Arthrobacter caoxuetaonis sp. nov., Arthrobacter zhangbolii sp. nov. and Arthrobacter gengyunqii sp. nov., isolated from Marmota himalayana faeces from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Six aerobic or facultative anaerobic, motile, Gram-stain-positive, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative strains (zg-Y453T, zg-Y324, zg-Y462T, zg-Y411, zg-Y809T and zg-Y786) were isolated from different faecal samples of Marmota himalayana from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Pale yellow, round, raised and moist colonies appeared 48 h after incubation at 28 °C on brain-heart infusion plates supplemented with 5 % defibrinated sheep blood. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequence alignment, two strain pairs (zg-Y453T/zg-Y324 and zg-Y462T/zg-Y411) shared the highest similarities to Arthrobacter luteolus (99.5 and 99.2 %), and the other one (zg-Y809T/zg-Y786) to Arthrobacter citreus (99.5 %). Results of phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene and genome sequences showed that these six strains represented three separate species within the genus Arthrobacter. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between the three novel type strains (zg-Y453T/zg-Y462T/zg-Y809T) and other known species in this genus were all below respective thresholds (70.2-81.5/19.6-24.2 %, 70.6-81.8/19.8-25.0 %, and 70.4-88.2/19.9-35.3 %). Although phylogenetically related, there were obvious chemotaxonomic and phenotypic differences: strain pair zg-Y462T/zg-Y411 had anteiso-C15 : 0 as the only major fatty acid; the three novel species had different dominant quinones, MK-8(H2) in strains zg-Y462T/zg-Y809T (74.8/81.1 %) and MK-8(H2)/MK-9(H2) (43.1/53.0 %) in zg-Y453T; similarly, the ability to reduce nitrate in strains zg-Y453T and zg-Y462T could differentiate them from zg-Y809T. All strains had diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol, but differed slightly in the types of unidentified glycolipids, phospholipids and lipids. Based on the results of these polyphasic taxonomic analyses, three novel species within the genus Arthrobacter are proposed, namely Arthrobacter caoxuetaonis sp. nov. (type strain, zg-Y453T=GDMCC 1.2809T=JCM 35173T), Arthrobacter zhangbolii sp. nov. (type strain, zg-Y462T=GDMCC 1.2880T=JCM 35170T) and Arthrobacter gengyunqii sp. nov. (type strain, zg-Y809T=GDMCC 1.2808T=JCM 35168T).

Efficacy and safety of Zuojin Pill for chronic gastritis: Protocol for a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Chronic gastritis (CG), as the highest incidence of gastrointestinal diseases, has been gradually increasing around globally. With the obvious disadvantages of standard treatment, more and more people ask the traditional Chinese medicine for help in the treatment of CG. As a traditional Chinese medicine compound, Zuojin Pill (ZJP) has a long history of clinical application in the treatment of digestive system diseases. Whereas, neither systematic nor meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials explain the efficacy and safety of ZJP in treating CG. Thus, we provide a protocol to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ZJP for CG. METHODS: From the beginning to December 2019, the following electronic databases will be searched for studies in English or Chinese: the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and the Wanfang Database. Clinical efficiency, helicobacter pylori infection clearance rate, quality of life and symptom scores will be measured as primary outcomes. Meta-analysis will be performed using the Stata 15. OUTCOMES: This study will provide the current evidence of CG treated with ZJP from the several aspects including clinical efficiency, helicobacter pylori infection clearance rate, quality of life, symptom scores, the 1-year recurrent rate, efficacy under endoscopy and number of reported adverse events associated with the use of ZJP. CONCLUSION: The outcomes of this review will be served as a proof to evaluate if ZJP is effective in the treatment of CG. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42020155036.

Effect of myrtol on chronic bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The key to the management of chronic obstructive (CB) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is to control symptoms of the disease and to prevent deterioration in the health of affected patients. Myrtol has been proved to be effective in treating the symptoms of patients with CB and COPD and preventing the deterioration in their health. However, there has been no systematic review of the efficacy and safety of myrtol in the treatment of CB or COPD. The purpose of this study is going to evaluate the effects of myrtol on the management of CB or COPD based on randomized controlled trials. METHODS: Electronic literature and other ongoing studies will be searched before November 31, 2019. Randomized controlled trials that report the use of myrtol in the treatment of CB or COPD (in the absence and presence of concurrent treatments) will be selected for inclusion regardless of language. Primary outcomes will include cumulative numbers of exacerbation events and the number of days of disability including days in bed, days off work due to breathing complications, and days on which the participant was unable to undertake normal activities due to breathing complications. Study selection, data extraction, and deviation the derivation risk assessment will be carried out by 2 independent investigators. Meta-analysis will be carried out by the RevMan5.3 software. RESULTS: The study will provide summary results for estimating the efficacy and safety of myrtol for future treatments of CB or COPD. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review will determine if myrtol is an effective and a safe intervention on the symptoms and the prevention of exacerbation of CB or COPD. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval will not be required for this study because no identifying patient data will be used. The review will be published as an article or a conference presentation in a peer-reviewed journal. REGISTRATION: OSF registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/PXRBV.

[Treatment of Steroid-induced Osteonecrosis of Femoral Head by Porous Tantalum Rod and Gugutou Huaisiyu Capsule].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the curative effect of porous tantalum rod and Gugutou Huaisiyu Capsule (GHC) for steroid-induced osteonecrosis of femoral head (SONFH). METHODS: A total 60 hips of 50 SONFH patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group according to grouping time, 25 in each group (30 hips). Patients in the control group were implanted with porous tantalum rod, while those in the treatment group additionally took GHC (5 pills each time, three time per day for 2 successive months; and then twice per day for 4 successive months). Then all patients were followed-up to observe Harris hip score. The curative effect and the femoral head survival time were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 49 patients (59 hips) were followed-up. The Harris hip score of the two groups at the final follow-up was significantly improved after treatment, with statistical difference when compared with before treatment (P < 0.01). Besides, it was higher in the treatment group than in the control group. The curative effect and the survival time were superior in the treatment group, with statistical difference when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Porous tantalum rod combined GHC got better effect in treating SONFH. It could significantly improve the function of affected hips and prolong the survival time of femoral head.

Effects of drought stress on growth, solute accumulation and membrane stability of leafy vegetable, huckleberry (Solanum scabrum Mill.).

The present study sought to investigate the factors implicated in growth impairment of huckleberry (a leafy vegetable) under water stress conditions. To achieve this, seedlings of plant were subjected to control, mild stress and severe stress conditions for 30 days. Plant growth, plant water relation, gas exchange, oxidative stress damage, electrolyte leakage rate, mineral content and osmolyte accumulation were measured. Water deficit markedly decreased leaf, stem and root growth. Leaf photosynthetic rate was tremendously reduced by decrease in stomatal conductance under stress conditions. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content markedly increased under mild (82%) and severe (131%) stress conditions, while electrolyte leakage rate (ELR) increased by 59% under mild stress and 3-fold under severe stress. Mineral content in leafwas high in stressed plants, while proline content markedly increased under mild stress (12-fold) and severe stress (15-fold), with corresponding decrease in osmotic potential at full turgor and an increase in osmotic adjustment. These results suggest that maintenance of high mineral content and osmotic adjustment constitute important adaptations in huckleberry under water deficit conditions and that growth depression under drought stress would be mainly caused by increased electrolyte leakage resulting from membrane damage induced by oxidative stress.

Protein enrichment, cellulase production and in vitro digestion improvement of pangolagrass with solid state fermentation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pangolagrass, Digitaria decumbens Stent, is a major grass for cow feeding, and may be a good substrate for protein enrichment. To improve the quality of pangolagrass for animal feeding, cellulolytic microbes were isolated from various sources and cultivated with solid state fermentation to enhance the protein content, cellulase production and in vitro digestion. The microbes, culture conditions and culture media were studied. METHODS: Cellulolytic microbes were isolated from pangolagrass and its extracts, and composts. Pangolagrass supplemented with nitrogen and minerals was used to cultivate the cellulolytic microbes with solid state fermentation. The optimal conditions for protein enrichment and cellulase activity were pangolagrass substrate at initial moisture 65-70%, initial pH 6.0-8.0, supplementation with 2.5% (NH(4))(2)SO(4), 2.5% KH(2)PO(4) and K(2)HPO(4) mixture (2:1, w/w) and 0.3% MgSO(4).7H(2)O and cultivated at 30(o)C for 6 days. RESULTS: The protein content of fermented pangolagrass increased from 5.97-6.28% to 7.09-16.96% and the in vitro digestion improved from 4.11-4.38% to 6.08-19.89% with the inoculation of cellulolytic microbes by solid state fermentation. Each 1 g of dried substrate yielded Avicelase 0.93-3.76 U, carboxymethylcellulase 1.39-4.98 U and ß-glucosidase 1.20-6.01 U. The isolate Myceliophthora lutea CL3 was the strain found to be the best at improving the quality of pangolagrass for animal feeding with solid state fermentation. CONCLUSION: Solid state fermentation of pangolagrass inoculated with appropriate microbes is a feasible process to enrich protein content, increase in vitro digestibility and improve the quality for animal feeding.