Myosin heavy chain isoform expression and meat quality characteristics of different muscles in yak (Bos grunniens).

Myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms and meat quality characteristics of different muscles were investigated to explore their potential relationships in yaks. Results showed that semitendinosus (ST), longissimus thoracis (LT), and infraspinatus (IS) have a greater ratio of MHC IIb (47.84%), MHC IIa (73.27%), and MHC I (24.26%), respectively, than the other two muscles. Compared with LT or ST, IS exhibited more intense color, greater water-holding capacity, and initial tenderness with higher intermuscular fat (IMF) and collagen (of lower cross-linking level), presenting overall better quality. Variations in MHC isoforms accounted for the muscle-specific meat quality. Specifically, MHC I was positively associated with redness, myoglobin, IMF, collagen, pH, and thermal stability and negatively associated with myofibril fragmentation index, fiber thickness, collagen cross-linking, and drip loss. These results provide insights into the relationships between MHC isoforms and meat quality in yaks and the MHC I isoform has an extensive influence on meat quality.

Muscle fiber composition affects the postmortem redox characteristics of yak beef.

Yak infraspinatus (IS), longissimus thoracis (LT), and semitendinosus (ST) muscles were used to explore relationships between myofiber types and postmortem redox characteristics. IS mainly consisted of myofiber type Ⅰ (49.2%), LT has a vast majority of type IIa (72.7%), while ST possessed a similar percentage of type IIa (44.7%) and IIb (51.5%). Compared with LT and ST, IS exhibited higher initial H2O2, myoglobin (T-Mb), and metmyoglobin (MetMb) contents that provoked severe protein oxidation despite higher endogenous antioxidative capacity (e.g., glutathione antioxidative system). Three muscles showed specificities in myofiber type composition and redox characteristics, which were strongly correlated. Specifically, type Ⅰ myofiber positively correlated with H2O2, T-Mb, and multiple antioxidase activity/content while negatively correlated with lipid peroxidation, MetMb, and lactic dehydrogenase activity; also, they tended to employ more SFAs in more intermuscular fat assembly. Overall, muscle-specific myofiber type/redox attributes required differentiated processing to prevent meat oxidation and produce standardized products.

Effects of NaCl-assisted regulation on the emulsifying properties of heat-induced type I collagen.

Although collagen is widely used as an emulsifier in the food industry, its emulsifying properties are strongly influenced by processing conditions. This research investigated the effects of NaCl on the emulsifying properties of type I collagen after heating. Before heating, the solubility, emulsifying activity index (EAI), emulsifying stability index (ESI), and viscosity of type I collagen initially increased after adding NaCl (0.2 M), after which decreased with increasing NaCl concentration (0.4 M and 0.6 M) due to salt-in effect and the salt-out effects of the protein. While after heating (90℃, 30 min), the collagen became more soluble, with improved EAI and ESI, viscosity, and reduced particle size in response to increasing NaCl concentrations. It was found that NaCl increased the EAI of type I collagen twice after heating, and the EAI reached its maximum at 0.6 M NaCl concentration. We concluded that the improved emulsifying properties may due to thermal denaturation of the protein, resulting in an unfolded and disordered structure with increase of hydrogen bonds with water, rupture of disulfide bonds, and exposure of hydrophobic groups, leading to the increase of adsorption at the oil/water interface. Meanwhile, the Raman spectra analysis and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) images showed that unfolding of the collagen triple helix was gradually destroyed after NaCl addition and heating, with emulsifying properties improved. The specific outcomes of present study can be adapted towards the requirements to improve the quality of emulsified meat products in the food industry.

Elevated SPINK2 gene expression is a predictor of poor prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has a high mortality rate and its clinical management remains challenging. The aim of the present study was to identify the hub genes involved in AML. In order to do so, the gene expression data of the GSE9476 database, including 26 AML and 10 normal samples, were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were then identified via bioinformatics analysis. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses were performed on DEGs. Furthermore, the most upregulated genes were selected for further investigation in the Oncomine, gene expression profiling interactive analysis and UALCAN datasets. In total, 1,744 upregulated and 1,956 downregulated genes were detected. The GO and KEGG results revealed that upregulated genes were enriched in metabolic processes, while downregulated genes were associated with the immune response. Serine protease inhibitor Kazal-type 2 (SPINK2) ranked first among all the upregulated genes and was regarded as a hub gene in the development of AML. The overexpression of SPINK2 was validated in 12 patients with AML from the Linyi Central Hospital and in data from the Oncomine and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases. Furthermore, the UALCAN and GEPIA datasets demonstrated that patients with high SPINK2 levels had shorter survival times. In conclusion, the results from the present study revealed that the SPINK2 gene was upregulated in patients with AML and that elevated SPINK2 expression was associated with poor outcomes in these patients.

Who are the users of a traditional Chinese sanfu acupoint herbal patching therapy in China?: A cross-sectional survey.

Sanfu acupoint herbal patching (SAHP) is a unique traditional Chinese medicine therapy, which has become popular for preventing acute attack of respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in many regions of mainland China. However, the knowledge about its users is lacking, especially the characteristics of the users and their experience and perspectives.To investigate the demographics of users, conditions for its use and the previous experience of SAHP, as well as users' perspectives to provide baseline information for its practice.A cross-sectional consecutive-sample survey was conducted at outpatient departments from 3 traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in northern China. Each participant completed a questionnaire, after informed consent. Data description and analyses were done using SPSS 20.0.Among 949 SAHP users from 3 hospitals, female was predominant (n = 592; 62.4%), aged from 2 to 96 years (median = 52 years). 64.7% (380/587) of regular users have applied consecutively for 3 years or over, and the self-perceived satisfaction rates of respiratory diseases were from 45.9% to 77.7%. Positive attitude toward traditional Chinese medicine was the top reason for choosing SAHP. 42.4% of users held a motivation of being cured by SAHP and with great outcome expectancy on SAHP (70.8%).SAHP users were mainly female adults or elderly population; more than half were regular users, who predominantly used SAHP for various chronic respiratory diseases during their stable stage. The majority of users expressed satisfaction to previous SAHP for their respiratory diseases. 42.4% of users held a motivation of being cured by SAHP and with great outcome expectancy on SAHP (70.8%). The findings from this survey deserve further clinical trials for their clinical effectiveness.

Neurochemical changes in the rat occipital cortex and hippocampus after repetitive and profound hypoglycemia during the neonatal period: an ex vivo ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

The brain of a human neonate is more vulnerable to hypoglycemia than that of pediatric and adult patients. Repetitive and profound hypoglycemia during the neonatal period (RPHN) causes brain damage and leads to severe neurologic sequelae. Ex vivo high-resolution (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was carried out in the present study to detect metabolite alterations in newborn and adolescent rats and investigate the effects of RPHN on their occipital cortex and hippocampus. Results showed that RPHN induces significant changes in a number of cerebral metabolites, and such changes are region-specific. Among the 16 metabolites detected by ex vivo (1)H NMR, RPHN significantly increased the levels of creatine, glutamate, glutamine, γ-aminobutyric acid, and aspartate, as well as other metabolites, including succine, taurine, and myo-inositol, in the occipital cortex of neonatal rats compared with the control. By contrast, changes in these neurochemicals were not significant in the hippocampus of neonatal rats. When the rats had developed into adolescence, the changes above were maintained and the levels of other metabolites, including lactate, N-acetyl aspartate, alanine, choline, glycine, acetate, and ascorbate, increased in the occipital cortex. By contrast, most of these metabolites were reduced in the hippocampus. These metabolic changes suggest that complementary mechanisms exist between these two brain areas. RPHN appears to affect occipital cortex and hippocampal activities, neurotransmitter transition, energy metabolism, and other metabolic equilibria in newborn rats; these effects are further aggravated when the newborn rats develop into adolescence. Changes in the metabolism of neurotransmitter system may be an adaptive measure of the central nervous system in response to RPHN.

[GC-MS analysis of the fatty components of pollen Typhae before and after being carbonized].

OBJECTIVE: To study the changes of the fatty components of Pollen Typhae before and after being carbonized. METHOD: Pollen Typhae and Pollen Typhae carbonisatus were extracted with petroleum ether (60-90 degrees C) respectively. The two kinds of extracts were analyzed by GC-MS after saponificated and methanolized, and their constituents were searched through NIST. The contents of the constituents were determined by method of normalization. RESULT: Either in Pollen Typhae or in Pollen Typhae carbonisatus, 32 components were identified, among which 20 components were the same and 6 were different respectively. Among the same components, the relative contents of 3-methyl-2-butenoic acid-2-phenylethyl ester, hexanedioic acid-dimethyl ester, dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, diphenylamine, sebacic acid dimethyl ester, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, ethyl methyl ester, methyl-2-ethylhexyl phthalate and diisooctyl phthalate etc. increased obviously, and the relative contents of nonanedioic acid-dimethyl ester, diisobutyl phthalate and stigmastan-3,5-dien etc. decreased greatly. Among the different components, 8-hydroxy-octanoic acid-methyl ester, 9-hydroxy-nonanoic acid-methyl ester, 10-octadecenoic acid-methyl ester, m-hydroxycinnamic acid-methyl ester,3-[4-( acetyloxy)-3-methoxyphenyl]2-propenoic acid-methyl ester and 11-octadecenoic acid-methyl ester were detected in Pollen Typhae, 3-hydroxyspirost-8-en-11-one, benzenepropanoic acid-methyl ester, 2,4-dimethylhexanedioic acid; 2,4-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)-phenol, undecanedioic acid-dimethyl ester and 9,10-dihydroxy-octadecanoic acid-methyl ester were detected in Pollen Typhae carbonistatus. CONCLUSION: The species and contents of the fatty components in Pollen Typhae changed before and after being carbonized, but their chemical types didn't change too much.