The Effects of Cranberry Consumption on Glycemic and Lipid Profiles in Humans: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

This study aims to update the evidence and clarify whether cranberry possesses lipid-lowering and hypoglycemic properties in humans. PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched to identify relevant articles published up to December 2023. In total, 3145 publications were reviewed and 16 of them were included for qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis. Stata 15.0 and Review Manager 5.4 were applied for statistical analyses. The results revealed a significant decrease in the total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TC/HDL-C) (MD = -0.24; 95% CI: -0.45, -0.04; peffect = 0.02) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (MD = -0.59; 95% CI: -1.05, -0.14; peffect = 0.01) with cranberry consumption. However, it did not influence total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and fasting insulin. In subgroup analysis, cranberry consumption in dried form (capsules, powder, and tablets) was found to significantly decrease the fasting insulin level (three studies, one hundred sixty-five participants, MD = -2.16; 95% CI: -4.24, -0.07; peffect = 0.04), while intervention duration, health conditions, and dosage of polyphenols and anthocyanins had no impact on blood lipid and glycemic parameters. In summary, cranberry might have potential benefits in regulating lipid and glucose profiles.

Hybrid auditory fMRI: In pursuit of increasing data acquisition while decreasing the impact of scanner noise.

BACKGROUND: Two challenges in auditory fMRI include the loud scanner noise during sound presentation and slow data acquisition. Here, we introduce a new auditory imaging protocol, termed "hybrid", that alleviates these obstacles. NEW METHOD: We designed a within-subject experiment (N = 14) wherein language-driven activity was measured by hybrid, interleaved silent (ISSS), and continuous multiband acquisition. To determine the advantage of noise attenuation during sound presentation, hybrid was compared to multiband. To identify the benefits of increased temporal resolution, hybrid was compared to ISSS. Data were evaluated by whole-brain univariate general linear modeling (GLM) and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). RESULTS: Comparison with existing methods: CONCLUSIONS: Our data revealed that hybrid imaging restored neural activity in the canonical language network that was absent due to the loud noise or slow sampling in the conventional imaging protocols. With its noise-attenuated sound presentation windows and increased acquisition speed, the hybrid protocol is well-suited for auditory fMRI research tracking neural activity pertaining to fast, time-varying acoustic events.

Identification of Toxoplasma Gondii Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH) Activity and Molecular Immunoprotection against Toxoplasmosis.

The neurotropic parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection can change the behavior of rodents and cause neuropsychological symptoms in humans, which may be related to the change in neurotransmitter dopamine in the host brain caused by T. gondii infection. T. gondii tyrosine hydroxylase (TgTH) is an important factor in increasing the neurotransmitter dopamine in the host brain. In this study, the enzyme activity of TgTH catalytic substrate for dopamine production and the molecular characteristics of TgTH were identified. In order to amplify the open reading frame (ORF), the designing of the specific primers for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was on the basis of the TgTH sequence (GenBank Accession No. EU481510.1), which was inserted into pET-32a (+) for the expression of recombined TgTH (rTgTH). The sequence analysis indicated that the gene of TgTH directed the encoding of a 62.4-kDa protein consisting of 565 amino acid residues, which was predicted to have a high antigen index. The enzyme activity test showed that rTgTH and the soluble proteins extracted separately from T. gondii RH strain and PRU strain could catalyze the substrate to produce dopamine in a dose-dependent manner, and the optimum catalytic temperature was 37 °C. The result of the Western Blotting assay revealed that the rTgTH and the native TgTH extracted from somatic of T. gondii RH tachyzoite were successfully detected by the sera of mice infected with T. gondii and the rat serum after rTgTH immune, respectively. Immunofluorescence analysis using antibody against rTgTH demonstrated that the protein was expressed and located on the surface of T. gondii RH tachyzoite. Freund's adjuvant was used to emulsify the rTgTH, which was subsequently applied to BALB/c mouse immune thrice on week 0, week 2, and week 4, respectively. The result of the animal challenge experiments showed an integral increase in IgG, IgG2a, IgG1, and IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL17 were as well significantly increased, and that the rTgTH vaccinated animals apparently had a prolonged survival time (14.30 ± 2.41) after infection with the RH strain of T. gondii compared with that of the non-vaccinated control animals, which died within 11 days. Additionally, in the rTgTH vaccination group, the number of brain cysts (1275 ± 224) significantly decreased (p < 0.05) compared to the blank control group (2375 ± 883), and the size of the brain cysts in the animals immunized with rTgTH vaccination was remarkably smaller than that of the control mice. All the findings prove that TgTH played an important role in increasing the neurotransmitter dopamine in the host brain and could be used as a vaccine candidate antigen to mediate cell-mediated and humoral immunity.

Pollen-mediated gene flow from transgenic cotton is constrained by physical isolation measures.

The public concern about pollen-mediated gene flow (PGF) from genetically modified (GM) crops to non-GM crops heats up in recent years over China. In the current study, we conducted greenhouse and field experiments to measure PGF with various physical isolation measures, including 90, 80, 60 and 40 holes/cm2 separation nets and Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays and Lycopersicon esculentum separation crops between GM cotton and non-GM line (Shiyuan321) by seed DNA test during 2013 to 2015, and pollen grain dyeing was also conducted to assess the pollen flow in greenhouse during 2013. Our results revealed that (1) PGF varied depending on the physical isolation measures. PGF was the lowest with 90 holes/cm2 separation net and S. bicolor separation crop, and the highest with 40 holes/cm2 separation net and no isolation measure. (2) Similar to PGF results, 90 holes/cm2 separation net and S. bicolor separation crop could minimize the pollen dispersal. (3) PGF declined exponentially with increasing distance between GM cotton and Shiyuan321. Because of the production mode of farm household (limited cultivated area) in China, our study is particularly important, which is not only benefit for constraining PGF, but also has potential application value in practical production and the scientific researches.

Decreased bilateral thalamic gray matter volume in first-episode schizophrenia with prominent hallucinatory symptoms: A volumetric MRI study.

Studies comparing gray matter (GM) volume of schizophrenic patients with or without auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) to that of normal controls remain controversial. This project aims to investigate changes of GM volumes of drug-naïve schizophrenic patients with and without AVHs. Eighteen first episode schizophrenic (FES) patients with AVHs, 18 FES patients without AVHs, and 18 healthy controls were scanned using structural MRI. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis was conducted to investigate changes of GM volume among the three groups. Patients with and without AVHs exhibited reduced GM volumes relative to normal controls in the left superior temporal gyrus, frontal regions, cerebellum and caudate. Further analysis of the GM of subcortical structures found that patients with AVHs had reduced thalamic volume than healthy controls. No significant difference was found between patients with and without AVHs. Significant correlation was found between the total scores of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and bilateral thalamic volume. ROC analysis of thalamic volumes of the patients with AVHs and normal controls showed that the area under the curve was 0.698 (P = 0.043). The decreased thalamic volumes might serve as a biomarker for discriminating FES AVHs patients from normals.

Immunoglobulin and cytokine changes induced following immunization with a DNA vaccine encoding Toxoplasma gondii selenium-dependent glutathione reductase protein.

Toxoplasma gondii Glutathione Reductase (TgGR) plays important role during the survival of the parasite. In this investigation, immunological changes and protection efficiency of this protein delivered as a DNA vaccine (pTgGR) have been evaluated. Mice were immunized with pTgGR, followed by challenge with virulent T. gondii RH strain, 2 weeks after the booster immunization. Compared to the control groups pVAX1, PBS and Blank groups, the results showed that pTgGR stimulated specific humoral response defined by significant titers of total IgG, subclasses IgG1 and IgG2a, classes IgA and IgM, but not IgE. Analysis of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-17 and TGF-ß1 cytokines after immunization and compared with the control groups showed significant increments in pTgGR group. Additionally, T lymphocytes subpopulation CD4(+) T was positively recruited with significant percentage detected, while subset CD8(+) appeared not to be involved in response to this antigen. Vaccinated mice showed a significantly longer survival time, 15 days, in contrast with control groups which died within 8-10 days after challenge. These results demonstrated that TgGR could induce significant humoral and cell mediated responses leading to a considerable level of resistance against toxoplasmosis infection.

Cloning and characterization of a selenium-independent glutathione peroxidase (HC29) from adult Haemonchus contortus.

The complete coding sequence of Haemonchus (H.) contortus HC29 cDNA was generated by rapid amplification of cDNA ends in combination with PCR using primers targeting the 5'- and 3'-ends of the partial mRNA sequence. The cloned HC29 cDNA was shown to be 1,113 bp in size with an open reading frame of 507 bp, encoding a protein of 168 amino acid with a calculated molecular mass of 18.9 kDa. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that the cloned HC29 cDNA contained the conserved catalytic triad and dimer interface of selenium-independent glutathione peroxidase (GPX). Alignment of the predicted amino acid sequences demonstrated that the protein shared 44.7~80.4% similarity with GPX homologues in the thioredoxin-like family. Phylogenetic analysis revealed close evolutionary proximity of the GPX sequence to the counterpart sequences. These results suggest that HC29 cDNA is a GPX, a member of the thioredoxin-like family. Alignment of the nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of HC29 with those of the reported selenium-independent GPX of H. contortus showed that HC29 contained different types of spliced leader sequences as well as dimer interface sites, although the active sites of both were identical. Enzymatic analysis of recombinant prokaryotic HC29 protein showed activity for the hydrolysis of H(2)O(2). These findings indicate that HC29 is a selenium-independent GPX of H. contortus.

Immunologic synergism with IL-2 and effects of cCHMIs on mRNA expression of IL-2 and IFN-gamma in chicken peripheral T lymphocyte.

Two compound Chinese herbal medicinal ingredients (cCHMIs) were prepared, respectively, with epimedium polysaccharide plus propolis flavone (cCHMIs 1) and astragalus polysaccharide plus ginsenoside (cCHMIs 2). In animal immune experiment, Newcastle disease vaccine was mixed, respectively, with two cCHMIs and IL-2 to vaccinate 15-day-old chicken in experimental groups. On days 7, 14, 21 and 28 after vaccination, the dynamic changes of serum antibody titers were tested by micro-method. In gene expression experiment, each cCHMIs, at three concentrations, was added into cultured chicken peripheral T lymphocyte. After cultivation of 7h, the expression of IL-2 mRNA in the cell, 24h, IFN-gamma mRNA, were determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay. The results showed that two cCHMIs, whether single or cooperative injection with IL-2, could significantly raise the antibody titers, while immunologic synergisms of two cCHMIs with IL-2 were unconspicuous. cCHMs 1 at three doses and cCHMIs 2 at high dose could remarkably promote the expression of IL-2 mRNA in chicken T lymphocyte, two cCHMIs at three doses, the expression of IFN-gamma mRNA, which could explain why the immunologic synergism of cCHMIs with IL-2 was not obvious.

Effects of Chinese herbal medicinal ingredients on peripheral lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody titer after vaccination in chicken.

The purpose of these experiments is to study the effects of Chinese herbal medicinal ingredients (CHMIs) on peripheral lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody titer in chicken vaccinated with Newcastle disease. Nine CHMIs were chosen for the experiments. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), Isatis root polysaccharide (IRPS), Epimedium flavone (EF), Propolis flavone (PF), Astragalosides (AS) and Ginsenosides (GS) could promote lymphocyte proliferation and antibody titer, while Epimedium polysaccharide (EPS) mainly stimulated cellular immune responses. Chinese angelica polysaccharide (CAPS) and Propolis polysaccharide (PPS) exerted weaker effects on promoting immune responses. APS, IRPS, PPS and PF in promoting lymphocyte proliferation, and IRPS, PPS, EF and PF in promoting humoral immunity in higher dose were significantly stronger than in lower dose. Our results indicated that almost all of the nine CHMIs could promote both humoral and cellular immune responses and would be expected as the component drug of a new-type immunopotentiator.

Short-term depression at thalamocortical synapses contributes to rapid adaptation of cortical sensory responses in vivo.

In vivo whole-cell recordings revealed that during repeated stimulation, synaptic responses to deflection of facial whiskers rapidly adapt. Extracellular recordings in the somatosensory thalamus revealed that part of the adaptation occurs subcortically, but because cortical adaptation is stronger and recovers more slowly, cortical mechanisms must also contribute. Trains of sensory stimuli that produce profound sensory adaptation did not alter intrinsic membrane properties, including resting membrane potential, input resistance, and current-evoked firing. Synaptic input evoked via intracortical stimulation was also unchanged; however, synaptic input from the somatosensory thalamus was depressed by sensory stimulation, and this depression recovered with a time course matching that of the recovery of sensory responsiveness. These data strongly suggest that synaptic depression of thalamic input to the cortex contributes to the dynamic regulation of neuronal sensitivity during rapid changes in sensory input.