The microbiome compositional and functional differences between rectal mucosa and feces.

In recent years, most studies on the gut microbiome have primarily focused on feces samples, leaving the microbial communities in the intestinal mucosa relatively unexplored. To address this gap, our study employed shotgun metagenomics to analyze the microbial compositions in normal rectal mucosa and matched feces from 20 patients with colonic polyps. Our findings revealed a pronounced distinction of the microbial communities between these two sample sets. Compared with feces, the mucosal microbiome contains fewer genera, with Burkholderia being the most discriminating genus between feces and mucosa, highlighting its significant influence on the mucosa. Furthermore, based on the microbial classification and KEGG Orthology (KO) annotation results, we explored the association between rectal mucosal microbiota and factors such as age, gender, BMI, and polyp risk level. Notably, we identified novel biomarkers for these phenotypes, such as Clostridium ramosum and Enterobacter cloacae in age. The mucosal microbiota showed an enrichment of KO pathways related to sugar transport and short chain fatty acid metabolism. Our comprehensive approach not only bridges the knowledge gap regarding the microbial community in the rectal mucosa but also underscores the complexity and specificity of microbial interactions within the human gut, particularly in the Chinese population. IMPORTANCE: This study presents a system-level map of the differences between feces and rectal mucosal microbial communities in samples with colorectal cancer risk. It reveals the unique microecological characteristics of rectal mucosa and its potential influence on health. Additionally, it provides novel insights into the role of the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer and paves the way for the development of new prevention and treatment strategies.

USF1 regulated circPRDM4 modulates tumorigenesis and immune escape in chemoresistant cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer (CC) represents a major global health concern, characterized by chemoresistance and immune evasion mechanisms. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), which play a crucial role in cancer pathogenesis, particularly in the case of CC, have gained significant attention. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the functional significance of circRNAs in chemoresistant CC. A significant upregulation of circPRDM4 expression in chemoresistant CC cells. To investigate the functional consequences, we conducted circPRDM4 knockdown experiments, which resulted in the effective blockade of immune escape mechanisms employed by chemoresistant CC cells. Furthermore, circPRDM4 knockdown demonstrated a significant suppression of tumorigenesis in CC cells, highlighting its contribution to the oncogenic potential of CC. Investigating the regulatory mechanisms involved, we found that the transcriptional factor upstream stimulatory factor 1 (USF1) acts as an inducer of circPRDM4 expression. Remarkably, USF1 was found to effectively modulate CC cell immune escape via its interaction with circPRDM4. Moreover, our results revealed that USF1 is intricately involved in CC cell tumorigenesis through the regulation of circPRDM4. Collectively, our study elucidates the significant roles of circPRDM4 and its upstream regulator USF1 in chemoresistant CC cells. These findings underscore the importance of circRNAs in CC pathogenesis and provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying immune escape and tumorigenesis.

Development and Validation of the Promising PPAR Signaling Pathway-Based Prognostic Prediction Model in Uterine Cervical Cancer.

A ligand-activated transcription factor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) regulates fatty acid uptake and transport. In several studies, upregulation of PPAR expression/activity by cancer cells has been associated with cancer progression. Worldwide, cancer of the cervix ranks fourth among women's cancers. Angiogenesis inhibitors have improved treatment for recurrent and advanced cervical cancer since their introduction 5 years ago. In spite of that, the median overall survival rate for advanced cervical cancer is 16.8 months, indicating that treatment effectiveness is still lacking. Thus, it is imperative that new therapeutic methods be developed. In this work, we first downloaded the PPAR signaling pathway-related genes from the previous study. In addition, the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) algorithm was applied to calculate the PPAR score of patients with cervical cancer. Furthermore, cervical cancer patients with different PPAR scores show different sensitivity to immune checkpoint therapy. In order to screen the genes to serve as the best biomarker for cervical cancer patients, we then construct the PPAR-based prognostic prediction model. The results revealed that PCK1, MT1A, AL096855.1, AC096711.2, FAR2P2, and AC099568.2 not only play a key role in the PPAR signaling pathway but also show good predictive value in cervical cancer patients. The gene set variation analysis (GSVA) enrichment analysis also proved that the PPAR signaling pathway is one of the most enriched pathways in the prognostic prediction model. Finally, further analysis revealed that AC099568.2 may be the most promising biomarker for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in cervical cancer patients. Both the survival analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic curve demonstrated that AC099568.2 plays a key role in cervical cancer patients. However, to our knowledge, this is the first time a study focused on the role of AC099568.2 in cervical cancer patients. Our work successfully revealed a new biomarker for cervical cancer patients, which also provides a new direction for future research.

A Case-Control Study on Factors of HPV Vaccination for Mother and Daughter in China.

(1) Background: To explore the influencing factors of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among mothers and daughters so as to provide evidence and strategies for improving the HPV vaccination rate of 9-18-years-old girls. (2) A questionnaire survey was conducted among the mothers of 9-18-year-old girls from June to August 2022. The participants were divided into the mother and daughter vaccinated group (M1D1), the mother-only vaccinated group (M1D0), and the unvaccinated group (M0D0). Univariate tests, the logistic regression model, and the Health Belief Model (HBM) were employed to explore the influencing factors. (3) Results: A total of 3004 valid questionnaires were collected. According to the regions, Totally 102, 204, and 408 mothers and daughters were selected from the M1D1, M1D0, and M0D0 groups, respectively. The mother having given her daughter sex education (OR = 3.64; 95%CI 1.70, 7.80), the mother's high perception of disease severity (OR = 1.79; 95%CI 1.02, 3.17), and the mother's high level of trust in formal information (OR = 2.18; 95%CI 1.26, 3.78) were all protective factors for both the mother and her daughter's vaccination. The mother's rural residence (OR = 0.51; 95%CI 0.28, 0.92) was a risk factor for vaccination of both mother and daughter. The mother's education of high school or above (OR = 2.12; 95%CI 1.06, 4.22), the mother's high level of HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge (OR = 1.72; 95%CI 1.14, 2.58), and the mother's high level of trust in formal information (OR = 1.72; 95%CI 1.15, 2.57) were protective factors of mother-only vaccination. The older the mother (OR = 0.95; 95%CI 0.91, 0.99) was classed as a risk factor for mother-only vaccination. "Waiting until the daughters are older to receive the 9-valent vaccine" is the main reason why the daughters of M1D0 and M0D0 are not vaccinated". (4) Chinese mothers had a high willingness to vaccinate their daughters with the HPV vaccine. The higher education level of the mother, giving sex education to the daughter, the older ages of mothers and daughters, the mother's high level of HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge, a high level of perception of the disease severity, and a high level of trust in formal information were promoting factors of HPV vaccination for mother and daughter, and rural residence was a risk factor to vaccination. To promote HPV vaccination in girls from 9-18 years old, communities could provide health education to rural mothers with low education levels; the government could advocate for HPV vaccination through issuing policy documents; and doctors and the CDC could popularize the optimal age for HPV vaccination to encourage mothers to vaccinate their daughters at the age of 9-14 years old.

Sub-pm linewidth, high pulse energy, high beam quality microsecond-pulse Ti:sapphire laser at 766.699†nm.

In this letter, a sub-pm linewidth, high pulse energy and high beam quality microsecond-pulse 766.699 nm Ti:sapphire laser pumped by a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is demonstrated. At an incident pump energy of 824 mJ, the maximum output energy of 132.5 mJ at 766.699 nm with linewidth of 0.66 pm and a pulse width of 100 µs is achieved at a repetition rate of 5 Hz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest pulse energy at 766.699 nm with pulse width of hundred micro-seconds for a Ti:sapphire laser. The beam quality factor M2 is measured to be 1.21. It could be precisely tuned from 766.623 to 766.755 nm with a tuning resolution of 0.8 pm. The wavelength stability is measured to be less than ±0.7 pm over 30 min. The sub-pm linewidth, high pulse energy and high beam quality Ti:sapphire laser at 766.699 nm can be used to create a polychromatic laser guide star together with a home-made 589 nm laser in the mesospheric sodium and potassium layer for the tip-tilt correction resulting in the near-diffraction limited imagery on a large telescope.

Comparative effects of the single and binary probiotics of Lacticaseibacillus casei Zhang and Bifidobacterium lactis V9 on the growth and metabolomic profiles in yogurts.

In the present study, comparative effects of the single and binary probiotics of Lacticaseibacillus casei Zhang (L. casei Zhang) and Bifidobacterium lactis V9 (B. lactis V9) on the growth and metabolomic profiles during milk fermentation and storage has been analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The growth of B. lactis V9 can be significantly increased (p < 0.001) by co-cultivation with L. casei Zhang at the end of fermentation and storage 10 days, and valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis may be a major contributor to the growth promotion of B. lactis V9. However, the growth of L. casei Zhang was not affected by co-cultivation with B. lactis V9. There were notable distinctions in volatile and non-volatile metabolomic profiles and pathways between the single and binary probiotics cultures; binary probiotics L. casei Zhang and B. lactis V9 significantly affected the volatile, non-volatile metabolic profiles compared to the single probiotics. The levels of acetic acid, hexanoic acid, butanoic acid and pentanoic acid were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in binary probiotics cultures compared to the single probiotic cultures at the storage 10 days, which indicates that binary probiotics had additive effects on the production of short-chain fatty acids during storage. This work provides a detailed insight into metabolomic profiles and growth that differ between the single and binary probiotics cultures, and it can be helpful to develop probiotic yogurt with high probiotic viability and distinct metabolomic profiles.

Subclinical hypothyroidism as an independent risk factor for colorectal neoplasm.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Recently, the prevalence of colorectal neoplasm is increasing sharply. It has been reported that both colorectal neoplasm and cardiovascular disease share similar common risk factors. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) occurs in 4-20% of the adult population and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, no study has yet explored the relationship between SCH and colorectal neoplasm. Our objectives were to clarify the association between the two conditions. METHODS: This is a case-control study. A total of 273 cases of colorectal neoplasm were first identified, and a 1:3 matched random sample of 819 controls was then collected using strata according to age, and gender. The medical records of all these patients were retrieved. Blood pressure, body mass index, and thyroid function were determined. Colonoscopies were performed by experienced gastroenterologists. A logistic regression analysis was carried out to explore the relationship between SCH and colorectal neoplasm. RESULTS: Remarkably, the prevalence rate of SCH was significantly higher in colorectal neoplasm (+) group, compared with colorectal neoplasm (-) group (P<0.01). Colorectal neoplasm was found in 67 (34.9%) subjects in SCH group, which was more than that in euthyroid group (P=0.002). Moreover, patients with SCH were more likely to have advanced colonic lesion and colorectal cancer compared with euthyroid subjects (P=0.028 and 0.036, respectively). After adjusting for the factors of blood pressure, body mass index, history of hypertension and smoking, an association still existed between colorectal neoplasm and SCH (OR=1.689, 95% CI: 1.207-2.362, P=0.002). CONCLUSION: A strong association between SCH and colorectal neoplasm was firstly identified. SCH was found to be an independent risk factor for colorectal neoplasm.