Eurotium is the teleomorph genus associated with the section Aspergillus. Eurotium comprises approximately 20 species, which are widely distributed in nature and human environments. Eurotium is usually the key microorganism for the fermentation of traditional food, such as Fuzhuan brick tea, Liupao tea, Meju, and Karebushi; thus, Eurotium is an important fungus in the food industry. Eurotium has been extensively studied because it contains a series of interesting, structurally diverse, and biologically important secondary metabolites, including anthraquinones, benzaldehyde derivatives, and indol diketopiperazine alkaloids. These secondary metabolites have shown multiple biological activities, including antioxidative, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antitumor, insecticidal, antimalarial, and anti-inflammatory activities. This study presents an up-to-date review of the phytochemistry and biological activities of all Eurotium species. This review will provide recent advances on the secondary metabolites and their bioactivities in the genus Eurotium for the first time and serve as a database for future research and drug development from the genus Eurotium.
Aim: The objective of this study was to translate the Barriers to Insulin Treatment Questionnaire (BIT) into Chinese and test its psychometric properties in middle-aged and elderly type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) patients using insulin in the Han people of urban China. Methods: We established the Barriers to Insulin Treatment Questionnaire in Chinese (BIT-C). We selected 296 patients with T2D for testing BIT-C's the reliability and validity, of which 120 patients were retested four weeks later. Another 200 patients with T2D were selected to perform the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: The final BIT-C consisted of 11 items (BIT-C-11) and four factors. The explained variances of the BIT-C-11 and its four factors were 90.153%, 51.308%, 18.810%, 10.863%, and 9.173%. CFA validated that the four-factor model fit with the data of the BIT-C-11. Standardized factor loadings ranged between 0.77 and 0.90. The Cronbach's α coefficients of the BIT-C-11 and its four factors were 0.903, 0.952, 0.927, 0.938, and 0.917. Correlation analysis was performed between the BIT-C-11 and General Adherence Scale in Chinese (GAS-C) to calculate the criterion-related validity (r = 0.598, p < 0.001). The correlation coefficient r of the BIT-C-11's test-retest reliability was 0.810 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The BIT-C-11 has good reliability and validity. It can be used for psychological resistance to insulin therapy studies of middle-aged and elderly patients with T2D using insulin in the Han people of Chinese cities.
Background: Clozapine is considered one of the most effective antipsychotic drugs, but it is most likely to cause metabolic abnormalities. Researchers have studied the causes of metabolic abnormalities caused by clozapine from multiple perspectives, but the reasons remain unclear. Purpose: Characterize the gut microbiota of people with schizophrenia taking clozapine, exploring the association between gut microbiota and glucose lipid metabolic markers in schizophrenia patients taking clozapine. Research design: Sixty-one long-term inpatients with schizophrenia in clozapine monotherapy were selected as study subjects. We got four subgroups by sex and the presence of metabolic syndrome. Data analysis: 16s analysis technology was applied at the genus level to determine the classification of gut microbiota. Then we compared the characteristics of gut microbiota and the association of gut microbiota with glucose lipid metabolic markers in each group. Findings: We found differences in the diversity of gut microbiota among groups. The association between gut microbiota and glucose lipid metabolic markers was complicated. Gender was an important differentiating factor. Oscillibacter has a low abundance. However, it was the only genus associated with glycemic or lipids in each group. Among metabolic syndromes, Gemmiger was positively correlated with most lipids in females but negatively correlated in males, showing gender differences. In female non-metabolic syndromes, Bifidobacterium lost its probiotic character; instead, showing pathogenicity, which has strong positive correlations with fasting blood glucose and low-density lipoprotein but negative correlations with Apolipoprotein A1. Maybe schizophrenia, taking clozapine, and gender factors influenced the gut microbiota, which complicated our findings. The significance of the results remains to be determined by in-depth studies.
PURPOSE: Translate General Adherence Scale (GAS) into Chinese and test its psychometric properties in middle-aged and elderly type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients using insulin in the Han people of urban China. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We translated the GAS into Chinese and established General Adherence Scale in Chinese (GAS-C). 136 T2D subjects were selected for testing GAS-C's reliability and validity, of which 100 study subjects were retested with GAS-C two weeks later. The other 200 T2D subjects were selected for performing Confirmatory Factor Analysis(CFA). The ceiling effect and floor effect of GAS-C data were checked. RESULTS: No data was lost in our research. In exploratory factor analysis(EFA), the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO) =0.899, Bartlett's Test's χ2=611.821 (df=10 p<0.001). The communalities of the items were between 0.740 and 0.862; The values of Measure of Sampling Adequacy (MSA) were between 0.883 and 0.945. All five items entered the factor analysis process. A common factor was extracted, and it could explain 81.403% of the total variance. CFA validated the.one-factor model was good fits with the data of GAS-C (Ratio of Chi-square to Degrees of Freedom (CMIN/DF)=2.032, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) =0.981, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) =0.996, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) =0.992, Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) =0.011, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) =0.072). Correlation analysis was performed between GAS-C and MMAS-8 to calculate the criterion-related validity (r=0.542 p<0.001). The internal consistency reliability α=0.942, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC)= 0.941 (95% CI 0.924-0.955). The correlation coefficient r of the test-retest reliability was 0.772 (p<0.001). Spearman-Brown coefficient of split-half was 0.939. There was no floor effect and ceiling effect on the data. CONCLUSION: GAS-C has good reliability and validity. It can be used for general adherence studies of middle-aged and elderly type 2 diabetic patients using insulin in the Han people of Chinese cities.
