[Exploration of Eating Difficulties of Patients With Dementia].

The number of people living with dementia is growing as the average age of the population rises. Eating difficulties are a common problem for dementia patients and their caregivers. The etiology of these difficulties is often complicated. Weight loss, poor nutrition, aspiration pneumonia, and associated medical admissions or even mortality may occur as soon as an eating difficulty develops. This paper presents a literature review of the eating difficulties of dementia patients. The process of eating involves four stages: recognizing food, taking food into the mouth, chewing, and swallowing. We discuss the causes and clinical manifestations of eating difficulties at each of these stages and introduce an intervention for overcoming eating difficulties, aiming at providing choices of methods to improve eating behavior. The author hopes that this review will help medical personnel / caregivers enhance their understanding of the etiology and the clinical manifestation of eating difficulties in dementia patients, evaluate the overall condition of their patient(s), and provide an appropriate intervention in order to help these patients experience the most comfortable and non-invasive ways of eating or feeding, improve their quality of eating, and realize with their family improved spiritual well-being.

Combining microbiome and pseudotargeted metabolomics revealed the alleviative mechanism of Cupriavidus sp. WS2 on the cadmium toxicity in Vicia unijuga A.Br.

Cadmium (Cd) pollution is one of the most severe toxic metals pollution in grassland. Vicia unijuga (V. unijuga) A.Br. planted nearby the grassland farming are facing the risk of high Cd contamination. Here, we investigated the beneficial effects of a highly Cd tolerant rhizosphere bacterium, Cupriavidus sp. WS2, on Cd contaminated V. unijuga. Through plot experiments, we set up four groups of treatments: the control group (without WS2 or Cd), the Cd group (with only Cd addition), the WS2 group (with only WS2 addition), and the WS2/Cd group (with WS2 and Cd addition), and analyzed the changes in physiological indicators, rhizosphere microorganisms, and stem and leaf metabolites of V. unijuga. Results of physiological indicators indicated that Cupriavidus sp. WS2 had strong absorption and accumulation capacity of Cd, exogenous addition of strain WS2 remarkably decreased the Cd concentrations, and increased the plant heights, the biomass, the total protein concentrations, the chlorophyll contents and the photosynthetic rate in stems and leaves of V. unijuga under Cd stress. Cd treatment increased the abundance of Cd tolerant bacterial genera in rhizosphere microbiome, but these genera were down-regulated in the WS2/Cd group. Pseudotargeted metabolomic results showed that six common differential metabolites associated with antioxidant stress were increased after co-culture with WS2. In addition, WS2 activated the antioxidant system including glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT), reduced the contents of oxidative stress markers including malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in V. unijuga under Cd stress. Taken together, this study revealed that Cupriavidus sp.WS2 alleviated the toxicity of V. unijuga under Cd exposure by activating the antioxidant system, increasing the antioxidant metabolites, and reducing the oxidative stress markers.

Impaired Indole Acetic Acid and Reduced Indole-Producing Bacteria Contribute to Swainsonine-Induced Liver Inflammation.

Liver inflammation could be elicited by swainsonine in livestock, affecting the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Our previous study showed an important role of bile acids (BAs) in swainsonine-induced hepatic inflammation. However, its pathogenesis, particularly the roles of a comprehensive profile of liver and serum metabolites and microbial-derived indole metabolites, has not been clarified. This study aimed to demonstrate the mechanisms linking the indole-producing bacteria and indole metabolites to swainsonine-induced hepatic inflammation by combining Targeted 500 metabolomics and quantitative analysis of indole metabolites. Swainsonine significantly disturbed the liver and serum metabolomes in mice. Genus Akkermansia alleviating inflammation and genus Lactobacillus producing indole metabolites were significantly declined. Indole acetic acid (IAA) was the only reduced aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) ligand in this study. Analogously, some bacteria causing liver damage markedly increased. These findings suggested that indole-producing bacteria and indole metabolites may be potential triggers of swainsonine-induced hepatic inflammation.

Swainsonine Induces Liver Inflammation in Mice via Disturbance of Gut Microbiota and Bile Acid Metabolism.

Swainsonine induced liver inflammation in livestock; however, the underlying mechanisms, especially the role of bile acids (BAs), in the pathogenesis remained elusive. Here, our results showed that swainsonine induced hepatic inflammation via changing BA metabolism and gut microbiota in mice. Swainsonine significantly upregulated the levels of deoxycholic acid (DCA) and taurine-ß-muricholic acid (T-ß-MCA) in the serum and liver of mice due to the markedly increased genus Clostridium and the decreased genus Lactobacillus in the gut. As antagonists of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR), elevated DCA and T-ß-MCA inhibited hepatic Fxr gene expression and thus suppressed FXR-SHP signaling and activated hepatic Cyp7a1 gene expression, which induced a significant upregulation of the total BA level in serum, contributing to liver inflammation. These findings offer new insights into the underlying mechanisms in which swainsonine induced liver inflammation in mice via the gut-liver axis and suggest that gut microbiota and its metabolite BAs may be underlying triggering factors.

Kynurenic acid mediates bacteria-algae consortium in resisting environmental cadmium toxicity.

Cadmium (Cd2+) is a toxic heavy metal in the environment, posing severe damage to animal health and drinking water safety. The bacteria-algae consortium remediates environmental Cd2+ pollution by secreting chelating reagents, but the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we showed that Cellulosimicrobium sp. SH8 isolated from a Cd2+-polluted lake could interact with Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, a model species of cyanobacteria, in strengthening Cd2+ toxicity resistance, while SH8 or PCC6803 alone barely immobilized Cd2+. In addition, the SH8-PCC6803 consortium, but not SH8 alone, could grow in a carbon-free medium, suggesting that autotrophic PCC6803 enabled the growth of heterotrophic SH8. Totally, 12 metabolites were significantly changed when SH8 was added to PCC6803 culture in the presence of Cd2+ (PCC6803/Cd2+). Among them, kynurenic acid was the only metabolite that precipitated Cd2+. Remarkably, adding kynurenic acid increased the growth of PCC6803/Cd2+ by 14.1 times. Consistently, the expressions of kynA, kynB, and kynT genes, known to be essential for kynurenic acid synthesis, were considerably increased when SH8 was added to PCC6803/Cd2+. Collectively, kynurenic acid secreted by SH8 mitigates Cd2+ toxicity for algae, and algae provide organic carbon for the growth of SH8, unveiling a critical link that mediates beneficial bacteria-algae interaction to resist Cd2+.

[Comprehensive evaluation of soil quality of different land use types on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China]. / 青藏高原东北缘不同土地利用类型土壤质量综合评价.

Soil quality evaluation is an important prerequisite for the rational soil resource utilization. We collected soil samples from forest (n=9), grassland (n=18) and cropland (n=38) in Tianzhu County, Gansu Province, which is located on the northeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Soil quality was evaluated based on thirteen soil physical and chemical indicators, including soil bulk density, field capacity, and organic matter. A minimum data set (MDS) was constructed using principal component analysis and correlation analysis to establish a soil qua-lity evaluation index (SQI) system, which was used in the soil quality evaluation for the three land-use types. The results showed that total porosity, capillary porosity, field capacity, capillary water capacity, saturated water content, organic matter, total nitrogen and available potassium content were significantly higher in forest than those in grassland and cropland. The SQI system of forest was based on field capacity, organic matter, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, and available potassium, and the SQI ranged between 0.329 to 0.678, with a mean value of 0.481. Grassland SQI system was based on field capacity and available nitrogen, with the SQI ranging between 0.302 to 0.703 and a mean value of 0.469. Cropland SQI system was based on capillary water capacity, non-capillary porosity, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium, and the SQI ranged from 0.337 to 0.616 with a mean value of 0.462. The most important barriers to soil quality improvement in forest, grassland, and cropland were available potassium, field capacity, and capillary water capacity, respectively. The MDS-based SQI enabled an accurate evaluation of soil quality across different land-use types in the study area, which was best in forest followed by grassland and cropland. The evaluation results would provide important reference for sustainable soil management in the local area.

Pseudotargeted metabolomics revealed the adaptive mechanism of Draba oreades Schrenk at high altitude.

Strong ultraviolet radiation and low temperature environment on Gangshika Mountain, located in the eastern part of the Qilian Mountains in Qinghai Province, can force plants to produce some special secondary metabolites for resisting severe environmental stress. However, the adaptive mechanism of Draba oreades Schrenk at high altitude are still unclear. In the current study, Draba oreades Schrenk from the Gangshika Mountain at altitudes of 3800 m, 4000 m and 4200 m were collected for comprehensive metabolic evaluation using pseudotargeted metabolomics method. Through KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, we found that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis and phenylalanine metabolism related to the biosynthesis of flavonoids were up-regulated in the high-altitude group, which may enhance the environmental adaptability to strong ultraviolet intensity and low temperature stress in high altitude areas. By TopFc20 distribution diagram, the content of flavonoids gradually increased with the elevation of altitude, mainly including apigenin, luteolin, quercetin, hesperidin, kaempferol and their derivatives. Based on the random forest model, 10 important metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers. L-phenylalanine, L-histidine, naringenin-7-O-Rutinoside-4'-O-glucoside and apigenin related to the flavonoids biosynthesis and plant disease resistance were increased with the elevation of altitude. This study provided important insights for the adaptive mechanism of Draba oreades Schrenk at high altitude by pseudotargeted metabolomics.

[Effects of cadmium and mercury combined pollution on soil urease and acid phosphatase activities].

With incubation test, the effects of cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) combined pollution on the urease and acid phosphatase activities in marine sediment silty loam soil (S1) and yellowish red soil (S2) were studied. The results indicated that during the whole incubation period, Cd and Hg, whether singly or combined together, had significant inhibitory effects on the urease and phosphatase activities in the two test soils, and the effects increased with their increasing concentration (except for Cd < or =1 mg x kg(-1)). Compared with that under Cd or Hg pollution, the net change rates of soil urease and acid phosphatase activities under the same level Cd and Hg combined pollution were higher than 0, suggesting the synergistic effects of these two heavy metals on the inhibition of soil urease and acid phosphatase activities. In all treatments, the activities of urease and acid phosphatase were higher in S2 than in S1, possibly due to the higher contents of organic matter and clay particle in S2.