The effects of different types of Tai Chi exercises on preventing falls in older adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Few studies comparing the effects of different types of Tai Chi exercises on preventing falls in older adults. We compared the effects for finding an optimal intervention. METHODS: We searched 12 databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and so on, from their inception to January 13, 2023. Randomized controlled trials incorporating different types of Tai Chi for preventing falls in older adults were included. The outcome measures were the incidence of falls and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Network meta-analysis (NMA) was conducted using Stata 15.1 based on a frequentist framework. RESULTS: Seventeen trials were eligible, including 3470 participants and four types of Tai Chi. They were 24-form simplified Tai Chi (24-form), Yang style Tai Chi (Yang style), Sun style Tai Chi (Sun style) and Tai Chi exercise program (TCEP). In paired meta-analysis, for incidence of falls, 24-form (Relative Risk (RR) = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.40, 0.86]) was more efficient than the control group. For BBS outcome, 24-form (MD (mean difference) = 2.32, 95% CI [1.42, 3.22]) was better than the control group. In the NMA, the results of incidence of falls were as follows: 24-form > Yang style > Sun style > control > TCEP. The rank probability of BBS was as follows: 24-form > TCEP > Yang style > control. CONCLUSION: Among the four types of Tai Chi studied, the 24-form simplified Tai Chi has shown better efficacy than other types.

Unveiling characteristic metabolic accumulation over enzymatic-catalyzed process of Tieguanyin oolong tea manufacturing by DESI-MSI and multiple-omics.

To achieve an integrative understanding of the spatial distribution and chronological flavoring compounds accumulation, desorption-electrospray-ionization coupled mass-spectrometry-imaging (DESI-MSI) and multi-omics techniques were performed on the leaf samples collected from the enzymatic-catalyzed-process (ECP) stage of Tieguanyin oolong tea manufacturing. The result of DESI-MSI visualization indicated transform or re-distribution of catechins, flavonols and amino acids were on-going attributing to the multi-stress over ECP stage. Out of identified 2621 non-volatiles and 45,771 transcripts, 43 non-volatiles and 12 co-expressed pathways were screened out as biomarkers and key cascades in response to adverse conditions. The targeted metabolic analysis on the characteristic flavoring compounds showed that the accumulations of free amino acids were enhanced, while catechins, flavonol glycosides, and alkaloids exhibited dynamic changes. This result suggests withering and turning-over process are compatible and collectively regulate the metabolic accumulation and development of flavoring metabolites, facilitating to the development of characteristic quality of Tieguanyin tea.

Dynamic change of the carotenoid metabolic pathway profile during oolong tea processing with supplementary LED light.

Carotenoid-derived volatiles are important contributors to tea aroma quality. However, the profile of the carotenoid pathway and carotenoid-derived volatiles (CDVs) artificial regulation in oolong tea processing has yet to be investigated. In the present work, the content and varieties of carotenoid-derived volatiles, the genome-wide identification of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (CsCCD) gene family, the expression level of CsCCD and other key genes in the carotenoid pathway, and the profile of carotenoid substances were analyzed by multi-omics and bioinformatics methods with innovative postharvest supplementary LED light during oolong tea processing. The results showed that during oolong tea processing, a total of 17 CDVs were identified. The content of ß-ionone increased up to 26.07 times that of fresh leaves and its formation was significantly promoted with supplementary LED light from 0.54 µg/g to 0.83 µg/g in the third turning over treatment. A total of 11 CsCCD gene family members were identified and 119 light response cis-acting regulatory elements of CsCCD were found. However, the expression level of most genes in the carotenoid pathway including CsCCD were reduced due to mechanical stress. 'Huangdan' fresh tea leaves had a total of 1 430.46 µg/g 22 varieties of carotenoids, which mainly composed of lutein(78.10%), ß-carotene(8.24%) and zeaxanthin(8.18%). With supplementary LED light, the content of antherxanthin and zeaxanthin in xanthophyll cycle was regulated and CDVs such as α-ionone, ß-ionone, pseudoionone, damascenone, 6,10-dimethyl-5,9-undecadien-2-one, citral, geranyl acetate and α-farnesene were promoted significantly in different phases during oolong tea processing. Our results revealed the profile of the carotenoid metabolism pathway in oolong tea processing from the perspective of precursors, gene expression and products, and put forward an innovative way to improve CDVs by postharvest supplementary LED light.

Legumain affects the PI3K/AKT tumor progression pathway in retinoblastoma.

Known as a common malignant tumor among children, retinoblastoma (RB) is highly malignant and has poor prognosis, damages children's vision and degrades quality of life. To identify a potential molecular mechanism of RB, we conducted this study on legumain (LGMN), which is highly expressed in multiple tumors. In this study, we found that LGMN was significantly upregulated in RB cells and was positively expressed in RB tissues. We confirmed that LGMN overexpression (LGMN-OE) can promote RB cell proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis through CCK8 experiments and flow cytometry. In addition, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‒qPCR) and Western blot results showed that LGMN-OE could regulate the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation-related genes and proteins, related to tumor invasion and metastasis. Moreover, after LGMN knock down, the result was the opposite., RNA sequence analysis revealed 1159 differentially expressed genes between LGMN-OE and the negative control (NCOE), of which 564 were upregulated and 595 were downregulated. The first 10 genes were verified by RT‒qPCR based on P value and fold change. Interestingly, we found that LGMN could regulate the expression of recoverin (RCVRN)through a gene responsible for cancer-related retinopathy. We also screened and verified that LGMN partially activated the PI3K/AKT pathway in RB. Furthermore, we evaluated the effect of legumain inhibitors (e.g., esomeprazole) on RB, and the results suggest that esomeprazole may provide a reference for the clinical adjuvant treatment of RB. In conclusion, legumain can serve as an attractive target for RB therapy and hopefully provide new insights and ideas for the development of targeted drugs and precise personalized clinical therapy.

Robotically handled whole-tissue culture system for the screening of oral drug formulations.

Monolayers of cancer-derived cell lines are widely used in the modelling of the gastrointestinal (GI) absorption of drugs and in oral drug development. However, they do not generally predict drug absorption in vivo. Here, we report a robotically handled system that uses large porcine GI tissue explants that are functionally maintained for an extended period in culture for the high-throughput interrogation (several thousand samples per day) of whole segments of the GI tract. The automated culture system provided higher predictability of drug absorption in the human GI tract than a Caco-2 Transwell system (Spearman's correlation coefficients of 0.906 and 0.302, respectively). By using the culture system to analyse the intestinal absorption of 2,930 formulations of the peptide drug oxytocin, we discovered an absorption enhancer that resulted in a 11.3-fold increase in the oral bioavailability of oxytocin in pigs in the absence of cellular disruption of the intestinal tissue. The robotically handled whole-tissue culture system should help advance the development of oral drug formulations and might also be useful for drug screening applications.