N1F(Improved-Nephropathy 1 Formula) Ameliorates Renal Interstitial Fibrosis via Inhibiting Extracellular Matrix Deposition and Regulating the FGF23/P38MAPK/Wnt Pathway.

BACKGROUND: Renal fibrosis is the primary pathway in the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) towards end-stage renal failure. The currently used drugs currently are ineffective, and their mechanisms of action remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the nephroprotective effect of Improved-Nephropathy 1 Formula (N1F) in a rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and explore the potential mechanisms of N1F-containing serum in treating TGF-ß1-induced human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2). METHODS: SD rats received 2-week continuous N1F gavage starting on day 2 after UUO. HK-2 cells were pretreated with a P38MAPK inhibitor for 1 h in vitro, followed by induction of the cells with TGF-ß1 and treatment with N1F 48 h later. The chemical composition of N1F was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography-Q-Orbitrap high-resolution liquid mass spectrometry. Renal function was assessed by measuring serum creatinine (Scr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and urine protein (Upro) levels. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Masson's trichrome (Masson) staining were used to evaluate the extent of renal tissue damage and fibrosis. Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence were used to detect the protein levels of relevant indices. The RNA levels of the relevant indices were detected using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: We identified 361 chemical components in the water extract of N1F. These chemical components of N1F significantly reduced the area associated with interstitial fibrosis in the kidneys of UUO rats and the levels of serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, and urinary protein. Additionally, N1F decreased the protein levels of FGF23, Wnt1, ß-catenin and p-P38MAPK/P38MAPK, along with the expression of renalfibrosis-associated proteins, α-SMA, FN, Collagen III, and Vimentin in the renal tissues of the UUO rats, while enhancing klotho and DKK1 protein levels. In vitro experiments revealed that inhibition of P38MAPK signaling significantly suppressed the expression of proteins related to the Wnt signaling pathway, with a concomitant decrease in the expression of FGF23 and an increase in the expression of Klotho. Notably, the P38MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) had similar effects to N1F in altering the above-mentioned indices in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: N1F may exhibit potential therapeutic efficacy against renal fibrosis by inhibiting the FGF23/P38MAPK/Wnt signaling pathway, consequently inhibiting extracellular matrix deposition due to renal injury.

Prognostic value of geriatric nutritional risk index in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a prognostic indicator for several diseases, meanwhile, nutrition and inflammation play important roles in the disease progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the association between the GNRI and ALS remains unknown. METHODS: 443 patients diagnosed with ALS were divided into two groups based on the GNRI levels. Associations between GNRI and survival time were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and compared by the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess their prognostic values for survival time. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation coefficients between GNRI and other clinical variables. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in diagnostic delay between the two groups. The onset age and disease progression rate (DPR) were significantly lower in high GNRI group while forced vital capacity (FVC), revised version of the ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS-R), serum albumin and body mass index (BMI) were significantly lower in low GNRI group. Lower GNRI levels were linked with shorter ALS patients' survival time by Kaplan-Meier curves. The univariate and multivariate analysis identified the onset age, gender, onset site, diagnostic delay, DRP and GNRI as predictors of survival time in patients with ALS. CONCLUSION: Nutritional status was closely corelated with ALS progression. The GNRI may be used as a potential prognostic indictor for ALS patients.

Quantitative association between lead exposure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a Bayesian network-based predictive study.

BACKGROUND: Environmental lead (Pb) exposure have been suggested as a causative factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the role of Pb content of human body in ALS outcomes has not been quantified clearly. The purpose of this study was to apply Bayesian networks to forecast the risk of Pb exposure on the disease occurrence. METHODS: We retrospectively collected medical records of ALS inpatients who underwent blood Pb testing, while matched controlled inpatients on age, gender, hospital ward and admission time according to the radio of 1:9. Tree Augmented Naïve Bayes (TAN), a semi-naïve Bayes classifier, was established to predict probability of ALS or controls with risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 140 inpatients were included in this study. The whole blood Pb levels of ALS patients (57.00 µg/L) were more than twice as high as the controls (27.71 µg/L). Using the blood Pb concentrations to calculate probability of ALS, TAN produced the total coincidence rate of 90.00%. The specificity, sensitivity of Pb for ALS prediction was 0.79, or 0.74, respectively. CONCLUSION: Therefore, these results provided quantitative evidence that Pb exposure may contribute to the development of ALS. Bayesian networks may be used to predict the ALS early onset with blood Pb levels.

Gender-specific association of uric acid and survival in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between serum uric acid (UA) and survival in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS) patients. METHOD: A total of 801 sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS) patients fulfilled the revised El Escorial criteria were enrolled and followed up in the study. Baseline clinical data and laboratory variables including gender, age, age of onset, site of onset, disease duration, body mass index (BMI), uric acid (UA), creatinine (Cr), and creatine kinase (CK) were collected during enrollment. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to evaluate the survival-related factors after adjustment for confounders. RESULTS: The serum UA level was significantly lower in female patients than that in male patients (243.5 vs 314.9 µmol/L, p < 0.001). Gender, BMI, Cr, CK were significantly associated with the level of uric acid according to the linear regression analysis. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, higher serum UA level (>268.0 µmol/L) was an independent protective factor for prolonged survival among female patients (HR = 0.69, P = 0.042) after adjustment for confounders. CONCLUSION: The present study provided further support that higher UA was a protective factor for survival in sALS patients, especially in female.

Evaluating the causal association between microRNAs and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Currently, miRNAs are involved in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and identifying circulating miRNAs that are causally associated with ALS risk as biomarkers is imperative. METHODS: We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization study to evaluate the causal relationship between miRNAs and ALS. Our analysis was conducted using summary statistics from miRNA expression quantitative loci (eQTL) data of the Framingham Heart Study and ALS genome-wide association studies data. Another independent miRNA data was used to further validate. RESULTS: We identified eight unique miRNAs that were causally associated with ALS risk. Using expression data of miRNAs from an independent study, we validated three high-confidence miRNAs, namely hsa-miR-27b-3p, hsa-miR-139-5p, and hsa-miR-152-3p, which might have a potential causal effect on ALS risk. CONCLUSION: We suggested that higher levels of hsa-miR-27b-3p and hsa-miR-139-5p had protective effects on ALS, whereas higher levels of hsa-miR-152-3p might act as a risk factor for ALS. The analytical framework presented in this study helps to understand the role of miRNAs in the development of ALS and to identify the biomarkers for ALS risk.

Assessing the association between white matter lesions and Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: The association between white matter (WM) lesions and Parkinson's disease (PD) was not fully established. We therefore applied Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to identify the causal effect between white matter lesions and PD. METHODS: We performed a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to investigate the association between three WM phenotypes-white matter hyperintensities (WMH, N = 18,381), fractional anisotropy (FA, N = 17,673), and mean diffusivity (MD, N = 17,467)-with PD (N = 482,730) using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The inverse variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO methods were used to evaluate the causal estimate. RESULTS: Significant evidence was suggested that higher MD was associated with a higher PD risk (OR = 1.049, 95% CI = 1.018-1.081, p = 0.022) when the outlier was removed using MR-PRESSO method. Moreover, genetically predicted PD was associated with a lower WMH load (IVW ß = - 0.047, 95% CI = - 0.085 to - 0.009, p = 0.016) and a higher FA (ß = 0.185, 95% CI = 0.021-0.349, p = 0.027). No evidence of pleiotropy was found using MR-Egger intercept. CONCLUSION: Our findings provided genetic support that white matter microstructural integrity lesions might increase the risk of PD. However, genetically predicted PD was potentially associated with a lower load of white matter lesions.

Astrocytes constitute the major TNF-α-producing cell population in the infarct cortex in dMCAO rats receiving intravenous MSC infusion.

Recent studies report that inhibiting TNF-α might be a novel therapeutic strategy for managing brain ischemia. Our previous study reported that mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation could suppress TNF-α level in both serum and brain. However, the cell type(s) that contribute to the production of TNF-α during ischemia following MSC transplantation has not been well studied. In the present study, we found by fluorescent immunohistochemistry, that 7.95 ± 6.17% of TNF-α+ cells co-expressed Iba-1 in the infarct area of dMCAO rats, a majority of which were found to be CD68+ (activated microglia), suggesting that resident microglial population were not the major source of TNF-α expression. 68.49 ± 5.12% of the TNF-α+ cells in the infarct area could be labeled by GFAP, a specific marker for astrocytes, indicating that resident GFAP+ astrocytes might be the major source of TNF-α expression in the infarct area. In addition to the infarct area, the GFAP+/TNF-α+ double-positive astrocytes accounted for 73.68 ± 7.48% of the TNF-α+ cells in striatum and corpus callosum. The infiltrating cells, including monocytes and lymphocytes, were not the main source of TNF-α either. In response to MSC transplantation, the total TNF-α+ cells as well as the percentage of TNF-α-expressing astrocytes were significantly reduced in the infarct area, suggesting that MSC transplantation could suppress the expression of TNF-α by astrocytes. Taken together, the results demonstrated that resident astrocytes, but not microglia, were the major source of TNF-α expression and could be suppressed by MSC infusion.

Fluorogenic Biosensors Constructed via Aggregation-induced Emission Based on Enzyme-catalyzed Coupling Reactions for Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a main reactive oxygen by-product produced in the metabolism of organisms and a common biomarker of oxidative stress. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probes for H2O2 have been proposed. Such AIEgens mostly use benzeneboronic acid as a recognition group. Recently, a strategy involving enzyme-catalyzed polymerization of AIE compounds shows great potential in AIEgens design. We herein modify the AIE motif, tetraphenylethene (TPE) with o-phenylenediamine (TPE-TAF), which can be oxidated by H2O2 in HRP to form an intramolecular phenazine structure. Compared with a similar approach, the proposed strategy is simple and the TPE-TAF showed a sensitive "turn-on" fluorescence with H2O2. The detection limit (LOD) is 3.39 µM and the probe is highly specific against H2O2. We further verified the reaction mechanism of the enzyme-catalyzed coupling reaction. The probe is a promising candidate as a stable and safe fluorescent substrate in H2O2 sensing.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation downregulates plasma level and the microglia expression of transforming growth factor ß1 in the acute phase of cerebral cortex ischemia.

BACKGROUND: Both bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) and transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) have a strong anti-inflammatory capacity in stroke. But their relationship has not been well addressed. In this study, we investigated how intravenous BM-MSC transplantation in rats effected the expression of TGF-ß1 48 h post cerebral ischemia, and we analyzed the main cells that produce TGF-ß1. METHODS: We used a distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (dMCAO) model in twenty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The rats were randomly divided into two groups: the ischemic control group and the postischemic BM-MSC transplantation group. One hour after the dMCAO model was established, the rats were injected in the tail vein with either 1 ml saline or 1 × 106 BM-MSCs suspended in 1 ml saline. ELISAs were used to detect TGF-ß1 content in the brain infarct core area, striatum and the plasma at 48 h after cerebral infarction. Immunofluorescent staining of brain tissue sections for TGF-ß1, Iba-1, CD68 and NeuN was performed to determine the number and the proportion of double stained cells and to detect possible TGF-ß1 producing cells in the brain tissue. RESULTS: Forty-eight hours after ischemia, the TGF-ß1 content in the infarcted area of the BM-MSC transplantation group (23.94 ± 4.48 pg/ml) was significantly lower than it was in the ischemic control group (34.18 ± 4.32 pg/ml) (F = 13.534, P = 0.006). The TGF-ß1 content in the rat plasma in the BM-MSC transplantation group (75.91 ± 12.53 pg/ml) was significantly lower than it was in the ischemic control group (131.18 ± 16.07 pg/ml) (F = 36.779, P = 0.0002), suggesting that after transplantation of BM-MSCs, TGF-ß1 levels in the plasma decreased, but there was no significant change in the striatum area. Immunofluorescence staining showed that the total number of nucleated cells (1037.67 ± 222.16 cells/mm2) in the infarcted area after transplantation was significantly higher than that in the ischemic control group (391.67 ± 69.50 cells/mm2) (F = 92.421, P < 0.01); the number of TGF-ß1+ cells after transplantation (35.00 ± 13.66 cells/mm2) was significantly reduced in comparison to that in the ischemic control group (72.33 ± 32.08 cells/mm2) (F = 37.680, P < 0.01). The number of TGF-ß1+/Iba-1+ microglia cells in the transplantation group (3.67 ± 3.17 cells/mm2) was significantly reduced in comparison to that of the ischemic control group (13.67 ± 5.52 cells/mm2) (F = 29.641, P < 0.01). The proportion of TGF-ß1+/Iba-1+ microglia cells out of all Iba-1+ microglia cells after transplantation (4.38 ± 3.18%) was significantly decreased compared with that in the ischemic control group (12.81 ± 4.86%) (F = 28.125, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Iba-1+ microglia is one of the main cell types that express TGF-ß1. Intravenous transplantation of BM-MSCs does not cooperate with TGF-ß1+ cells in immune-regulation, but reduces the TGF-ß1 content in the infarcted area and in the plasma at 48 h after cerebral infarction.

Peripheral Circulation and Astrocytes Contribute to the MSC-Mediated Increase in IGF-1 Levels in the Infarct Cortex in a dMCAO Rat Model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ischemic brain injury was induced by dMCAO in Sprague-Dawley rats. The transplantation group received MSC infusion 1 h after dMCAO. Expression of IGF-1 in GFAP+ astrocytes, Iba-1+ microglia/macrophages, CD3+ lymphocytes, Ly6C+ monocytes/macrophages, and neutrophil elastase (NE)+ neutrophils was examined to determine the contribution of these cells to the increase of IGF-1. ELISA was performed to examine IGF-1 levels in blood plasma at days 2, 4, and 7 after ischemia onset. RESULTS: In total, only 5-6% of Iba-1+ microglia were colabeled with IGF-1 in the infarct cortex, corpus callosum, and striatum at day 2 post-dMCAO. MSC transplantation did not lead to a higher proportion of Iba-1+ cells that coexpressed IGF-1. In the infarct cortex, all Iba-1+/IGF-1+ double-positive cells were also positive for CD68. In the infarct, corpus callosum, and striatum, the majority (50-80%) of GFAP+ cells were colabeled with ramified IGF-1 signals. The number of GFAP+/IGF-1+ cells was further increased following MSC treatment. In the infarct cortex, approximately 15% of IGF-1+ cells were double-positive for CD3. MSC treatment reduced the number of infiltrated CD3+/IGF-1+ cells by 70%. In the infarct, few Ly6C+ monocytes/macrophages or NE+ neutrophils expressed IGF-1, and MSC treatment did not induce a higher percentage of these cells that coexpressed IGF-1. The IGF-1 level in peripheral blood plasma was significantly higher in the MSC group than in the ischemia control group. CONCLUSION: The MSC-mediated increase in IGF-1 levels in the infarct cortex mainly derives from two sources, astrocytes in brain and blood plasma in periphery. Manipulating the IGF-1 level in the peripheral circulation may lead to a higher level of IGF-1 in brain, which could be conducive to recovery at the early stage of dMCAO.

AZGP1 suppresses the process of colorectal cancer after upregulating FASN expression via mTOR signal pathway.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common malignant gastrointestinal tumor. Obesity has been confirmed to be closely related to the occurrence of CRC, but the specific mechanism is not clear. This study mainly explored the roles of obesity-related genes, fatty acid synthase (FASN) and zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein (AZGP1), in CRC. 30 cases of CRC tissues and adjacent normal colorectal tissues were obtained to quantify the levels of FASN and AZGP1 using qRT-PCR and Western blotting. Overexpression-AZGP1, overexpression-FASN and FASN shRNA were transfected into SW480 cells. CCK-8, wound healing and Transwell assays were used to evaluate the roles of FASN and AZGP1 on cell proliferation, migration as well as invasion. Western blot was performed to investigate the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and mTOR signaling-related proteins. AZGP1 expression was decreased in CRC tissues, which was negatively correlated with FASN expression. Overexpression-AZGP1 showed a significant inhibitory effect on cell proliferation, invasion and migration via inhibiting MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions. Furthermore, up-regulation of AZGP1 suppressed the expression of mTOR pathway downstream proteins 4EBP and eIF4E through inhibiting FASN expression. Reintroduction of overexpression-FASN could partially reverse and inhibition of FASN further decrease the anti-tumor effect of AZGP1. AZGP1 suppresses CRC cellular activities by regulating FASN via mTOR pathway, suggesting that AZGP1 and FASN may be the targets for CRC therapy.

Intravenous Transplantation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reduces the Number of Infiltrated Ly6C+ Cells but Enhances the Proportions Positive for BDNF, TNF-1α, and IL-1ß in the Infarct Cortices of dMCAO Rats.

The resident microglial and infiltrating cells from peripheral circulation are involved in the pathological processes of ischemia stroke and may be regulated by mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC) transplantation. The present study is aimed at differentiating the neurotrophic and inflammatory roles played by microglial vs. infiltrating circulation-derived cells in the acute phase in rat ischemic brains and explore the influences of intravenously infused allogeneic MSCs. The ischemic brain injury was induced by distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (dMCAO) in SD rats, with or without MSC infusion in the same day following dMCAO. Circulation-derived infiltrating cells in the brain were identified by Ly6C, a majority of which were monocytes/macrophages. Without MSC transplantation, among the infiltrated Ly6C+ cells, some were positive for BDNF, IL-1ß, or TNF-α. Following MSC infusion, the overall number of Ly6C+ infiltrated cells was reduced by 50%. In contrast, the proportions of infiltrated Ly6C+ cells coexpressing BDNF, IL-1ß, or TNF-α were significantly enhanced. Interestingly, Ly6C+ cells in the infarct area could produce either neurotrophic factor BDNF or inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß or TNF-α), but not both. This suggests that the Ly6C+ cells may constitute heterogeneous populations which react differentially to the microenvironments in the infarct area. The changes in cellular composition in the infarct area may have contributed to the beneficial effect of MSC transplantation.

Hepatic Abscess Secondary to Stomach Perforation by a Fish Bone: a Rare Cause of Hepatic Abscess.

Gastrointestinal foreign bodies are commonly encountered in clinical practice. However, although perforation of the gastrointestinal tract by a foreign body is not unusual, the formation of a hepatic abscess as a result of the migration of a foreign body is extremely rare. Patients usually present with atypical symptoms, and the treatment of such pyogenic liver abscesses presents a challenge. Here we report a case of hepatic abscess secondary to stomach perforation by a fish bone.

Occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in various types of raw oilseeds from different regions of China.

Ninety-five samples of 18 types of oilseeds used for edible oil production were collected from different origins of China. The occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in these oilseeds was presented after the analysis by using a simplified gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method. The results indicated that some of these oilseeds were not found of indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, and benzo[ghi]perylene. Naphthalene and phenanthrene had higher concentration than other individual PAH in the same sample. The range of BaP, PAH4, and PAH16 concentration in these 95 samples was 0.1-14.1, 1.1-74.6, and 81.8-466.8 µg/kg, respectively. LPAH accounted for 87.1-99.5% of the total concentration of PAHs in all of studied oilseeds. The average concentrations of PAH16 in different types of oilseed were different. Meanwhile, the samples collected from different origins of China presented various levels of PAH16. The differences between herbaceous plant oilseeds and woody plant oilseeds in terms of PAH levels were not observed.