Search

Non-starch polysaccharides are major bioactive components in chestnuts, and can serve as water-soluble polysaccharides with potential prebiotic properties. This study aims to establish an in vitro digestion and fermentation model to reveal the digestive and fermentative characteristics of Non-starch polysaccharides from chestnut kernels (NSPCK). The results indicated that under simulated digestion, NSPCK was partially digested in gastric juice but remained significantly undigested in saliva and intestinal juice, demonstrating considerable resilience against hydrolysis. After digestion, NSPCK still exhibited stable rough, lamellar, and porous structure and maintained strong antioxidant capacity. Animal experiments revealed positive effects of NSPCK on blood lipid level, and colon tissue of mice. Moreover, NSPCK enhanced the accumulation of short-chain fatty acids during fermentation, particularly acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. Furthermore, NSPCK intervention increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, and at the same time reduced that of harmful bacteria such as Enterococcus.

ObjectiveTo establish a predictive model of aggressive behaviors from hospitalized patients with schizophrenia through applying multiple machine learning algorithms, to provide a reference for accurately predicting and preventing of the occurrence of aggressive behaviors.MethodsThe cluster sampling method was used to select patients with schizophrenia who were hospitalized in our hospital from July 2019 to August 2021 as the survey objects, and they were divided into an aggressive behavior group (611 cases) and a non-aggressive behavior group (1,426 cases) according to whether they experienced obvious aggressive behaviors during hospitalization. Self-administered General Condition Questionnaire, Insight and Treatment Attitude Questionnaire (ITAQ), Family APGAR (Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection, Resolve) Questionnaire (APGAR), Social Support Rating Scale Questionnaire (SSRS) and Family Burden Scale of Disease Questionnaire (FBS) were used for the survey. The Multi-layer Perceptron, Lasso, Support Vector Machine and Random Forest algorithms were used to build a predictive model for the occurrence of aggressive behaviors from hospitalized patients with schizophrenia and to evaluate its predictive effect. Nomogram was used to build a clinical application tool.ResultsThe area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values of the Multi-Layer Perceptron, Lasso, Support Vector Machine, and Random Forest were 0.904 (95% CI: 0.877–0.926), 0.901 (95% CI: 0.874–0.923), 0.902 (95% CI: 0.876–0.924), and 0.955 (95% CI: 0.935–0.970), where the AUCs of the Random Forest and the remaining three models were statistically different (p 0.5).ConclusionMachine learning models can fairly predict aggressive behaviors in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia, among which Random Forest has the best predictive effect and has some value in clinical application.

In this study, IDF from Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim pomace (PUIDF) was prepared, and its routine constituents as well as physicochemical properties and structure were analyzed. Moreover, the effect of PUIDF on obesity and gut microbiota (GM) through a high-fat diet (HFD) mouse model was investigated. The results demonstrated that PUIDF had a loose and porous surface structure and typical cellulose polysaccharide functional groups with good water holding, oil holding and swelling capacity, as well as glucose and cholesterol adsorption performance in vitro. PUIDF could significantly reduce weight gain and lipid and cholesterol levels in HFD-induced obese mice. More importantly, PUIDF intervention greatly improved the diversity of GM in mice, as well as regulated intestinal microbiota composition and increasing the abundance of short-chain fatty acid producing bacteria. These results suggest that PUIDF may have a positive effect to alleviate hyperlipidemia and improve intestinal bacterial ecosystems.

Castanea mollissima Blume has been used to treat a variety of diseases in Chinese traditional medicine. This study was aimed to examine the anti-fatigue effect of purified Chestnut flower flavonoids (CFF) in mice and its underlying mechanisms using the weight-loaded swimming test. The study revealed that the content of total flavonoids in CFF was 754.20 mgRE/gdm, which identified six main types of flavonoids, myricetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin-O-glucoside, kaempherol-3-O-rutinoside, isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol, respectively. CFF showed excellent free radical scavenging and anti-fatigue effect. Notably, CFF significantly prolonged the swimming time of mice, while down-regulating the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood lactic acid (BLA), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatine kinase (CK), and increasing liver and muscle glycogen. Meanwhile, CFF suppressed exercise-elicited oxidative stress through promoting the SOD activity and reducing the MDA level. Furthermore, CFF up-regulated PGC-1α and PPARα expression in mouse skeletal muscle. In conclusion, these findings indicate that CFF exerts an anti-fatigue effect presumably via energy reserves and oxidative stress inhibition.

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious issue worldwide and frequently co-occurs with depression. However, the quality of life (QOL) of AUD patients with and without depression is not well studied in the Chinese Han population. The aim of this study was to investigate QOL and its correlates in AUD patients with and without depression in China.Methods: Five hundred and fifteen psychiatric patients diagnosed with AUD were recruited. All these patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess depression, the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to evaluate QOL and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to measure the severity of drinking.Results: Compared with AUD patients without depression, those with depression had a lower QOL in all eight domains of the SF-36 (all P < 0.001), but were more willing to have alcohol-related treatment (P < 0.05). Negative correlations were noted between (i) the BDI total score and all eight domains of the SF-36 (all P < 0.001); and (ii) between the AUDIT total score and six domains of the SF-36 (all P < 0.05).Conclusions: Depression impairs QOL in patients with AUD in China. Early intervention in comorbid depression to improve QOL is needed.

BackgroundDepressive symptoms are common among psychiatric patients with alcohol dependence (AD). However, the prevalence and clinical correlates of comorbid depressive symptoms are less well studied in Chinese Han patients.MethodsIn this hospital-based survey, we recruited 378 psychiatric patients diagnosed with AD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). All patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to evaluate depressive symptoms and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to assess the severity of drinking.ResultsCompared to patients without depressive symptoms, 48.9% (185/378) of the patients with comorbid depressive symptoms were younger, had a more unstable marital status, had a higher AUDIT total score, and had a higher adverse consequences subscore (all P < 0.05). Further logistic regression analysis showed that unstable marital status (Odds ratios [OR] = 2.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.21–3.99) and AUDIT total score (OR=1.07, 95% CI 1.03–1.11) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms.ConclusionsOur findings indicate high comorbidity between AD and depressive symptoms in Chinese psychiatric patients. Moreover, some variables are correlates of comorbid depressive symptoms. Particular attention should be paid to the early detection and intervention for this comorbid condition and its risk factors.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a group of highly conserved molecules which initiate the innate immune response to pathogens by recognizing structural motifs of microbes. Understanding the changes in chicken Toll-like receptors (ChTLRs) and signal adaptors expression that occur with Eimeria tenella infection will help to elucidate the molecular basis of immune control of coccidiosis caused by Eimeria. The present study detected the dynamic changes in the expression of ChTLRs and associated signal adaptors in the spleen and cecum of E. tenella-infected chickens during the early stage of infection. The results showed that the expression peak for ChTLRs, MyD88 and TRIF occurred at 12 h post-infection (hpi), ChTLR3, ChTLR15 and MyD88 mRNA expression in the spleen of E. tenella infected chickens were significantly higher (P