Serum Iron Levels, Dietary Iron Intake, and Supplement Use in Relation to Metabolic Syndrome in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential associations between serum iron levels, dietary iron intake, and iron supplementation, and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adolescents A cross-sectional analysis was conducted, utilizing data from adolescents participating in the 2003-2018 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) pertaining to serum iron, dietary iron, and iron supplementation were derived through multivariate logistic regression models. Additionally, a restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression model was applied to explore the nonlinear relationship between dietary iron and serum iron concerning MetS. The study encompassed 4858 American adolescents aged 12 to 19, among whom 413 (8.5%) manifested MetS. The study cohort exhibited an average age of 15.52 years, comprising 2551 males (52.51%) and 2307 females (47.49%). Relative to individuals in the lowest serum iron quartile, those in the highest quartile for serum iron (OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.21-0.50), the highest quartile for dietary iron (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.32-0.89), and those utilizing iron supplements (OR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.37-0.99) evinced a diminished prevalence of MetS, even post adjustment for potential confounding variables. A non-linear relationship was discerned between serum iron and MetS, exhibiting a statistically significant negative correlation when serum iron concentrations exceeded the inflection point (serum iron = 8.66 µmol/L, P for nonlinear < 0.001). This investigation reveals that higher levels of serum iron, increased dietary iron intake, and the use of iron supplements are linked to a lower prevalence of MetS in US adolescents. These findings suggest that dietary modifications could play a role in promoting the health of adolescents.

Neutron Irradiation Effects on Boron Nitride-Based Ceramics for Use in X-ray Detection.

X-ray detectors based on conventional semiconductors with large atomic numbers are suffering from the poor stability under a high dose rate of ionizing irradiation. In this work, we demonstrate that a wide band gap ceramic-boron nitride with small atomic numbers could be used for sensitive X-ray detection. Boron nitride samples showed excellent resistance to ionizing radiation, which have been systematically studied with the neutron- and electron-aging experiments. Then, we fully analyzed the influence of these aging effects on the fundamental properties of boron nitride. Interestingly, we found that the boron nitride samples could maintain relatively good charge transport properties even after large dose of neutron irradiation. The fabricated X-ray detectors showed decent performance metrics, and the neutron-aged boron nitride even showed improved operational stability under continuous X-ray irradiation, suggesting the great potential for real applications.

Convergent evolution of immune receptors underpins distinct elicitin recognition in closely related Solanaceous plants.

Elicitins are a large family of secreted proteins in Phytophthora. Clade 1 elicitins were identified decades ago as potent elicitors of immune responses in Nicotiana species, but the mechanisms underlying elicitin recognition are largely unknown. Here we identified an elicitin receptor in Nicotiana benthamiana that we named REL for Responsive to ELicitins. REL is a receptor-like protein (RLP) with an extracellular leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain that mediates Phytophthora resistance by binding elicitins. Silencing or knocking out REL in N. benthamiana abolished elicitin-triggered cell death and immune responses. Domain deletion and site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the island domain (ID) located within the LRR domain of REL is crucial for elicitin recognition. In addition, sequence polymorphism in the ID underpins the genetic diversity of REL homologs in various Nicotiana species in elicitin recognition and binding. Remarkably, REL is phylogenetically distant from the elicitin response (ELR) protein, an LRR-RLP that was previously identified in the wild potato species Solanum microdontum and REL and ELR differ in the way they bind and recognize elicitins. Our findings provide insights into the molecular basis of plant innate immunity and highlight a convergent evolution of immune receptors towards perceiving the same elicitor.

Brusatol inhibits the growth of renal cell carcinoma by regulating the PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Brucea javanica (L.) Merr. is a medicinal herb used in China for the prevention and treatment of diseases such as cancer and malaria. Brusatol was isolated from the seeds of Brucea javanica (L.) Merr, brusatol has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammation and anti-cancer effects. AIM OF THE STUDY: Renal cell carcinoma is one of the most common urinary system tumours and seriously threatens the lives of patients. We aimed to study the mechanism by which brusatol regulates the growth of renal cancer cells through the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We chose the A498, ACHN, and OSRC-2 cell lines as experimental models. After intervention with brusatol, CCK-8 experiments and plate cloning experiments were used to detect the cell proliferation ability; flow cytometry was used to detect the cell apoptosis rate; scratch and transwell invasion assays were used to detect the cell migration and invasion ability; qRT-PCR and Western blotting was used to detect PTEN, p-PI3K/PI3K, p-AKT/AKT, Bax, Bcl2, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and vimentin relative expression. Then, we knocked down the PTEN gene in the three cell lines and again tested the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion capabilities of each group of cells. RESULTS: Brusatol significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion and increased the rate of apoptosis of the A498, ACHN, and OSRC-2 cell lines, and brusatol significantly increased the expression of PTEN mRNA and protein, and inhibited the expression of p-PI3K and p-AKT. Moreover, knockdown of PTEN significantly reduced the inhibitory effect of brusatol on the growth of renal cancer cells. CONCLUSION: Our research results show that brusatol has an effective inhibitory effect on the growth of A498, ACHN, and OSRC-2 renal cancer cell lines, and this effect is likely to be produced by regulating the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signalling pathway.

Effects of Soil Amendments on Microbial Activities in a Typical Cd-Contaminated Purple Field Soil, Southwestern China.

In this study, three soil amendments (inorganic, liming, or organic-inorganic materials) were used in a Cd-contaminated purple field soil to investigate their impacts on soil Cd availability, enzyme (urease, catalase, sucrase, and acid phosphatase) activities, microbial biomass (carbon/nitrogen) and type (bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes) in mustard and corn trials. Results showed that soil amendments generally decreased soil exchangeable Cd, fungi and bacterial populations while increasing the activities of all the four soil enzymes tested, microbial biomass carbon and populations of actinomycetes (p < 0.05). Soil pH and microbial biomass nitrogen did not exhibit any significant response (p > 0.05) whereas stronger effects appeared in soil organic matter and available nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium; p < 0.05). However, only soil available phosphorous significantly correlated with soil microbial activity in both mustard and corn trails (p < 0.05). Thus, application of phosphorous-containing amendments should be considered for promoting soil health in the remediation of the Cd-contaminated purple soils.

Combined Ischemic Postconditioning and Ozone Postconditioning Provides Synergistic Protection Against Renal Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury Through Inhibiting Pyroptosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether ischemic postconditioning (IPO) and ozone postconditioning (OP) could synergistically attenuate renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury and its possible mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An in vivo rat model of renal I/R injury was established, and the serum and kidneys were harvested after reperfusion to assess renal function and histologic changes. For the in vitro study, the cultured NRK-52E cells were subjected to 3 hours of hypoxia (5% CO2, 1% O2, and 94% N2) followed by 24 hours of reoxygenation (5% CO2, 21% O2, and 74% N2). The mRNA expression levels were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and the protein expression levels were analyzed by using Western blot, immunofluorescence staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Kidneys undergone I/R showed characteristic renal dysfunction and pyroptosis. IPO or OP could prevent the elevated blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, renal damage, as well as pyroptosis, however, the combined application of them had more obvious protection. Oxidative stress and pyroptosis were increased in hypoxia and reoxygenation (H/R) model using NRK-52E cells. The combination of hypoxic postconditioning and OP had more protective effects on oxidative abnormalities and pyroptosis compared with the single application of hypoxic postconditioning or OP. CONCLUSION: Our in vivo and in vitro studies show the combination of IPO and OP synergistically prote-cted the kidney from I/R by attenuating pyroptosis in kidney cells.

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a potential target of ozone therapy aiming to ease chronic renal inflammation in chronic kidney disease.

Ozone therapy is an effective medical treatment for various diseases. A previous study has demonstrated its reno-protective effect in chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the mechanism involved is not completely known. This study produced the 5/6 nephrectomized CKD rat model and investigated whether the reno-protective effect of ozone therapy was achieved by its anti-inflammatory property through the modulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. The results showed that ozone therapy at a low concentration improved renal function and ameliorated renal morphological injury in 5/6 nephrectomized rats. The expression of NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1-p10 in the kidney of these rats was simultaneously lowered by ozone therapy. Moreover, renal inflammation caused by IL-1ß was significantly alleviated by ozone therapy. The Pearson correlation analysis indicated that the protein level of IL-1ß was positively correlated with renal injury scores. Taken together, these results indicated that ozone therapy might reduce sterile renal inflammation and slow down CKD progression through the modulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in 5/6 nephrectomized rats.

Ozone therapy could attenuate tubulointerstitial injury in adenine-induced CKD rats by mediating Nrf2 and NF-κB.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine the effects of ozone therapy on restoring impaired Nrf2 activation to ameliorate chronic tubulointerstitial injury in rats with adenine-induced CKD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with 0.75% adenine-containing diet to induce CKD and chronic tubulointerstitial injury. Ozone therapy was administered by rectal insufflation. After 4 weeks, serum and kidney samples were collected and analyzed. Renal function and systemic electrolyte level were detected. Pathological changes in kidney were assessed by hematoxylin-eosin staining and Masson trichrome staining. Nrf2 activation was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses. The levels of SOD, CAT, GSH, PCO, and MDA were detected in the kidney. Immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and real-time PCR analyses were performed to evaluate the activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) P65 pathway and inflammation infiltration in the tubulointerstitium of the rats. RESULTS: Ozone therapy improved severe renal insufficiency and tubulointerstitial morphology injury as well as restored Nrf2 activation and inhibited the NF-κB pathway in rats with adenine-induced CKD. Ozone therapy also up-regulated anti-oxidation enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GSH) and down-regulated oxidation products (PCO and MDA), as well as inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α, and ICAM-1) in the kidney. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that ozone therapy could attenuate tubulointerstitial injury in rats with adenine-induced CKD by mediating Nrf2 and NF-κB.

[Correlation between Fractional Anisotropy and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Effect of Inte- grative Medical Treatment on ALS].

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether fractional anisotropy (FA) value could be taken as a quantitative indicator for tracing and reexamining amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and to analyze the correlation between FA value and integrative medical treatment. METHODS: Totally 18 ALS patients were recruited in this study. All patients received diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) using 3. OT (Propeller HD) MRI twice. Six regions of interest (ROI) were selected to measure FA values. Survival analyses were performed in 11 cases of end point events. RESULTS: (1) Three ROI (cerebral peduncle, posterior limb of internal capsule, and corona radiata) all indicated that FA value was the highest in patients with mild health status scale of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/HSS). (2) There was statistical difference in the means of FA values in cerebral peduncle, posterior limb of internal capsule, and corona radiata of 18 cases between initial examination and reexamination (P < 0.01). (3) Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed the survival rate of ALS patients decreased as time went by, with the median survival time of 48 months. CONCLUSIONS: FA value was inversely proportional to the severity of ALS, the more severe, the lower FA values. FA value was an objective indicator for assessing the severity of ALS. ALS is an incurable disease till now. Integrative medical treatment might become one direction for ALS patients.

Ozone therapy ameliorates tubulointerstitial inflammation by regulating TLR4 in adenine-induced CKD rats.

Tubulointerstitium inflammation is a common pathway aggravating chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and the mechanism is partly associated with excessive activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in tubulointerstitium. Ozone therapy is demonstrated to alleviate inflammation in some experiments. The aim of this study is to examine whether ozone therapy could ameliorate chronic tubulointerstitium inflammation by suppressing TLR4 in adenine-induced CKD rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with 0.75% adenine-containing diet to induce CKD and tubulointerstitium inflammation injury. Ozone therapy (1.1 mg/kg) was simultaneously administrated by rectal insufflations (i.r.). After 4 weeks, serum and kidney samples were collected for detection. Renal function and systemic electrolyte were detected. Renal pathological changes were assessed by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and Masson trichrome (MT) staining. Immunohistochemistry, Western blot and Real-time PCR were applied to evaluate tubulointerstitium inflammation as well as the expression of TLR4 and phosphorylated nuclear factor kappa B P65 (p-NF-κB P65) in rats. The results showed ozone therapy improved serious renal insufficiency, systemic electrolyte disorder and tubulointerstitium morphology damages in adenine-induced CKD rats. In addition, ozone therapy suppressed excessive activation of TLR4 and p-NF-κB P65 in the tubulointerstitium of adenine-induced CKD rats, accompanied by the reduction of inflammation-related cytokines including monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The protein expression of TLR4 was positively correlated with the protein expression levels of MCP-1 (r = 0.7863, p < 0.01) and TNF-α (r = 0.7547, p < 0.01) in CKD rats. These findings indicated ozone therapy could attenuate tubulointerstitium inflammation injury in adenine-induced CKD rats and the mechanism might associate with the mediation of TLR4.

A Cross-sectional Study of the Relationship Between Habitual Tea Consumption and Arterial Stiffness.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To explore the relationship between habitual tea consumption and arterial stiffness. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, epidemiological survey of 6589 male and female residents aged 40-75 in Wuyishan, Fujian Province, China. Tea consumption and other lifestyle characteristics were obtained by structured questionnaires. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) and ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) were measured using an automated analyzer. RESULTS: Among the 5006 analyzed subjects, 1564 adults (31.2%) consumed tea once or more per week for at least one year. The levels of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) were lowest among subjects who consumed tea habitually for more than 10 years compared with the other 3 subgroups (nonhabitual, 1 to 5 years, and 6 to 10 years habitual tea drinkers), and the levels of ba-PWV were lower with subjects who consumed 10-20 and >20 g/d tea habitually compared to nonhabitual tea drinkers. As the duration and the daily amount of habitual tea consumption increased the average ba-PWV decreased. Multiple logistic regression models revealed that habitual tea consumption was a positive predictor for ba-PWV (odds ratio [OR] = 0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57-0.70). CONCLUSIONS: Habitual tea consumption may have a protective effect against arterial stiffness, especially for subjects who have habitually consumed tea for more than 6 years and >10 g daily.

Tea consumption and leukemia risk: a meta-analysis.

Epidemiologic findings concerning the association between tea consumption and leukemia risk yielded mixed results. We aimed to investigate the association by performing a meta-analysis of all available studies. One cohort studies and six case-control studies with 1,019 cases were identified using PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE. We computed summary relative risks (RRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) using random effect model applied to the relative risk associated with ever, moderate, or highest drinkers vs. non/lowest drinkers. Subgroup analyses were performed based on country (China and USA). Compared with non/lowest drinkers, the combined RR for ever drinkers was 0.76 (95 % CI=0.65-0.89). In subgroup analyses, significant inverse associations were found for both China and USA studies. The summary RR was 0.57 (95 % CI=0.41-0.78) for highest drinkers. Same results were only found in China studies. No significant associations were found for moderate drinkers in overall analysis or in subgroup analyses. There was some evidence of publication bias. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests a significant inverse association of high tea consumption and leukemia risk. Results should be interpreted cautiously given the potential publication bias.

Treatment of severe keratoconjunctivitis sicca by parotid duct transposition after tympanic neurectomy in rabbits.

PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of parotid duct transposition after tympanic neurectomy to treat severe keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) in rabbits. METHODS: Thirty rabbits were divided into three groups in experiment 1. One eye was operated on, and the contralateral eye served as the control. In the KCS group, the lacrimal gland, harderian gland, and nictitating membrane were removed. In the group with parotid duct transposition (DT), the parotid duct was transposed into the lower conjunctival fornix. In the group with parotid duct transposition after tympanic neurectomy (DTTN), the tympanic nerve was resected in addition to parotid duct transposition. Schirmer test was performed and density of corneal staining was determined monthly after surgery, and goblet cell density was measured at postoperative month 3. In experiment 2, the tympanic nerve was resected on one side in 12 rabbits. Both sides of the parotid gland were resected for histopathology at intervals of 2 months to 1 year after surgery. RESULTS: Tear secretion from operated eyes at rest increased significantly after surgery in the treatment groups compared with the KCS group. Tear secretion from operated eyes after chewing was significantly lower in the DTTN than in the DT group. The corneal staining scores were higher in the operated than in the control eyes of the three groups, without significant difference among the operated eyes. Parotid gland atrophy on the operated side occurred at postoperative month 4 and recovered to normal 1 year after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Parotid duct transposition after tympanic neurectomy could effectively reduce gustatory epiphora but may be insufficient to promote ocular surface health.

Ozone oxidative preconditioning protects the rat kidney from reperfusion injury: the role of nitric oxide.

BACKGROUND: Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, which is commonly seen in the field of renal surgery or transplantation, is a major cause of acute renal failure. Previous studies have shown that ozone oxidative preconditioning (OzoneOP) attenuated renal I/R injury. The objective of this study was to examine the hypothesis that protective effects of OzoneOP in renal I/R injury were associated with endogenous NO. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a right-nephrectomized rat mode, anesthetized rats underwent 45 min of renal ischemia. OzoneOP (1 mg/kg) was administered before I/R injury. Rats were killed at 24, 48, and 72 h after I/R injury and blood samples and renal tissues were obtained. RESULTS: OzoneOP prevented the renal dysfunction induced by I/R and increased nitric oxide (NO) release and renal NO synthase (endothelial, eNOS, and inducible, iNOS) expression. In contrast, enhancement of endothelin-1 in the kidney after the reperfusion was markedly suppressed by OzoneOP. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that the protective effect of OzoneOP was closely related to the NO production following the increase in eNOS and iNOS expression. Ozone treatment may have important clinical implications, particularly in view of the minimizing renal damage before transplantation.