Alleviating effect of vagus nerve cutting in Salmonella-induced gut infections and anxiety-like behavior via enhancing microbiota-derived GABA.

The vagus nerve, a pivotal link within the gut-brain axis, plays a critical role in maintaining homeostasis and mediating communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain. It has been reported that gastrointestinal infection by Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) triggers gut inflammation and manifests as anxiety-like behaviors, yet the mechanistic involvement of the vagus nerve remains to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that unilateral cervical vagotomy markedly attenuated anxiety-like behaviors induced by S. typhimurium SL1344 infection in C57BL/6 mice, as evidenced by the open field test and marble burying experiment. Furthermore, vagotomy significantly diminished neuronal activation within the nucleus of the solitary tract and amygdala, alongside mitigating aberrant glial cell activation in the hippocampus and amygdala. Additionally, vagotomy notably decreases serum endotoxin levels, counters the increase in splenic Salmonella concentration, and modulates the expression of inflammatory cytokines-including IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α-in both the gastrointestinal tract and brain, with a concurrent reduction in IL-22 and CXCL1 expression. This intervention also fostered the enrichment of beneficial gut microbiota, including Alistipes and Lactobacillus species, and augmented the production of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the gut. Administration of GABA replicated the vagotomy's beneficial effects on reducing gut inflammation and anxiety-like behavior in infected mice. However, blockade of GABA receptors with picrotoxin abrogated the vagotomy's protective effects against gut inflammation, without influencing its impact on anxiety-like behaviors. Collectively, these findings suggest that vagotomy exerts a protective effect against infection by promoting GABA synthesis in the colon and alleviating anxiety-like behavior. This study underscores the critical role of the vagus nerve in relaying signals of gut infection to the brain and posits that targeting the gut-brain axis may offer a novel and efficacious approach to preventing gastrointestinal infections and associated behavioral abnormalities.

The impact of residential environment on stroke onset and its spatial heterogeneity: A multiscale exploration in Shanghai.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a worldwide concern due to its high disability and mortality rates, especially in many countries entering ageing societies. This study aims to understand the spatial heterogeneity of stroke onset and residential environment influence scopes from multiscale. METHODS: The 2013 to 2022 spatiotemporal distribution pattern of stroke onset was obtained via out-patient data from a hospital in Shanghai. Then nine residential environmental factors were selected to estimate the association of stroke onset by multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR), in three scenarios. RESULTS: Accessibility to pubs/bars (PUB) and building density (BD) were the top two residential environmental factors both for the entire sample and by gender. Stress-related environmental factors have a greater impact on the onset of stroke in men but are limited in scope. The population of elderly people have relevance to environmental variables heterogeneity. The indicators relating to unhealthy food and alcohol suggest that habit-inducing environmental factors have a limited impact on stroke onset, but rather that pre-existing habits play a greater role. CONCLUSIONS: MGWR analyses individual components across multiple bandwidths, revealing geographical disparities in the impact of elements that would otherwise be undetected on a global scale. Environmental factors have a limited impact on the onset of stroke. When society is faced with both heavy ageing and fiscal constraints, some of the blue-green space budgets can be scaled back to invest in more secure facilities.

Mannan oligosaccharide attenuates cognitive and behavioral disorders in the 5xFAD Alzheimer's disease mouse model via regulating the gut microbiota-brain axis.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive deficits and psychiatric symptoms. The gut microbiota-brain axis plays a pivotal role during AD development, which could target nutritional intervention. The prebiotic mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) has been reported to reshape the gut microbiome and enhanced the formation of the neuroprotective metabolites short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Here, we found that an 8-week treatment of MOS (0.12%, w/v in the drinking water) significantly improved cognitive function and spatial memory, accompanied by attenuated the anxiety- and obsessive-like behaviors in the 5xFAD transgenic AD mice model. MOS substantially reduced the Aß accumulation in the cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala of the brain. Importantly, MOS treatment significantly balanced the brain redox status and suppressed the neuroinflammatory responses. Moreover, MOS also alleviated the HPA-axis disorders by decreasing the levels of hormones corticosterone (CORT) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and upregulated the norepinephrine (NE) expressions. Notably, the gut barrier integrity damage and the LPS leak were prevented by the MOS treatment. MOS re-constructed the gut microbiota composition, including increasing the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and reducing the relative abundance of Helicobacter. MOS enhanced the butyrate formation and related microbes levels. The correlation analysis indicated that the reshaped gut microbiome and enhanced butyrate formation are highly associated with behavioral alteration and brain oxidative status. SCFAs supplementation experiment also attenuated the behavioral disorders and Aß accumulation in the AD mice brain, accompanied by balanced HPA-axis and redox status. In conclusion, the present study indicated that MOS significantly attenuates the cognitive and mental deficits in the 5xFAD mice, which could be partly explained by the reshaped microbiome and enhanced SCFAs formation in the gut. MOS, as a prebiotics, can be translated into a novel microbiota-targeted approach for managing metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dynamic analysis of soil erosion in the affected area of the lower Yellow River based on RUSLE model.

With the accelerated development of urbanization, the exploration and usage of land resources is becoming more and more frequent, which leads to the decline of soil quality, resulting in a series of soil ecological issues, such as soil nutrient loss, soil quality degradation and destruction. At present, the contradiction between soil erosion and sustainable development of human society has become one of the hot issues studied by scholars. The Yellow River Basin is an important experimental area for high-quality development in China, constructing the Yellow River Ecological Economic Belt play an important role in China's regional coordinated development. Although most of the affected area of the Lower Yellow River (AALYR) is in the plain, they have a large population density and are in the historical farming area. In latest years, because of the development and transformation of modern society, their ecological environment has become more fragile and soil erosion problems has become increasingly serious. Studying and analyzing soil erosion is of vital meaning for ecological protection and can provide scientific support for soil conservation work. Depending on the data of precipitation, soil properties, land use, population, etc., this paper studies and analyzes the soil erosion in AALYR from 2000 to 2020 through the RUSLE. We found that during the 20 years the proportion of very slight and slight grade area increased, and the distribution of moderate and above erosion grade was less, mainly in Zibo, Jinan, Anyang, Zhengzhou, and Tai 'an. Nearly three quarters of the regional soil erosion grade didn't change, apart from the increase of slight grade area, the other erosion grades area showed a downward trend. We take the city, county and town zoning analysis find that as the scale decreases, the area of serious erosion grades increases, and the distribution is gradually detailed. Land use is the main influencing factor of erosion except DEM. Forestland and grassland are larger of the soil erosion in various types of land use. Through these conclusions in this paper, it is promising to provide theoretical references for the ecological environment governance and high-quality and sustainable development of great river basins of the world and similar regions.

Multiple scenario land use simulation based on a coupled MOGA-PLUS model: a case of the Yellow River Basin.

Land use changes have profoundly influenced global environmental dynamics. The Yellow River (YR), as the world's fifth-longest river, significantly contributes to regional social and economic growth due to its extensive drainage area, making it a key global player. To ensure ecological stability and coordinate land use demand, modeling the future land allocation patterns of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) will assist in striking a balance between land use functions and the optimization of its spatial design, particularly in water and sand management. In this research, we used a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) with the PLUS model to simulate several different futures for the YRB's land use between 1990 and 2020 and predict its spatial pattern in 2030. An analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution of land use changes in the YRB indicated that construction land expansion is the primary driver of landscape pattern and structure changes and ecological degradation, with climate change also contributing to the expansion of the watershed area. On the other hand, the multi-scenario simulation, constrained by specific targets, revealed that economic development was mainly reflected in land expansion for construction. At the same time, grassland and woodland were essential pillars to support the region's ecological health, and increasing the development of unused land emerged as a potential pathway towards sustainable development in the region. This study could be used as a template for the long-term growth of other large river basins by elucidating the impacts of human activities on land use and rationalizing land resource allocation under various policy constraints.

Chicoric Acid Alleviates Colitis via Targeting the Gut Microbiota Accompanied by Maintaining Intestinal Barrier Integrity and Inhibiting Inflammatory Responses.

Polyphenols have shown great potential to prevent ulcerative colitis. As a natural plant polyphenol, chicoric acid (CA) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study explored the intervention effects and potential mechanism of CA on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis mice. The results showed that CA alleviated the symptoms of colitis and maintained the intestinal barrier integrity. CA significantly downregulated the mRNA expression levels of inflammatory factors including IL-6, IL-1ß, TNF-α, IFN-γ, COX-2, and iNOS. In addition, CA modulated the gut microbiota by improving the microbial diversity, reducing the abundance of Gammaproteobacteriaand Clostridium_XI and increasing the abundance ofBarnesiellaandLachnospiraceae. Further fecal microbiota transplantation experiments showed that FM from CA donor mice significantly alleviated the symptoms of colitis, verifying the key role of gut microbiota. These results indicate that CA effectively relieves DSS-induced colitis via targeting gut microbiota along with preserving intestinal barrier function and suppressing inflammatory responses.

A synbiotic formulation of Lactobacillus reuteri and inulin alleviates ASD-like behaviors in a mouse model: the mediating role of the gut-brain axis.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a complex neurodevelopmental disorder marked by social communication deficits and repetitive behaviors, may see symptom amelioration through gut microbiota modulation. This study investigates the effects of a synbiotic - specifically a probiotic amplified by prebiotic supplementation - on ASD-like mouse model's social deficiencies. This model was established via valproic acid injection into pregnant females. Post-weaning, male progeny received daily synbiotic treatment, a combination of Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) and inulin, for four weeks. Results indicated that the synbiotic rectified social impairments and attenuated inflammatory cytokine expressions in the brain. Moreover, synbiotic intervention protected gut barrier integrity and altered the gut microbiota composition, enhancing the butyrate-producing Bifidobacterium abundance. The synbiotic elevated metabolites such as butyrate and 3-hydroxybutyric acid (3-HB), alongside upregulated genes associated with 3-HB synthesis in the colon and liver, and brain receptors. Conclusively, the synbiotic combination of L. reuteri and inulin mitigated ASD-related social impairments, partially via their regulatory effect on the gut-brain axis.

The changed multiscale structures of tight nut (Cyperus esculentus) starch decide its modified physicochemical properties: The effects of non-thermal and thermal treatments.

Non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBDP) and four thermal treatments, including baking (BT), high pressure cooking (HPC), radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) were applied to modify the structural and physicochemical properties of Cyperus esculentus starch (CES). The results showed that the thermal treatments remarkably disordered the crystalline structures of CES through weakening the double-helix conformation of amylopectin, while DBDP caused much more gentle influence on the starch structures than them. Specifically, MW induced the high-frequency displacement of polar molecules and intensive collisions between starch and water molecules, causing the largest stretching and swelling extents of amylopectin, resulting in the highest pasting and rheological viscosity of CES in four thermal treatments. As DBDP did not favor the aggregation of amylopectin chains, the deaggregated starch chains promoted the hydration effects with water molecules, boosting the final pasting viscosity, apparent rheological viscosity, freeze-thaw stability and digestion velocity of CES. Besides, the gelatinization-retrogradation process in the thermal treatments regulated starch digestion velocity and produced type III resistant starch in CES. Conclusively, the modified physicochemical properties of CES resulted from the altered molecular structures of starch by the applied treatments.

Understanding Relationships between Cultivated Land Pressure and Economic Development Level across Spatiotemporal Characteristics: Implications for Supporting Land-Use Management Decisions.

Food security is crucial to world peace. Economic development has posed a great threat to the protection of cultivated land. Considering 20 cities in the lower Yellow River (AALYR) as the study area, this study explored the spatial evolution of cultivated land pressure (CLP) and economic development from 1998 to 2018, revealing the spatiotemporal coupling characteristics of the CLP index and economic development. The main results are as follows: we discerned that CLP and economic development have an obvious spatiotemporal consistency during 1998-2018. The CLP showed a spatial pattern of overall stability, as well as local changes. Most prefecture-level cities experienced decreased significantly in CLP and improvements in food security. Overall, there were regional differences in the coupling relationships between CLP and economic development in the study area. The explanatory power of the proportion of secondary and tertiary industries were significantly higher than other driving factors. Therefore, while developing the economy rapidly, we should also protect cultivated land resources and improve the coordination level between them, which is essential to guarantee food security and a steady economic development.

Gut microbiota mediates intermittent-fasting alleviation of diabetes-induced cognitive impairment.

Cognitive decline is one of the complications of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Intermittent fasting (IF) is a promising dietary intervention for alleviating T2D symptoms, but its protective effect on diabetes-driven cognitive dysfunction remains elusive. Here, we find that a 28-day IF regimen for diabetic mice improves behavioral impairment via a microbiota-metabolites-brain axis: IF enhances mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism gene expression in hippocampus, re-structures the gut microbiota, and improves microbial metabolites that are related to cognitive function. Moreover, strong connections are observed between IF affected genes, microbiota and metabolites, as assessed by integrative modelling. Removing gut microbiota with antibiotics partly abolishes the neuroprotective effects of IF. Administration of 3-indolepropionic acid, serotonin, short chain fatty acids or tauroursodeoxycholic acid shows a similar effect to IF in terms of improving cognitive function. Together, our study purports the microbiota-metabolites-brain axis as a mechanism that can enable therapeutic strategies against metabolism-implicated cognitive pathophysiologies.

(+)-Sesamin attenuates chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depressive-like behaviors and memory deficits via suppression of neuroinflammation.

Depression is a mood disorder that is related to neuroinflammation and cognition loss. This study is aimed to determine the potential antidepressant effects of (+)-sesamin, a lignan component of sesame, in a mild stress-induced depression mouse model. CD-1 mice were treated with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) process and orally administrated with sesamin (50 mg/kg/d) for 6 weeks. Behavioral tests including forced swimming test, tail suspension test, open field test, and elevated plus maze test demonstrated that sesamin treatment inhibited CUMS-induced mice depressant-like behaviors and anxiety, without changing immobility. It was found that sesamin prevented stress-induced decease levels of 5-HT and NE in striatum and serum. Cognitive deficits were assessed using Y-maze and Morris water maze test. Sesamin treatment also prevented stressed-induced memory impairments and neuronal damages. Consistently, sesamin also enhanced synapse ultrastructure and improved expressions of PSD-95 in stressed mice hippocampus with improving neurotrophic factors expression including BDNF and NT3. Moreover, sesamin treatment significantly prevented CUMS-induced neuroinflammation by inhibiting over-activation of microglia and expressions of inflammatory mediators including iNOS, COX-2, TNF-α and IL-1ß in stressed mice hippocampus and cortex. These results illustrated that sesamin markedly improved CUMS-induced depression and memory loss via inhibiting neuroinflammation, which indicate that as food component, sesamin might be also a novel potential therapeutic for depression.

Supplementation of Sesamin Alleviates Stress-Induced Behavioral and Psychological Disorders via Reshaping the Gut Microbiota Structure.

Sesamin, a lignan from sesame seed, has been reported to attenuate chronic mild stress-induced depressive-like behaviors. Gut microbiota play pivotal roles in mediating psychological behaviors by regulating gut barrier integrity and systemic inflammatory responses. Here, we found that oral sesamin administration (50 mg/kg·bodyweight/day) significantly attenuated depressive, aversive, repetitive, and anxiety-like behaviors in a long-term multiple nonsocial stress-treated mice model. Sesamin inhibited stress-induced gut barrier integrity damage, reduced circulating lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels, and suppressed neuroinflammatory responses. Moreover, sesamin treatment also restructured the gut microbiome by enhancing the relative abundances of Bacteroidales and S24-7. The correlation analysis indicated that the microbiota composition changes were strongly correlated with behavioral disorders, serotonin, norepinephrine, and LPS levels. In conclusion, sesamin has preventive effects on stress-induced behavioral and psychological disorders, which might be highly related to the reshaped microbiota composition. This study provides a clue for understanding the systemic mechanism of anti-depression effects of sesamin.

Mannan Oligosaccharide Suppresses Lipid Accumulation and Appetite in Western-Diet-Induced Obese Mice Via Reshaping Gut Microbiome and Enhancing Short-Chain Fatty Acids Production.

SCOPE: Obesity is associated with gut microbiome dysbiosis. Mannose oligosaccharide (MOS) has been reported to be a potential prebiotic. The present study is aimed to determine the effects of MOS on western-diet-induced obesity and to uncover the mediating roles of the gut microbiota and microbial metabolites. METHODS AND RESULTS: Three-month-old male ICR mice are fed with a high-fat and high-fructose diet for 8 weeks. The diet-induced obese mice are then orally administrated with MOS (100 and 200 mg kg-1  d-1 ) for 4 weeks. MOS significantly reduces bodyweight gain, insulin resistance, fatty liver, and inflammatory responses in obese mice. MOS also stimulates lipolysis and inhibits lipogenesis in the adipose tissues. Moreover, MOS restructures the gut microbiome by enhancing the abundance of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in obese mice. The microbial metabolite SCFAs are also increased in the feces and serum. Correlation analysis indicates that the appetite suppression and lipid-lowering effects of MOS are highly correlated with the butyrate levels. CONCLUSION: MOS suppresses the appetite, which results in less lipid deposition. The lower appetite is likely due to an altered gut microbiome and elevated SCFAs production. MOS may be a potential nutraceutical used in body weight management and gut health improvement.