Myoglobin diet affected the colonic mucus layer and barrier by increasing the abundance of several beneficial gut bacteria.

The study aimed to explore the in vitro digestion of a myoglobin diet and its relationship with the gut microbiota and intestinal barrier at two feeding time points. The in vitro study indicated that myoglobin diets had a higher α-helix content and lower digestibility. The particle sizes of the digested myoglobin diets were higher but their zeta potential values were lower than those of a casein diet. C57BL/6J mice were fed with a casein diet incorporated with 0, 0.38%, 1.13% and 3.39% myoglobin for 3 and 8 weeks. With the increase of the myoglobin content, the relative abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila increased significantly. Moreover, the content of short chain fatty acids tended to increase and then decrease as the myoglobin content increased at 3 weeks. Furthermore, the low-myoglobin diet upregulated the gene expression involved in colonic mucin and tight junction proteins by increasing the proportion of beneficial microbiota. However, the high-myoglobin diet had adverse effects.

Empirical Study of Monthly Economic Losses Assessments for "Standard Unit Lockdown" Due to COVID-19.

Background: The pandemic of COVID-19 has been shaping economic developments of the world. From the standpoint of government measures to prevent and control the epidemic, the lockdown was widely used. It is essential to access the economic losses in a lockdown environment which will provide government administration with a necessary reference for decision making in controlling the epidemic. Methods: We introduce the concept of "standard unit incident" and an economic losses assessment methodology for both the standard and the assessed area. We build a "standard unit lockdown" economic losses assessment system and indicators to estimate the economic losses for the monthly lockdown. Using the comprehensive assessment system, the loss infected coefficient of monthly economic losses during lockdown in the 40 countries has been calculated to assess the economic losses by the entropy weighting method (EWM) with data from the CSMAR database and CDC website. Results: We observe that countries in North America suffered the most significant economic losses due to the epidemic, followed by South America and Europe, Asia and Africa, and Oceania and Antarctica suffered relatively minor economic losses. The top 10 countries for monthly economic losses during lockdown were the United States, India, Brazil, France, Turkey, Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The United States suffered the greatest monthly economic losses under lockdown ($65.3 billion), roughly 1.5 times that of China, while Germany suffered the least ($56.4 billion), roughly 1.3 times that of China. Conclusion: Lockdown as a control and mitigation strategy has great impact on the economic development and causes huge economic losses. The economic impact due to the pandemic has varied widely among the 40 countries. It will be important to conduct further studies to compare and understand the differences and the reasons behind.

Lichen planus with multiple system involvement including the mouth, vagina, urethra, and scalp: a case report.

This is a case report of lichen planus (LP) with multiple system involvement. A 35-year-old female patient was admitted in November 2014 with a 5-year history of painful/difficult sexual intercourse and loss of oral mucosa, and an 8-year history of focal hair loss. Earlier, the patient had been unable to adhere to corticosteroid therapy because of severe adverse side effects. In September 2014, labia minora mucosa defects and stricture of the urethral orifice (with dysuria), vaginal orifice, and vagina were identified. Biopsy was performed and a diagnosis of erosive LP was made. The patient was treated with an oral immunosuppressant (cyclosporine A) and urethral/vaginal dilatation. Urine flow rate and sex life were improved after 6 months and she discontinued medication. Four years later, the patient reported a good overall treatment efficacy. LP can involve multiple systems and should be considered in patients with dyspareunia. Immunosuppressive agents can achieve a satisfactory effect in patients with contraindication to corticosteroid.

Logistic regression analysis of clinical and computed tomography features of pulmonary abscesses and risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate the risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema by investigating the clinical characteristics and chest computed tomography imaging features of patients with pulmonary abscesses. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the chest computed tomography findings and clinical features of 101 cases of pulmonary abscess, including 25 cases with empyema (the experimental group) and 76 cases with no empyema (the control group). The potential risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema were compared between the groups by using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The incidence of pulmonary abscess-related empyema was 24.8% (25/101). Univariate analysis showed that male gender, diabetes, pleuritic symptoms, white blood cells >10×109/L, albumin level <25 g/L, and positive sputum cultures were potential clinical-related risk factors and that an abscess >5 cm in diameter and transpulmonary fissure abscesses were potential computed tomography imaging-related risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that transpulmonary fissure abscesses (odds ratio=9.102, p=0.003), diabetes (odds ratio=9.066, p=0.003), an abscess >5 cm in diameter (odds ratio=8.998, p=0.002), and pleuritic symptoms (odds ratio=5.395, p=0.015) were independent risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema. CONCLUSIONS: Transpulmonary fissure abscesses, diabetes, giant pulmonary abscesses, and pleuritic symptoms increased the risk of empyema among patients with pulmonary abscesses.

Differential expression of microRNA-411 and 376c is associated with hypertension in pregnancy.

Preeclampsia is a major reason of morbidity and mortality in pregnant women and perinatal fetus. Hence, it is of prime importance that diagnostic markers are defined to predict chances of preeclampsia in pregnant women. It has been previously shown that microRNA (miRNA)-376c expression is decreased in the placenta of preeclampsia patients at term. Even though this decrease was not mimicked in the placenta at the pre-term stage, miR-376c expression was decreased in the plasma of these patients as early as the second trimester. Plasma and placenta specimens were obtained from pregnant women having unifetal gestation undergoing perinatal care between January 2014 and December 2016 (n=49). Early trimester placentas were collected from patients undergoing terminated pregnancies through dilation and curettage procedure. Our results showed that in addition to miR-376c, miR-441 levels were decreased in the placenta of preeclampsia patients, and this decrease occurred both at pre-term and at term. This decrease is also mimicked in the plasma levels at both early and late weeks of pregnancy, highlighting that miR-441 levels can serve as a diagnostic marker of risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women. Overexpression of the miR-441, as well as miR-376c, promoted cell viability, migration, and invasion in the human immortalized cytotrophoblast cell line HTR8/SVneo, indicating that their decrease in pregnant women would result in anomalous apoptosis and functional imbalance resulting in premature abortion and other complications. MiR-441 level can thus potentially serve as diagnostic marker of preeclampsia in pregnant women.

Antiproliferative Effect of Amaranth Proteins and Peptides on HT-29 Human Colon Tumor Cell Line.

Antiproliferative effect of Amaranthus mantegazzianus proteins and peptides released after simulated gastrointestinal digestion (DH% 37.8 ± 3.8) was investigated on human colon cancer cell line HT-29. Inhibition of proliferation of HT-29 cells was exhibited after a 24 h treatment with different concentrations of amaranth protein isolate (API) and the peptides released after digestion (DGS), presenting IC50 values of 1.35 ± 0.12 and 0.30 ± 0.07 mg soluble protein/mL, respectively. Lactate dehydrogenase assay indicated that both samples caused the loss of membrane integrity and cell lysis over HT-29 cells, and DAPI fluorescence microscopies evidenced typical apoptotic features. Moreover, Annexin V-FITC flow cytometry showed a significant increase of early apoptotic and late apoptotic/necrotic HT-29 cells compared to untreated ones, and caspase-3 assay confirmed the apoptosis induction with a 43.0 ± 10.3 and 65.8 ± 12.7% increase of caspase-3 activity produced by a 2 mg/mL treatment of API and DGS, respectively. In conclusion, amaranth peptides successfully released after simulated gastrointestinal digestion would exert a potential antiproliferative activity over HT-29 tumor cells. This effect was linked to the induction of cell necrosis and apoptosis, supporting the idea of using amaranth proteins as a potential food alternative ingredient for functional foods.

Lichen planus with multiple system involvement including the mouth, vagina, urethra, and scalp: a case report

This is a case report of lichen planus (LP) with multiple system involvement. A 35-year-old female patient was admitted in November 2014 with a 5-year history of painful/difficult sexual intercourse and loss of oral mucosa, and an 8-year history of focal hair loss. Earlier, the patient had been unable to adhere to corticosteroid therapy because of severe adverse side effects. In September 2014, labia minora mucosa defects and stricture of the urethral orifice (with dysuria), vaginal orifice, and vagina were identified. Biopsy was performed and a diagnosis of erosive LP was made. The patient was treated with an oral immunosuppressant (cyclosporine A) and urethral/vaginal dilatation. Urine flow rate and sex life were improved after 6 months and she discontinued medication. Four years later, the patient reported a good overall treatment efficacy. LP can involve multiple systems and should be considered in patients with dyspareunia. Immunosuppressive agents can achieve a satisfactory effect in patients with contraindication to corticosteroid.

Differential expression of microRNA-411 and 376c is associated with hypertension in pregnancy

Preeclampsia is a major reason of morbidity and mortality in pregnant women and perinatal fetus. Hence, it is of prime importance that diagnostic markers are defined to predict chances of preeclampsia in pregnant women. It has been previously shown that microRNA (miRNA)-376c expression is decreased in the placenta of preeclampsia patients at term. Even though this decrease was not mimicked in the placenta at the pre-term stage, miR-376c expression was decreased in the plasma of these patients as early as the second trimester. Plasma and placenta specimens were obtained from pregnant women having unifetal gestation undergoing perinatal care between January 2014 and December 2016 (n=49). Early trimester placentas were collected from patients undergoing terminated pregnancies through dilation and curettage procedure. Our results showed that in addition to miR-376c, miR-441 levels were decreased in the placenta of preeclampsia patients, and this decrease occurred both at pre-term and at term. This decrease is also mimicked in the plasma levels at both early and late weeks of pregnancy, highlighting that miR-441 levels can serve as a diagnostic marker of risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women. Overexpression of the miR-441, as well as miR-376c, promoted cell viability, migration, and invasion in the human immortalized cytotrophoblast cell line HTR8/SVneo, indicating that their decrease in pregnant women would result in anomalous apoptosis and functional imbalance resulting in premature abortion and other complications. MiR-441 level can thus potentially serve as diagnostic marker of preeclampsia in pregnant women.

Logistic regression analysis of clinical and computed tomography features of pulmonary abscesses and risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate the risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema by investigating the clinical characteristics and chest computed tomography imaging features of patients with pulmonary abscesses. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the chest computed tomography findings and clinical features of 101 cases of pulmonary abscess, including 25 cases with empyema (the experimental group) and 76 cases with no empyema (the control group). The potential risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema were compared between the groups by using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The incidence of pulmonary abscess-related empyema was 24.8% (25/101). Univariate analysis showed that male gender, diabetes, pleuritic symptoms, white blood cells >10×109/L, albumin level <25 g/L, and positive sputum cultures were potential clinical-related risk factors and that an abscess >5 cm in diameter and transpulmonary fissure abscesses were potential computed tomography imaging-related risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that transpulmonary fissure abscesses (odds ratio=9.102, p=0.003), diabetes (odds ratio=9.066, p=0.003), an abscess >5 cm in diameter (odds ratio=8.998, p=0.002), and pleuritic symptoms (odds ratio=5.395, p=0.015) were independent risk factors for pulmonary abscess-related empyema. CONCLUSIONS: Transpulmonary fissure abscesses, diabetes, giant pulmonary abscesses, and pleuritic symptoms increased the risk of empyema among patients with pulmonary abscesses.