The ameliorative mechanism of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NJAU-01 against D-galactose induced oxidative stress: a hepatic proteomics and gut microbiota analysis.

Probiotic intervention is an effective strategy to alleviate oxidative stress-related diseases. Our previous studies found that Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NJAU-01 (NJAU-01) exhibited antioxidant effects in a D-galactose (D-gal)-induced aging mouse model. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be unveiled. This study was aimed to investigate the ameliorative effect and mechanism of NJAU-01 against oxidative stress induced by D-gal. The results showed that NJAU-01 could reverse the tendency of a slow body weight gain induced by D-gal. NJAU-01 relieved hepatic oxidative stress via increasing the hepatic total antioxidant capacity and antioxidant enzyme activities including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT). Moreover, the malondialdehyde (MDA) level was reversed after NJAU-01 supplementation. The proteomic results showed that there were 201 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between NJAU-01 and D-gal groups. NJAU-01 regulated the expressions of glutathione S-transferase Mu 5 (Gstm5), glutathione S-transferase P2 (Gstp2) and NADH dehydrogenase 1α subcomplex subunit 7 (Ndufa7) related to oxidative stress, and autophagy protein 5 (Atg5) and plasma alpha-L-fucosidase (Fuca2) involved in autophagy, etc. 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that NJAU-01 supplementation could regulate the gut microbiota dysbiosis induced by D-gal via increasing the relative abundances of the phylum Firmicutes and the genus Lactobacillus and reducing the relative abundances of the phylum Bacteroidetes and the genera Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group as well as Prevotellaceae_UCG-001, etc.. Spearman correlation analysis results showed that the altered gut microbiota composition had a significant correlation with antioxidant enzyme activities and the DEPs related to oxidative stress. Overall, NJAU-01 alleviated hepatic oxidative stress induced by D-gal via manipulating the gut microbiota composition and hepatic protein expression profile.

Correlation between EGFR mutation status and F18 -fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography image features in lung adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate an association between EGFR mutation status and 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (18 F-FDG PET-CT) image features in lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the data of 139 patients with lung adenocarcinoma confirmed by surgical pathology who underwent preoperative 18 F-FDG PET-CT was conducted. Correlations between EGFR mutation status, clinical characteristics, and PET-CT parameters, including the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), the mean of the SUV (SUVmean), the peak of the SUV (SUVpeak) of the primary tumor, and the ratio of SUVmax between the primary tumor and the mediastinal blood pool (SUVratio), were statistically analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of EGFR mutation. Receiver operating characteristic curves of statistical quantitative parameters were compared. RESULTS: EGFR mutations were detected in 74 (53.2%) of the 139 lung adenocarcinomas and were more frequent in non-smoking patients. Univariate analysis showed that the SUVmax, SUVmean, SUVpeak, and SUVratio were lower in EGFR-mutated than in wild-type tumors. The receiver operating characteristic curves showed no significant differences between their diagnostic efficiencies. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that being a never smoker was an independent predictor of EGFR mutation. CONCLUSION: Quantitative parameters based on 18 F-FDG PET-CT have modest power to predict the presence of EGFR mutation in lung adenocarcinoma; however, when compared to smoking history, they are not good or significant predictive factors.

Novel magnetically separable anhydride-functionalized Fe3O4@SiO2@PEI-NTDA nanoparticles as effective adsorbents: synthesis, stability and recyclable adsorption performance for heavy metal ions.

In this paper, a novel adsorbent, Fe3O4@SiO2@PEI-NTDA, was first prepared by the immobilization of an amine and anhydride onto magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles with polyethylenimine (PEI) and 1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic-dianhydride (NTDA) for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions. The structure of Fe3O4@SiO2@PEI-NTDA was systematically investigated; the results confirmed that amine and anhydride groups were successfully covalently grafted onto the surface of Fe3O4@SiO2, which showed a homogenous core-shell structure with three layers of about 300 nm diameter (Fe3O4 core: 200 nm, nSiO2 layer: 20 nm, and PEI-NTDA layer: 20 nm). The adsorption performance of Fe3O4@SiO2@PEI-NTDA NPs was evaluated for single Pb2+ and coexisting Cd2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ ions in an aqueous solution in a batch system. The amine and anhydride groups may have a synergistic effect on Pb2+ removal through electrostatic interactions and chelation; Fe3O4@SiO2@PEI-NTDA NPs exhibited preferable removal of Pb2+ with maximum adsorption capacity of 285.3 mg g-1 for Pb2+ at a solution pH of 6.0, adsorbent dosage of 0.5 g L-1, initial Pb2+ concentration of 200 mg L-1 and contact time of 3 h. The adsorption mechanism conformed well to the Langmuir isotherm model, and the adsorption kinetic data were found to fit the pseudo-second order model. Fe3O4@SiO2@PEI-NTDA NPs could be recovered easily from their dispersion by an external magnetic field and demonstrated good recyclability and reusability for at least 6 cycles with a high adsorption capacity above 204.5 mg g-1. The magnetic adsorbents showed high stability with a weight loss below 0.65% in the acid leaching treatment by 2 M HCl solution for 144 h. This study indicates that Fe3O4@SiO2@PEI-NTDA NPs are new promising adsorbents for the effective removal of Pb2+ in wastewater treatment.

Genetic Effects and Heterosis of Yield and Yield Component Traits Based on Gossypium Barbadense Chromosome Segment Substitution Lines in Two Gossypium Hirsutum Backgrounds.

We hybridized 10 chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) each from two CSSL populations and produced 50 F1 hybrids according to North Carolina Design II. We analyzed the genetic effects and heterosis of yield and yield components in the F1 hybrids and parents in four environments via the additive-dominance genetic model. Yield and yield components of the CSSLs were controlled by combined additive and dominance effects, and lint percentage was mainly controlled by additive effects, but boll weight, boll number, seedcotton yield and lint yield were mainly controlled by dominance effects. We detected significant interaction effects between genetics and the environment for all yields traits. Similar interactions were detected between two CSSL populations (Pop CCRI 36 and Pop CCRI 45). Significant positive mid-parent heterosis was detected for all yield traits in both populations, and significant positive better-parent heterosis was also detected for all yield traits except lint percentage. The differences among parents were relatively small, but significant heterosis was detected for yield and yield components. Therefore, the relationship between heterosis and genetic distance for yield traits is complicated and requires further study. These CSSLs represent useful tools for improving yield and yield components in cotton.