinny kelp x sugar kelp crosses or pure sugar kelp crosses. The skinny x sugar progenies had significantly longer and narrower blades than the pure sugar kelp progenies in both seasons. Overall, these findings suggest that sugar x skinny kelp crosses provide improved yield compared to pure sugar kelp crosses. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10811-022-02811-1.

Discovery and Characterization of the Biflavones From Ginkgo biloba as Highly Specific and Potent Inhibitors Against Human Carboxylesterase 2.

Human carboxylesterase 2 (CES2), one of the most abundant hydrolases distributed in the small intestine, has been validated as a key therapeutic target to ameliorate the intestinal toxicity caused by irinotecan. This study aims to discover efficacious CES2 inhibitors from natural products and to characterize the inhibition potentials and inhibitory mechanisms of the newly identified CES2 inhibitors. Following high-throughput screening and evaluation of the inhibition potency of more than 100 natural products against CES2, it was found that the biflavones isolated from Ginkgo biloba displayed extremely potent CES2 inhibition activities and high specificity over CES1 (>1000-fold). Further investigation showed that ginkgetin, bilobetin, sciadopitysin and isoginkgetin potently inhibited CES2-catalyzed hydrolysis of various substrates, including the CES2 substrate-drug irinotecan. Notably, the inhibition potentials of four biflavones against CES2 were more potent than that of loperamide, a marketed anti-diarrhea agent used for alleviating irinotecan-induced intestinal toxicity. Inhibition kinetic analyses demonstrated that ginkgetin, bilobetin, sciadopitysin and isoginkgetin potently inhibited CES2-catalyzed fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis via a reversible and mixed inhibition manner, with K i values of less than 100 nM. Ensemble docking and molecular dynamics revealed that these biflavones could tightly and stably bind on the catalytic cavity of CES2 via hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking interactions, while the interactions with CES1 were awfully poor. Collectively, this study reports that the biflavones isolated from Ginkgo biloba are potent and highly specific CES2 inhibitors, which offers several promising lead compounds for developing novel anti-diarrhea agent to alleviate irinotecan-induced diarrhea.

Assessing health-related quality of life and health utilities in patients with chronic hepatitis B-related diseases in China: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and utilities of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus infection, including compensated cirrhosis (CC), decompensated cirrhosis (DC) and different stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), have not been well described in China. This study aimed to evaluate HRQoL and utilities and provide parameters for the economic evaluation of CHB-related diseases. METHODS: We conducted a multicentre cross-sectional and study to measure the HRQoL of patients with CHB, CC, DC and HCC using the Chinese short form (SF) 36 health survey V.2. The utilities were extracted based on the SF-six dimension scoring model. Multivariable regression analyses identified the effects on HRQoL. RESULTS: A total of 1071 patients (639 with CHB, 125 with CC, 85 with DC and 222 with HCC) were invited to complete the questionnaire. Physical HRQoL was not impaired in the CHB stage, while mental HRQoL was significantly impaired. Physical composite summary scores have a more significant decrease than mental composite summary scores at the advanced stages (CC, DC and HCC). The utility scores of CHB only, CC, DC and HCC were 0.773, 0.750, 0.683 and 0.640, respectively. The utility scores in the early, middle and terminal stages of HCC were 0.656, 0.635 and 0.615, respectively. CONCLUSION: Slowing the progress of CHB-related diseases and providing psychological support early are the key points to improving the quality of life with the diseases. The utility values estimated in this study can provide a vital instrument for cost-effectiveness studies on CHB-related diseases.