Evolving Therapeutic Landscape of Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Emerging Cutting-Edge Advancements in Surgical Robots, Regenerative Medicine, and Neurorehabilitation Techniques.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most serious form of stroke and has limited available therapeutic options. As knowledge on ICH rapidly develops, cutting-edge techniques in the fields of surgical robots, regenerative medicine, and neurorehabilitation may revolutionize ICH treatment. However, these new advances still must be translated into clinical practice. In this review, we examined several emerging therapeutic strategies and their major challenges in managing ICH, with a particular focus on innovative therapies involving robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, stem cell transplantation, in situ neuronal reprogramming, and brain-computer interfaces. Despite the limited expansion of the drug armamentarium for ICH over the past few decades, the judicious selection of more efficacious therapeutic modalities and the exploration of multimodal combination therapies represent opportunities to improve patient prognoses after ICH.

The Emerging Role of Microglial Hv1 as a Target for Immunomodulation in Myelin Repair.

In the central nervous system (CNS), the myelin sheath ensures efficient interconnection between neurons and contributes to the regulation of the proper function of neuronal networks. The maintenance of myelin and the well-organized subtle process of myelin plasticity requires cooperation among myelin-forming cells, glial cells, and neural networks. The process of cooperation is fragile, and the balance is highly susceptible to disruption by microenvironment influences. Reactive microglia play a critical and complicated role in the demyelination and remyelination process. Recent studies have shown that the voltage-gated proton channel Hv1 is selectively expressed in microglia in CNS, which regulates intracellular pH and is involved in the production of reactive oxygen species, underlying multifaceted roles in maintaining microglia function. This paper begins by examining the molecular mechanisms of demyelination and emphasizes the crucial role of the microenvironment in demyelination. It focuses specifically on the role of Hv1 in myelin repair and its therapeutic potential in CNS demyelinating diseases.

Distinct signatures of gut microbiota and metabolites in different types of diabetes: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Background: Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) present intestinal disturbances. Recent epidemiological data have showed that, worldwide, over half of newly diagnosed T1D patients were adults. However, the gut microbial alterations in adult-onset T1D are unclear. We aimed to identify the signatures of gut microbiota and metabolites in patients with adult-onset T1D systematically, comparing with T2D patients and healthy controls (HCs). Methods: This study enrolled 218 subjects from February 2019 to April 2022 (discovery cohort: 36 HCs, 51 patients with adult-onset T1D and 56 patients with T2D; validation cohort: 28 HCs, 27 patients with adult-onset T1D and 20 patients with T2D). Gut microbial profiles of the study subjects were investigated by metagenomic sequencing, and their faecal and serum metabolites were measured with targeted metabolomics. The study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05252728). Findings: Patients with adult-onset T1D had significant differences in the composition of bacteria and their metabolites, characterized by notable depletion of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria, especially Eubacterium rectale. This was associated with a severe loss of phenolic acids and their derivatives, including gallic acid (associated with glucose metabolism) and 3,4-dihydroxyhydrocinnamic acid (linked with glucose metabolism and pancreatic beta cell autoimmunity). A predictive model based on six bacteria and six metabolites simultaneously discriminated adult-onset T1D from T2D and HCs with high accuracy. Interestingly, bacterial-viral or bacterial-fungal trans-kingdom relationships, especially positive correlations between bacteriophages and beneficial bacteria, were significantly reduced in adult-onset T1D compared to HCs. Interpretation: Adult-onset T1D patients exhibit unique changes in host-microbiota-metabolite interactions. Gut microbiota and metabolite-based algorithms could be used as additional tools for differential diagnosis of different types of diabetes and beyond. Funding: National Key Research and Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Homocysteine impedes neurite outgrowth recovery after intracerebral haemorrhage by downregulating pCAMK2A.

Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is independently associated with poorer long-term prognosis in patients with intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH); however, the effect and mechanisms of HHcy on ICH are still unclear. Here, we evaluated neurite outgrowth and neurological functional recovery using simulated models of ICH with HHcy in vitro and in vivo. We found that the neurite outgrowth velocity and motor functional recovery in the ICH plus HHcy group were significantly slower than that in the control group, indicating that homocysteine (Hcy) significantly impedes the neurite outgrowth recovery after ICH. Furthermore, phosphoproteomic data and signalome analysis of perihematomal brain tissues suggested that calmodulin-dependent protein kinases 2 (CAMK2A) kinase substrate pairs were significantly downregulated in ICH with HHcy compared with autologous blood injection only, both western blot and immunofluorescence staining confirmed this finding. Additionally, upregulation of pCAMK2A significantly increased neurite outgrowth recovery in ICH with HHcy. Collectively, we clarify the mechanism of HHcy-hindered neurite outgrowth recovery, and pCAMK2A may serve as a therapeutic strategy for promoting neurological recovery after ICH.

Integrative genomic analysis facilitates precision strategies for glioblastoma treatment.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common form of malignant primary brain tumor with a dismal prognosis. Currently, the standard treatments for GBM rarely achieve satisfactory results, which means that current treatments are not individualized and precise enough. In this study, a multiomics-based GBM classification was established and three subclasses (GPA, GPB, and GPC) were identified, which have different molecular features both in bulk samples and at single-cell resolution. A robust GBM poor prognostic signature (GPS) score model was then developed using machine learning method, manifesting an excellent ability to predict the survival of GBM. NVP-BEZ235, GDC-0980, dasatinib and XL765 were ultimately identified to have subclass-specific efficacy targeting patients with a high risk of poor prognosis. Furthermore, the GBM classification and GPS score model could be considered as potential biomarkers for immunotherapy response. In summary, an integrative genomic analysis was conducted to advance individual-based therapies in GBM.

A Deep-Learning Based System for Rapid Genus Identification of Pathogens under Hyperspectral Microscopic Images.

Infectious diseases have always been a major threat to the survival of humanity. Additionally, they bring an enormous economic burden to society. The conventional methods for bacteria identification are expensive, time-consuming and laborious. Therefore, it is of great importance to automatically rapidly identify pathogenic bacteria in a short time. Here, we constructed an AI-assisted system for automating rapid bacteria genus identification, combining the hyperspectral microscopic technology and a deep-learning-based algorithm Buffer Net. After being trained and validated in the self-built dataset, which consists of 11 genera with over 130,000 hyperspectral images, the accuracy of the algorithm could achieve 94.9%, which outperformed 1D-CNN, 2D-CNN and 3D-ResNet. The AI-assisted system we developed has great potential in assisting clinicians in identifying pathogenic bacteria at the single-cell level with high accuracy in a cheap, rapid and automatic way. Since the AI-assisted system can identify the pathogenic genus rapidly (about 30 s per hyperspectral microscopic image) at the single-cell level, it can shorten the time or even eliminate the demand for cultivating. Additionally, the system is user-friendly for novices.

A Machine Learning-Based System for Real-Time Polyp Detection (DeFrame): A Retrospective Study.

Background and Aims: Recent studies have shown that artificial intelligence-based computer-aided detection systems possess great potential in reducing the heterogeneous performance of doctors during endoscopy. However, most existing studies are based on high-quality static images available in open-source databases with relatively small data volumes, and, hence, are not applicable for routine clinical practice. This research aims to integrate multiple deep learning algorithms and develop a system (DeFrame) that can be used to accurately detect intestinal polyps in real time during clinical endoscopy. Methods: A total of 681 colonoscopy videos were collected for retrospective analysis at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from June 2019 to June 2020. To train the machine learning (ML)-based system, 6,833 images were extracted from 48 collected videos, and 1,544 images were collected from public datasets. The DeFrame system was further validated with two datasets, consisting of 24,486 images extracted from 176 collected videos and 12,283 images extracted from 259 collected videos. The remaining 198 collected full-length videos were used for the final test of the system. The measurement metrics were sensitivity and specificity in validation dataset 1, precision, recall and F1 score in validation dataset 2, and the overall performance when tested in the complete video perspective. Results: A sensitivity and specificity of 79.54 and 95.83%, respectively, was obtained for the DeFrame system for detecting intestinal polyps. The recall and precision of the system for polyp detection were determined to be 95.43 and 92.12%, respectively. When tested using full colonoscopy videos, the system achieved a recall of 100% and precision of 80.80%. Conclusion: We have developed a fast, accurate, and reliable DeFrame system for detecting polyps, which, to some extent, is feasible for use in routine clinical practice.

Changes in Cerebral Blood Flow and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Lesions After Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a common subtype of stroke and places a great burden on the family and society with a high mortality and disability rate and a poor prognosis. Many findings from imaging and pathologic studies have suggested that cerebral ischemic lesions visualized on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in patients with ICH are not rare and are generally considered to be associated with poor outcome, increased risk of recurrent (ischemic and hemorrhagic) stroke, cognitive impairment, and death. In this review, we describe the changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and DWI lesions after ICH and discuss the risk factors and possible mechanisms related to the occurrence of DWI lesions, such as cerebral microangiopathy, cerebral atherosclerosis, aggressive early blood pressure lowering, hyperglycemia, and inflammatory response. We also point out that a better understanding of cerebral DWI lesions will be a key step toward potential therapeutic interventions to improve long-term recovery for patients with ICH.

Primary Brainstem Hemorrhage: A Review of Prognostic Factors and Surgical Management.

Primary brainstem hemorrhage (PBSH) is the most fatal subtype of intracerebral hemorrhage and is invariably associated with poor prognosis. Several prognostic factors are involved, of which the two most predominant and consistent are the initial level of consciousness and hemorrhage size. Other predictors, such as age, hyperthermia, and hydrocephalus, are generally not dependable indicators for making prognoses. Scoring systems have now been developed that can predict mortality and functional outcomes in patients suffering from PBSH, which can thus guide treatment decision-making. A novel grading scale, entitled "the new primary pontine hemorrhage (PPH) score," represents the latest approach in scoring systems. In this system, patients with a score of 2-3 points appear to benefit from surgical management, although this claim requires further verification. The four main surgical options for the treatment of PBSH are craniotomy, stereotactic hematoma puncture and drainage, endoscopic hematoma removal, and external ventricular drainage. Nevertheless, the management of PBSH still primarily involves conservative treatment methods and surgery is generally not recommended, according to current practice. However, the ongoing clinical trial, entitled Safety and Efficacy of Surgical Treatment in Severe Primary Pontine Hemorrhage Evacuation (STIPE), should provide additional evidence to support the surgical treatment of PBSH. Therefore, we advocate the update of epidemiological data and re-evaluation of PBSH treatment in a contemporary context.

Decreased serum fibroblast growth factor 19 level is a risk factor for type 1 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) is a regulator of glucose metabolism and may provide a new therapeutic target for type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, the clinical relevance of FGF19 in T1D remains unclear. In this study, we examined the relationship between the serum FGF19 concentration and T1D. METHODS: This study included 81 newly diagnosed T1D patients and 80 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. The correlation between the FGF19 concentration and clinical characteristics of T1D patients and healthy controls was investigated. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether levels of FGF19 were independently associated with T1D. RESULTS: The fasting serum FGF19 levels in the T1D group were significantly lower than those in the control group [159.9 (100.0-272.7) vs. 205.0 (126.9-307.9) pg/mL, P=0.008]. In all subjects, serum FGF19 levels were negatively correlated with fasting blood glucose (FBG) (r=-0.192, P=0.015). In the control group, serum FGF19 levels were positively correlated with total cholesterol (TC) (r=0.338, P=0.002) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) (r=0.300, P=0.007). In addition to sex and body mass index (BMI), FGF19 was an independent impact factor for T1D [odds ratio (OR) =0.541, P=0.023; adjusted for sex, age, BMI, presence of hypertension, and presence of dyslipidemia]. CONCLUSIONS: Low serum FGF19 level is associated with T1D, which could serve as a risk factor for T1D.

A Rare 2D Framework Cu(atz)2 with Ferrimagnetic and High Proton Conductivity.

Materials combining proton conductivity and magnetism have attracted great attention in recent years due to their intriguing application in sensors and fuel cells. Herein a two-dimensional metal-organic framework, [Cu(atz)2 (H2 O)2 ]⋅H2 O (1) (Hatz=5-aminotetrazole), has been obtained in a green synthesis method. The single-crystal structure revealed that the atz- ligands as linkers coordinate with copper ions to sql networks, between which water molecules are immobilized through hydrogen bonds. The resulting complex 1 exhibits a high proton conductivity of 1.11×10-4 and 6.19×10-4  S cm-1 at room temperature and 333 K, respectively, under 98% RH with an activation energy of 0.56 eV. Upon dehydration, the proton conductivity of 1_dg drops by an order of magnitude. Furthermore, the magnetic behavior changes from long-range ferrimagnetic ordering of 1 to canted antiferromagnetic behaviour of 1_dg.

Association Between Ischemic Stroke and COVID-19 in China: A Population-Based Retrospective Study.

Background and Purpose: To investigate the effect of prior ischemic stroke on the outcomes of patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and to describe the incidence, clinical features, and risk factors of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) following COVID-19. Methods: In this population-based retrospective study, we included all the hospitalized positive patients with COVID-19 at Wuhan City from December 29, 2019 to April 15, 2020. Clinical data were extracted from administrative datasets coordinated by the Wuhan Health Commission. The propensity score matching and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to adjust the confounding factors. Results: There are 36,358 patients in the final cohort, in which 1,160 (3.2%) had a prior stroke. After adjusting for available baseline characteristics, patients with prior stroke had a higher proportion of severe and critical illness and mortality. We found for the first time that the premorbid modified Rankin Scale (MRS) grouping (odds ratio [OR] = 1.796 [95% CI 1.334-2.435], p < 0.001) and older age (OR = 1.905 [95% CI 1.211-3.046], p = 0.006) imparted increased risk of death. AIS following COVID-19 occurred in 124 (0.34%) cases, and patients with prior stroke had a much higher incidence of AIS (3.4%). Logistic regression analyses confirmed an association between the severity of COVID-19 with the incidence of AIS. COVID-19 patients with AIS had a significantly higher mortality compared with COVID-19 patients without stroke and AIS patients without COVID-19. Conclusions: Coronavirus disease 2019 patients with prior stroke, especially those with the higher premorbid MRS or aged, have worse clinical outcomes. Furthermore, COVID-19 increases the incidence of AIS, and the incidence is positively associated with the severity of COVID-19.

Clinical Characteristics of Inpatients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Acute Ischemic Stroke: From Epidemiology to Outcomes.

Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) is currently the most frequently reported neurological complication of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This article will elaborate the clinical features of inpatients with COVID-19 and AIS and the pathophysiological mechanism of AIS under the background of COVID-19. Through a detailed search of relevant studies, we found that the incidence of AIS among COVID-19 patients varied from 0.9% to 4.6%, and AIS has been observed in many people without an underlying disease and cardiovascular risk factors as well as young people. The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of COVID-19 patients with AIS was higher than historical AIS patients, and the proportion of large vessel occlusion (LVO) was about 64.2%. COVID-19 patients with AIS generally have high levels of D-D dimer, fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), suggesting systemic hyperinflammatory and hypercoagulable state. The pooled mortality of COVID-19 patients with AIS was 38% and the mortality of LVO patients is higher (45.9%). Compared with COVID-19-negative AIS patients in the same period in 2020 and 2019, COVID-19 patients with AIS had a worse prognosis.

Corrigendum: Purification and Identification of miRNA Target Sites in Genome Using DNA Affinity Precipitation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00778.].

Efficacy and safety of anti-inflammatory agents for the treatment of major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the efficacy and safety of anti-inflammatory agents for patients with major depressive disorders. METHODS: We searched the literature to identify potentially relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) up to 1 January 2019. The primary outcome was efficacy, measured by mean changes in depression score from baseline to endpoint. Secondary outcomes included response and remission rates and quality of life (QoL). Safety was evaluated by incidence of classified adverse events. Heterogeneity was examined using the I2 and Q statistic. Pooled standard mean differences (SMDs) and risk ratios (RRs) were calculated. Subgroup meta-analyses were conducted based on type of treatment, type of anti-inflammatory agents, sex, sponsor type and quality of studies. RESULTS: Thirty RCTs with 1610 participants were included in the quantitative analysis. The overall analysis pooling from 26 of the RCTs suggested that anti-inflammatory agents reduced depressive symptoms (SMD -0.55, 95% CI -0.75 to -0.35, I2=71%) compared with placebo. Higher response (RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.79, I2=29%) and remission rates (RR 1.79, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.49, I2=41%) were seen in the group receiving anti-inflammatory agents than in those receiving placebo. Subgroup analysis showed a greater reduction in symptom severity in both the monotherapy and adjunctive treatment groups. Subgroup analysis of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, omega-3 fatty acids, statins and minocyclines, respectively, disclosed significant antidepressant effects for major depressive disorder (MDD). For women-only trials, no difference in changes of depression severity was found between groups. Subanalysis stratified by sponsor type and study quality led to the same outcomes in favour of anti-inflammatory agents in both subgroups. Changes of QoL showed no difference between the groups. Gastrointestinal events were the only significant differences between groups in the treatment periods. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this systematic review suggest that anti-inflammatory agents play an antidepressant role in patients with MDD and are reasonably safe.

Overexpression of CX3CR1 in Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Promotes Cell Migration and Functional Recovery After Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Stem cell therapy has emerged as a new promising therapeutic strategy for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). However, the efficiency of stem cell therapy is partially limited by low retention and engraftment of the delivered cells. Therefore, it's necessary to improve the migration ability of stem cells to the injured area in order to save the costs and duration of cell preparation. This study aimed to investigate whether overexpression of CX3CR1, the specific receptor of chemokine fractalkine (FKN), in adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) can stimulate the cell migration to the injured area in the brain, improve functional recovery and protect against cell death following experimental ICH. ADSCs were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissues of rats. ICH was induced by means of an injection of collagenase type VII. ELISA showed that the expression levels of fractalkine/FKN were increased at early time points, with a peak at day 3 after ICH. And it was found that different passages of ADSCs could express the chemokine receptor CX3CR1. Besides, the chemotactic movements of ADSCs toward fractalkine have been verified by transwell migration assay. ADSCs overexpressing CX3CR1 were established through lentivirus transfection. We found that after overexpression of CX3CR1 receptor, the migration ability of ADSCs was increased both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, reduced cell death and improved sensory and motor functions were seen in the mice ICH model. Thus, ADSCs overexpression CX3CR1 might be taken as a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of ICH.

Neuroglobin Regulates Wnt/ß-Catenin and NFκB Signaling Pathway through Dvl1.

Neuroglobin is an endogenous neuroprotective protein, but the underlying neuroprotective mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Our previous yeast two-hybrid screening study identified that Dishevelled-1, a key hub protein of Wnt/ß-Catenin signaling, is an interaction partner of Neuroglobin. In this study, we further examined the role of Neuroglobin in regulating Dishevelled-1 and the downstream Wnt/ß-Catenin and NFκB signaling pathway. We found that Neuroglobin directly interacts with Dishevelled-1 by co-immunoprecipitation, and the two proteins are co-localized in both cytoplasma and nucleus of SK-N-SH cells. Moreover, the ectopic expression of Neuroglobin promotes the degradation of exogenous and endogenous Dishevelled-1 through the proteasomal degradation pathway. Furthermore, our results showed that Neuroglobin significantly inhibits the luciferase activity of Topflash reporter and the expression of ß-Catenin mediated by Dishevelled-1 in SK-N-SH cells. In addition, we also documented that Neuroglobin enhances TNF-α-induced NFκB activation via down-regulating Dishevelled-1. Finally, 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assays showed that Neuroglobin is an important neuroprotectant that protects SK-N-SH cells from TNF-α-induced decrease in cell viability. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that Neuroglobin functions as an important modulator of the Wnt/ß-Catenin and NFκB signaling pathway through regulating Dishevelled-1.

Fis is a global regulator critical for modulation of virulence factor production and pathogenicity of Dickeya zeae.

Dickeya zeae is the causal agent of rice foot rot disease, which has recently become a great threat to rice planting countries and regions. The pathogen produces a family of phytotoxins named zeamines that is critical for bacterial virulence, but little is known about the signaling pathways and regulatory mechanisms that govern zeamine production. In this study, we showed that a conserved transcriptional regulator Fis is involved in the regulation of zeamine production in D. zeae strain EC1. Deletion mutants were markedly attenuated in the virulence against rice seed germination. Transcriptome and phenotype analyses showed that Fis is a potent global transcriptional regulator modulating various virulence traits, including production of extracellular enzymes and exopolysaccharides, swimming and swarming motility, biofilm formation and cell aggregation. DNA gel retardation analysis showed that Fis directly regulates the transcription of key virulence genes and the genes encoding Vfm quorum sensing system through DNA/protein interaction. Our findings unveil a key regulator associated with the virulence of D. zeae EC1, and present useful clues for further elucidation of the regulatory complex and signaling pathways which govern the virulence of this important pathogen.

Effects of Prior Antiplatelet Therapy on the Prognosis of Primary Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Antiplatelet therapy (APT) was prevalently being used in the prevention of vascular disease, but the influence of prior APT on the prognosis of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) remains controversial. This meta-analysis was to explore the effects of prior APT on the prognosis of patients with primary ICH. METHODS: PubMed and Embase were searched to identify the eligible studies. The studies comparing the mortality of ICH patients with or without prior APT were included. The quality of these studies was evaluated by the Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale. The adjusted or unadjusted odds ratio (OR) for mortality between ICH patients with and without prior APT were pooled with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) as the effect of this meta-analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and exhibited high qualities. The pooled OR was 1.37 (95% CI: 1.13-1.66, P = 0.001) for univariate analysis and 1.41 (95% CI: 1.05-1.90, P = 0.024) for multivariate analysis. The meta-regression indicated that for each 1-day increase in the time of assessment, the adjusted OR for the mortality of APT patients decreased by 0.0049 (95% CI: 0.0006-0.0091, P = 0.026) as compared to non-APT patients. CONCLUSION: Prior APT was associated with high mortality in patients with ICH that might be attributed primarily to its strong effect on early time.

Biocontrol of Sugarcane Smut Disease by Interference of Fungal Sexual Mating and Hyphal Growth Using a Bacterial Isolate.

Sugarcane smut is a fungal disease caused by Sporisorium scitamineum, which can cause severe economic losses in sugarcane industry. The infection depends on the mating of bipolar sporida to form a dikaryon and develops into hyphae to penetrate the meristematic tissue of sugarcane. In this study, we set to isolate bacterial strains capable of blocking the fungal mating and evaluate their potential in control of sugarcane smut disease. A bacterial isolate ST4 from rhizosphere displayed potent inhibitory activity against the mating of S. scitamineum bipolar sporida and was selected for further study. Phylogenetic analyses and biochemical characterization showed that the isolate was most similar to Pseudomonas guariconensis. Methanol extracts from minimum and potato dextrose agar (PDA) agar medium, on which strain ST4 has grown, showed strong inhibitory activity on the sexual mating of S. scitamineum sporida, without killing the haploid cells MAT-1 or MAT-2. Further analysis showed that only glucose, but not sucrose, maltose, and fructose, could support strain ST4 to produce antagonistic chemicals. Consistent with the above findings, greenhouse trials showed that addition of 2% glucose to the bacterial inoculum significantly increased the strain ST4 biocontrol efficiency against sugarcane smut disease by 77% than the inoculum without glucose. The results from this study depict a new strategy to screen for biocontrol agents for control and prevention of the sugarcane smut disease.