Opposing Effects of Nutritional Supply on Bone Health at Different Ages: Based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Database.

(1) Background: Nutrients play an essential role in bone health, whether in achieving peak bone mineral density (BMD) or maintaining bone health. This study explores the relationship between nutrient supply and femoral bone health at different ages. (2) Methods: A total of 5603 participants meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in this study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database from 2005 to 2010, 2013 to 2014, and 2017 to 2018. Femoral bone mineral density and bone status were dependent variables, and dietary nutrient intake and nutrient intake status were independent variables. The relationship between dietary nutrient intake and bone mineral density was explored, and the importance of nutrients affecting bone status was analyzed through a neural network model. At the same time, we investigated the relationship between nutrient intake and bone status. (3) Results: The peak of age and femoral bone mineral density appeared at 20 years old in our study. After grouping by age, logistic regression analysis showed that before 20 years old, without adjusting other variables, high-fat diet was more likely to have normal bone mass than appropriate fat diet (OR: 4.173, 95%CI: 1.007-17.289). After adjusting for all demographic factors, niacin intake (OR: 1.062, 95%CI: 1.019-1.108) was beneficial for normal bone mass, while vitamin B6 intake (OR: 0.627, 95%CI: 0.408-0.965) was not. After 20 years old, after adjusting for carbohydrate, protein, vitamin B6, niacin, dietary fat, vitamin B2, and vitamin B12, vitamin B2 intake (OR: 1.153, 95%CI: 1.04-1.278) was beneficial for normal bone mass, while vitamin B6 intake (OR: 0.842, 95%CI: 0.726-0.976) was not. After adjusting for all confounding factors, vitamin B2 intake (OR: 1.288, 95%CI: 1.102-1.506) was beneficial for normal bone mass. In addition, we found that even if there was no statistical significance, the effects of high-fat diet on bone mass were different at different ages. (4) Conclusions: By conducting an in-depth analysis of the NHANES database, this study reveals that dietary factors exert divergent effects on bone health across different age groups, implying the necessity of implementing tailored dietary strategies to maintain optimal bone health at distinct life stages.

Folic acid supplementation prevents high body fat-induced bone loss through TGR5 signaling pathways.

Osteoporosis caused by bone loss is one of the serious global public health problems. Folic acid is a B vitamin with multiple physiological functions such as lipid regulation and antioxidant capacity, and its potential to improve bone loss has attracted our attention. Through NHANES database analysis, we found that folic acid intake was significantly correlated with whole-body bone mineral density (BMD) in people aged 20-60 years, and the association may be mediated by the body fat rate. Male C57Bl/6 mice were fed either a normal diet or a high-fat diet, and folic acid was added to drinking water for supplementation. Our results indicated that mice with high body fat showed bone microstructure damage and bone loss, while folic acid supplementation improved bone quality. At the same time, we found that mice with high body fat exhibited abnormal blood lipids, dysregulation of intestinal flora, and metabolic disorders. Folic acid supplementation improved these phenomena. Through the network analysis of intestinal flora and metabolites, we found that LCA and TGR5 may play important roles. The results showed that folic acid promoted the expression of LCA and TGR5 in mice, increased the phosphorylation of AMPK, and decreased the phosphorylation of NF-κB and ERK, thereby reducing bone loss. In summary, folic acid intake is closely related to BMD, and folic acid supplementation can prevent high body fat-induced bone loss. Our study provides new ideas and an experimental basis for preventing bone loss and osteoporosis.

Potential Approach to Quantifying the Volume of the Ischemic Core in Truncated Computed Tomography Perfusion Scans: A Preliminary Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to provide an alternative approach for quantifying the volume of the ischemic core (IC) if truncation of computed tomography perfusion (CTP) occurs in clinical practice. METHODS: Baseline CTP and follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) data from 88 patients with stroke were retrospectively collected. CTP source images (CTPSI) from the unenhanced phase to the peak arterial phase (CTPSI-A) or the peak venous phase (CTPSI-V) were collected to simulate the truncation of CTP in the arterial or venous phases, respectively. The volume of IC on CTPSI-A (V CTPSI-A ) or CTPSI-V (V CTPSI-V ) was defined as the volume of the brain tissue with >65% reduction in attenuation compared with that of the normal tissue. The volume of IC on the baseline CTP (V CTP ) was defined as a relative cerebral blood flow of <30% of that in the normal tissue. The volume of the posttreatment infarct on the follow-up DWI (V DWI ) image was manually delineated and calculated. One-way analysis of variance, Bland-Altman plots, and Spearman correlation analyses were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: V CTPSI-A was significantly higher than V DWI ( P < 0.001); however, no significant difference was observed between V CTP and V DWI ( P = 0.073) or between V CTPSI-V and V DWI ( P > 0.999). The mean differences between V DWI and V CTPSI-V , V DWI and V CTP , and V DWI and V CTPSI-A were 1.70 mL (limits of agreement [LoA], -56.40 to 59.70), 8.30 mL (LoA, -40.70 to 57.30), and -68.10 mL (LoA, -180.90 to 44.70), respectively. Significant correlations were observed between V DWI and V CTP ( r = 0.68, P < 0.001) and between V DWI and V CTPSI-V ( r = 0.39, P < 0.001); however, no significant correlation was observed between V DWI and V CTPSI-A ( r = 0.20, P = 0.068). CONCLUSIONS: V CTPSI-V may be a promising method for quantifying the volume of the IC if truncation of CTP occurs.

[MinerVa: A high performance bioinformatic algorithm for the detection of minimal residual disease in solid tumors].

How to improve the performance of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) signal acquisition and the accuracy to authenticate ultra low-frequency mutation are major challenges of minimal residual disease (MRD) detection in solid tumors. In this study, we developed a new MRD bioinformatics algorithm, namely multi-variant joint confidence analysis (MinerVa), and tested this algorithm both in contrived ctDNA standards and plasma DNA samples of patients with early non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our results showed that the specificity of multi-variant tracking of MinerVa algorithm ranged from 99.62% to 99.70%, and when tracking 30 variants, variant signals could be detected as low as 6.3 × 10 -5 variant abundance. Furthermore, in a cohort of 27 NSCLC patients, the specificity of ctDNA-MRD for recurrence monitoring was 100%, and the sensitivity was 78.6%. These findings indicate that the MinerVa algorithm can efficiently capture ctDNA signals in blood samples and exhibit high accuracy in MRD detection.

Automatic Intelligent System Using Medical of Things for Multiple Sclerosis Detection.

Malfunctions in the immune system cause multiple sclerosis (MS), which initiates mild to severe nerve damage. MS will disturb the signal communication between the brain and other body parts, and early diagnosis will help reduce the harshness of MS in humankind. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) supported MS detection is a standard clinical procedure in which the bio-image recorded with a chosen modality is considered to assess the severity of the disease. The proposed research aims to implement a convolutional neural network (CNN) supported scheme to detect MS lesions in the chosen brain MRI slices. The stages of this framework include (i) image collection and resizing, (ii) deep feature mining, (iii) hand-crafted feature mining, (iii) feature optimization with firefly algorithm, and (iv) serial feature integration and classification. In this work, five-fold cross-validation is executed, and the final result is considered for the assessment. The brain MRI slices with/without the skull section are examined separately, presenting the attained results. The experimental outcome of this study confirms that the VGG16 with random forest (RF) classifier offered a classification accuracy of >98% MRI with skull, and VGG16 with K-nearest neighbor (KNN) provided an accuracy of >98% without the skull.

In vitro and in vivo bioaccessibility, antioxidant activity, and color of red radish anthocyanins as influenced by different drying methods.

This study aims to examine the effects of various drying methods, namely vacuum freeze drying (VFD), vacuum drying (VD), hot air drying (HAD), sun drying (SD), and air-impingement jet drying (AIJD), on in vitro and in vivo bioaccessibility of red radish anthocyanins. By color parameters, VFD- and AIJD-dried red radish showed redder color to HAD-, SD-, and VD-dried red radish. SEM images of dried red radish showed multiple holes and loose interior structure. Forty-six anthocyanins were identified in red radish. Original, in vitro and in vivo digestive samples from VFD-dried red radish contained more anthocyanins and were more bioaccessibility than fresh and other dried red radishes. In vitro and in vivo research revealed that dried red radish showed weaker and stronger FRAP and ABTS·+ scavenging activities than fresh red radish. Colon content of mice had significantly higher FRAP and ABTS·+ scavenging activities than the stomach, small intestine, and cecum contents.

Dietary Diversity, Household Food Insecurity and Stunting among Children Aged 12 to 59 Months in N'Djamena-Chad.

BACKGROUND: Household food insecurity is increasingly recognized as a global health problem, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to contextualize the associations between household food insecurity, dietary diversity and stunting in N'Djamena. METHODS: This study is a community-based cross-sectional study, and the SMART (Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions) methodology was used to calculate the sample size. A total of 881 households were selected for the survey. A 24-h recall evaluated the dietary diversity score (DDS), the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) made it possible to assess household food insecurity (HFI), and stunting among children aged 12 to 59 months was assessed by anthropometric measurements. Logistic regression was constructed to determine the association between household food insecurity, dietary diversity, and stunting. The study was conducted from January to March 2022. RESULTS: The prevalence of severe food insecurity was 16.6%, and that of stunting was 25.3%. The mean DDS was 6.5 ± 1.6. Severe food insecurity (OR 2.505, CI: 1.670-3.756) was significantly associated with stunting. The association between DDS and stunting was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study's prevalence of household food insecurity and stunting was very high. Household food insecurity and household size were significantly associated with stunting.

The Biological Implication of Semicarbazide-Sensitive Amine Oxidase (SSAO) Upregulation in Rat Systemic Inflammatory Response under Simulated Aerospace Environment.

The progress of space science and technology has ushered in a new era for humanity's exploration of outer space. Recent studies have indicated that the aerospace special environment including microgravity and space radiation poses a significant risk to the health of astronauts, which involves multiple pathophysiological effects on the human body as well on tissues and organs. It has been an important research topic to study the molecular mechanism of body damage and further explore countermeasures against the physiological and pathological changes caused by the space environment. In this study, we used the rat model to study the biological effects of the tissue damage and related molecular pathway under either simulated microgravity or heavy ion radiation or combined stimulation. Our study disclosed that ureaplasma-sensitive amino oxidase (SSAO) upregulation is closely related to the systematic inflammatory response (IL-6, TNF-α) in rats under a simulated aerospace environment. In particular, the space environment leads to significant changes in the level of inflammatory genes in heart tissues, thus altering the expression and activity of SSAO and causing inflammatory responses. The detailed molecular mechanisms have been further validated in the genetic engineering cell line model. Overall, this work clearly shows the biological implication of SSAO upregulation in microgravity and radiation-mediated inflammatory response, providing a scientific basis or potential target for further in-depth investigation of the pathological damage and protection strategy under a space environment.

Spatial accuracy of computed tomography perfusion to estimate the follow-up infarct on diffusion-weighted imaging after successful mechanical thrombectomy.

BACKGROUND: Volumetric accuracy of using computed tomography perfusion (CTP) to estimate the post-treatment infarct in stroke patients with successful recanalization after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has been studied a lot, however the spatial accuracy and its influence factors has not been fully investigated. METHODS: This retrospective study reviewed the data from consecutive anterior large vessel occlusion (LVO) patients who had baseline CTP, successful recanalization after MT, and post-treatment diffusion-weighed imaging (DWI). Ischemic core on baseline CTP was estimated using relative cerebral blood flood (CBF) of < 30%. The infarct area was outlined manually on post-treatment DWI, and registered to CTP. Spatial agreement was assessed using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and average Hausdorff distance. According to the median DSC, the study population was dichotomized into high and low Dice groups. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were used to determine the factors independently associated with the spatial agreement. RESULTS: In 72 included patients, the median DSC was 0.26, and the median average Hausdorff distance was 1.77 mm. High Dice group showed significantly higher median ischemic core volume on baseline CTP (33.90 mL vs 3.40 mL, P < 0.001), lower proportion of moderate or severe leukoaraiosis [27.78% vs 52.78%, P = 0.031], and higher median infarct volume on follow-up DWI (51.17 mL vs 9.42 mL, P < 0.001) than low Dice group. Ischemic core volume on baseline CTP was found to be independently associated with the spatial agreement (OR, 1.092; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CTP could help to spatially locate the post-treatment infarct in anterior LVO patients who achieving successful recanalization after MT. Ischemic core volume on baseline CTP was independently associated with the spatial agreement.

CT perfusion with increased temporal sampling interval to predict target mismatch status in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of using CT perfusion (CTP) with increased temporal sampling interval to predict the target mismatch status in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with anterior circular large-vessel occlusion (LVO). METHODS: CTP with a sampling interval of 1.7 s (CTP1.7 s) was scanned in 77 AIS patients for pre-treatment evaluation. Simulated CTP data with sampling interval of 3.4 s (CTP3.4 s) or 5.1 s (CTP5.1 s) were reconstructed, respectively. Target mismatch was defined according to the EXTEND-IA (Extending the Time for Thrombolysis in Emergency Neurological Deficits-Intra-Arterial) and DEFUSE 3 (Endovascular Therapy Following Imaging Evaluation for Ischemic Stroke) trial criteria, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, Bland-Altman analysis, and chi-square test were used for statistical analysis as appropriate. RESULTS: Significant correlations were found on the volume of ischemic core, hypo-perfused area, mismatch area, and ratio between CTP1.7 s and CTP3.4 s or CTP5.1 s (all p < 0.001). There was no significant difference on the volume of ischemic core, hypo-perfused area, mismatch area, and mismatch ratio between CTP1.7 s and CTP3.4 s or CTP5.1 s (all p > 0.05). Compared with CTP1.7 s, CTP3.4 s or CTP5.1 s showed comparable performance in predicting the target mismatch status in the AIS patients with LVO (both p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CTPs with increased temporal sampling intervals that lead to reduced radiation doses are feasible and may provide comparable performance in predicting target mismatch status in AIS patients with LVO.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Specific Antibodies in Saliva Samples.

Molecular assays on nasopharyngeal swabs act as a confirmatory test in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) diagnosis. However, the technical requirements of nasopharyngeal sampling and molecular assays limit the testing capabilities. Recent studies suggest the use of saliva for the COVID-19 diagnostic test. In this study, 44 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen were enrolled. Saliva and serum specimens were obtained at different time points and the immunoglobulins against SARS-CoV-2 were measured. The results showed that saliva IgA presented a higher COI value than IgG and IgM. In matched saliva and serum samples, all saliva samples presented lower IgG levels than serum samples, and only one saliva sample presented a higher IgM level. The conversion rates of saliva IgA and the detection of viral nucleic acids were analyzed in the first and second weeks after hospitalization. The positive rates increased when combining saliva IgA and viral nucleic acid detection. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that saliva IgA could serve as a useful index for the early diagnosis of COVID-19.

Framework to Segment and Evaluate Multiple Sclerosis Lesion in MRI Slices Using VGG-UNet.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that causes mild to severe issues in the central nervous system (CNS). Early detection and treatment are necessary to reduce the harshness of the disease in individuals. The proposed work aims to implement a convolutional neural network (CNN) segmentation scheme to extract the MS lesion in a 2D brain MRI slice. To achieve a better MS detection, this work implemented the VGG-UNet scheme in which the pretrained VGG19 is considered as the encoder section. This scheme is tested on 30 patient images (600 images with dimension 512 × 512 × 3 pixels), and the experimental outcome confirms that this scheme provides a better result compared to traditional UNet, SegNet, VGG-UNet, and VGG-SegNet. The experimental investigation implemented on axial, coronal and sagittal plane 2D slices of Flair modality confirms that this work provides a better value of Jaccard (>85%), Dice (>92%), and accuracy (>98%).

On-treatment blood TMB as predictors for camrelizumab plus chemotherapy in advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma: biomarker analysis of a phase III trial.

BACKGROUND: Camrelizumab plus chemotherapy significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment in advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) in the phase III trial (CameL-sq), which has become an option of standard-of-cares for Chinese patients with advanced LUSC. However, the predictive biomarkers remain unknown. METHODS: Tumor tissue samples at baseline, and peripheral blood samples at baseline (pretreatment) and after two cycles of treatment (on-treatment) were prospectively collected from 270 LUSC patients from the CameL-sq study. Blood tumor mutation burden (bTMB) and its dynamics were analyzed to explore their predictive values. RESULTS: Pretreatment bTMB was not associated with objective response, PFS and OS in camrelizumab or placebo plus chemotherapy groups. Low on-treatment bTMB was associated with significantly better objective response (73.8% vs 27.8%, P < 0.001), PFS (median, 9.1 vs 4.1 months; P < 0.001) and OS (median, not reached vs 8.0 months; P < 0.001) in camrelizumab plus chemotherapy group whereas it did not correlate with objective response and PFS in chemotherapy alone group. Importantly, on-treatment bTMB level could discriminate patients of initially radiological stable disease who would long-term benefit from camrelizumab plus chemotherapy (low vs high, median OS, 18.2 vs 7.8 months; P = 0.001). Combing on-treatment bTMB and its dynamics improved the ability for predicting the efficacy of camrelizumab plus chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: On-treatment bTMB together with its dynamics could serve as a predictive biomarker for camrelizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced LUSC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03668496.

The systemic characterization of aptamer cocktail for bacterial detection studied by graphene oxide-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer aptasensor.

Aptamers have gained significant attention as the molecular recognition element to replace antibodies in sensor development and target delivery. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that unlike the wide application of polyvalent antibodies, existing researches on the combined use of heterologous aptamers with similar recognition affinity and specificity for target detection were sporadic. Herein, first, the wide existence of polyaptamer for bacteria was revealed through the summary of existing literature. Furthermore, based on the establishment of a sensitive aptamer cocktail/graphene oxide fluorescence resonance energy transfer polyaptasensor with a detection limit as low as 10 CFU/ml, the systemic characterization of aptamer cocktails in bacterial detection was carried out by taking E. coli, Vi. parahemolyticus, S. typhimurium, and C. sakazakii as the assay targets. It was turned out that the polyaptasensors for C. sakazakii and S. typhimurium owned prevalence in the broader concentration range of target bacteria. While the polyaptasensors for E. coli and V. parahemolyticus outperformed monoaptasensor mainly in the lower concentration of target bacteria. The linear relationships between fluorescence recovery and the concentration of bacteria were also discussed. The different characteristics of the bacterial cellular membrane, including the binding affinity and the robustness to variation, are analyzed to be the main reason for the diverse detection performance of aptasensors. The study here enhances a sensor detection strategy with super sensitivity. More importantly, this systemic study on the aptamer cocktail in reference to antibodies will advance the in-depth understanding and rational design of aptamer based biological recognition, detection, and targeting.

A Noninvasive Multianalytical Approach for Lung Cancer Diagnosis of Patients with Pulmonary Nodules.

Addressing the high false-positive rate of conventional low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for lung cancer diagnosis, the efficacy of incorporating blood-based noninvasive testing for assisting practicing clinician's decision making in diagnosis of pulmonary nodules (PNs) is investigated. In this prospective observative study, next generation sequencing- (NGS-) based cell-free DNA (cfDNA) mutation profiling, NGS-based cfDNA methylation profiling, and blood-based protein cancer biomarker testing are performed for patients with PNs, who are diagnosed as high-risk patients through LDCT and subsequently undergo surgical resections, with tissue sections pathologically examined and classified. Using pathological classification as the gold standard, statistical and machine learning methods are used to select molecular markers associated with tissue's malignant classification based on a 98-patient discovery cohort (28 benign and 70 malignant), and to construct an integrative multianalytical model for tissue malignancy prediction. Predictive models based on individual testing platforms have shown varying levels of performance, while their final integrative model produces an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.85. The model's performance is further confirmed on a 29-patient independent validation cohort (14 benign and 15 malignant, with power > 0.90), reproducing AUC of 0.86, which translates to an overall sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 85.7%.

Paraliobacillus salinarum sp. nov., isolated from saline soil in Yingkou, China.

A novel Gram-stain-positive, facultatively aerobic, slightly halophilic, endospore-forming bacterium, designated G6-18T, was isolated from saline soil collected in Yingkou, Liaoning, PR China. Cells of strain G6-18T grew at 10-37 °C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 8.0) and in the presence of 2-15 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 5 %). The strain could be clearly distinguished from the related species of the genus Paraliobacillus by its phylogenetic position and biochemical characteristics. It presented MK-7 as the major quinone and the dominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0 and iso-C14 : 0. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol as the major components. The G+C content of strain G6-18T genome was 35.3 mol%. 16S rRNA analysis showed that strain G6-18T had the highest similarity to Paraliobacillus ryukyuensis DSM 15140T, reaching 97.0 %, followed by Paraliobacillus quinghaiensis CGMCC 1.6333T with a value of 96.3 %. The average nucleotide identity values between strain G6-18T and Paraliobacillus ryukyuensis DSM 15140T, Paraliobacillus sedimins KCTC 33762T, Paraliobacillus quinghaiensis CGMCC 1.6333T and Paraliobacillus zengyii DSM 107811T were 74.3, 72.0, 73.2 and 72.8 %, respectively, and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain G6-18T and the neighbouring strains were 15.6, 13.8, 14.2 and 14.2 %, respectively. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic inferences, strain G6-18T represents a novel species of the genus Paraliobacillus, for which the name Paraliobacillus salinarum sp. nov. (=CGMCC 1.12058T=DSM 25428T) is proposed.

Siccirubricoccus phaeus sp. nov., isolated from oil reservoir water and emended description of the genus Siccirubricoccus.

A Gram-staining-negative, non-motile, aerobic bacterium, designated 1-3T, was isolated from oil reservoir water collected from Liaohe oilfield, north-east of China. Growth was observed at 15-40 °C (optimum 37 °C) and pH 6-10 (optimum 7). The strain can grow under nitrogen-limiting condition. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the novel isolate was most closely related to Siccirubricoccus deserti SYSU D8009T (96.7%), followed by Paracraurococcus ruber NS89T (95.7%) and Belnapia rosea CPCC 100156T (94.9%). Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 6.43 Mbp and a G+C content of 71.3 mol%. The average nucleotide identity values and digital DNA-DNA hybridization between 1-3T and the reference strains were all below the cut-off level (95-96% and 70%, respectively) for species delineation. The strain possessed the cytochrome P450 enzyme, which has the potential to degrade oil. The respiratory quinone was Q-10 and the major fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c/C18:1 ω6c, 38.8%), C16:0 (25.6%) and C19:0 cyclo ω8c (22.5%). The polar lipids of strain 1-3T comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and three unidentified aminolipids. Based on the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, strain 1-3T represents a novel species of genus Siccirubricoccus, for which the name Siccirubricoccus phaeus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Siccirubricoccus phaeus is 1-3T (= CGMCC 1.16799T = LMG 31398T).

In vivo quantification of bone mineral density of lumbar vertebrae using fast kVp switching dual-energy CT: correlation with quantitative computed tomography.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a common, progressive disease related to low bone mineral density (BMD). If it can be diagnosed at an early stage, osteoporosis is treatable. Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) is one of the current reference standards of BMD measurement, but dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) is considered to be a potential alternative. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of phantomless in vivo DECT-based BMD quantification in comparison with QCT. METHODS: A total of 128 consecutive participants who underwent DECT lumbar examinations between July 2018 and February 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The density of calcium (water), hydroxyapatite (water), calcium (fat), and hydroxyapatite (fat) [DCa(Wa), DHAP(Wa), DCa(Fat) and DHAP(Fat), respectively] were measured along with BMD in the trabecular bone of lumbar level 1-2 by DECT and QCT. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between DECT- and QCT-derived BMD at both the participant level and the vertebral level. Linear regression models were quantitatively evaluated with adjusted R-square, normalized mean squared error (NMSE) and relative error (RE). Bland-Altman analysis was conducted to assess agreement between measurements. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Strong correlations were observed between DECT- and QCT-derived BMD at both the participant level and the vertebral level (adjusted R2 =0.983-0.987; NMSE = 1.6-2.1%; RElinear =0.6-0.9%). Bland-Altman plots indicated high agreement between both measurements. DCa(Fat) and DHAP(Fat) showed relatively similar and optimal predictive capability for QCT-derived BMD (both: adjusted R2 =0.987, NMSE =1.6%, RElinear =0.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Fast kVp switching DECT enabled accurate phantomless in vivo BMD quantification of the lumbar spine. DCa(Fat) and DHAP(Fat) had relatively similar and optimal predictive capability.

Folic Acid Attenuates High-Fat Diet-Induced Osteoporosis Through the AMPK Signaling Pathway.

Objective: Obesity caused by a high-fat diet (HFD) will expand adipose tissue and cause chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, leading to osteoporosis. Folic acid (FA) is a water-soluble vitamin that plays an essential role in regulating blood lipids and antioxidants. However, the effects and underlying mechanisms of FA in osteoporosis induced by an HFD remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect of FA on bone health by using HFD-induced osteoporosis mice. Materials and Methods: Mice were fed a normal diet, HFD or an HFD supplemented with FA (20 µg/ml in drinking water) for 16 weeks. Throughout the 16 weeks study period, the rats were weighed once every week. GTT, ITT and lipid indexes were detected to evaluate the effects of FA on lipid metabolism in the HFD-fed mice. Morphological and structural changes of the femur and tibial bone were observed using micro-CT, HE staining and bone conversion parameters. The expression of MDA, SOD and inflammatory factors were detected to evaluate the effects of FA on oxidative stress and inflammatory response in the HFD-fed mice. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot (WB) were used to investigate the AMPK signaling pathway. Results: After the intervention of FA, the body fat rate of obese mice was reduced, and related metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, and systemic inflammation were alleviated. In correlation with those modifications, FA attenuated bone loss and improved bone microarchitecture, accompanied the number of osteoclasts and adipocytes decreased. Furthermore, FA promoted the phosphorylation of AMPK, thereby promoting the expression of Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) and antioxidant enzymes. Conclusion: These findings suggest that FA may modulate lipid metabolism and oxidative stress responses activating the AMPK signaling pathway, thereby alleviating HFD-induced osteoporosis. The results from our study provide experimental evidence to prevent HFD-induced osteoporosis.

Frigidibacter oleivorans sp. nov., isolated from a deep well with oil reservoir water.

A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, designated XJ4T, was isolated from oil-contaminated water, collected from Xinjiang Province, north-west PR China (45° 1' 27″ N, 85° 6' 14″ E). Growth occurred at 20-45 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and pH 6.0-10.0 (optimum, pH 6.0-7.0). Strain XJ4T could tolerate up to 7 % (w/v) NaCl and grow optimally in the absence of NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on comparative sequence analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain XJ4T belonged to the genus Frigidibacter, and that was closely related to Frigidibacter mobilis cai42T (97.2 %), Frigidibacter albus SP32T (97.0 %) and Rhodobacter aestuarii JA296T (97.0 %). The average nucleotide identity values between XJ4T and three type strains were 77.9, 77.6 and 71.9 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content of strain XJ4T was 69.5 mol%. The sole respiratory quinone was Q-10. The major cellular fatty acid was summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω7c and/or C18 : 1 ω6c), C18 : 0 and 11-methyl C18 : 1 ω7c. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, unidentified phospholipids, an unidentified aminolipid and unidentified lipids. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, strain XJ4T represents a novel species of the genus Frigidibacter, for which the name Frigidibacter oleivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is XJ4T (=CGMCC 1.13778T=LMG 30952T).