The consequences of fermentation metabolism on the qualitative qualities and biological activity of fermented fruit and vegetable juices.

Fermentation of fruit and vegetable juices with probiotics is a novel nutritional approach with potential health benefits. Lactic acid fermentation-based biotransformation results in changes in the profile and nature of bioactive compounds and improves the organoleptic properties, shelf life and bioavailability of vitamins and minerals in the fermented juices. This process has been shown to enrich the phenolic profile and bioactivity components of the juices, resulting in a new type of functional food with improved health benefits. Fruits and vegetables are the ideal substrate for microbial growth, and fruit and vegetable juice will produce rich nutrients and a variety of functional activities after fermentation, so that the high-quality utilization of fruits and vegetables is realized, and the future fermented fruit and vegetable juice products have a wide application market. This paper explores the typical fermentation methods for fruit and vegetable juices, investigates the bioactive components, functional activities, and the influence of fermentation on enhancing the quality of fruit and vegetable juices. The insights derived from this study carry significant implications for guiding the development of fermented fruit and vegetable juice industry.

Spike mutations decrease SARS-CoV-2 sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies but not ACE2-Ig in vitro

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants poses greater challenges to the control of COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we parallelly investigated three important characteristics of seven SARS-CoV-2 variants, including two mink-associated variants, the B.1.617.1 variant, and the four WHO-designated variants of concerns (B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, and B.1.617.2). We first investigated the ability of these variants to bind and use animal ACE2 orthologs as entry receptor. We found that, in contrast to a prototype variant, the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 variants had significantly enhanced affinities to cattle, pig, and mouse ACE2 proteins, suggesting increased susceptibility of these species to these SARS-CoV-2 variants. We then evaluated in vitro neutralization sensitivity of these variants to four monoclonal antibodies in clinical use. We observed that all the variants were partially or completely resistant against at least one of the four tested antibodies, with B.1.351 and P.1 showing significant resistance to three of them. As ACE2-Ig is a broad-spectrum anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug candidate, we then evaluated in vitro neutralization sensitivity of these variants to eight ACE2-Ig constructs previously described in three different studies. All the SARS-CoV-2 variants were efficiently neutralized by these ACE2-Ig constructs. Interestingly, compared to the prototype variant, most tested variants including the variants of concern B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, and B.1.617.2 showed significantly increased (up to [~]15-fold) neutralization sensitivity to ACE2-Ig constructs that are not heavily mutated in the spike-binding interface of the soluble ACE2 domain, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 evolves toward better utilizing ACE2, and that ACE2-Ig is an attractive drug candidate for coping with SARS-CoV-2 mutations.

Potential host range of multiple SARS-like coronaviruses and an improved ACE2-Fc variant that is potent against both SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a currently uncontrolled pandemic and the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is important to study the host range of SARS-CoV-2 because some domestic species might harbor the virus and transmit it back to humans. In addition, insight into the ability of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-like viruses to utilize animal orthologs of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 might provide structural insight into improving ACE2-based viral entry inhibitors. Here we show that ACE2 orthologs of a wide range of domestic and wild animals support entry of SARS-CoV-2, as well as that of SARS-CoV-1, bat coronavirus RaTG13, and a coronavirus isolated from pangolins. Some of these species, including camels, cattle, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, cats, and rabbits may serve as potential intermediate hosts for new human transmission, and rabbits in particular may serve as a useful experimental model of COVID-19. We show that SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 entry could be potently blocked by recombinant IgG Fc-fusion proteins of viral spike protein receptor-binding domains (RBD-Fc) and soluble ACE2 (ACE2-Fc). Moreover, an ACE2-Fc variant, which carries a D30E mutation and has ACE2 truncated at its residue 740 but not 615, outperforms all the other ACE2-Fc variants on blocking entry of both viruses. Our data suggest that RBD-Fc and ACE2-Fc could be used to treat and prevent infection of SARS-CoV-2 and any new viral variants that emerge over the course of the pandemic.

Clinical application of the detection of heparin-binding protein in cerebrospinal fluid in intracranial infectious diseases / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical application value of the levels of heparin-binding protein (HBP) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for intracranial infectious diseases. Methods A case-control study was conducted. 150 patients after craniotomy(73 in the postoperative bacterial intracranial infection group, 77 in the postoperative non-infection group) admitted to the Department of Neurology of the People's Hospital of Liaoning Province from December 2016 to May 2018 were collected. At the same time, 46 patients without operation (14 in the non-bacterial intracranial infection group, 32 patients without intracranial infection were selected as control group whose white blood cell count (WBC) values in CSF were all below 10 × 106/L) in the same period were also collected. According to the diagnostic criteria for severe intracranial infection, the patients with bacterial intracranial infection were divided into 26 cases of mild intracranial infection group and 47 cases of severe intracranial infection group. According to the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score at the time of discharge, the patients were divided into 30 cases of good prognosis group (GOS score 4-5 points) and 43 cases of poor prognosis group (GOS score 1-3 points). The concentrations of HBP in CSF were tested with latex immunoturbidimetry, and the concentrations of procalcitonin(PCT) in cerebrospinal fluid and serum were tested with electrochemiluminescence, and cerebrospinal fluid routine were tested with instrument method, and the concentrations of total protein(TP) in cerebrospinal fluid were tested with turbidimetry. The differences of the laboratory test indicators in each group were statistically analyzed, and the levels of HBP in CSF of patients with different degrees of intracranial infection and different prognosis were compared. Comparison of two independent samples was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results The HBP levels in cerebrospinal fluid were 187.00 (73.00, 635.00) ng/ml, 10.00 (3.50, 32.00) ng/ml, 1.50 (0, 4.00) ng/ml, 3.00 (1.00, 4.00) ng/ml in post-craniotomy bacterial intracranial infection group, uninfected group after craniotomy, non-bacterial intracranial infection group and control group respectively. The cerebrospinal fluid levels of WBC count were 1280.00 (363.00, 4327.00)×106/L, 63.00 (18.50, 300.00)×106/L, 5.00 (3.00, 14.75)×106/L, 3.00 (2.00, 5.75)×106/L. The absolute value of cerebrospinal fluid neutrophils were 1216.00 (225.50, 3895.50)×106/L, 24.00 (2.00, 209.50)×106/L, 1.00 (1.00, 3.00)×106/L, 1.00 (1.00, 1.00)×106/L. The cerebrospinal fluid levels of PCT were 0.16 (0.10, 0.32) ng/ml, 0.09 (0.07, 0.14) ng/ml, 0.07 (0.06, 0.12) ng/ml, 0.07 (0.06, 0.13) ng/ml. The serum levels of PCT were 0.36 (0.15, 1.09) ng/ml, 0.09 (0.04, 0.16) ng/ml, 0.08 (0.04, 0.13) ng/ml, 0.07 (0.03, 0.11) ng/ml. The levels of HBP, WBC, neutrophils, PCT in CSF and serum PCT in the post-craniotomy bacterial intracranial infection group were significantly higher than those in the uninfected group after craniotomy (Z=-9.246,-6.759,-6.741,-4.477,-6.202, P<0.05), non-bacterial intracranial infection group(Z=-5.840,-5.412,-5.259,-2.923,-5.104,P<0.05) and the control group (Z=-7.905,-7.919,-7.335,-4.397,-5.474, P<0.05). There were significant differences in the levels of HBP, WBC and neutrophils in CSF(Z=-3.763,-3.444,-3.041,P<0.05) and no significant differences in CSF and serum PCT (Z=- 0.869, - 1.850, P>0.05)between the uninfected group after craniotomy and the non-bacterial intracranial infection group. There were significant differences in the levels of HBP, WBC and neutrophils in CSF(Z=-4.496,-6.685,-4.842,P<0.05) and no significant differences in CSF and serum PCT(Z=-0.676,-1.303, P>0.05)between the uninfected group after craniotomy and the control group. There were no significant differences in the levels of HBP, PCT in CSF and serum PCT (Z=-0.861,-0.514,-0.273, P>0.05)and significant differences in the levels of WBC and neutrophils in CSF(Z=-2.756,-3.060, P<0.05) between the non-bacterial intracranial infection group and the control group. The levels of HBP in CSF in the severe intracranial infection group were significantly higher than those in the mild intracranial infection group(Z=-6.267, P<0.05). The levels of HBP in CSF in the poor prognosis group were significantly higher than those in the good prognosis group(Z=-7.064, P<0.05). The area under the ROC curve for the diagnosis of bacterial intracranial infection by HBP, WBC, neutrophils, TP, PCT in CSF and PCT in serum was 0.986, 0.987, 0.945, 0.945, 0.770 and 0.914, respectively. The area under the ROC curve for differential diagnosis of bacterial intracranial infection and non-bacterial intracranial infection was 0.994, 0.958, 0.961, 0.929, 0.747 and 0.936, respectively. Conclusions HBP in CSF is an ideal indicator for the diagnosis of bacterial intracranial infection. It is important to distinguish between bacterial intracranial infection and non-bacterial intracranial infection. The extent of increase is related to the severity of infection and prognosis of the disease.

The relationship between the macular edema and the thickness of macular subfoveal choroid in diabetic retinopathy patients / 实用医学杂志

Objective To evaluate the relationship between the existence of DME and the SFCT in DR pa-tients. Methods We collected 70 cases which were clinical diabetic involving 122 eyes. They are 36 men with 64 eyes and 34 women with 58 eyes. The average age is 56.7 ± 9.7 year-old. All patients had been examined by oph-thalmologic examination. Grouping: patients without diabetic retinopathy (NDR) group; mild-to-moderate NPDR group; severe NPDR group; PDR group. The last three groups were divided into two subgroup groupsrespectively , which were cases with and without significant macular edema (CSME + / CSME). EDI was used to measure the SFCT. SPSS 17.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results The average SFCT of NDR group, mild-to-moderate NPDR group, severe NPDR group and the PDR group respectively were (282.94 ± 104.21)μm, (313.62 ± 94.40)μm, (382.44 ± 76.91)μm, (335.00 ± 73.82)μm. Compared with the NDR group, SFCT was thicker than the other three groups, and difference was statistically significant (F = 2.786, P = 2.786). There were no statisti-cally significant difference of SFCT between the mild-to-moderate NPDR/CSME - group and mild-to-moderate NPDR/CSME + group, severe NPDR/CSME - group and severe NPDR/CSME + group PDR/CSME-group, PDR/CSME + group. Conclusions The SFCT of DR patients could potentially be thickenedas disease became serious. When considered the same degree DR, there is no obvious difference of SFCT between patients with CSME and without CSME.

Analysis of pathogen distribution and antibiotic resistance in 1606 blood cultures from neonates / 临床儿科杂志

Objective To determine the pathogen profile and antibiotic resistance in aerobic isolates from blood cultures of neonates. Methods All blood culture reports (n=28120) from newborns admitted to the Department of Neonatology during 2002-2012 were analyzed, and the sensitivity patterns were recorded. Results A total of 1665 bacteria were isolated from 1606 blood culture-positive samples and the positive rate of blood cultures was 5.7%(1606/28120). Gram-positive bacteria were iso-lated in 1336 cases, with Staphylococcus epidermidis (902 cases) and Staphylococcus haemolyticus (206 cases) being the com-mon bacteria. Klebsiella pneumoniae (108 cases), followed by Escherichia coli (73 cases), were the major Gram-negative bacte-ria (235 cases). The determination of the antibiotic resistance of aerobic isolates was performed in 2012. Most Gram-positive iso-lates were sensitive to vancomycin and moxifloxacin, and more than 90%were resistant to penicillin while most of Gram-nega-tive isolates were sensitive to amikacin and imipenem. Conclusions Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli remain to be the principal organisms responsible for neonatal sepsis.

The expression of glutamate receptor in hippocampus of neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage / 临床儿科杂志

Objective To study the expression of Ca-A/K channel-related molecules glutamate receptor 2 and 1(GluR2/1) in hippocampus tissues of neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD). Methods A total of 60 7-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham operation group and HIBD group. Hippocampal tissues were obtained at 0 h, 1 h, 6 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h after HIBD. The expression of GluR2, GluR1 and autophagy marker protein Beclin-1, LC3 were detected by Western blot assay. Results Edema and focal softening and necrosis were observed 6 h after HIBD in the brains of neonatal rats. Compared with Con group, at each time point, the expression levels of GluR2 were lower while the levels of GluR1, Beclin-1 and LC3 were higher significantly in HIBD group (P<0.05). The protein levels of LC3, Beclin-1, GluR1 and GluR2 in hippocampus tissues of HIBD group were significantly different among different time points after the estab-lishment of HIBD model (F=10.65~701.14, P<0.01). The protein level of GluR2 was decreased from 1 h to 24 h after HIBD and reached the lowest level at 24 h. The levels of GluR1, Beclin-1 and LC3 were increased at 6 h, plateaued at 24 h and remained there until 48 h. The levels of these proteins returned back to the initial level at 72 h. Conclusions Ca-A/K channel-related mol-ecules GluR2 and GluR1 play important roles in the autophagic cell death of hippocampus tissues in neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.

Changes in public health awareness of traditional Chinese medicine in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty / 中西医结合学报

Public health awareness existed in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) long ago. In the process of Shanghai's modernization and in competition with Western medicine, TCM in Shanghai has gradually accepted the modern public health awareness, fostering its strengths, circumventing its weaknesses and playing an important role in the local public health service. To study the vicissitude of TCM public health awareness at this time will be helpful to further understand the modern history of TCM and also provide useful reference for further participation of TCM in modern public health enterprise. In this paper, the authors used literature analysis and historical research to analyze the medical practice and writings of representative TCM practitioners, medical groups and journals. The results showed that the public health awareness of TCM in Shanghai has evolved from its traditional pattern to the modern pattern seen today; the traditional pattern was characterized by individual health care and some degree of medical collaboration, whereas the modern pattern is characterized by public health education. This process was propelled forward throughout by intense national spirit. TCM has made significant contributions to the local public health service in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty, which promoted the modernization of public health awareness of TCM in the People's Republic of China. The authors also found that one of the ways of modernizing TCM is to diversify the ways of publicizing TCM and make it easily understood, which can shed a new light on promoting the development of TCM.