Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in end-stage liver disease: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is commonly utilized as a prognostic indicator in end-stage liver disease (ESLD), encompassing conditions like liver failure and decompensated cirrhosis. Nevertheless, some studies have contested the prognostic value of NLR in ESLD. AIM: To investigate the ability of NLR to predict ESLD. METHODS: Databases, such as Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Weipu, and Wanfang, were comprehensively searched to identify studies published before October 2022 assessing the prognostic ability of NLR to predict mortality in patients with ESLD. Effect sizes were calculated using comprehensive meta-analysis software and SATAT 15.1. RESULTS: A total of thirty studies involving patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) were included in the evaluation. Among the pooled results of eight studies, it was observed that the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) was significantly higher in non-survivors compared to survivors (random-effects model: standardized mean difference = 1.02, 95% confidence interval = 0.67-1.37). Additionally, twenty-seven studies examined the associations between NLR and mortality in ESLD patients, reporting either hazard ratios (HR) or odds ratios (OR). The combined findings indicated a link between NLR and ESLD mortality (random-effects model; univariate HR = 1.07, 95%CI = 1.05-1.09; multivariate HR = 1.07, 95%CI = 1.07-1.09; univariate OR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.18-1.39; multivariate OR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.09-1.49). Furthermore, subgroup and meta-regression analyses revealed regional variations in the impact of NLR on ESLD mortality, with Asian studies demonstrating a more pronounced effect. CONCLUSION: Increased NLR in patients with ESLD is associated with a higher risk of mortality, particularly in Asian patients. NLR is a useful prognostic biomarker in patients with ESLD.

Causal Model Analysis of the Effect of Formalism, Fear of Infection, COVID-19 Stress on Firefighters' Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and Insomnia.

As the front line of epidemic prevention, firefighters are responsible for the transportation of infected cases. Firefighters are under a lot of stress from the new COVID-19, especially the fear that they may contract the virus at work and spread the virus to their families. In particular, the framework of this study incorporates Riggs' formalism variables. When firefighters think that the epidemic prevention regulations are inconsistent with the actual epidemic prevention, it will increase their work pressure on COVID-19. In this study, firefighters from all over Taiwan were used as the respondents, and a total of 453 respondents were obtained. This study uses confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the established hypotheses. The findings confirm that formalism, fear of self and family infection are positively influencing COVID-19 stress. COVID-19 stress positively affects PTSD and insomnia. COVID-19 stress negatively affects problem-focused strategies. Problem-focused strategies negatively affect post-traumatic stress disorder.

Inhibition mechanism: Phytic acid, NADH as a peroxidase inhibitor.

Peroxidase, a key enzyme causing enzymatic browning, and affected the potential values of fruit and vegetables. Phytic acid and NADH inhibited peroxidase in a competitive manner due to their reducing properties, and it's IC50 (1.18 ± 0.32) × 10-8, (8.02 ± 0.45) × 10-6 mol L-1, respectively. The interaction between phytic acid, NADH and peroxidase contributed to intrinsic fluorescence quenching and conformation alternation with a accuracy determination by multispectroscopic techniques (fluorescence spectra, FT-IR and CD spectra), respectively. Molecular docking simulation revealed that phytic acid, NADH interacted with His170, Ala34, Arg38, Ser73, Arg31, Lys174, Gln176, Asn175, Arg75; Gln176, Asn175, Phe221, Lys174, Gly173, Ser167, Phe172, Gly169, His170 in peroxidase, respectively and blocked substrates into catalytic reactions.

The activation mechanism of peroxidase by ultrasound.

The activation mechanism of peroxidase by ultrasound was investigated. The catalysis performance of peroxidase with ultrasound treatment was prior to the controls determined by UV-visible spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectra. The transformation of tryptophan residues in peroxidase led to the increase of a-helix and anti-parallel content in the secondary structure, and the content of p-sheet, p-turn and random coil in the secondary structure. In addition, under the atomic force microscope, under ultrasonic treatment, the large molecular clusters of tyrosinase are broken down into small molecular clusters. The current results showed that the activity of peroxidase is activated under ultrasonic treatment, which is mainly caused by ultrasound without conformational change, the catalytic center is exposed, and the affinity with the substrate is stronger.

The inhibition mechanism of luteolin on peroxidase based on multispectroscopic techniques.

Luteolin, a plant-derived flavonoid, was found to exert effective inhibitory effect to peroxidase activity in a non-competitive manner with an IC50 of (6.62 ± 0.45) × 10-5 mol L-1. The interaction between luteolin and peroxidase induced the formation of a static complex with a binding constant (Ksv) of 7.31 × 103 L mol-1 s-1 driven by hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction. Further, the molecular interaction between luteolin and peroxidase resulted in intrinsic fluorescence quenching, structural and conformational alternations which were determined by multispectroscopic techniques combined with computational molecular docking. Molecular docking results revealed that luteolin bound to peroxidase and interacted with relevant amino acid residues in the hydrophobic pocket. These results will provide information for screening additional peroxidase inhibitors and provide evidence of luteolin's potential application in preservation and processing of fruit and vegetables and clinical disease remedy.

High-level expression of the Penicillium notatum glucose oxidase gene in Pichia pastoris using codon optimization.

The glucose oxidase (GOD) gene from Penicillium notatum was expressed in Pichia pastoris. The 1,815 bp gene, god-w, encodes 604 amino acids. Recombinant GOD-w had optimal activity at 35-40°C and pH 6.2 and was stable, from pH 3 to 7 maintaining >75% maximum activity after incubation at 50°C for 1 h. GOD-w worked as well as commercial GODs to improve bread making. To achieve high-level expression of recombinant GOD in P. pastoris, 272 nucleotides involving 228 residues were mutated, consistent with the codon bias of P. pastoris. The optimized recombinant GOD-m yielded 615 U ml(-1) (2.5 g protein l(-1)) in a 3 l fermentor--410% higher than GOD-w (148 U ml(-1)), and thus is a low-cost alternative for the bread baking industry.

Improved soluble expression and characterization of the Hc domain of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin serotype A in Escherichia coli by using a PCR-synthesized gene and a Trx co-expression strain.

Botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT/A) is an extremely potent bacterial protein toxin. The Hc fragment of BoNT/A (AHc) was shown to be non-toxic, antigenic, and capable of eliciting a protective immunity in animals challenged with homologous BoNT. In this study, we synthesized AHc gene by using T4 DNA ligase and PCR. The AHc was expressed at a high level in Escherichia coli successfully. Because of using the Trx co-expression strain, the expressed AHc is in a soluble and active form. The yield of the purified AHc was about 70mg/L, and its purity was up to 90% through one-step affinity chromatography. The AHc was positively identified by the antibodies raised against BoNT/A using immunological-dot-blot and Western blot assays. AHc was shown to bind with gangliosides and elicit immunity against BoNT/A, indicating that the expressed and purified AHc protein retains a functionally active conformation. Furthermore, the purified AHc has a strong immunogenicity and can be used as a potential subunit candidate vaccine for botulinum toxin serotype A.

[Lentiviral vectors and advance in its application].

Lentiviral vectors (Lv), known as holding lots of virtues (e.g. transfection to the dividing or non-dividing cells;large capacity of transfer gene fragments; long-term expression transfer genes; and low rate of immunological response) has come to be one of the hot-spots in gene therapy research. In this paper, taking the Lv derived from HIV-1 for example, we review the characteristics of frame, the developments and the advances in application of Lv.