CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Knockout of the PxJHBP Gene Resulted in Increased Susceptibility to Bt Cry1Ac Protoxin and Reduced Lifespan and Spawning Rates in Plutella xylostella.

Juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP) is a key regulator of JH signaling, and crosstalk between JH and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) can activate and fine-tune the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade, leading to resistance to insecticidal proteins from Bacillis thuringiensis (Bt). However, the involvement of JHBP in the Bt Cry1Ac resistance of Plutella xylostella remains unclear. Here, we cloned a full-length cDNA encoding JHBP, and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis showed that the expression of the PxJHBP gene in the midgut of the Cry1Ac-susceptible strain was significantly higher than that of the Cry1Ac-resistant strain. Furthermore, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of the PxJHBP gene significantly increased Cry1Ac susceptibility, resulting in a significantly shorter lifespan and reduced fertility. These results demonstrate that PxJHBP plays a critical role in the resistance to Cry1Ac protoxin and in the regulation of physiological metabolic processes associated with reproduction in adult females, providing valuable insights to improve management strategies of P. xylostella.

Thiamine-modified metabolic reprogramming of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte under space microgravity.

During spaceflight, the cardiovascular system undergoes remarkable adaptation to microgravity and faces the risk of cardiac remodeling. Therefore, the effects and mechanisms of microgravity on cardiac morphology, physiology, metabolism, and cellular biology need to be further investigated. Since China started constructing the China Space Station (CSS) in 2021, we have taken advantage of the Shenzhou-13 capsule to send human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) to the Tianhe core module of the CSS. In this study, hPSC-CMs subjected to space microgravity showed decreased beating rate and abnormal intracellular calcium cycling. Metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed a battery of metabolic remodeling of hPSC-CMs in spaceflight, especially thiamine metabolism. The microgravity condition blocked the thiamine intake in hPSC-CMs. The decline of thiamine utilization under microgravity or by its antagonistic analog amprolium affected the process of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. It decreased ATP production, which led to cytoskeletal remodeling and calcium homeostasis imbalance in hPSC-CMs. More importantly, in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that thiamine supplementation could reverse the adaptive changes induced by simulated microgravity. This study represents the first astrobiological study on the China Space Station and lays a solid foundation for further aerospace biomedical research. These data indicate that intervention of thiamine-modified metabolic reprogramming in human cardiomyocytes during spaceflight might be a feasible countermeasure against microgravity.

Vaginal microbiota: Potential targets for vulvovaginal candidiasis infection.

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is the second most common cause of vaginal infection globally after bacterial vaginosis (BV) and associated with adverse reproductive and obstetric outcomes, including preterm delivery, sexually transmitted infections and pelvic inflammatory disease. Although effective control of VVC is achievable with the use of traditional treatment strategies (i.e., antifungals), the possibility of drug intolerance, treatment failure and recurrence, as well as the appearance of antifungal-resistant Candida species remain critical challenges. Therefore, alternative therapeutic strategies against VVC are urgently required. In recent years, an improved understanding of the dysbiotic vaginal microbiota (VMB) during VVC has prompted the consideration of administering -biotics to restore the balance of the VMB within the context of VVC prevention and treatment. Here, we aim to summarize the current evidence of the anti-Candida effects of probiotics, postbiotics and synbiotics and their potential use as an alternative/complementary therapy against VVC. Additionally, this review discusses advantages and challenges associated with the application of -biotics in VVC to provide guidance for their later use. We also review new developments in VVC therapy, i.e., vaginal microbiota transplantation (VMT) as an emerging live biotherapeutic therapy against VVC and discuss existing shortcomings associated with this nascent field, expecting to stimulate further investigations for introduction of new therapies against VVC.

The deubiquitinase OTUB2 promotes cervical cancer growth through stabilizing FOXM1.

OBJECTIVES: Ovarian tumor (OTU) domain-containing ubiquitin aldehyde-binding protein Otubain2 (OTUB2) is an important cysteine protease with deubiquitinase activity in the OTU family. However, the role of OTUB2 in cervical cancer (CC) has not been investigated. METHODS: OTUB2 expression was analyzed employing the CC data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Western blot and qRT-PCR analysis were performed to identify OTUB2 expression in CC. The oncogenic function of OTUB2 was identified through a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments. Tandem Mass Tag™ Quantitative Proteomics examination was used to identify potential targets of OTUB2. RESULTS: OTUB2 was overexpressed in CC and was related to poor prognosis of patients. In our in-house cohort, we also showed that OTUB2 was overexpressed in tumor tissues of CC compared to para-tumor. Knockdown of OTUB2 suppressed CC cell growth whereas OTUB2 upregulation fostered the proliferation of cancer cells. Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) was found to be a target of OTUB2. FOXM1 can be positively regulated by OTUB2 in CC cells. In human CC tissues, protein level of FOXM1 was positively correlated with OTUB2. FOXM1 was found to play a critical role in OTUB2-mediated CC cell growth. Mechanistically, OTUB2 could bind FOXM1 and deubiquitinate FOXM1 to stabilize it. CONCLUSION: OTUB2 promotes CC progression through deubiquitinating and stabilizing FOXM1.

Semi-Supervised Disease Classification Based on Limited Medical Image Data.

Inrecent years, significant progress has been made in the field of learning from positive and unlabeled examples (PU learning), particularly in the context of advancing image and text classification tasks. However, applying PU learning to semi-supervised disease classification remains a formidable challenge, primarily due to the limited availability of labeled medical images. In the realm of medical image-aided diagnosis algorithms, numerous theoretical and practical obstacles persist. The research on PU learning for medical image-assisted diagnosis holds substantial importance, as it aims to reduce the time spent by professional experts in classifying images. Unlike natural images, medical images are typically accompanied by a scarcity of annotated data, while an abundance of unlabeled cases exists. Addressing these challenges, this paper introduces a novel generative model inspired by Hölder divergence, specifically designed for semi-supervised disease classification using positive and unlabeled medical image data. In this paper, we present a comprehensive formulation of the problem and establish its theoretical feasibility through rigorous mathematical analysis. To evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed approach, we conduct extensive experiments on five benchmark datasets commonly used in PU medical learning: BreastMNIST, PneumoniaMNIST, BloodMNIST, OCTMNIST, and AMD. The experimental results clearly demonstrate the superiority of our method over existing approaches based on KL divergence. Notably, our approach achieves state-of-the-art performance on all five disease classification benchmarks. By addressing the limitations imposed by limited labeled data and harnessing the untapped potential of unlabeled medical images, our novel generative model presents a promising direction for enhancing semi-supervised disease classification in the field of medical image analysis.

Effects of autonomic nervous system disorders on male infertility.

The male reproductive functions are largely regulated by the autonomic nervous system. Male sexual behavior and fertility primarily depend on the normal function of the higher neural centers related to the autonomic nervous system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, the autonomic nervous components within the spinal cord and spinal nerves, and certain somatic nerves in the pelvic floor. In this review article, we will summarize the role of the autonomic nervous system in regulating male reproductive capabilities and fertility, its impact on male infertility under abnormal conditions, including the role of drug-induced autonomic nervous dysfunctions on male infertility. The main purpose of this article was to provide an overview of the effects of autonomic nervous dysfunction on male reproductive function and shed light on the potential therapeutic target for male infertility.

Optimization of Steelmaking Energy Efficiency Scheduling Based on an Equipment Set Shutdown Strategy.

The steel industry accounts for a large proportion of power consumption in industries. To greatly reduce the power consumption of production, it is urgent to adjust and optimize the steelmaking production mode. The paper combines production scheduling with equipment energy efficiency indicators, establishing an optimization model for steelmaking energy efficiency scheduling and determining the shutdown strategy of steelmaking equipment sets. Taking two equipment sets of a company processing the same batch of steel as an example, this paper calculates that the unit energy consumption under the optimal scheduling scheme is 79.492 and 22.056 kWh, respectively. The energy consumption of the former to complete the production task is greater than that of the latter. Therefore, by choosing to shut down this equipment set, a total of 65 038.2 kWh of electricity can be saved. Industrial examples were executed to validate the effectiveness of the model, and the results showed that the proposed method can obtain optimal solutions in a short period of time and significantly reduce energy consumption in the workshop. This study first combines scheduling issues with equipment energy efficiency indicators to provide a basis for energy consumption decisions.

Analysis of the Effect of Plutella xylostella Polycalin and ABCC2 Transporter on Cry1Ac Susceptibility by CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Knockout.

Many insects, including the Plutella xylostella (L.), have developed varying degrees of resistance to many insecticides, including Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins, the bioinsecticides derived from Bt. The polycalin protein is one of the potential receptors for Bt toxins, and previous studies have confirmed that the Cry1Ac toxin can bind to the polycalin protein of P. xylostella, but whether polycalin is associated with the resistance of Bt toxins remains controversial. In this study, we compared the midgut of larvae from Cry1Ac-susceptible and -resistant strains, and found that the expression of the Pxpolycalin gene was largely reduced in the midgut of the resistant strains. Moreover, the spatial and temporal expression patterns of Pxpolycalin showed that it was mainly expressed in the larval stage and midgut tissue. However, genetic linkage experiments showed that the Pxpolycalin gene and its transcript level were not linked to Cry1Ac resistance, whereas both the PxABCC2 gene and its transcript levels were linked to Cry1Ac resistance. The larvae fed on a diet containing the Cry1Ac toxin showed no significant change in the expression of the Pxpolycalin gene in a short term. Furthermore, the knockout of polycalin and ATP-binding cassette transporter subfamily C2 (ABCC2) genes separately by CRISPR/Cas9 technology resulted in resistance to decreased susceptibility to Cry1Ac toxin. Our results provide new insights into the potential role of polycalin and ABCC2 proteins in Cry1Ac resistance and the mechanism underlying the resistance of insects to Bt toxins.

Potential Role of Vaginal Microbiota in Ovarian Cancer Carcinogenesis, Progression and Treatment.

Ovarian cancer represents one of the most challenging gynecologic cancers which still has numerous unknowns on the underlying pathogenesis. In addition to the verified contributors such as genomic predisposition and medical history in the carcinogenesis, emerging evidence points out the potential role of vaginal microbiota in ovarian cancer. Recent studies have underlined the presence of vaginal microbial dysbiosis in cancer cases. Increasing research also indicates the potential correlations between vaginal microbes and cancer carcinogenesis, progression and treatment. Currently, compared with other gynecologic cancers, reports on the roles of vaginal microbiota in ovarian cancer remain scarce and fragmentary. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the roles of vaginal microbiota in various gynecologic diseases, particularly focusing on the potential mechanisms and possible applications of vaginal microbiota in ovarian cancer, giving insight into the involvement of vaginal microbiota in gynecologic cancer treatment.

Application of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in Chinese Community Elderly.

Background: The present study investigated the applicability of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) in the Chinese community elderly and explored the influence of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on late-life depression. Methods: A total of 367 community elderly aged 60-94 were deemed eligible and completed CERQ, the Perceived Stress Scale-10, the Geriatric Depression Questionnaire-15, and the State Anxiety Inventory. Confirmatory factor analysis was adopted to verify the 9-factor structure of CERQ. Cronbach's α coefficient, Ω coefficient and split-half reliability were used to test the internal consistency of CERQ. Pearson correlations among scores of CERQ and other scales were calculated to examine its convergent validity. In addition, a structural equation model was used to further examine the effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on the association between perceived stress and late-life depression. Results: All the fitting indexes of CERQ's 9-factor model met the criterion (χ 2/df= 2.26, CFI= 0.916, TLI= 0.904, RMSEA= 0.052). For the total score of CERQ, the Cronbach's α coefficient and Ω coefficient were both 0.90, and the split-half reliability was 0.74. For the nine subscales, the α coefficients ranged from 0.66 to 0.88, and the Ω coefficients ranged from 0.69 to 0.88. Significant positive correlations were found between the maladaptive dimension of CERQ and other scales (all p < 0.001). The maladaptive emotion regulation strategies indirectly affected the effect of perceived stress on late-life depression (effect size was 21.57%). Conclusion: With good reliability and factor validity, the CERQ showed good applicability in the Chinese elderly population. The influence of perceived stress on depression in the elderly was mediated by maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.

Improvement of vaginal probiotics Lactobacillus crispatus on intrauterine adhesion in mice model and in clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: Intrauterine adhesion (IUA) is a frequent acquired endometrial condition, for which there is no effective preventive or treatment. Previous studies have found that vaginal microbiota dysregulation is closely related to endometrial fibrosis and IUA. Therefore, we wondered whether restoration of vaginal microbiota by vaginal administration of L. crispatus could prevent endometrial fibrosis and ameliorate IUA. RESULTS: First, we created a mechanically injured mouse model of IUA and restored the mice's vaginal microbiota by the addition of L. crispatus convolvulus. The observations suggested that intrauterine injections of L. crispatus significantly decreased the degree of uterine fibrosis, the levels of IL-1ß and TNF-α in blood, and downregulated the TGF-ß1/SMADs signaling pathway in IUA mice. A therapy with L. crispatus considerably raised the abundance of the helpful bacteria Lactobacillus and Oscillospira and restored the balance of the vaginal microbiota in IUA mice, according to high-throughput sequencing. Then we conducted a randomized controlled trial to compare the therapeutic effect of L. crispatus with estrogen after transcervical resection of adhesion (TCRA). And the results showed that vaginal probiotics had a better potential to prevent intrauterine adhesion than estrogen. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that L. crispatus could restore vaginal microbiota after intrauterine surgery, inhibit endometrial fibrosis, and finally play a preventive and therapeutic role in IUA. At the same time, it is a new exploration for the treatment of gynecological diseases with vaginal probiotics. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://www.chictr.org.cn/ , identifier (ChiCTR1900022522), registration time: 15/04/2019.

Nonstructural N- and C-tails of Dbp2 confer the protein full helicase activities.

Human DDX5 and its yeast ortholog Dbp2 are ATP-dependent RNA helicases that play a key role in normal cell processes, cancer development, and viral infection. The crystal structure of the RecA1-like domain of DDX5 is available but the global structure of DDX5/Dbp2 subfamily proteins remains to be elucidated. Here, we report the first X-ray crystal structures of the Dbp2 helicase core alone and in complex with ADP at 3.22 Å and 3.05 Å resolutions, respectively. The structures of the ADP-bound post-hydrolysis state and apo-state demonstrate the conformational changes that occur when the nucleotides are released. Our results showed that the helicase core of Dbp2 shifted between open and closed conformation in solution but the unwinding activity was hindered when the helicase core was restricted to a single conformation. A small-angle X-ray scattering experiment showed that the disordered amino (N) tail and carboxy (C) tails are flexible in solution. Truncation mutations confirmed that the terminal tails were critical for the nucleic acid binding, ATPase, and unwinding activities, with the C-tail being exclusively responsible for the annealing activity. Furthermore, we labeled the terminal tails to observe the conformational changes between the disordered tails and the helicase core upon binding nucleic acid substrates. Specifically, we found that the nonstructural terminal tails bind to RNA substrates and tether them to the helicase core domain, thereby conferring full helicase activities to the Dbp2 protein. This distinct structural characteristic provides new insight into the mechanism of DEAD-box RNA helicases.

Postoperative Probiotics Administration Attenuates Gastrointestinal Complications and Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis Caused by Chemotherapy in Colorectal Cancer Patients.

The current study aims to evaluate the potential roles of taking probiotics postoperatively in attenuating the gastrointestinal complications and disturbed gut microbiota in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients undergoing chemotherapy. One hundred eligible CRC patients who were treated with radical surgery and needed to receive chemotherapy were recruited. Half of them were randomly assigned to the Probio group to take a probiotic combination from post-operation to the end of the first chemotherapeutic course. The other half of patients taking placebo instead were classified as the Placebo group. Gastrointestinal complications such as nausea, acid reflux, abdominal pain, abdominal distention, constipation, and diarrhea were recorded during chemotherapy. Fecal samples were collected preoperatively and after the first cycle of postoperative chemotherapy for 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) analysis. Results showed that probiotics administration could effectively reduce chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal complications, particularly in diarrhea (p < 0.01). Additionally, chemotherapy also reduced the bacterial diversity indexes of the gut microbiota in CRC patients, which could be significantly increased by taking probiotics. Moreover, this chemotherapy caused significant changes in the composition of the gut microbiota, as indicated by decreased phylum levels of Firmicutes and increased Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. In particular, several bacterial genera such as Akkermansia and Clostridium were significantly increased, while Prevotella, Lactobacillus, and Roseburia were decreased (p < 0.05). However, probiotic administration could effectively restore these taxa changes both at the phylum and genus levels, and mildly increase the genus levels of Bifidobacterium, Streptococcus, and Blautia. Furthermore, probiotics could also promote the production of SCFAs, particularly increasing acetate, butyrate, and propionate (p < 0.0001). These results support the beneficial effects of the probiotic interventions as novel alternative or complementary strategies in chemoprevention.

Vitamin K3 Suppresses Pyroptosis in THP-1 Cells through Inhibition of NF-κB and JNK Signaling Pathways.

Vitamin K, a necessary nutritional supplement for human, has been found to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity. In the present study, we investigated the effects of vitamin K family on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus nigericin induced pyroptosis and explored the underlying mechanism of its action in THP-1 monocytes. Results showed that vitamin K3 treatment significantly suppressed THP-1 pyroptosis, but not vitamin K1 or K2, as evidenced by increased cell viability, reduced cellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and improved cell morphology. Vitamin K3 inhibited NLRP3 expression, caspase-1 activation, GSDMD cleavage and interleukin (IL)-1ß secretion in pyrophoric THP-1 cells. In addition, vitamin K3 inhibited the pro-inflammatory signaling pathways including nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Vitamin K3 treatment also attenuated tissue damage and reduced serum LDH, IL-1ß and IL-6 levels in LPS-induced systemic inflammation of mice. The reduced myeloperoxidase (MPO) activityand F4/80 expression indicated that vitamin K3 effectively reduced the infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages. Moreover, NLRP3 expression in monocytes/macrophages were also decreased in vitamin K3-treatedmice after LPS challenge. These findings suggest that vitamin K3 potently alleviates systemic inflammation and organ injury via inhibition of pyroptosis in monocytes and may serve as a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with inflammatory diseases.

Acid/reduction dual-sensitive amphiphilic graft polyurethane with folic acid and detachable poly(ethylene glycol) as anticancer drug delivery carrier.

In order to not only improve the stability of nanomicelles in blood circulation but also promote the cellular uptake in tumors and rapidly release the encapsulated drugs in tumor cells, a kind of acid/reduction dual-sensitive amphiphilic graft polyurethane with folic acid and detachable poly(ethylene glycol) (FA-PUSS-gimi-mPEG) was synthesized by grafting folic acid and monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) to the polyurethane side chain. FA-PUSS-gimi-mPEG could self-assemble in aqueous solution to form negatively charged nanomicelles, which endowed them good stability under normal physiological condition. Using ultraviolet-visible spectrometer (UV-vis) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), it was found that the hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) layer of FA-PUSS-gimi-mPEG micelles could be detached due to the cleavage of benzoic-imine bond under slightly acidic condition, which resulted in reversing the charge of the micellar surface and exposing folic acid to the micellar surface. FA-PUSS-gimi-mPEG micelles could load doxorubicin (DOX), moreover the drug release rate was faster at pH 5.0 and 10 mM glutathione (GSH) than that under normal physiological condition. The results of cell experiments further demonstrated that FA-PUSS-gimi-mPEG micelles had acid/reduction dual-sensitive property. The changes in the structure of FA-PUSS-gimi-mPEG micelles could enhance the cellular uptake under acid condition and the micelles could accelerate the drug release in tumor cells due to the presence of disulfide bonds in the polymer. Therefore, FA-PUSS-gimi-mPEG micelles could efficiently deliver anticancer drug into tumor cells and enhance the inhibition of cellular proliferation through multi-effect synergy.

Clostridium butyricum potentially improves inflammation and immunity through alteration of the microbiota and metabolism of gastric cancer patients after gastrectomy.

Background: Gastrectomy is the most effective treatment to improve the clinical survival rate of patients with gastric cancer. However, the pathophysiological changes caused by gastrectomy have seriously affected the postoperative recovery. Methods: In the present trial, Ataining (containing C. butyricum, CGMCC0313.1) was applied in patients after gastrectomy to investigate the effect of C. butyricum on the early postoperative recovery by monitoring the inflammatory immune response with blood indicators, detecting the gut microbiota with high-throughput sequencing, and analyzing the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) with targeted metabolomics. This study is registered with the number ChiCTR2000040915. Results: Our outcomes revealed that C. butyricum had significantly reduced the number of Leucocyte (P < 0.001), the percentage of Neutrophil (P < 0.001), the expression of IL-1ß (P < 0.01), IL-6 (P < 0.05), and TNF-α (P < 0.01), while markedly enhanced the immunity indexes (immunoglobulin and lymphocyte) (P < 0.05) and nutrition indexes (albumin and total protein) (P < 0.05). In addition, the use of the C. butyricum greatly enriched the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium and Gemmiger, while the abundance of pathogenic Streptococcus, Desulfovibrio and Actinomyces were markedly decreased at genus level. We also observed significant up-regulation of SCFAs, including acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and isobutyric acid, after C. butyricum administration in patients receiving gastrectomy. Conclusion: Therefore, evidence supported that oral administration of C. butyricum after gastrectomy can reduce early postoperative inflammation, enhance immune ability, restore intestinal microbiota eubiosis, increase intestinal SCFAs, reduce the occurrence of postoperative complications, and ultimately promote the early recovery of the patient. Clinical trial registration: http://www.chictr.org.cn/, identifier (ChiCTR2000040915).

The compensation incentive effect of athletes: A structural equation model.

This study explores the compensation incentive effect of athletes. Based on the related literature, we proposed theoretical hypotheses on the compensation incentive effect and established an assessment index system of the compensation incentive effect for athletes. A structural equation model was used to test the survey data of 352 athletes in six provinces to discover the truth of the compensation incentive effect. The results suggested that direct economic compensation satisfaction, direct non-economic compensation satisfaction, and indirect non-economic compensation satisfaction had significant positive effects on the compensation incentive effect of athletes, while indirect economic compensation satisfaction showed no significant effect. Moreover, the evaluation results of athletes' compensation incentive effect showed that direct economic compensation satisfaction contributed the most to the influence factor of the compensation incentive effect. Therefore, the evaluation of athletes' compensation incentive effect should focus on variables of direct economic compensation satisfaction, i.e., basic compensation satisfaction, bonus income satisfaction, and subsidy satisfaction. Finally, some strategies and recommendations were suggested to improve the compensation design for athletes.

Nutritional assessment of patients with aplastic anemia: comparison of four nutritional screening tools / Evaluación nutricional de los pacientes con anemia aplásica: comparación de cuatro instrumentos de detección nutricional

Introduction: Nutritional status can affect the treatment of hospitalized patients, and Malnutrition can even lead to death. However, the Nutritional status of patients with aplastic anemia (AA) is unclear. Objective: to assess the Nutritional status of aplastic anemia patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 24 kg/m2 (high BMI group) and BMI < 24 kg/m2 (low BMI group), and to compare the consistency between different Nutritional screening tools. Methods: patients with aplastic anemia hospitalized from January 2016 to December 2020 were collected. We used the combined index generated by Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), Control Nutritional Status (CONUT) and Instant Nutritional Assessment (INA) to assess Nutritional status of patients with aplastic anemia. Kappa index was used to measure the consistency between different Nutritional screening tools. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of different Nutritional screening tools. Results: one hundred and ninety-five patients with aplastic anemia were enrolled. The overall prevalence of Malnutrition calculated by the combined index in patients with aplastic anemia was 51.3 %. The Malnutrition rates of patients in the low BMI group and high BMI group were 60.9 % and 38.8 %, respectively. The Malnutrition rates of very severe aplastic anemia (VSAA) patients, severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients and ordinary patients were 76 %, 63.8 % and 45.1 %, respectively. Compared with the combined index, NRI had the highest consistency and area under the curve. (AU)

Introducción: el estado nutricional puede afectar el tratamiento de los pacientes hospitalizados y la malnutrición puede incluso causar la muerte. Sin embargo, el estado nutricional de los pacientes con anemia aplásica (AA) no está claro. Objetivo: evaluar el estado nutricional de pacientes con anemia aplásica con índice de masa corporal (IMC) ≥ 24 kg/m2 (grupo de IMC mayor) e IMC < 24 kg/m2 (grupo de IMC inferior), y comparar la consistencia entre diferentes herramientas de cribado nutricional. Métodos: se recogieron datos de pacientes con anemia aplásica hospitalizados entre enero de 2016 y diciembre de 2020. El estado nutricional de los pacientes con anemia aplásica se evaluó utilizando un índice compuesto por el índice de riesgo nutricional (NRI), el índice de pronóstico nutricional (PNI), el índice de estado nutricional controlado (CONUT) y la evaluación nutricional instantánea (INA). El índice Kappa se utilizó para medir la coherencia entre los diferentes instrumentos de detección nutricional. Las curvas de características operativas de los sujetos (ROC) se utilizaron para evaluar el valor diagnóstico de las diferentes herramientas de detección nutricional. Resultados: un total de 195 pacientes con anemia aplásica fueron incluidos en el estudio. La prevalencia global de desnutrición calculada por el índice combinado en pacientes con anemia aplásica fue del 51,3 %. Las tasas de desnutrición de los pacientes en el grupo de bajo IMC y el grupo de alto IMC fueron 60,9 % y 38,8 %, respectivamente. Las tasas de desnutrición en pacientes con anemia aplásica muy grave (VSAA), anemia aplásica grave (SAA) y pacientes comunes fueron del 76 %, 63,8 % y 45,1 %, respectivamente. En comparación con el índice compuesto, NRI tiene la mayor consistencia y área bajo la curva. (AU)

Correlation study on serum miR-222-3p and glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: microRNAs (miRNAs) play pivotal roles in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an endocrine and metabolic disorder that commonly occurs in women of childbearing age. This paper aimed to measure miR-222-3p expression in sera of PCOS patients and to explore its clinical value on PCOS diagnosis and prediction of diabetic and cardiovascular complications. METHODS: Totally 111 PCOS patients and 94 healthy people were recruited and assigned to the overweight (ow) group and non-overweight (non-ow) group, followed by determination of serum miR-222-3p expression. The diagnostic efficiency of miR-222-3p on PCOS ow and non-ow patients was analyzed. Correlations between miR-222-3p and glycolipid metabolic indicators and diabetic and cardiovascular complications in PCOS were analyzed. The downstream target of miR-222-3p was predicted and their binding relationship was verified. The correlation between PGC-1α and miR-222-3p was analyzed. RESULTS: miR-222-3p was highly-expressed in PCOS patients (p < 0.001), in especially PCOS ow patients. The area under the curve (AUC) of miR-222-3p diagnosing PCOS non-ow patients was 0.9474 and cut-off value was 1.290 (89.06% sensitivity, 98.11% specificity), indicating that non-ow people with serum miR-222-3p > 1.290 could basically be diagnosed with PCOS. AUC of miR-222-3p diagnosing PCOS ow patients was 0.9647 and cut-off value was 2.425 (85.11% sensitivity, 100% specificity), suggesting that ow people with serum miR-222-3p > 2.425 could basically be diagnosed with PCOS. miR-222-3p was positively-correlated with fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS), homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and negatively-correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). miR-222-3p was independently-correlated with diabetic and cardiovascular complications in PCOS (p < 0.05). High expression of miR-222-3p predicted high risks of diabetic and cardiovascular complications in PCOS. miR-222-3p targeted PGC-1α and was negatively-correlated with PGC-1α (r = - 0.2851, p = 0.0224; r = - 0.3151, p = 0.0310). CONCLUSION: High expression of miR-222-3p assisted PCOS diagnosis and predicted increased risks of diabetic and cardiovascular complications. miR-222-3p targeted PGC-1α and was negatively-correlated with PGC-1α.

Nutritional assessment of patients with aplastic anemia: comparison of four nutritional screening tools.

Introduction: Introduction: nutritional status can affect the treatment of hospitalized patients, and malnutrition can even lead to death. However, the nutritional status of patients with aplastic anemia (AA) is unclear. Objective: to assess the nutritional status of aplastic anemia patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 24 kg/m2 (high BMI group) and BMI < 24 kg/m2 (low BMI group), and to compare the consistency between different nutritional screening tools. Methods: patients with aplastic anemia hospitalized from January 2016 to December 2020 were collected. We used the combined index generated by Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), Control Nutritional Status (CONUT) and Instant Nutritional Assessment (INA) to assess nutritional status of patients with aplastic anemia. Kappa index was used to measure the consistency between different nutritional screening tools. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of different nutritional screening tools. Results: one hundred and ninety-five patients with aplastic anemia were enrolled. The overall prevalence of malnutrition calculated by the combined index in patients with aplastic anemia was 51.3 %. The malnutrition rates of patients in the low BMI group and high BMI group were 60.9 % and 38.8 %, respectively. The malnutrition rates of very severe aplastic anemia (VSAA) patients, severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients and ordinary patients were 76 %, 63.8 % and 45.1 %, respectively. Compared with the combined index, NRI had the highest consistency and area under the curve. Conclusions: the nutritional status of patients with aplastic anemia was very poor; the more serious the disease, the worse the nutritional status. Although the malnutrition rate in the low-BMI group was higher than in the high BMI group, the nutritional status of overweight or obese patients can not be ignored. NRI is the best tool for assessing the nutritional status of patients with aplastic anemia.

Introducción: Introducción: el estado nutricional puede afectar el tratamiento de los pacientes hospitalizados y la malnutrición puede incluso causar la muerte. Sin embargo, el estado nutricional de los pacientes con anemia aplásica (AA) no está claro. Objetivo: evaluar el estado nutricional de pacientes con anemia aplásica con índice de masa corporal (IMC) ≥ 24 kg/m2 (grupo de IMC mayor) e IMC < 24 kg/m2 (grupo de IMC inferior), y comparar la consistencia entre diferentes herramientas de cribado nutricional. Métodos: se recogieron datos de pacientes con anemia aplásica hospitalizados entre enero de 2016 y diciembre de 2020. El estado nutricional de los pacientes con anemia aplásica se evaluó utilizando un índice compuesto por el índice de riesgo nutricional (NRI), el índice de pronóstico nutricional (PNI), el índice de estado nutricional controlado (CONUT) y la evaluación nutricional instantánea (INA). El índice Kappa se utilizó para medir la coherencia entre los diferentes instrumentos de detección nutricional. Las curvas de características operativas de los sujetos (ROC) se utilizaron para evaluar el valor diagnóstico de las diferentes herramientas de detección nutricional. Resultados: un total de 195 pacientes con anemia aplásica fueron incluidos en el estudio. La prevalencia global de desnutrición calculada por el índice combinado en pacientes con anemia aplásica fue del 51,3 %. Las tasas de desnutrición de los pacientes en el grupo de bajo IMC y el grupo de alto IMC fueron 60,9 % y 38,8 %, respectivamente. Las tasas de desnutrición en pacientes con anemia aplásica muy grave (VSAA), anemia aplásica grave (SAA) y pacientes comunes fueron del 76 %, 63,8 % y 45,1 %, respectivamente. En comparación con el índice compuesto, NRI tiene la mayor consistencia y área bajo la curva. Conclusiones: el estado nutricional de los pacientes con anemia aplásica es muy deficiente; a mayor gravedad de la enfermedad, peor estado nutricional. Aunque la tasa de malnutrición en el grupo con bajo IMC es mayor que en el grupo con alto IMC, no se puede pasar por alto el estado nutricional de los pacientes con sobrepeso u obesidad. El NRI es la mejor herramienta para evaluar el estado nutricional de los pacientes con anemia aplásica.