Lycopene Ameliorate Atrazine-Induced Oxidative Damage in the B Cell Zone via Targeting the miR-27a-3p/Foxo1 Axis.

Lycopene, a natural bioactive component, has potential to reduce the risk of environmental factors inducing chronic diseases. It is important to explore lycopene's health benefits and its mechanism. The uncontrolled use of atrazine in agriculture causes critical environmental pollution issues worldwide. Exposure to atrazine through water and food chains is a risk to humans. In this study, mice were orally treated with lycopene and/or different concentrations of atrazine for 21 days to explore the influence of atrazine on the spleen and the role of lycopene's protection in atrazine exposure. The work found that atrazine exerted its toxic role in the B cell zone of the spleen by inducing Foxo1 deficiency. Atrazine caused ROS generation and Pink1/Parkin dysfunction via inducing Foxo1 deficiency, which led to apoptosis in the B cell zone. Additionally, the work revealed that lycopene ameliorates atrazine-induced apoptosis in the B cell zone of the spleen via regulating the miR-27a-3p/Foxo1 pathway. The finding also underscored a novel target of lycopene in maintaining homeostasis during B cell maturation.

A mixed-method evaluation of the relationship between Oxford classification scores and longitudinal changes in proteinuria in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Oxford Classification scores and longitudinal changes in proteinuria in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). Methods: The study was a single-center retrospective cohort study involving 358 patients with primary IgAN who were treated at the Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, China, between January 2011 and May 2021. Multivariate linear regression and generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs), adjusted for traditional risk confounders, were used to evaluate the correlation between scores for mesangial hypercellularity (M), endocapillary hypercellularity (E), segmental glomerulosclerosis (S), tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis (T), and crescents (C) (known as the Oxford Classification MEST-C score system), with proteinuria/creatinine ratio (PCR) at the time of renal biopsy and longitudinal changes in PCR, respectively. Results: The median PCR was 1061 mg/g, and it increased on average by 68.82 mg/g per year in these patients. Among patients with renal insufficiency, compared with patients without relative lesions, those with E present (E1) (1153.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 188.99-2117.89 mg/g) and C > 0 (C1/2) (1063.58; 95% CI, 185.25-1941.90 mg/g) were associated with increased PCR levels at the time of renal biopsy. What's more, S present (S1) (194.96; 95% CI, 54.50-335.43 mg/g per year) was associated with the fastest PCR increase; C > 0 (C1/2) (147.59; 95% CI, 8.32-286.86 mg/g per year) and T >25% (T1/2) (77.04; 95% CI, 7.18-146.89 mg/g per year), were also correlated with a faster PCR increase. In patients with normal kidney function, associations between S1 (55.46; 95% CI, 8.93-101.99 mg/g per year) and E1 (94.02; 95% CI, 21.47-166.58 mg/g per year) and PCR change could be observed. Additionally, in patients with overweight/obesity, S1 (156.09; 95% CI, 52.41-259.77 mg/g per year), E1 (143.34; 95% CI, 35.30-251.38 mg/g per year), T1/2 (116.04; 95% CI, 22.58-209.51 mg/g per year), as well as C1/2 (134.03; 95% CI, 41.73-226.32 mg/g per year) were associated with noticeably quicker PCR increase. Conclusions: Overall, E1 and C1/2 were independently associated with raised proteinuria levels at the time of renal biopsy, and S1, E1, T1/2, C1/2 were independently associated with a longitudinal increase in proteinuria in the patients with IgAN, especially in those with renal insufficiency or overweight/obesity, suggesting that currently available treatments might not be satisfactory, and weight control might be beneficial. Individual therapy development might benefit from the use of the Oxford Classification system.

Multiple organ dysfunction due to a rare complication of Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum: A case report.

A 19-year-old male patient who suffered from sudden and repeated multiple organ dysfunction syndrome one month after the bar removal procedure of Nuss surgery for pectus excavatum was admitted to our department. With organ function supportive treatment, the etiology was finally identified to be a bone spur located at the inner border of the left costa due to repeated friction between the implanted steel bar and the rib, which damaged the heart repeatedly and induced the consequent acute cardiac tamponade. After operation, the patient was successfully managed and discharged. Follow-ups till three years indicated a good recovery.

AQP2 as a target of lycopene protects against atrazine-induced renal ionic homeostasis disturbance.

Atrazine (ATR), a ubiquitous environmental contaminant in water and soil, causes environmental nephrosis. To reveal the toxic effect of ATR on the kidney and the potential chemical nephroprotective effect of lycopene (LYC), Kun-Ming mice of specific pathogen-free (SPF) grade were treated with LYC (5 mg kg-1) and/or ATR (50 mg kg-1 or 200 mg kg-1) for 21 days. The degree of renal injury was evaluated by measuring the ion concentration, ATPase activities and the mRNA expressions/levels of associated ATPase subunits. In addition, the expression of renal aquaporins (AQPs) was analyzed. The results showed that the renal tubular epithelial cells of ATR-exposed mice were swollen, the glomeruli were significantly atrophied, and the ion concentrations were obviously changed. The activity of Na+-K+-ATPase and the transcription of its subunits were downregulated. The activity of Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase and the transcription of its subunits were upregulated. The expression of AQPs, especially the critical AQP2, was affected. Notably, ATR-induced nephrotoxicity was significantly improved by LYC supplementation. Therefore, LYC could protect the kidney against ATR-induced nephrotoxicity via maintaining ionic homeostasis, reversing the changes in ATPase activity and controlling the expression of AQPs on the cell membrane. These results suggested that AQP2 was a target of LYC and protected against ATR-induced renal ionic homeostasis disturbance.

[Genetic variations among populations of Ageratina adenophora from different areas, investigated by inter-simple sequence repeat markers].

Crofton weed, Ageratina adenophora,a troublesome weed in the world,is an invasive organism in China. Genetic diversity of thirty-two Chinese populations of A. adenophora from different areas was analyzed with the inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) technique. It indicated that its genetic diversity was rich. Nei's gene diversity and Shannon's information index were 0.235 and 0.372 at species level respectively. Genetic variation of Crofton weed mainly existed in the population, and about 34.5% of the total variance was attributable to population divergence and 65.5% to individual differences within populations. The Mantel Z-statistic test showed that the genetic distance between populations generally increased with geographic distance (r=0.542,p< 0.001),which indicated that isolation by distance is one of the blocks of gene flow of A. adenophora. Genetic diversity level of Crofton weed had the trend to decrease along with the increased altitude (r=0.368,P<0.001), and the mean of Nei's gene diversity and Shannon's diversity indices both decreased with the increased altitude.

The promoter analysis of the human C17orf25 gene, a novel chromosome 17p13.3 gene.

The human C17orf25 gene (Accession No. AF177342) is one of thirteen genes cloned from a region displaying a high score of loss of heterozygosity within chromosome 17p13.3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma in China. To unveil the underlying mechanisms for the transcription regulation of this gene and understand its implication to the hepatocellular carcinogenesis, we looked into the relevant aspects by both bioinformatic and experimental executions. We found: 1, The abundant expression of the C17orf25 gene was evident in all the cell lines and tissue samples tested, showing little hepatoma-selectivity; 2, Its transcription starts at a single site, locating at -60 from the translation initiation codon; 3, A 58 bp fragment containing the transcription start, extending from -112 to -55, represents the minimal promoter; 4, The consensus sequence within this fragment recognized by SP1 contributes predominantly to the activity of the minimal promoter; 5, The bioinformatic analysis suggests that the C17orf25 gene may encode a protein in the family of the glyoxalase. Our data has provided some deep insight into both function and regulation of the C17orf25 gene in the context of the normal liver and hepatocellular carcinoma.