Complete chloroplast genome of Ligustrum lucidum and highly variable marker identification for Ligustrum / 中国中药杂志

Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, the sun-dried mature fruit of Ligustrum lucidum, is cool, plain, sweet, and bitter, which can be used as both food and medicine, with the effects of improving vision, blacking hair, and tonifying liver and kidney. It takes effect slowly. However, little is known about the genetic information of the medicinal plant and it is still a challenge to distinguish Ligustrum species. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of L. lucidum was obtained by genome skimming and then compared with that of five other Ligustrum species, which had been reported. This study aims to evaluate the interspecific variation of chloroplast genome within the genus and develop molecular markers for species identification of the genus. The result showed that the chloroplast genome of L. lucidum was 162 162 bp with a circular quadripartite structure of two single-copy regions separated by a pair of inverted repeats. The Ligustrum chloroplast genomes were conserved with small interspecific difference. Comparative analysis of six Ligustrum chloroplast genomes revealed three variable regions(rbcL-accD, ycf1a, and ycf1b), and ycf1a and ycf1b can be used as the species-specific DNA barcode for Ligustrum. Phylogeny analysis provided the best resolution of Ligustrum and supported that L. lucidum was sister to L. gracile. This study clarified the genetic diversity of L. lucidum from provenance, which can serve as a reference for further analysis of pharmacological differences and breeding of excellent varieties with stable drug effects.

Sesquiterpenes and polyphenols with glucose-uptake stimulatory and antioxidant activities from the medicinal mushroom Sanghuangporus sanghuang / 中国天然药物

A chemical investigation on the fermentation products of Sanghuangporus sanghuang led to the isolation and identification of fourteen secondary metabolites (1-14) including eight sesquiterpenoids (1-8) and six polyphenols (9-14). Compounds 1-3 were sesquiterpenes with new structures which were elucidated based on NMR spectroscopy, high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. All the isolates were tested for their stimulation effects on glucose uptake in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells, and cellular antioxidant activity. Compounds 9-12 were subjected to molecular docking experiment to primarily evaluate their anti-coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) activity. As a result, compounds 9-12 were found to increase the glucose uptake of insulin-resistant HepG2 cells by 18.1%, 62.7%, 33.7% and 21.4% at the dose of 50 μmol·L

Clonal evolution and clinical significance of trisomy 8 in acquired bone marrow failure / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To analyze clonal evolution and clinical significance of trisomy 8 in patients with acquired bone marrow failure. Methods: The clinical data of 63 patients with acquired bone marrow failure accompanied with isolated trisomy 8 (+8) from June 2011 to September 2018 were analyzed retrospectively, the clonal evolution patterns and relationship with immmunosuppressive therapy were summarized. Results: Totally 24 male and 39 female patients were enrolled, including 39 patients with aplastic anemia (AA) and 24 patients with relatively low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) . Mean size of+8 clone in MDS patients[65% (15%-100%) ]was higher than that of AA patients[25% (4.8%-100%) , z=3.48, P=0.001]. The patients were was divided into three groups (<30%, 30%-<50%,and ≥50%) according to the proportion of+8 clone. There was significant difference among the three groups between AA[<30%:55.6% (20/36) ; 30-50%: 22.2% (8/36) ; ≥50%22.2% (8/36) ]and MDS patients[<30%:19.0% (4/21) ; 30%-<50%:19.0% (4/21) ; ≥50%61.9% (13/21) ] (P=0.007) . The proportion of AA patients with+8 clone <30% was significantly higher than that of MDS patients (P=0.002) ; and the proportion of AA patients with+8 clone ≥50%was significantly lower than that of MDS patients (P=0.002) . The median age of AA and MDS patients was respectively 28 (7-61) years old and 48.5 (16-72) years old. Moreover, there was no correlation between age and+8 clone size in AA or MDS (r(s)=0.109, P=0.125; r(s)=-0.022, P=0.924, respectively) . There was statistical difference in total iron binding capacity, transferrin and erythropoietin between high and low clone group of AA patients (P=0.016, P=0.046, P=0.012, respectively) , but no significant difference in MDS patients. The immunosuppressive therapy (IST) efficacy of AA and MDS patients was respectively 66.7% and 43.8% (P=0.125) . Comparing with initial clone size (27.3%) , the +8 clone size (45%) of AA patients was increased 1-2 year after IST, but no statistical difference (z=0.83, P=0.272) . Consistently, there was no significant change between initial clone size (72.5%) and 1-2 year clone size (70.5%) after IST in MDS patients. There was no significant difference in IST efficient rate between +8 clone size expansion and decline group of in AA patients at 0.5-<1, 1-2 and>2 years after IST. We found four dynamic evolution patterns of +8 clone, which were clone persistence (45%) , clone disappearance (30%) , clone emergence (10%) and clone recurrence (15%) . Conclusions: AA patients had a low clone burden, while MDS patients had a high burden of +8 clone. The +8 clone of AA patients didn't significantly expanded after IST, and the changes of +8 clone also had no effect on IST response.

Role of IL-27 in mouse colitis model and its influence on NLRP3 inflam-masome / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To observe the effect of interleukin-27 (IL-27) on the pathological changes and the expres-sion and activation of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in the colonic tissues of the mice with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced experimental colitis. METHODS:Male C57BL/6 mice (n=48) were randomly divided into control group (given unrestricted diet), DSS group (drinking 3% DSS solution), IL-27 (500 ng) group and IL-27 (1 μg) group (intraperitoneal injection of 500 ng and 1 μg IL-27 on the basis of drinking DSS solution, respectively). After treatment for 12 d, intestinal inflammation in the mice was evaluated, the pathological changes of the colonic tissues were observed by HE staining, and the disease activity index ( DAI) score and histological index ( HI) score were calculated. The colonic tissues were collected for immunohistochemistry, qPCR and Western blot detections. The serum was prepared for ELISA. RESULTS:Compared with control group, the DAI score and HI score in model group indicated that the colo-nic inflammation was more obvious (P<0.05), the mRNA expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β was increased, the protein levels of NLRP3 and cleaved caspase-1 were elevated, and the releases of IL-1β and IL-18 in the serum were also increased (P<0.05). Compared with DSS group, the DAI score and HI score in IL-27 (1 μg) group indicated that the colonic in-flammation was obviously attenuated, the mRNA expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β was decreased, the protein levels of NLRP3 and cleaved caspase-1 were suppressed, and the releases of IL-1β 和 IL-18 in the serum were also decreased (P<0.05). No difference of the above indexes between DSS group and IL-27 (500 ng) group was observed except the de-creases in the releases of IL-1β and IL-18 in the serum in IL-27 (500 ng) group. CONCLUSION:IL-27 alleviates the inflammation in DSS-induced colitis mice and inhibits the expression and activation of NLRP3 inflammasome.

Experimental study on the reconstruction of mandibular defects with a new bioactive artificial bone nano-hydroxyapatite/polyamide-66 in dogs / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study was designed to investigate reconstruction of segmental defect in the mandible using a new bionic materials of nano-hydroxyapatite -polyainides-66 (n-HA/PA66).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Two defects (15 mm x 10 mm x 5 mm) were created in the mandibular bodies of dogs. One of defects was reconstructed with n-HA/PA66, another not repaired as a blank control. At 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 weeks after operation. Evaluation of effects of n-HA/PA66 on reconstruction of the mandibular defects was carried out by means of radiography and histology.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>From 2 to 8 weeks after operation, some fiber tissue grew into the space between n-HA/PA66 and mandibular bone. The ossification was observed at 12 weeks post-operation. At 16 weeks, the n-HA/PA66 was connected directly to the mandibular bone by the newborn bone.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The new artificial bone of n-HA/PA66 has the effects of osteoconduction and osteoinduction, with a good biocompatibility and is an ideal bone substitute material for reconstruction of mandibular defect.</p>