Relationship of environmental factors in pond water and dynamic changes of gut microbes of sea bass Lateolabrax japonicus.

The effect of structure of gut microbes on the health of host has attracted increasing attention. Sea bass Lateolabrax japonicus is an important farmed fish in China. The relationship of the dynamic changes of intestinal bacterial communities in L. japonicus and the cultural water environment is very important for healthy culture. Here, the diversity and abundance of the gut microbial communities of L. japonicus were evaluated during the culture using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing. Both the opportunistic pathogens Aeromonas (1.68%), Vibrio (1.59%), and Acinetobacter (1.22%); and the potential probiotics Lactobacillus (2.27%), Bacillus (1.16%), and Lactococcus (0.37%) were distributed in the gut of L. japonicus. The increasing concentration of nitrogen of water environments with the increase of culture time significantly correlated with shifts in the microbial community structure: 40.04% of gut microbial changes due to nitrogen concentration. Higher concentrations of nitrogen showed a significantly negative correlation with intestinal probiotics in L. japonicus. The results indicate that the abundance of intestinal bacteria of L. japonicus is mainly driven by the changes of environmental factors (e.g., nitrogen), and it's very important that the linking environmental parameters with bacterial data of guts could be used as an early warning indicator in L. japonicus heath culture.

Activation of P2X4 receptor exacerbates acute brain injury after intracerebral hemorrhage.

INTRODUCTION: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10%-15% of all strokes and culminates in high mortality and disability. After ICH, brain injury is initiated by the mass effect of hematoma, followed by secondary cytotoxic injury from dying brain cells, hematoma disintegration, and cascading brain immune response. However, the molecular mechanism of secondary cytotoxic brain injury in ICH is not completely understood. The sensitive purinergic receptor, P2X4 receptor (P2X4R), was known to recognize extracellular free ATP released by dying cells during tissue injury. AIMS: In this study, we aim to understand the role of P2X4R in acute brain injury triggered by ICH. RESULTS: In this study, we found that the sensitive purinergic receptor, P2X4R, was upregulated in the brain of patients with ICH as well as in a mouse model of ICH induced by collagenase injection. P2X4R blockage with the specific inhibitor 5-BDBD attenuated brain injury in ICH mice by significantly reducing brain edema, blood-brain barrier leakage, neural death, and ultimately acute neurodeficits. Further study indicated that the protective effect of P2X4R inhibition is related to decreased pro-inflammatory activity of microglia and recruitment of peripheral immune cells into the hemorrhagic brain. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the P2X4 receptor is activated by ICH stimuli which worsen brain injury following ICH.

[Impacts of Vegetation on Quantity and Quality of Runoff from Green Roofs].

As a key component of green roofs, vegetation may have significant impacts on both the quantity and quality of runoff. In this study, the effects of vegetation on both the quantity and quality of runoff from green roofs are investigated through monitoring the rainfall and runoff processes of green roofs with four different types of vegetation cover (Portulaca grandiflora, Sedum lineare, Festuca elata, and a non-vegetated bed as control) during 2017. The growth characteristics of the vegetation were also monitored, and the nutrients (NH4+-N, NO3--N, NO2--N, and PO43--P) and heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Cu, and Ni) in the rainwater and runoff were measured. The results show that the average rainfall event-based runoff reduction rates for the four green roof types were 51.3%, 41.5%, 36.3%, and 33.0%, respectively. Furthermore, the runoff reduction rates of the green roof planted with Portulaca grandiflora were significantly higher than both the Festuca elata green roof and the non-vegetated bed (P<0.05). The green roofs planted with Portulaca grandiflora and Sedum lineare both acted as sinks for the nutrients. The Portulaca grandiflora green roof, which had a higher biomass, provides higher nutrient load reduction rates (59.6%, 99.9%, 82.5%, and 25.7% for NH4+-N, NO3--N, NO2--N, and PO43--P, respectively) than the Sedum lineare green roof (52.5%, 89.3%, 75.3%, and 7.8%, respectively). The Festuca elata green roof and the non-vegetation bed acted as sinks for NH4+-N and NO2--N but were sources of NO3--N and PO43--P. All four of the green roofs were sinks for DCd, with pollution load reduction rates of 19.2%, 41.5%, 38.4%, and 31.1%, respectively. However, all the green roofs acted as the sources of DCr, DCu, and DNi.