Maternal dietary uridine supplementation reduces diarrhea incidence in piglets by regulating the intestinal mucosal barrier and cytokine profiles.

BACKGROUND: Nucleotides play an important role in the regulation of cellular energy and protein homeostasis, which facilitate the repair, recovery and repletion of tissue function. This study tested the effects of maternal uridine (UR) supplementation during late pregnancy and lactation of sows on the immune function of the small intestine in neonatal and suckling piglets. RESULTS: Results showed that compared to the control group, maternal dietary UR supplementation significantly decreased incidence of diarrhea in suckling piglets (P < 0.01); and increased both duodenal and ileal average villus height (P < 0.01) as well as villus height/crypt depth in ileum (P = 0.017) in neonatal piglets. RT-qPCR results showed that maternal UR supplementation decreased mRNA expression of claudin-1 in jejunum and ileum of neonatal piglets (P < 0.05), while significantly increased mRNA expression of claudin-1 in duodenum and jejunum of suckling piglets. Furthermore, in suckling piglets, maternal dietary UR supplementation increased mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-1ß in duodenum, jejunum and ileum (P < 0.05), increased IL-10 expression in both jejunal and ileal mucosa (P < 0.05) and increased mRNA expression of IKB and TLR4 in ileal mucosa (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that maternal dietary supplementation with UR contributed to reducing incidence of diarrhea by regulating cytokine secretion and intestinal mucosal barrier function in suckling piglets. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Influencing factors for placenta accreta in recent 5 years: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Assess influencing factors for placenta accreta in pregnant women documented in recent literature. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted based on English- and Chinese-language articles published from January 2014 to June 2019. Articles were retrieved from the following Chinese databases, CNKI, Wanfang Data, China Science and Technology Journal Database, CBM and English databases, PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and Embase. RESULTS: Eleven studies with 2,152,014 cases were included in the meta-analysis. The odds ratios of influencing factors were as follows: hypertension 2.51 (95% CI, 1.50-4.20), multifetal gestations 1.90 (95% CI, 1.26-2.88), male fetus 0.79 (95% CI, 0.74-0.84), and low socioeconomic status 0.51 (95% CI, 0.37-0.71). CONCLUSION: Evidence from English- and Chinese-language literature indicates that hypertension and multifetal gestations are risk factors for placenta accreta, while male fetus and low socioeconomic status are protective factors.

Association between maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder: an updated meta-analysis.

Studies have investigated the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children exposed in utero to antidepressant, with inconsistent results. Given the substantial public health implications on this topic, here, we presented an updated meta-analysis of the association between maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy and ASD. Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and PubMed databases were systematically searched. A random effects model was used to pool the adjusted relative risk (RR) for cohort studies and the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for case-control studies as well as their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Meta-analysis restricted to sibling studies was also conducted. Publication bias was systematically assessed. Fourteen studies were identified (eight cohort studies and six case-control studies). Pooled adjusted RR for cohort studies (n = 2,839,980) was 1.13 (0.93-1.39) showed a non-significant association; while two studies were potentially missing from the test of publication bias, filled estimates also showed a non-significant association (filled RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.79-1.19). Pooled OR was 1.51 (1.15-1.99) for case-control studies (n = 117,737) showed a significant association; two studies were potentially missing; however, the filled estimates suggested a non-significant association (filled OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.98-1.62). Analyses restricted to sibling studies also showed a non-significant association (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.81-1.22). In summary, we did not evidence a significant association between maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy and ASD.

[Effects of thiourea on pH and availability of metal ions in acid red soil].

Through the simulation research, the effects of application of thiourea and urea on pH and availability of metal ions in acid red soil were studied, and the results showed that after applying urea, the soil pH increased in the first experimental stage and then reduced gradually to a low level, however, decreased trends of soil pH values were inhibited by the application of thiourea, especially when the concentration of thiourea reached to 5.0 mmol x kg(-1) dry soil, the soil pH was stable at high level, which exceeded to 6.0. It proved that the application of thiourea could inhibit the soil acidification due to urea application. After applying urea with different concentrations of thiourea, the available contents of Zn and Al decreased with the increasing concentration of thiourea, nevertheless, when the concentration of thiourea reached to 5.0 mmol x kg(-1), the available content of Mn was stable at high level which was over 110 mg x kg(-1). In addition, the results showed a highly significant negative correlation between the soil pH and the available content of Cu, Zn and Al, but for Mn, no discipline was found between the soil pH and the availability after applying thiourea. Moreover, the soil pH became higher after applying urea with thiourea compared to add urea only, which led to the decreasing of available content of Al, and it was benefited for the control of the phytotoxic effect of Al. The available content of Mn in the soil not only depended on soil pH but also the content of thiourea due to its redox and complexing reaction with Mn.