The genomic landscape of Mexican Indigenous populations brings insights into the peopling of the Americas.

The genetic makeup of Indigenous populations inhabiting Mexico has been strongly influenced by geography and demographic history. Here, we perform a genome-wide analysis of 716 newly genotyped individuals from 60 of the 68 recognized ethnic groups in Mexico. We show that the genetic structure of these populations is strongly influenced by geography, and our demographic reconstructions suggest a decline in the population size of all tested populations in the last 15-30 generations. We find evidence that Aridoamerican and Mesoamerican populations diverged roughly 4-9.9 ka, around the time when sedentary farming started in Mesoamerica. Comparisons with ancient genomes indicate that the Upward Sun River 1 (USR1) individual is an outgroup to Mexican/South American Indigenous populations, whereas Anzick-1 was more closely related to Mesoamerican/South American populations than to those from Aridoamerica, showing an even more complex history of divergence than recognized so far.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ORF3a induces the expression of ACE2 in oral and pulmonary epithelial cells and the food supplement Vita Deyun® diminishes this effect.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a serious global health problem and numerous studies are currently being conducted to improve understanding of the components of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, as well as to identify solutions that mitigate the effects of COVID-19 symptoms. The nutritional supplement Vita Deyun® is composed of silymarin, glutathione, vitamin C and selenium. Studies of its individual components have demonstrated their benefits as anti-inflammatory agents, antioxidants and enhancers of the immune response. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro effects of Vita Deyun on the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in diverse cell lines, as well as in the presence or absence of the SARS-CoV-2 open reading frame (ORF)3a protein. Through reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, the use of viral particles containing SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a and bioinformatics analysis via the National Center for Biotechnology Information databases, ACE2 was determined to be highly expressed in oral and skin epithelial cells, with a lower expression observed in lung cells. Notably, the expression of SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a increased the level of ACE2 expression and Vita Deyun treatment diminished this effect. In addition, Vita Deyun treatment markedly decreased interleukin-18 mRNA levels. The combination of phytonutrients in Vita Deyun may help to boost the immune system and could reduce the effects of COVID-19. Ongoing clinical studies are required to provide evidence of the efficacy of Vita Deyun.