Genome-wide identification of abscisic acid (ABA) receptor pyrabactin resistance 1-like protein (PYL) family members and expression analysis of PYL genes in response to different concentrations of ABA stress in Glycyrrhiza uralensis.

As abscisic acid (ABA) receptor, the pyrabactin resistance 1-like (PYR/PYL) protein (named PYL for simplicity) plays an important part to unveil the signal transduction of ABA and its regulatory mechanisms. Glycyrrhiza uralensis, a drought-tolerant medicinal plant, is a good model for the mechanism analysis of ABA response and active compound biosynthesis. However, knowledge about PYL family in G. uralensis remains largely unknown. Here, 10 PYLs were identified in G. uralensis genome. Characterization analysis indicated that PYLs in G. uralensis (GuPYLs) are relatively conserved. Phylogenetic analysis showed that GuPYL1-3 belongs to subfamily I, GuPYL4-6 and GuPYL10 belong to subfamily II and GuPYL7-9 belongs to subfamily III. In addition, transcriptome data presented various expression levels of GuPYLs under different exogenous ABA stresses. The expression pattern of GuPYLs was verified by Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The study proved that GuPYL4, GuPYL5, GuPYL8 and GuPYL9 genes are significantly up-regulated by ABA stress and the response process is dynamic. This study paves the way for elucidating the regulation mechanism of ABA signal to secondary metabolites and improving the cultivation and quality of G. uralensis using agricultural strategies.

Serum Phosphorus as a Risk Factor of Metabolic Syndrome in the Elderly in Taiwan: A Large-Population Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The impact of serum phosphorus concentration on metabolic syndrome were limited. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the association between the serum phosphorus and incident metabolic syndrome in the elderly in Taiwan. METHODS: We included 1491 participants who had health check-ups in the Tri-Service General Hospital for the period 2007 to 2015 and divided them based on age to assess the incidence of metabolic syndrome. We performed the COX regression model to explore the impact of serum phosphorus for metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension by an age-specific group. RESULTS: Our result showed that higher serum phosphorus concentration was noted in the elderly in the baseline characteristics. In the group older than 60 years, serum phosphorus concentration was correlated with the incidence of metabolic syndrome (hazard ratios (HR) = 1.39, 95% CI 1.11-1.74) and diabetes mellitus (HR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.15-1.92) after adjustment. We further found the relationship between serum phosphorus and incidence of the components of metabolic syndrome, including higher waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), serum triglyceride, and fast glucose. CONCLUSIONS: Our study might provide an epidemiological evidence that serum phosphorus was related with the incidence of metabolic syndrome in the elderly in Taiwan.

Nanoparticle-conjugated nutraceuticals exert prospectively palliative of amyloid aggregation.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), an age-related neurodegenerative disease, the most common causes of dementia is a multifactorial pathology categorized by a complex etiology. Numerous nutraceuticals have been clinically evaluated, but some of the trials failed. However, natural compounds have some limitations due to their poor bioavailability, ineffective capability to cross the blood-brain barrier, or less therapeutic effects on AD. To overcome these disadvantages, nanoparticle-conjugated natural products could promote the bioavailability and enhance the therapeutic efficacy of AD when compared with a naked drug. This application generates and implements new prospect for drug discovery in neurodegenerative diseases. In this article, we confer AD pathology, review natural products in clinical trials, and ascertain the importance of nanomedicine coupled with natural compounds for AD.

[Cloning and expression analysis of F3'H and quantification of downstream products in Chrysanthemum morifolium under flooding stress].

To investigate the effects of the expression of flavonoid 3' hydroxylase gene (F3'H) and active ingredients in Chrysanthemum morifolium under flooding stress, we cloned F3'H from Hangju (temporarily named CmF3'H) and conducted bioinformatics analysis. During the flower bud differentiation stage, we flooded the Ch. morifolium and then used the Real-time PCR to detect the relative expression of CmF3'H; Finally, active ingredients of the inflorescence were measured by HPLC.The sequencing results showed that 1 562 bp sequence was acquired with the largest open reading frame of 1 527 bp, which encoded 508 amino acids. The phylogenetic tree found that CmF3'H was highly homologous to other species of Compositae. Real-time PCR results showed that CmF3'H had a significant response to flooding stress and had the highest expression level after flooding for 24 h, which was about 9 times as that of the control group. The results of HPLC showed that luteolin and luteoloside, the downstream products catalyzed by the F3'H, were significantly higher than those in the control group. It was also found that the contents of chlorogenic acid and 3,5-O-di-caffeoylquinic acid were also significantly higher than those of the control group. Therefore, Ch. morifolium regulates the synthesis of downstream products by regulating the expression of CmF3'H in the flavonoid synthesis pathway under flooding stress, thereby responding to flooding stress. The flooding stress during flower bud differentiation can significantly enhance the accumulation of active ingredients.

Difference of antihypertensive prescribing between office- and hospital-based clinics in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The geographical location and medical facility may affect the pattern of antihypertensive prescriptions. Information regarding the correlation between the prescription and health care faculties in different geographical locations was lacking. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare differences in the prescribing of antihypertensives between hospital-based clinics (hospital arm) and office-based clinics (office arm) in different geographical locations in Taiwan. METHOD: We collected data from the National Health Insurance database of Taiwan to carry out a population-based, retrospective cohort analysis of 3,218,794 patients newly diagnosed with hypertension in the period January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2004. Eligible participants were classified into either of two groups based on the level of health care faculty: hospital arm and office arm. The covariates composed of age, gender, antihypertensive regimens, urbanization status, comorbidity, and Charlson comorbidity index. RESULTS: There were 2,028,784 cases (63.0 %) for the hospital arm and 1,190,010 (37 %) for the office arm. In the hospital-based arm, there were 168,933 (8.3 %) patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, 166,110 (8.2 %) patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease, 147,465 (7.3 %) patients diagnosed with cerebrovascular accident, 86,866 (4.3 %) patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, 74,525 (3.7 %) patients diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia, 55,517 (2.7 %) patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The all comorbidities in the hospital arm had significantly higher proportions than those in the office arm (p < 0.001). The Charlson comorbidity index in the hospital arm was higher than that in the office arm (p < 0.001). Physicians who practiced in the office arm prescribed polytherapy less often than those in the hospital arm (OR = 0.68, 95 % CI: 0.67-0.68). For overall urbanization status, the adjusted OR of polytherapy prescriptions in the aging city (OR = 1.08, 95 % CI: 1.05-1.12) was higher than other type cities. The highest urbanization-specific OR of polytherapy prescriptions was observed for highly urbanized city in the hospital arm (OR = 1.20, 95 % CI: 1.18-1.23) and aging city in the office arm (OR = 1.42, 95 % CI: 1.21-1.67). In the both arm, patients with lower CCI showed decreased risk of polytherapy prescription. CONCLUSION: The antihypertensive prescriptions in the clinical practices were different between the hospital arm and the office arm in the different health care, comorbidity, and urbanization status. During the study period, the proportion of antihypertensive polytherapy had declined.

Relationship of blood pressure control and hospitalization risk to medication adherence among patients with hypertension in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Despite the efficacy of antihypertensive treatment in preventing cardiovascular complications, there are often problems with medication adherence in hypertensive patients. The objective of this study was to examine the medication adherence and its association with blood pressure (BP) control, cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalization, and all-cause hospitalization. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort observation of patients who were treated for hypertension from January 2005 to December 2006. Medical and pharmacy claims were obtained from Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) database, whereas electronic records, including demographic characteristics and clinical information, were retrieved from a disease management program. To determine the degree of medication adherence, we calculated the proportion of days covered (PDC) by filled prescriptions. The associations of medication adherence with BP control, CVD hospitalization, and all-cause hospitalization were examined using multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: The study subjects comprised a total of 29,685 hypertensive patients. Of which, 40.1% of the patients had hypertension history of >5 years and 39.7% of patients had some comorbidity. In total, 85.5% of patients were categorized as adherent, with PDC >or=80; 60% of adherent patients had good BP control. Poor medication adherence was associated with poor BP control (odds ratio (OR) = 1.20, 1.13-1.29), CVD hospitalization (OR = 1.43, 1.14-1.81), and all-cause hospitalization (OR = 1.47, 1.21-1.78). CONCLUSION: Our observation study clearly indicates that lower medication adherence is associated with poor BP control and higher risk of CVD and all-cause hospitalization in hypertensive patients.

[Ribosomal DNA ITS sequence analyses of Pinellia ternata from different geographical origin in China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the ITS sequence variation of Pinellia ternata from different population in China, and it correlation to geographical distribution and morpha of the plant. METHOD: The rDNA ITS regions of various P. ternata were amplified and sequenced. And they were analyzed by means of the software of CLUSTRAL and MEGA. RESULT: Complete sequence of ITS and 5.8S rDNA of 16 different P. ternata population were obtained. The sequences of ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2 are 276,162 and 246 bp, respectively. ITS1 was more conservative than ITS2. Phylogenetic tree based on ITS1 and ITS2 sequences data was conducted by Neighbor-joining method. CONCLUSION: Ribosomal DNA ITS sequence analyses can be applied to the resource research of P. ternata.