Effects of dietary supplementation with Radix Isatidis polysaccharide on egg quality, immune function, and intestinal health in hens.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of supplementing laying hen diets with Radix Isatidis Polysaccharide (RIPS) on egg quality, immune function, and intestinal health. The research was conducted using 288 Hyland Brown hens, which were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: control (without RIPS), low dose (200 g/t), medium dose (500 g/t), and high dose (1000 g/t) of RIPS. Each dietary treatment was administered to eight replicates of nine hens for nine weeks. The results revealed that RIPS inclusion in diets significantly improved egg quality parameters such as egg shape index, yolk color, haugh unit, and protein height (P < 0.05). Additionally, RIPS supplementation enhanced immune function as evidenced by an alteration in serum biochemical parameters, an increase in the spleen index, and a decrease in the liver index. Further, an evaluation of intestinal health showed that RIPS fortified the intestinal barrier, thus increasing the population of beneficial intestinal bacteria and reducing the abundance of harmful ones. Such mechanisms promoted intestinal health, digestion, and nutrient absorption, ultimately leading to enhanced egg quality. In conclusion, supplementing laying hen diets with RIPS has been demonstrated to improve egg quality by boosting immunity and optimizing intestinal digestion and absorption.

Function analysis of choline binding domains (CBDs) of LytA, LytC and CbpD in biofilm formation of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Biofilm formation is an important strategy for the colonization of Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can increase the capacity to evade antibiotic and host immune stress. Extracellular choline-binding proteins (CBPs) are required for successful biofilm formation, but the function of extracellular CBPs in the process of biofilm formation is not fully understood. In this study, we tend to analyze the functions of LytA, LytC and CbpD in biofilm formation by in vitro studies with their choline-binding domains (CBDs). Biofilm formation of S. pneumoniae was enhanced when cultured in medium supplemented with CBD-C and CBD-D. Parallel assays with ChBp-Is (choline binding repeats with different C-terminal tails) and character analysis of CBDs reveal a higher isoelectric point (pI) is related to promotion of biofilm formation. Phenotype characterization of biofilms revel CBD-C and CBD-D function differently, CBD-C promoting the formation of membrane-like structures and CBD-D promoting the formation of regular reticular structures. Gene expression analysis reveals membrane transport pathways are influenced with the binding of CBDs, among which the phosphate uptake and PTS of galactose pathways are both up-regulated under conditions with CBDs. Further, extracellular substances detection revealed that extracellular proteins increased with CBD-A and CBD-D, exhibiting as increase in extracellular high molecular weight proteins. Extracellular DNA increased under CBD-A but decreased under CBD-C and CBD-D; Extracellular phosphate increased under CBD-C. These support the alterations in membrane transport pathways, and reveal diverse reactions to extracellular protein, DNA and phosphate of these three CBDs. Overall, our results indicated extracellular CBP participate in biofilm formation by affecting surface charge and membrane transport pathways of pneumococcal cells, as well as promoting reactions to extracellular substances.

Characterization of a group of peptides for potential applications in hydrogen phosphate and heavy metals accumulation.

Phosphorus and heavy metals are discarded to the domestic sewage in our daily life, it is necessary to find easy methods for phosphorus and heavy metals accumulation. Here, a group of short peptides (ChBpHs) were found to react with hydrogen phosphate forming insoluble substances. ChBpHs are composed by a choline binding peptides (ChBp) and a C-terminal histidine rich tail. The reaction region to hydrogen phosphate was determined at 1-18th amino acid in ChBp. The affinities of ChBpHs are different, with minimum react concentrations of Na2HPO4 ranging from 2 to 12 mM. In addition, the C-terminal histidine tail enables ChBpHs with affinities to metal ions in vitro. Prokaryotic expression of ChBpH1 in Escherichia coli resulted in the reduction of soluble hydrogen phosphate in the culture medium. The accumulation of phosphate is time and concentration dependent, maximum reduction was detected at 24 h post induction (23% in phosphate rich medium and 14% in normal medium). The reduction of nickel ions (about 20%) was only detected after cells were broken. In conclusion, this preliminary investigation of ChBpHs indicates the potential applications for bioconcentration of soluble phosphate in the future.

A review of traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant intracranial tumor. Due to its high morbidity, high mortality, high recurrence rate, and low cure rate, it has brought great difficulty for treatment. Although the current treatment is multimodal, including surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, it does not significantly improve survival time. The dismal prognosis and inevitable recurrence as well as resistance to chemoradiotherapy may be related to its highly cellular heterogeneity and multiple subclonal populations. Traditional Chinese medicine has its own unique advantages in the prevention and treatment of it. A comprehensive literature search of anti-glioblastoma active ingredients and derivatives from traditional Chinese medicine was carried out in literature published in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science Cochrane library, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP database. Hence, this article systematically reviews experimental research progress of some traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of glioblastoma from two aspects: strengthening vital qi and eliminating pathogenic qi. Among, strengthening vital qi medicine includes panax ginseng, licorice, lycium barbarum, angelica sinensis; eliminating pathogenic medicine includes salvia miltiorrhiza bunge, scutellaria baicalensis, coptis rhizoma, thunder god vine, and sophora flavescens. We found that the same active ingredient can act on different signaling pathways, such as ginsenoside Rg3 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis via the AKT, MEK signal pathway. Hence, this multi-target, multi-level pathway may bring on a new dawn for the treatment of glioblastoma.

Survival of bactericidal antibiotic treatment by tolerant persister cells of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

PURPOSE: Persister cells, a subpopulation of tolerant cells within the bacterial culture, are commonly thought to be responsible for antibiotic therapy failure and infection recurrence. Klebsiella pneumoniae is a notorious human pathogen for its increasing resistance to antibiotics and wide involvement in severe infections. In this study, we aimed to investigate the persister subpopulation of K. pneumoniae. METHODOLOGY: The presence of persisters in K. pneumoniae was determined by treatment with high concentrations of antibiotics, used alone or in combination. The effect of low level of antibiotics on persister formation was investigated by pre-exposure of cells to antibiotics with low concentrations followed by higher doses. The dependence of persister levels on growth phase was determined by measuring the survival ability of cells along the growth stages upon exposure to a high concentration of antibiotic. Analysis on persister type was carried out by persister elimination assays.Results/Key findings. We show that K. pneumoniae produces high levels of tolerant persister cells to survive treatment by a variety of high concentrations of bactericidal antibiotics and persister formation is prevalent among K. pneumoniae clinical strains. Besides, we find that persister cells can be induced by low concentrations of antibiotics. Finally, we provide evidence that persister formation is growth phase-dependent and Type II persisters dominate the persister subpopulation during the entire exponential phase of K. pneumoniae. CONCLUSION: Our study describes the formation of tolerant persister cells that allow survival of treatment by high concentrations of antibiotics in K. pneumoniae.

Abnormal causal connectivity by structural deficits in first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia at rest.

Anatomical deficits and resting-state functional connectivity (FC) alterations in prefrontal-thalamic-cerebellar circuit have been implicated in the neurobiology of schizophrenia. However, the effect of structural deficits in schizophrenia on causal connectivity of this circuit remains unclear. This study was conducted to examine the causal connectivity biased by structural deficits in first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia patients. Structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were obtained from 49 first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia patients and 50 healthy controls. Data were analyzed by voxel-based morphometry and Granger causality analysis. The causal connectivity of the integrated prefrontal-thalamic (limbic)-cerebellar (sensorimotor) circuit was partly affected by structural deficits in first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia as follows: (1) unilateral prefrontal-sensorimotor connectivity abnormalities (increased driving effect from the left medial prefrontal cortex [MPFC] to the sensorimotor regions); (2) bilateral limbic-sensorimotor connectivity abnormalities (increased driving effect from the right anterior cingulate cortex [ACC] to the sensorimotor regions and decreased feedback from the sensorimotor regions to the right ACC); and (3) bilateral increased and decreased causal connectivities among the sensorimotor regions. Some correlations between the gray matter volume of the seeds, along with their causal effects and clinical variables (duration of untreated psychosis and symptom severity), were also observed in the patients. The findings indicated the partial effects of structural deficits in first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia on the prefrontal-thalamic (limbic)-cerebellar (sensorimotor) circuit. Schizophrenia may reinforce the driving connectivities from the left MPFC or right ACC to the sensorimotor regions and may disrupt bilateral causal connectivities among the sensorimotor regions.