Composition and contents of fatty acids and amino acids in the mycelia of Lentinula edodes.

With the global shortages of animal protein foods, mycoprotein as a low-cost alternative source of protein by its high-protein and low-fat content has become a development trend. Lentinula edodes (L. edodes) is a healthy food with high protein and low fiber. This work evaluated the nutritional value of L. edodes mycelia, and determined the composition and contents of fatty acids and amino acids. Eleven saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and 12 unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) were detected in the mycelia of L. edodes. The UFA content accounted for 75.7% and 73.1% of the total fatty acid content in the mycelia of strains 18 and 18N44, respectively. Linoleic acid was the major polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the mycelia, accounting for 91.0% and 86.3% of the UFAs, respectively. The mycelia of the two strains contained 17 types of amino acids, and the essential amino acids were sufficient (357.92 ± 0.42 and 398.38 ± 4.52 mg/g pro, respectively), both close to the WHO/FAO reference protein pattern value. The most abundant essential amino acid was Lys, and the limiting amino acids were Met + Cys and Ile, respectively. The SRC values in the mycelia of the two strains were 68.07 and 54.86, and the EAAI values were 67.70 and 74.42, respectively, both being close to those of ovalbumin. It is concluded that L. edodes mycelia are rich in easily absorbed high-quality proteins and PUFAs, and can be used as a source for meat analog required by vegetarians. This study provides a scientific basis for the further utilization of mycelial resources.

Gastric mucosal precancerous lesions in Helicobacter pylori-infected pediatric patients in central China: A single-center, retrospective investigation.

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infects about 50% of the world population and is the major cause of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric cancer. Chronic H. pylori infection induces gastric mucosal precancerous lesions mostly in adulthood, and it is debatable whether these pathological conditions can occur in childhood and adolescents as well. Since this is a critical issue to determine if intervention should be offered for this population group, we investigated the gastric mucosal precancerous lesions in pediatric patients in an area in central China with a high prevalence of H. pylori and gastric cancer. AIM: To investigate the relationship of H. pylori infection and gastric mucosal precancerous lesions in children and adolescents in central China. METHODS: We screened 4258 ward-admitted children and adolescent patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms, and finally enrolled 1015 pediatric patients with H. pylori infection and endoscopic and histological data. H. pylori infection status was determined by rapid urease test and histopathological examination. Both clinical and pathological data were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Occurrence of gastric mucosal precancerous lesions, inflammatory activity and degree of inflammatory cell infiltration between H. pylori-positive and -negative groups were compared. RESULTS: Among the 1015 eligible children and adolescents, the overall H. pylori infection rate was 84.14% (854/1015). The infection rate increased with age. The incidence of gastric mucosal precancerous lesions in H. pylori-infected children was 4.33% (37/854), which included atrophic gastritis (17 cases), intestinal metaplasia (11 cases) and dysplasia (9 cases). In H. pylori-negative patients, only 1 atrophic gastritis case [0.62%, (1/161)] was found (P < 0.05). Active inflammation in H. pylori-infected patients was significantly higher than that in non-infected patients, and the H. pylori-infected group showed more severe lymphocyte and neutrophil granulocyte infiltration (P < 0.001). In addition, endoscopy revealed that the most common findings in H. pylori-positive patients were antral nodularity, but in H. pylori-negative patients only superficial gastritis was observed. CONCLUSION: In children and adolescents, gastric mucosal precancerous lesions occurred in 4.33% of H. pylori-infected patients in central China. These cases included atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia. The data revealed an obvious critical issue requiring future investigation and intervention for this population group.

Comprehensive profile of circRNAs in formaldehyde induced heart development.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel type of long non-coding RNAs that can regulate gene expression in heart development and heart disease. However, the expression pattern of circRNAs in congenital heart disease (CHD) induced by formaldehyde exposure is still unknown. We detected circRNAs expression profiles in heart tissue taken from six neonatal rat pups with formaldehyde exposure group and normal group using RNA-sequencing. Results revealed that a total of 54 circRNAs were dysregulated in the formaldehyde exposure group compared to the normal group. Among them, 31 were upregulated and 23 were downregulated (fold change = 2.0, p < 0.0 5). The qRT-qPCR results showed that expressions of 12:628708|632694, 18:77477060|77520779, 5:167486001|167526275 were significantly upregulated, while that of 7:41167312|4116775 and 20:50659751|5068786 were notably downregulated; the expression pattern was consistent with the RNA sequencing data. Bioinformatics analysis shows that the pathogenesis of formaldehyde exposure-induced CHD may involve Hippo-YAP pathway、Notch signaling pathway and other pathways. A key miRNA (rno-miR-665) was identified by constructing a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA co-expression network. In summary, the study illustrated that circRNAs differentially expressed in fetal heart tissues during formaldehyde exposure has potential biological functions and may be a biomarker or therapeutic target for CHD.

Comparison of three fixation methods for orotracheal intubation in 95 adults.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to compare three fixation methods for orotracheal intubation. METHODS: Through literature retrieval, the effects of the adhesive/twill tape method, fixator method, and adhesive/twill tape-fixator alternation method on patients with tracheal intubation in the intensive care unit (ICU) were compared. RESULTS: The fixator and alternation methods were more effective in protecting the tongue mucosa and teeth. The alternation method was superior to the other two methods in maintaining the position of the endotracheal intubation. However, the difference in facial and lip injuries between the three methods was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The fixator method can significantly reduce intraoral injury and is more suitable for older people with weak tongue mucosa and loose teeth. These are worth popularizing among a wider group.

ITS1/5.8S/ITS2, a Good Marker for Initial Classification of Shiitake Culinary-Medicinal Lentinus edodes (Agaricomycetes) Strains in China.

China is home to rich wild and cultivated strains of Lentinus edodes, an important edible and medicinal mushroom. Artificial selection of L. edodes has a long history, and the widely cultivated strains belong to populations different from those of most wild strains. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions have been used as good markers to identify L. edodes populations. But because ITS regions exhibit incomplete concerted evolution, the use of an ITS to identify L. edodes populations has been questioned. The objective of this study was to determine whether the ITS region is suitable for identifying L. edodes populations and which populations the widely cultivated strains and the most wild strains belong to by investigating intraindividual and differential ITS polymorphisms between 44 cultivars and 44 wild strains of L. edodes in China. Intraindividual ITS polymorphism is common in L. edodes strains, and most strains possessed 2 different ITS sequences, which came from their heterokaryons. The genetic polymorphisms of ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2 in L. edodes strains are distinct. All strains were divided into one 5.8S type (5.8S-A), 2 ITS1 types (ITS1-A and ITS1-B), and 2 ITS2 types (ITS2-A and ITS2-B), which were subdivided into 2 branches (ITS2-A1 and ITS2-A2; ITS2-B1 and ITS2-B2). ITS1/5.8S/ITS2 could be used as a good marker in preliminary classification of L. edodes strains in China. It not only exhibited classified information of ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2 for each strain at the same time, it also indicated whether the strain was heterozygous. The 44 cultivated strains were mainly the A/A/A1 type, and the 44 wild strains were mainly the A/A/A2 and other mixed types.

Helicobacter pylori infection-induced H3Ser10 phosphorylation in stepwise gastric carcinogenesis and its clinical implications.

BACKGROUND: Our previous works have demonstrated that Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection can alter histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation status in gastric epithelial cells. However, whether Helicobacter pylori-induced histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation participates in gastric carcinogenesis is unknown. We investigate the expression of histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation in various stages of gastric disease and explore its clinical implication. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stomach biopsy samples from 129 patients were collected and stained with histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation, Ki67, and Helicobacter pylori by immunohistochemistry staining, expressed as labeling index. They were categorized into nonatrophic gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and intestinal-type gastric cancer groups. Helicobacter pylori infection was determined by either 13 C-urea breath test or immunohistochemistry staining. RESULTS: In Helicobacter pylori-negative patients, labeling index of histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation was gradually increased in nonatrophic gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia groups, peaked at low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and declined in high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and gastric cancer groups. In Helicobacter pylori-infected patients, labeling index of histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation followed the similar pattern as above, with increased expression over the corresponding Helicobacter pylori-negative controls except in nonatrophic gastritis patient whose labeling index was decreased when compared with Helicobacter pylori-negative control. Labeling index of Ki67 in Helicobacter pylori-negative groups was higher in gastric cancer than chronic atrophic gastritis and low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia groups, and higher in intestinal metaplasia group compared with chronic atrophic gastritis group. In Helicobacter pylori-positive groups, Ki67 labeling index was increased stepwise from nonatrophic gastritis to gastric cancer except slightly decrease in chronic atrophic gastritis group. In addition, we noted that histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation staining is accompanied with its location changes from gastric gland bottom expanded to whole gland as disease stage progress. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that stepwise gastric carcinogenesis is associated with altered histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation, Helicobacter pylori infection enhances histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation expression in these processes; it is also accompanied with histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation location change from gland bottom staining expand to whole gland expression. The results suggest that epigenetic dysregulation may play important roles in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric cancer.

Biocompatible KMnF3 nanoparticular contrast agent with proper plasma retention time for in vivo magnetic resonance imaging.

Nanoparticular MRI contrast agents are rapidly becoming suitable for use in clinical diagnosis. An ideal nanoparticular contrast agent should be endowed with high relaxivity, biocompatibility, proper plasma retention time, and tissue-specific or tumor-targeting imaging. Herein we introduce PEGylated KMnF3 nanoparticles as a new type of T1 contrast agent. Studies showed that the nanoparticular contrast agent revealed high bio-stability with bovine serum albumin in PBS buffer solution, and presented excellent biocompatibility (low cytotoxicity, undetectable hemolysis and hemagglutination). Meanwhile the new contrast agent possessed proper plasma retention time (circulation half-life t1/2 is approximately 2 h) in the body of the administrated mice. It can be delivered into brain vessels and maintained there for hours, and is mostly cleared from the body within 48 h, as demonstrated by time-resolved MRI and Mn-biodistribution analysis. Those distinguishing features make it suitable to obtain contrast-enhanced brain magnetic resonance angiography. Moreover, through the process of passive targeting delivery, the T1 contrast agent clearly illuminates a brain tumor (glioma) with high contrast image and defined shape. This study demonstrates that PEGylated KMnF3 nanoparticles represent a promising biocompatible vascular contrast agent for magnetic resonance angiography and can potentially be further developed into an active targeted tumor MRI contrast agent.

Folate grafted Prussian Blue entrapped with gadolinium(III) as a new contrast agent for tumor-targeted magnetic resonant imaging.

A new generation of magnetic resonant imaging (MRI) contrast agents will simultaneously possess characteristics of high relaxivity, biotargeting ability and nontoxicity, referring that they are helpful to acquire better contrast imaging in the region of interest (e.g., tumors) without health risks. Colloidal Prussian blue with quasi-zeolite structure was introduced as a new type of nanosized scaffold to entrap Gd(III) ions via ion exchange and folate, one kind of cancer-targeting ligand, was intentionally grafted on its surface. The nanoparticulate contrast agent has T1 relaxivity of up to 23.9 mM(-1) s(-1). In vivo MRI illustrated a clear contrast enhancement specifically on the ovarian tumors transplanted on mice at a low dose. Furthermore, the contrast agent is stable and free of cytotoxicity. Therefore it might be a promising new MRI contrast agent for clinical applications.

Development of PEGylated KMnF3 nanoparticles as a T1-weighted contrast agent: chemical synthesis, in vivo brain MR imaging, and accounting for high relaxivity.

Magnetic nanoparticles consisting of manganese-based T1-weighted contrast agents have rapidly achieved clinical application, however low proton relaxivity impedes further development. In this report, by analyzing nanoparticles' surface oxidation states we propose the possible reason for the low r1 relaxivity of common MnO nanoparticles and develop PEGylated fluoroperovskite KMnF3 nanoparticles as new T1-weighted contrast agents, which exhibit the highest longitudinal relaxivity (r1 = 23.15 mM(-1) s(-1)) among all the reported manganese-based T1-weighted contrast agents. We, for the first time, illustrate a typical example showing that the surface oxidation states of metal ions exposed on the nanoparticles' surfaces are able to influence not only the optical, magnetic, electronic or catalytic properties but also water proton longitudinal relaxivity when applied as an MRI contrast agent. Cytotoxicity tests demonstrate that the PEGylated KMnF3 nanoparticles are free from toxicity. Further in vivo MRI experiments distinctively depict fine anatomical features in brain imaging at a low dose of 5 mg of Mn per kg and possible removal from the kidneys due to their small size and biocompatibility.

[Endoscopic management of sialolithiasis (a practical experience in 52 cases)].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of endoscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of sialolithiasis. METHODS: Diagnostic and interventional sialoendoscopic procedures were performed in 52 patients with sialolithiasis (43 submandibular glands and 9 parotid glands). RESULTS: Of the 34 sialoliths in the anterior and/or posterior part of the Wharton's duct, 24 were removed with basket retrieval; 2 removed with open surgery and basket retrieval, and 8 removed with open surgery under the guidance of endoscopy. Eight sialoliths in the hilum of the Wharton's duct were treated with open surgery. Of the 9 stone cases in the Stensen's duct, 3 was removed with basket retrieval, 3 was removed after opening-up of the ostium, 1 was treated with basket capturing and open surgery. The obstructive symptoms were improved in these cases during 1-24 months' follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Sialoendoscopy is a minimal invasive and efficacious technique for the diagnosis and treatment of sialolithiasis.

[Temporomandibular joint disc displacement: diagnosis by arthrography with dental volumetric computerized tomography].

OBJECTIVE: Temporomandibular joint sideways and rotational disc displacement was assessed by arthrography with dental volumetric computerized tomography. METHODS: The study was conducted retrospectively on 119 joints of 109 patients (87 females, 22 males, mean age 31.1 years), who had undergone arthrography with dental volumetric CT in the sagittal and coronal planes. The disc displacements were subdivided into 5 types; condylar abnormalities were subdivided into 4 types. RESULTS: Complete anterior disc displacement was the commonest (70.6%) and medial the rarest (0.8%); anterolateral and anteromedial displacements were 18.5% and 10.1% respectively. The types of disc displacements were not correlated with bone lesions. A higher prevalences of bone lesions were found in the lateral poles of condyles. CONCLUSIONS: Arthrography using dental volume CT can be taken in the sagittal and coronal planes, so the sideways and rotational disc displacements, perforations and bone lesions can be evaluated. It's superior to conventional arthrography.