Evaluation of the causal effects of blood metabolites on irritable bowel syndrome: Mendelian randomization.

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain, discomfort, and changes in bowel habits. The mechanism underlying IBS remains unclear, and little evidence exists for clarifying the causal relationship between blood metabolites and IBS. METHODS: We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study using two samples. Exposure data for 7824 Europeans were extracted from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on metabolite levels. The IBS GWAS data from the GWAS database were used for the initial analysis. The primary analysis of causal relationships was conducted using inverse-variance weighting (IVW) with MR-Egger and weighted medians as supplementary analyses. Sensitivity analyses were performed using a combination of the Cochran's Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, Mendelian randomization pleiotropy residual sum and outlier, and leave-one-out analysis. For significant associations, replication and meta-analyses were performed using additional independent IBS case GWAS data released by the FinnGen Consortium R9. To identify the metabolites, score regression, confounding analysis, and reverse MR were performed to further assess the causal relationships between the metabolites. RESULTS: After rigorous screening, we identified four known metabolites to be associated with IBS (stearate, odds ratio [OR]: 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-0.92; arginine, OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.07-1.74; 1-palmitoylglycerol, OR:1.49, 95% CI: 1.07-2.07; 1-palmitoylglycerophosphoinositol, OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.71-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: MR analysis revealed a causal relationship between the four metabolites and IBS, providing preliminary evidence for the pathogenesis of IBS. Our results provide novel insights into the potential biomarkers of IBS.

Comparison of complications and bowel function among different reconstruction techniques after low anterior resection for rectal cancer: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Anastomosis for gastrointestinal reconstruction has been contentious after low anterior resection of rectal cancer for the past 30 years. Despite the abundance of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on colon J-pouch (CJP), straight colorectal anastomosis (SCA), transverse coloplast (TCP), and side-to-end anastomosis (SEA), most studies are small and lack reliable clinical evidence. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of the four anastomoses on postoperative complications, bowel function, and quality of life in rectal cancer. METHODS: We assessed the safety and efficacy of CJP, SCA, TCP, and SEA in adult patients with rectal cancer after surgery by searching the Cochrane Library, Embase, and PubMed databases to collect RCTs from the date of establishment to May 20, 2022. Anastomotic leakage and defecation frequency were the main outcome indicators. We pooled data through a random effects model in a Bayesian framework and assessed model inconsistency using the deviance information criterion (DIC) and node-splitting method and inter-study heterogeneity using the I-squared statistics (I2). The interventions were ranked according to the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) to compare each outcome indicator. RESULTS: Of the 474 studies initially evaluated, 29 were eligible RCTs comprising 2631 patients. Among the four anastomoses, the SEA group had the lowest incidence of anastomotic leakage, ranking first (SUCRASEA = 0.982), followed by the CJP group (SUCRACJP = 0.628). The defecation frequency in the SEA group was comparable to those in the CJP and TCP groups at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. In comparison, the defecation frequency in the SCA group 12 months after surgery all ranked fourth. No statistically significant differences were found among the four anastomoses in terms of anastomotic stricture, reoperation, postoperative mortality within 30 days, fecal urgency, incomplete defecation, use of antidiarrheal medication, or quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that SEA had the lowest risk of complications, comparable bowel function, and quality of life compared to the CJP and TCP, but further research is required to determine its long-term consequences. Furthermore, we should be aware that SCA is associated with a high defecation frequency.

Dielectric ceramics/TiO2/single-crystalline silicon nanomembrane heterostructure for high performance flexible thin-film transistors on plastic substrates.

A dielectric ceramics/TiO2/single-crystalline silicon nanomembrane (SiNM) heterostructure is designed and fabricated for high performance flexible thin-film transistors (TFTs). Both the dielectric ceramics (Nb2O3-Bi2O3-MgO) and TiO2 are deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at room temperature, which is compatible with flexible plastic substrates. And the single-crystalline SiNM is transferred and attached to the dielectric ceramics/TiO2 layers to form the heterostructure. The experimental results demonstrate that the room temperature processed heterostructure has high quality because: (1) the Nb2O3-Bi2O3-MgO/TiO2 heterostructure has a high dielectric constant (∼76.6) and low leakage current. (2) The TiO2/single-crystalline SiNM structure has a relatively low interface trap density. (3) The band gap of the Nb2O3-Bi2O3-MgO/TiO2 heterostructure is wider than TiO2, which increases the conduction band offset between Si and TiO2, lowering the leakage current. Flexible TFTs have been fabricated with the Nb2O3-Bi2O3-MgO/TiO2/SiNM heterostructure on plastic substrates and show a current on/off ratio over 104, threshold voltage of ∼1.2 V, subthreshold swing (SS) as low as ∼0.2 V dec-1, and interface trap density of ∼1012 eV-1 cm-2. The results indicate that the dielectric ceramics/TiO2/SiNM heterostructure has great potential for high performance TFTs.