The W-Plasty Serial Excision Method for Treating Medium Congenital Melanocytic Nevi: A Retrospective Analytical Study.

BACKGROUND: Serial excision remains the most commonly used surgical procedure for treating congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN). It is critical to remove as much of the lesion as possible with each procedure to reduce the number of procedures and to shorten the treatment duration. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of W-plasty serial excision for the repair of postoperative CMN defects. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients with medium CMN was conducted from April 2018 to March 2022. Treatment options were divided into elliptical serial excision (10 cases) and W-plasty serial excision (10 cases). RESULTS: Follow-up occurred over 6 months. The number of elliptical excision procedures was 2 to 4 (mean 2.9). The scar-to-lesion length ratio was 1.5 to 2.0 (mean 1.7). The mean Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) score was 5.40 ± 0.42. The number of W-plasty excision procedures was 2 to 3 (mean 2.2). The scar-to-lesion length ratio was 1.2 to 1.5 (mean 1.4). The mean VSS score was 2.70 ± 0.26. W-plasty excision was superior to elliptical excision regarding the number of procedures and the effect on postoperative scars. CONCLUSION: W-plasty serial excision can be considered a suitable option for the excision of medium CMN, leading to excellent results.

Unusual erythematous plaque with white scales, a case of acquired syphilis in a child and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Syphilis in children is uncommon with the mode of infection for this rare condition likely being congenital or acquired. While most acquired cases of syphilis in children result from sexual abuse, children can also be infected with syphilis through kissing, breastfeeding, sharing of daily necessities or pre-chewed food. Here, we report a case of acquired secondary syphilis in a child due to consumption of pre-chewed-food and provide a review of the literature on the characteristics of acquired syphilis in preschool children. CASE PRESENTATION: A 3-year-old girl presented with erythematous plaques and scales on her head, neck, and thighs as well as flat red papules with a moist, well circumscribed surface covered with a grayish-white film. The grandmother who cared for the girl was in the habit of pre-chewing food before giving it to the girl. The child and grandmother tested positive for RPR. The girl, who was not sexually abused, was diagnosed with acquired secondary syphilis, resulting from the transmission of pre-chewed food from her grandmother. CONCLUSIONS: Our case report and literature review reveal that close contact among family members can result in the transmission of syphilis. We recommend that pre-chewing food should be discouraged by caregivers when caring for their children to avoid disease transmission.

Role of Chitin Deacetylase 1 in the Molting and Metamorphosis of the Cigarette Beetle Lasioderma serricorne.

Chitin deacetylases (CDAs) are chitin-modifying enzymes known to play vital roles in insect metamorphosis and development. In this study, we identified and characterized a chitin deacetylase 1 gene (LsCDA1) from the cigarette beetle Lasioderma serricorne. LsCDA1 contains a 1614 bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 537 amino acids that includes domain structures typical of CDAs. LsCDA1 was mainly expressed in the late larval and late pupal stages. In larval tissues, the highest level of LsCDA1 was detected in the integument. The expression of LsCDA1 was induced by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in vivo, and it was significantly suppressed by knocking down the expression of ecdysteroidogenesis genes and 20E signaling genes. RNA interference (RNAi)-aided silencing of LsCDA1 in fifth-instar larvae prevented the larval-pupal molt and caused 75% larval mortality. In the late pupal stage, depletion of LsCDA1 resulted in the inhibition of pupal growth and wing abnormalities, and the expression levels of four wing development-related genes (LsDY, LsWG, LsVG, and LsAP) were dramatically decreased. Meanwhile, the chitin contents of LsCDA1 RNAi beetles were significantly reduced, and expressions of three chitin synthesis pathway genes (LsTRE1, LsUAP1, and LsCHS1) were greatly decreased. The results suggest that LsCDA1 is indispensable for larval-pupal and pupal-adult molts, and that it is a potential target for the RNAi-based control of L. serricorne.

Insulin signaling pathway in the oriental fruit fly: The role of insulin receptor substrate in ovarian development.

Insulin signaling pathways have integral roles in regulating organ growth and body size of insects. Here, we identified and characterized six insulin signaling pathway components-InR, IRS, PI3K92E, PI3K21B, Akt, and PDK-from Bactrocera dorsalis. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to establish gene expression profiles for the insulin signaling pathway components for different developmental stages and tissues, and in response to 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) and starvation. IRS, PI3K92E, and PI3K21B were highly expressed in the head, while InR, Akt, and PDK were most abundant in Malpighian tubules. Both IRS and PI3K92E were highly expressed during the larval-pupal and pupal-adult transition, while the remaining four genes were highly expressed only during the pupal-adult transition. Following initial exposure to 20E, the expression levels of most genes were significantly decreased. However, the expression levels of IRS, PI3K92E, and PI3K21B were significantly increased at 8 and 12h post-treatment compared with the control. Moreover, we found that most insulin signaling pathway genes in B. dorsalis were up-regulated in response to starvation, but decreased when re-fed. On the contrary, transcript levels of PI3K21B decreased significantly during starvation. Furthermore, injection of IRS dsRNA into adult females significantly reduced IRS transcript levels. Suppression of IRS expression inhibited ovarian development, and the average ovary size was reduced by 33% compared with the control. This study provides new insight into the roles of insulin signaling pathway components in B. dorsalis, and demonstrates an important role for IRS in ovarian development.

Two Chitin Biosynthesis Pathway Genes in Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): Molecular Characteristics, Expression Patterns, and Roles in Larval-Pupal Transition.

Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (G6PI) and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase (UAP), two key components in the chitin biosynthesis pathway, are critical for insect growth and metamorphosis. In this study, we identified the genes BdG6PI and BdUAP from the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel). The open reading frames (ORFs) of BdG6PI (1,491 bp) and BdUAP (1,677 bp) encoded 496 and 558 amino acid residues, respectively. Multiple sequence alignments showed that BdG6PI and BdUAP had high amino acid sequence identity with other insect homologues. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis indicated that BdG6PI was mainly expressed in the early stages of third-instar larvae and adults, while significantly higher expression of BdUAP was observed in adults. Both transcripts were expressed highly in the Malpighian tubules, but only slightly in the tracheae. The expression of both BdG6PI and BdUAP was significantly up-regulated by 20-hydroxyecdysone exposure and down-regulated by starvation. Moreover, injection of double-stranded RNAs of BdG6PI and BdUAP into third-instar larvae significantly reduced the corresponding gene expressions. Additionally, silencing of BdUAP resulted in 65% death and abnormal phenotypes of larvae, while silencing of BdG6PI had a slight effect on insect molting. These findings provide some data on the roles of BdG6PI and BdUAP in B. dorsalis and demonstrate the potential role for BdUAP in larval-pupal transition.

The Essential Role of Vitellogenin Receptor in Ovary Development and Vitellogenin Uptake in Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel).

The vitellogenin receptor (VgR) functions as an essential component in uptaking and transporting vitellogenin (Vg) in female adults, which is involved in ovary development and oviposition. This study aimed to clarify the molecular characteristics and function of VgR in the oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel). Here, we identified the full-length of BdVgR (GenBank Accession No. JX469118), encoding a 1925 residue (aa) protein with a 214.72 kDa molecular mass and several typical motifs of low-density lipoprotein receptor superfamily (LDLR). Phylogenic analysis suggested that BdVgR was evolutionary conserved with other Dipteran VgRs. The expression of BdVgR was exclusively detected in the ovaries rather than head, thorax or other tissues. The developmental expression patterns showed that the signal of BdVgR was detectable in very beginning of adult stage, and positively correlated with the growth rate of ovaries and the expression levels of its ligands. In addition, we also demonstrated that the expression level of BdVgR, and ovary development were significantly suppressed after being injected with BdVgR-targeted dsRNA. Together, all of these results indicated that BdVgR was critical for yolk protein absorption and ovary maturation in B. dorsalis, playing a vital role in female reproduction.

Exposure to diflubenzuron results in an up-regulation of a chitin synthase 1 gene in citrus red mite, Panonychus citri (Acari: Tetranychidae).

Chitin synthase synthesizes chitin, which is critical for the arthropod exoskeleton. In this study, we cloned the cDNA sequences of a chitin synthase 1 gene, PcCHS1, in the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri (McGregor), which is one of the most economically important pests of citrus worldwide. The full-length cDNA of PcCHS1 contains an open reading frame of 4605 bp of nucleotides, which encodes a protein of 1535 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 175.0 kDa. A phylogenetic analysis showed that PcCHS1 was most closely related to CHS1 from Tetranychus urticae. During P. citri development, PcCHS1 was constantly expressed in all stages but highly expressed in the egg stage (114.8-fold higher than in the adult). When larvae were exposed to diflubenzuron (DFB) for 6 h, the mite had a significantly high mortality rate, and the mRNA expression levels of PcCHS1 were significantly enhanced. These results indicate a promising use of DFB to control P. citri, by possibly acting as an inhibitor in chitin synthesis as indicated by the up-regulation of PcCHS1 after exposure to DFB.

MicroR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 co-target Akt to regulate Lasioderma serricorne reproduction.

High fecundity is a common characteristic of insect pests which increases the difficulty of population control. Serine/threonine kinase Akt is an indispensable component of the insulin signaling pathway. Silencing of LsAkt severely hinders reproduction in Lasioderma serricorne, a stored product insect pest. However, the post-transcriptional pathway of LsAkt in L. serricorne remains unknown. This study identified 2 binding sites of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 in the coding sequences of LsAkt. The expression profiles of 2 microRNAs (miRNAs) and LsAkt displayed an opposite pattern during the adult stages. Luciferase reporter assay showed that novel-mir50 and miR-9c-5p could downregulate the expression of LsAkt. Overexpression of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 by injection of mimics inhibited the expression of LsAkt and reduced oviposition, decreased egg hatchability, and blocked ovarian development. It also decreased the expression of genes involved in ovarian development (LsVg and LsVgR) and the nutritional signaling pathway (LsTOR, LsS6K, and Ls4EBP), and reduced the phosphorylation of Akt. Conversely, injection of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 inhibitors induced the expressions of LsAkt, LsVg, LsVgR, LsTOR, LsS6K, and Ls4EBP, enhanced Akt phosphorylation level, and accelerated ovarian development. Injection of bovine insulin downregulated the expression of miR-9c-5p and novel-mir50 and upregulated the LsAkt expression. It also rescued the reproductive development defects associated with miR-9c-5p/novel-mir50 overexpression, forming a positive regulatory loop of insulin signaling. These results indicate that miR-9c-5p/novel-mir50 regulates the female reproduction of L. serricorne by targeting Akt in response to insulin signaling. The data also demonstrate the effects of the insulin/miRNA/Akt regulatory axis in insect reproduction.

Disruption of microRNA pathway core genes inhibits molting and reproduction of the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNA (miRNA) pathway genes have been widely reported to participate in several physiological events in insect lifecycles. The cigarette beetle Lasioderma serricorne is an economically important storage pest worldwide. However, the functions of miRNA pathway genes in L. serricorne remain to be clarified. Herein, we investigated the function of molting and reproduction of the miRNA pathway in L. serricorne. RESULTS: LsDicer-1, LsArgonaute-1, LsLoquacious and LsExportin-5 were universally expressed in adults, whereas LsPasha and LsDrosha were mainly expressed in the pupae. The genes presented different patterns in various tissues. Silencing of LsDicer-1, LsArgonaute-1, LsDrosha and LsExportin-5 resulted in a high proportion of wing deformities and molting defects. Silencing of LsDicer-1, LsArgonaute-1, LsPasha and LsLoquacious affected the development of the ovary and the maturation of oocytes, resulting in a significant decrease in fecundity. Further investigation revealed that the decreases in LsDicer-1 and LsArgonaute-1 expression destroyed follicular epithelia and delayed vitellogenesis and oocyte development. In addition, the expression levels of several miRNAs (let-7, let-7-5p, miR-8-3p, miR-8-5p, miR-9c-5p, miR-71, miR-252-5p, miR-277-3p, miR-263b and Novel-miR-50) were decreased significantly after knockdown of these miRNA pathway core genes, indicating that they played important roles in regulating miRNA-mediated gene expression. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that miRNA pathway genes play important roles in the molting, ovarian development and female fecundity of L. serricorne, and thus are potentially suitable target genes for developing an RNAi strategy against a major pest of stored products. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Functional analysis of nuclear receptor genes in molting and metamorphosis of the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne.

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are ligand-regulated transcription factors that are important for the normal growth and development of insects. However, systematic function analysis of NRs in the molting process of Lasioderma serricorne has not been reported. In this study, we identified and characterized 16 NR genes from L. serricorne. Spatiotemporal expression analysis revealed that six NRs were mainly expressed in 3-d-old 4th-instar larvae; five NRs were primarily expressed in 5-d-old adults and four NRs were predominately expressed in prepupae. All the NRs were highly expressed in epidermis, fat body and foregut. RNA interference (RNAi) experiments revealed that knockdown of 15 NRs disrupted the larva-pupa-adult transitions and caused 64.44-100 % mortality. Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that depletion of 12 NRs prevented the formation of new cuticle and disrupted apolysis of old cuticle. Silencing of LsHR96, LsSVP and LsE78 led to newly formed cuticle that was thinner than the controls. The 20E titer and chitin content significantly decreased by 17.67-95.12 % after 15 NR dsRNA injection and the gene expression levels of 20E synthesis genes and chitin metabolism genes were significantly reduced. These results demonstrated that 15 NR genes are essential for normal molting and metamorphosis of L. serricorne by regulating 20E synthesis and chitin metabolism.

The Association between GLP-1 Receptor-Based Agonists and the Incidence of Asthma in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and/or Obesity: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Recent studies have indicated potential anti-inflammatory effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) on asthma, which is often comorbid with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the association between the administration of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor-based agonists and the incidence of asthma in patients with T2DM and/or obesity. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Clinicaltrial.gov were systematically searched from inception to July 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of GLP-1 receptor-based agonists (GLP-1RA, GLP-1 based dual and triple receptor agonist) with reports of asthma events were included. Outcomes were computed as risk ratios ( RR) using a fixed-effects model. Results: Overall, 39 RCTs with a total of 85,755 participants were included. Compared to non-GLP-1 receptor-based agonist users, a trend of reduced risk of asthma was observed in patients with T2DM or obesity using GLP-1 receptor-based agonist treatments, although the difference was not statistically significant [ RR = 0.91, 95% confidence interval ( CI): 0.68 to 1.24]. Further Subgroup analyses indicated that the use of light-molecular-weight GLP-1RAs might be associated with a reduced the risk of asthma when compared with non-users ( RR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.43 to 0.99, P = 0.043). We also performed sensitivity analyses for participant characteristics, study design, drug structure, duration of action, and drug subtypes. However, no significant associations were observed. Conclusion: Compared with non-users, a modest reduction in the incidence of asthma was observed in patients with T2DM or obesity using GLP-1 receptor-based agonist treatments. Further investigations are warranted to assess the association between GLP-1 receptor-based agonists and the risk of asthma.

Transcriptional regulation of a chitinase gene by 20-hydroxyecdysone and starvation in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis.

Insect chitinases are hydrolytic enzymes that are required for the degradation of glycosidic bonds of chitin. In this study, we identified and characterized a full-length cDNA of the chitinase gene (BdCht2) in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis. The cDNA contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 1449 bp that encodes 483 amino acid residues and 126- and 296-bp non-coding regions at the 5'- and 3'-ends, respectively. The BdCht2 genome has four exons and three introns. The predicted molecular mass of the deduced BdCht2 is approximately 54.3 kDa, with an isoelectric point of 5.97. The 977 bp 5' flanking region was identified and the transcription factor binding sites were predicted. Bioinformatic analyses showed that the deduced amino acid sequence of BdCht2 had 34%-66% identity to that of chitinases identified in other insect species. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analyses indicated that BdCht2 was mainly expressed during the larval-pupal and pupal-adult transitions. The tissue-specific expression showed that the highest expression was in the integument, followed by the fat body and other tissues. Moreover, the expression of BdCht2 was upregulated significantly upon 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) at different dose injections after 8 h compared to that of the control. Starvation also increased the expression of BdCht2 in the third-instar larvae and was suppressed again by re-feeding the insects. These results suggest that BdCht2 plays an important role in the molting process of B. dorsalis larvae and can be regulated by 20E.

Molecular cloning, characterization and mRNA expression of a chitin synthase 2 gene from the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Chitin synthase (CHS), a potential target for eco-friendly insecticides, plays an essential role in chitin formation in insects. In this study, a full-length cDNA encoding chitin synthase 2 (BdCHS2) was cloned and characterized in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis. The BdCHS2 cDNA had 4417 nucleotides, containing an open reading frame of 4122 nucleotides, which encoded 1373 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular weight of 158.5 kDa. Phylogenetic analysis with other insect CHSs suggested that BdCHS2 belongs to insect CHS2. The BdCHS2 transcript was predominately found in midgut but was detected at low levels in fat body, Malpighian tubules, integument, and trachea. Moreover, BdCHS2 was expressed in all developmental stages, and highly expressed in the feeding stages. There was a positive relationship between BdCHS2 expression and total chitin content during development. Furthermore, both the gene expression and chitin content in midgut decreased when the insect was fed for 24 h, then starved for 24 h, while they increased dramatically and rapidly under the condition of starvation for 24 h then feeding for 24 h. These results suggest that BdCHS2 may play an important role in regulating chitin content of the midgut, and subsequently affect the growth and development of B. dorsalis.

Identification and immune analysis of antimicrobial peptides from the cigarette beetle (Lasioderma serricorne).

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in insects are endogenous peptides that are effector components of the innate defense system of the insect. AMPs may serve as antimicrobial agents because of their small molecular weight and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. In this study, we performed transcriptome analysis of cigarette beetle (Lasioderma serricorne) larvae, parasitized by the ectoparasitic wasp, Anisopteromalus calandrae. Several AMP genes were significantly upregulated following A. calandrae parasitism, postulating the hypothesis that the parasitization enhanced the host's resistance against pathogenic microorganisms through the regulation of host AMP genes. Specifically, 3 AMP genes (LsDef1, LsDef2, and LsCole) were significantly upregulated and we studied their immune function in L. serricorne. Immune challenge and functional analysis showed that LsCole was responsible for the immune response against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, while LsDef1 and LsDef2 were involved in insect defense against Gram-positive bacteria. Purified recombinant LsCole exhibited antimicrobial activities against the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli and the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. LsDef2 showed an antibacterial effect against S. aureus. LsCole and LsDef2 exhibited antibiofilm activity against S. aureus. The 2 AMPs disrupted cell membranes and caused leakage of S. aureus cell contents. The results indicated that the 3 AMPs in L. serricorne are involved in the innate immunity of this pest insect. These AMPs may have potential as antimicrobial agents for bacterial infection chemotherapy. Hence, data are discussed in relation to new control strategies with greater biosafety against pest insects with use of microbial biocontrol agents in combination with RNA interference against the insect's defensive AMP genes.