Diagnostic accuracy of pancreatic stone protein in patients with sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a common syndrome of multiorgan system dysfunction secondary to the dysregulated inflammatory response to infection. The role of pancreatic stone protein (PSP) in diagnosing sepsis has been investigated in previous studies. The meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively investigate the diagnostic value of PSP in identifying sepsis. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), were systematically searched. Studies investigating the diagnostic performance of PSP were included. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive Likelihood Ratio (+ LR) and negative Likelihood Ratio (-LR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the curve (AUC) of summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) were calculated. RESULTS: The sensitivity of PSP was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.77-0.94), and the pooled specificity was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.65-0.87). Pooled + LR, -LR, and DOR were 4.1 (2.3, 7.3), 0.16 (0.07, 0.34), and 26 (7, 98). The AUC value for the SROC of PSP was 0.90 (0.87, 0.92). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, + LR and - LR, and DOR for PSP among neonates were 0.91 (95% CI: 0.84, 0.96), 0.66 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.74), 3.97 (95% CI: 0.53, 29.58), 0.13 (95% CI: 0.02, 1.00), and 31.27 (95% CI: 0.97, 1004.60). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that PSP demonstrated favorable diagnostic accuracy in detecting sepsis. Well-designed studies are warranted to ascertain the value of PSP measurement to guide early empirical antibiotic treatment, particularly in neonates.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Corydalis bungeana Turcz.

Corydalis bungeana Turcz. is a perennial herb belonging to the family Papaveraceae. Its chloroplast genome was sequenced and characterized. The cp genome of C. bungeana is 167,629 bp long with a GC content of 36.52%. A total of 144 genes were identified in this cp genome, including 79 protein-coding genes, 31 tRNAs and four rRNAs. A phylogenetic tree based on the complete nucleic acid sequence indicated that C. bungeana was classified into Corydaleae and had a close relationship with Lamprocapnos spectabilis.

The complete chloroplast genome of Dryopteris crassirhizoma Nakai.

Dryopteris crassirhizoma Nakai is a fern plant with important evolutionary and medicinal values. Herein, we assembled the complete chloroplast genome of D. crassirhizoma by next-generation sequencing technology. The complete chloroplast genome of D. crassirhizoma was 153,355 bp in length, and the GC content was 42.86%; the genome consisted of a pair of inverted repeats (IRs, 23,470 bp), a small single copy region (SSC, 21,570 bp) and a large single copy region (LSC, 84,854 bp). The genome contained 111 genes, namely, 73 protein-coding genes, 34 tRNA genes and four rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that both D. crassirhizoma and D. decipiens from Dryopteridaceae were most closely related to Lepisorus clathratus from Polypodiaceae.

Effects of Fish Oil Supplementation on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Overweight or Obese Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Influences of fish oil supplementation on body weight and other cardiometabolic factors in overweight or obese children and adolescents remain not fully understood. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the role of fish oil for these children. Methods: Relevant studies were obtained by search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane's Library databases. A random-effect model, which incorporates the potential heterogeneity of the included studies, was used to pool the results. Results: Twelve RCTs including 1,028 overweight or obese children and adolescents were included. Compared to control, fish oil supplementation significantly reduced body mass index [BMI, mean difference (MD): -0.96 kg/m2, 95% confidence interval (CI): -1.69 to -0.23, P = 0.01] but did not significantly reduce body weight or waist circumference (P = 0.68 and 0.76). Moreover, fish oil supplementation significantly reduced serum triglyceride (MD: -0.24 mmol/L, 95% CI: -0.40 to -0.08, P = 0.004) but did not significantly affect serum total cholesterol and high-density or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.83, 0.42, and 0.31, respectively). Additionally, fish oil supplementation significantly lowered systolic blood pressure (SBP, MD: -2.46 mmHg, 95% CI: -4.93 to -0.01, P = 0.04) but did not significantly change diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.22). Supplementation with fish oil did not significantly affect fasting plasma glucose (P = 0.33). Conclusions: In overweight or obese children and adolescents, supplementation with fish oil could reduce BMI, decrease serum triglyceride, and lower SBP, while serum cholesterol and fasting glucose may not be significantly affected.

Epidemiological investigation of a COVID-19 family cluster outbreak transmitted by a 3-month-old infant.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics, epidemiological characteristics, and transmissibility of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a family cluster outbreak transmitted by a 3-month-old confirmed positive infant. METHODS: Field-based epidemiological methods were used to investigate cases and their close contacts. Real-time fluorescent reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for all collected specimens. Serum SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies were detected by Chemiluminescence and Gold immnnochromatography (GICA). RESULTS: The outbreak was a family cluster with an attack rate of 80% (4/5). The first case in this family was a 3-month-old infant. The transmission chain was confirmed from infant to adults (her father, mother and grandmother). Fecal tests for SARS-CoV-2 RNA remained positive for 37 days after the infant was discharged. The infant's grandmother was confirmed to be positive 2 days after the infant was discharged from hospital. Patients A (3-month-old female), B (patient A's father), C (patient A's grandmother), and D (patient A's mother) had positive serum IgG and negative IgM, but patients A's grandfather serum IgG and IgM were negative. CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 has strong transmissibility within family settings and presence of viral RNA in stool raises concern for possible fecal-oral transmission. Hospital follow-up and close contact tracing are necessary for those diagnosed with COVID-19.

One-pot synthesis of trypsin-based magnetic metal-organic frameworks for highly efficient proteolysis.

Immobilization of enzymes onto metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) through a biomimetic mineralization approach can preserve biological functionality in harsh environments. Despite the success of this approach, the alkaline environment of the reaction system, which is caused by the organic monomers of MOFs, makes it unsuitable for some pH-sensitive enzymes, especially for trypsin. Herein, we reported a facile approach for the one-pot synthesis of trypsin-immobilized magnetic zeolite imidazolate framework-8 (iron oxide@ZIF-8@trypsin), where the growth of ZIF-8 around the citric acid-modified iron oxide and immobilization of trypsin occurred simultaneously when the pH of the reaction system was changed to some extent. With a large specific surface area and a high enzyme loading capacity, the resultant iron oxide@ZIF-8@trypsin exhibited 2.6 times higher enzymatic activity than free trypsin. Moreover, it showed a favourable magnetic response (43 emu g-1) which made the operation and recycling easy and convenient. In addition, iron oxide@ZIF-8@trypsin could be applied as an immobilized enzyme microreactor (IMER) to rapidly and efficiently digest proteins and complex human serum samples with satisfactory results, showing great promise for application in proteomic analysis.

Postsynthetic Functionalization of Zr4+-Immobilized Core-Shell Structured Magnetic Covalent Organic Frameworks for Selective Enrichment of Phosphopeptides.

Chemical modification of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is indispensable for integrating functionalities of greater complexity and accessing advanced COF materials suitable for more potential applications. Reported here is a novel strategy for fabricating controllable core-shell structured Zr4+-immobilized magnetic COFs (MCNC@COF@Zr4+) composed of a high-magnetic-response magnetic colloid nanocrystal cluster (MCNC) core, Zr4+ ion-functionalized two-dimensional COFs as the shell by sequential postsynthetic functionalization and, for the first time, the application of the MCNC@COF@Zr4+ composites for efficient and selective enrichment of phosphopeptides. The as-prepared MCNC@COF@Zr4+ composites possess regular porosity with large surface areas, high Zr4+ loading amount, strong magnetic responsiveness, and good thermal/chemical stability, which can serve as an ideal adsorbent for selective enrichment of phosphopeptides and simultaneous size exclusion of biomacromolecules, such as proteins. The high detection sensitivity (10 fmol) together with the excellent recovery of phosphopeptides is also obtained. These outstanding features suggest that the MCNC@COF@Zr4+ composites are of great benefit for pretreatment prior to mass spectrometry analysis of phosphopeptides. In addition, the performance of the developed approach in selective enrichment of phosphopeptides from the tryptic digests of defatted milk and directly specific capture of endogenous phosphopeptides from human serum gives powerful proof for its high selectivity and effectiveness in identifying the low-abundance phosphopeptides from complicated biological samples. This study not only provides a strategy for versatile functionalization of magnetic COFs but also opens a new avenue in their use in phosphoproteome analysis.

Preparation of core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic framework nanocomposites for magnetic solid-phase extraction of bisphenols from human serum sample.

Core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic framework (Fe3O4@COF) nanocomposites were synthesized via a facile approach at room temperature and explored as an absorbent for magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) of bisphenols (BPs) from human serum sample. The as-prepared Fe3O4@COF nanocomposites with core-shell structure possessed high specific surface area (181.36m2/g), uniform mesoporous size (~ 3.6nm), high saturation magnetization (42.7emu/g), and excellent thermal and chemical stability, rendering it as an ideal adsorbent with high adsorption efficiency and size selectivity. The experimental parameters influencing extraction efficiency, including adsorbent dosage, extraction time, pH and ion strength, desorption solvent and time, were investigated in detail. Taking these advantages together, a simple, fast, effective and sensitive method that MPSE followed by HPLC-MS, was proposed to detect five BPs, which exhibited good linearity (r > 0.9982) within the concentration ranges of 0.1-50µg/L. Moreover, the low detection limits (1.0-78.1ng/L), signal-to-noise ratio (S/N = 3), the high enrichment factors (56-95 fold), and good recoveries (93.0-107.8%) with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 3.4% for inter-day and 6.9% for intra-day were achieved. The developed method was also successfully applied to the analysis of trace BPs in human serum sample, which demonstrated the most promising potential of the Fe3O4@COF nanocomposites as good adsorbent in sample pretreatment.

Recent advances in biomolecule immobilization based on self-assembly: organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers and metal-organic frameworks as novel substrates.

In the past few years, the immobilization of biomolecules on hybrid nanoflowers and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) via self-assembly synthesis has received much attention due to its simplicity, high efficiency, and a bright prospect of enhancing the stability, activity and even selectivity of biomolecules compared to conventional immobilization methods. In the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers, biomolecules used as organic components are simply mixed with metal ions which act as inorganic components to form flower-like nanocomposites, while in the self-assembly process of encapsulating biomolecules in MOFs (biomolecule@MOF composites), the biomolecules just need to be added to the precursor mixtures of MOFs, in which the biomolecules are therefore embedded in MOF crystals with small pores. In this review, we focus on the recent advances of these composites, especially in the synthesis strategies, mechanism and applications in biosensors, biomedicine, pollutant disposal, and industrial biocatalysis, and future perspectives are discussed as well.

Relationship between catecholamine level and gene polymorphism of ß1 adrenergic receptor G1165C in children with EV71 infection in hand foot and mouth disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the levels of plasma adrenaline and norepinephrine and gene polymorphism of ß1 adrenergic receptor G1165C in children with enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection in hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD). METHODS: The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the expression of gene polymorphism of ß1 adrenergic receptor G1165C in vitro. The levels of plasma adrenaline and norepinephrine were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: The plasma norepinephrine level of severe group was significantly higher than the mild group in children with EV71 infection in HFMD (P < 0.05); however, the levels of plasma adrenaline in two groups had no statistical differences (P > 0.05); There was no significant difference in the distribution of ß1 adrenergic receptor G1165C genotype and allele between EV71 infection group and healthy control group (P > 0.05). Further analysis of EV71 infection group by dividing it into mild and severe groups showed that there was no significant difference in the distribution of genotype and allele between these two groups as well (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine in different genotypes of EV71 infection group (P > 0.05), and in the levels of plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine in the mild and severe groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: As the disease gets worse, the plasma norepinephrine level has a rising trend in children with EV71 infection in HFMD, which is an important indicator to evaluate the progress of the disease. However, the gene polymorphism of ß1 adrenergic receptor G1165C have no significant correlation, not only with the susceptibility and severity of EV71 infection in hand, foot and mouth disease, but also with the levels of catecholamine.

Room-temperature synthesis of core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic frameworks for efficient enrichment of peptides and simultaneous exclusion of proteins.

Core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic frameworks (Fe3O4@COFs) were synthesized via a facile approach at room temperature. Combining the advantages of high porosity, magnetic responsiveness, chemical stability and selectivity, Fe3O4@COFs can serve as an ideal absorbent for the highly efficient enrichment of peptides and the simultaneous exclusion of proteins from complex biological samples.

Facile synthesis of core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic framework composite nanospheres for selective enrichment of peptides with simultaneous exclusion of proteins.

Selective enrichment of peptides from complex biosamples is essential for mass spectrometry-based proteomics but still remains a challenge. In this work, a facile approach was developed for rapid room-temperature synthesis of core-shell structured magnetic covalent organic framework composite nanospheres (denoted as Fe3O4@TbBd) by using monodisperse Fe3O4 nanoparticles as the magnetic core and 1,3,5-triformylbenzene (Tb) and benzidine (Bd) as two building blocks in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The resultant core-shell structured Fe3O4@TbBd nanospheres exhibited high adsorption capacity (28.5 mg g-1), fast adsorption kinetics (<5 min) and excellent reusability (more than 30 times) for peptides, owing to their specific properties of high surface area (196.21 m2 g-1), large pore volume (0.63 cm3 g-1), narrow pore size distribution (∼2.8 nm), strong magnetic response (41.5 emu g-1), as well as good thermal and chemical stability. Moreover, the Fe3O4@TbBd nanospheres also showed good selectivity towards hydrophobic peptides and a size-exclusion effect against proteins due to the inherent π-π stacking interaction and interconnected mesoporous channels of covalent organic framework (COF) shells. Taking advantage of these composite nanospheres, selective extraction and efficient enrichment of low abundance hydrophobic peptides from human serum in the presence of high abundance proteins were achieved. Based on the HPLC-Q-TOF/MS results, 29 hydrophobic peptides assigned to 12 proteins were clearly identified in 5 ng µL-1 human serum digestion upon treatment with Fe3O4@TbBd nanospheres, much better than those obtained without treatment, confirming the outstanding performance of the Fe3O4@TbBd nanospheres in proteome analysis.