Search

Summary: Nitrogen (N) enrichment poses threats to biodiversity and ecosystem stability, while arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play important roles in ecosystem stability and functioning. However, the ecological impacts, especially thresholds of N enrichment potentially causing AM fungal community shifts have not been adequately characterized.Based on a long‐term field experiment with nine N addition levels ranging from 0 to 50 g N m−2 yr−1 in a temperate grassland, we characterized the community response patterns of AM fungi to N enrichment.Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal biomass continuously decreased with increasing N addition levels. However, AM fungal diversity did not significantly change below 20 g N m−2 yr−1, but dramatically decreased at higher N levels, which drove the AM fungal community to a potentially unstable state. Structural equation modeling showed that the decline in AM fungal biomass could be well explained by soil acidification, whereas key driving factors for AM fungal diversity shifted from soil nitrogen : phosphorus (N : P) ratio to soil pH with increasing N levels.Different aspects of AM fungal communities (biomass, diversity and community composition) respond differently to increasing N addition levels. Thresholds for substantial community shifts in response to N enrichment in this grassland ecosystem are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BCG vaccine is prepared from a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), a bacterium closely related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), which causes tuberculosis (TB). The vaccine was developed over 13 years, from 1908 to 1921, in the French Institut Pasteur by Léon Charles Albert Calmette and Jean-Marie Camille Guérin, who named the product Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG). BCG, the only licensed vaccine currently available to prevent TB, is given to infants at high risk of TB shortly after birth to protect infants and young children from pulmonary, meningeal, and disseminated TB. The BCG vaccine, one of the safest and most widely used live attenuated vaccines in the world, recently celebrated its 100th anniversary (from 1921 to 2021); its record of use in preventing TB in China is also approaching 100 years. In 2022, a new century of BCG vaccine immunization will begin. In this article, we briefly review the history of BCG vaccine use in China, describe its current status, and offer a preliminary outlook on the future of the vaccine, to provide BCG researchers with a clearer understanding of its use in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of mass spectrometry‐based analytical technologies coupled with multivariate statistical methods offer tremendous new opportunities for understanding the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of multicomponent herbal medicines (HMs). We recently proposed a poly‐PK strategy to characterize the concentration‐time profile and the metabolic response profile of multicomponent HMs using an integrated phytochemical and metabolomics approach. Here, we provided the first example of the poly‐PK strategy, in which we simultaneously characterized the PK as well as the metabolic response profiles of a Chinese HM, Huangqi decoction (HQD, consisting of Radix Astragali and Radix Glycyrrhizae), in healthy Chinese volunteers. Using the poly‐PK approach, we identified 56 HQD‐derived compounds and 292 biotransformed HQD metabolites in human plasma. Additionally, we acquired the concentration‐time profiles of these plasma HQD metabolites and correlated them with a plasma metabolomics profile consisting of 166 human endogenous metabolites that were significantly altered in response to HQD intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the People's Republic of China (PRC)'s women's national football team once more brought disappointment to the Chinese people, this time in the qualifying rounds of the 2011 Football World Cup and the 2012 London Olympic Games, women's football drew criticism nationwide. This article reflects upon the development of women's football in the PRC from the 1970s to the present as it travelled a winding road that took it to the heights of international success and to the depths of ignominy. Driving the successes and failures were the national sports policies. As this study travelled the road taken by women's football in the PRC, it found the wrecks of promising teams that had faced the bleak prospects of the lack of popular and government support and of the people's negative perception of the game, all stemming from the woeful performances of the national team. However, it has been noted that professional women's football has, potentially, a bright future in the PRC if it could gain popular support among schoolgirls, and it is maintained that this could be achieved through a wider integration of sport and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Mai particularly concerned about the "thieves" problem in the intake of complicated social life in his Yijianzhi. He made a comprehensive description on the phenomenon of banditry to reveal the close relationship between the thieves and the policies and the official treatments and its impacts on the lives of the ordinary people as a mirror of the times, which reflected Hong Mai's concern about the future and destiny of Song Dynasty and the Confucian humanistic care for lives. There is a close relationship that the frequent chaos of pirates and the refugees in Song dynasty by history books and novels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The graphical method is one of classic location approaches. The location method locates an event using its hypocentral loci, and therefore has outstanding advantages such as visuality and robustness. However, its location accuracy is not high because it is usually based on homogeneous or laterally homogeneous models far from the real Earth. When the velocity structure is complex, hypocentral locus equations can hardly be solved analytically. In order to overcome the disadvantage of the graphical location approach, a numerical scheme is presented for solving hypocentral locus equations by linear interpolation. The equation of a hypocentral locus is solved in the residual (between observed and calculated arrival time difference or arrival time) field. As for each model node, it is combined with its adjacent nodes differing from it in residual polarity (positive, zero, or negative) into node pairs. Among these node pairs, the one with maximum absolute gradient is referred to as a normal node pair. Assuming that the residual varies linearly from positive to negative between the two ends of a normal node pair, the zero point of the residual between the two end nodes is determined as a solution to the hypocentral locus equation by linear interpolation. Numerical examples show that the presented method is adapted to complex velocity models and has no restrictions in the stability and the number of hypocentral locus segments. Compared with other approximate solutions, such as nodes with small absolute residuals or nodes of the elements traversed by the hypocentral locus, the ones determined by the interpolation method have much higher accuracy. This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41374098 and 40974050). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Saliva collection is a non-invasive test and is convenient. 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) is a new indicator reflecting short-term blood glucose levels. This study aimed to explore the relationship between saliva 1,5-AG and insulin secretion function and insulin sensitivity., Research Design and Methods: Adult patients with type 2 diabetes who were hospitalized were enrolled. Based on blood glucose and C-peptide, homeostasis model assessment 2 for β cell secretion function, C-peptidogenic index (CGI), △2-hour C-peptide (2hCP)/△2-hour postprandial glucose (2hPG), ratio of 0-30 min area under the curve for C-peptide and area under the curve for glucose (AUC CP30 /AUC PG30 ), and AUC 2hCP /AUC 2hPG were calculated to evaluate insulin secretion function, while indicators such as homeostasis model assessment 2 for insulin resistance were used to assess insulin sensitivity., Results: We included 284 subjects (178 men and 106 women) with type 2 diabetes aged 20-70 years. The saliva 1,5-AG level was 0.133 (0.089-0.204) µg/mL. Spearman's correlation analysis revealed a significantly negative correlation between saliva 1,5-AG and 0, 30, and 120 min blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin A 1c , and glycated albumin (all p<0.05), and a significantly positive association between saliva 1,5-AG and CGI ( r =0.171, p=0.004) and AUC CP30 /AUC PG30 ( r =0.174, p=0.003). The above correlations still existed after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and diabetes duration. In multiple linear regression, saliva 1,5-AG was an independent factor of CGI (standardized β =0.135, p=0.015) and AUC CP30 /AUC PG30 (standardized β =0.110, p=0.020)., Conclusions: Saliva 1,5-AG was related to CGI and AUC CP30 /AUC PG30 in patients with type 2 diabetes., Trial Registration Number: ChiCTR-SOC-17011356., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Accurate and noninvasive diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis are essential for effective clinical management of chronic liver disease (CLD). We aimed to identify serum metabolite markers that reliably predict the stage of fibrosis in CLD patients., Methods: We quantitatively profiled serum metabolites of participants in 2 independent cohorts. Based on the metabolomics data from cohort 1 (504 HBV associated liver fibrosis patients and 502 normal controls, NC), we selected a panel of 4 predictive metabolite markers. Consequently, we constructed 3 machine learning models with the 4 metabolite markers using random forest (RF), to differentiate CLD patients from normal controls (NC), to differentiate cirrhosis patients from fibrosis patients, and to differentiate advanced fibrosis from early fibrosis, respectively., Results: The panel of 4 metabolite markers consisted of taurocholate, tyrosine, valine, and linoelaidic acid. The RF models of the metabolite panel demonstrated the strongest stratification ability in cohort 1 to diagnose CLD patients from NC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) = 0.997 and the precision-recall curve (AUPR) = 0.994), to differentiate fibrosis from cirrhosis (0.941, 0.870), and to stage liver fibrosis (0.918, 0.892). The diagnostic accuracy of the models was further validated in an independent cohort 2 consisting of 300 CLD patients with chronic HBV infection and 90 NC. The AUCs of the models were consistently higher than APRI, FIB-4, and AST/ALT ratio, with both greater sensitivity and specificity., Conclusions: Our study showed that this 4-metabolite panel has potential usefulness in clinical assessments of CLD progression in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Context: Unlike other commonly used invasive blood glucose-monitoring methods, saliva detection prevents patients from suffering physical uneasiness. However, there are few studies on saliva 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM)., Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of saliva 1,5-AG in diabetes screening in a Chinese population., Design and Participants: This was a population-based cross-sectional study. A total of 641 subjects without a valid diabetic history were recruited from September 2018 to June 2019. Saliva 1,5-AG was measured with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry., Main Outcome Measures: DM was defined per American Diabetes Association criteria. The efficiency of saliva 1,5-AG for diabetes screening was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic curves, and the optimal cutoff point was determined according to the Youden index., Results: Saliva 1,5-AG levels in subjects with DM were lower than those in subjects who did not have DM (both P < .05). Saliva 1,5-AG was positively correlated with serum 1,5-AG and negatively correlated with blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (all P < .05). The optimal cutoff points of saliva 1,5-AG0 and 1,5-AG120 for diabetes screening were 0.436 μg/mL (sensitivity: 63.58%, specificity: 60.61%) and 0.438 μg/mL (sensitivity: 62.25%, specificity: 60.41%), respectively. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) combined with fasting saliva 1,5-AG reduced the proportion of people who required an oral glucose tolerance test by 47.22% compared with FPG alone., Conclusion: Saliva 1,5-AG combined with FPG or HbA1c improved the efficiency of diabetes screening. Saliva 1,5-AG is robust in nonfasting measurements and a noninvasive and convenient tool for diabetes screening., (© Endocrine Society 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Free fatty acids (FFAs), also named nonesterified fatty acids, largely originate from the lipolysis of triacylglycerol stored in adipose tissue. Despite extensive research on sex- and age-dependent effects on lipolysis and lipid mobilization of adipose tissue, the primary differences in the metabolic characteristics of circulating FFAs among normal-weight healthy men and women during aging are still unclear. Here, we measured the concentrations of 45 FFAs in fasting sera of two Chinese community-based studies consisting of 201 metabolically healthy normal-weight adults to ascertain the associations of sex and age with FFA compositions and their upstream and downstream relations. Results showed greater conversions toward n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids of docosahexaenoic acid and n-6 of docosapentaenoic acid from their precursors in women than in men. Meanwhile, there were significantly positive correlations between the concentrations of a panel of saturated fatty acids with straight chain or branched chain and age in women, whereas no association was found in men. These findings highlight that sex and age should be considered as the potential confounding factors in assessing the risk for metabolic disturbance using FFA biomarkers.

Study Objectives: Several cross-sectional studies have reported associations between oral diseases and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, there have been no reports regarding the structure and composition of the oral microbiota with simultaneous evaluation of potential associations with perturbed metabolic profiles in pediatric OSA., Methods: An integrated approach, combining metagenomics based on high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and metabolomics based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry, was used to evaluate the oral microbiome and the urinary metabolome., Results: 16S rRNA gene sequencing indicated that the oral microbiome composition was significantly perturbed in pediatric OSA compared with normal controls, especially with regard to Firmicutes , Proteobacteria , Bacteroidetes , Fusobacteria , and Actinobacteria . Moreover, metabolomics profiling indicated that 57 metabolites, 5 of which were metabolites related to the microflora of the digestive tract, were differentially present in the urine of pediatric patients with OSA and controls. Co-inertia and correlation analyses revealed that several oral microbiome changes were correlated with urinary metabolite perturbations in pediatric OSA. However, this correlation relationship does not imply causality., Conclusions: High-throughput sequencing revealed that the oral microbiome composition and function were significantly altered in pediatric OSA. Further studies are needed to confirm and determine the mechanisms underlying these findings., (© 2018 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.)

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have shown that genetic variants are important determinants of free fatty acid levels. The mechanisms underlying the associations between genetic variants and free fatty acid levels are incompletely understood. Here, we aimed to identify genetic markers that could influence diverse fatty acid levels in a Chinese population and uncover the molecular mechanisms in terms of DNA methylation and gene expression., Results: We identified strong associations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) region and multiple polyunsaturated fatty acids. Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis of rs174570 on FADS1 and FADS2 mRNA levels proved that minor allele of rs174570 was associated with decreased FADS1 and FADS2 expression levels (P < 0.05). Methylation quantitative trait locus (mQTL) analysis of rs174570 on DNA methylation levels in three selected regions of FADS region showed that the methylation levels at four CpG sites in FADS1, one CpG site in intragenic region, and three CpG sites in FADS2 were strongly associated with rs174570 (P < 0.05). Then, we demonstrated that methylation levels at three CpG sites in FADS1 were negatively associated with FADS1 and FADS2 expression, while two CpG sites in FADS2 were positively associated with FADS1 and FADS2 expression. Using mediation analysis, we further show that the observed effect of rs174570 on gene expression was tightly correlated with the effect predicted through association with methylation., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that genetic variants in the FADS region are major genetic modifiers that can regulate fatty acid metabolism through epigenetic gene regulation.

Context: Bile acids (BAs) have been suggested as key mediators of the improvements in glucose metabolism after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB)., Objective: The objective of the study was to test whether the individual or a group of BAs have potential value to predict diabetes remission after RYGB., Design and Patients: A retrospective cohort of 38 Chinese obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who had undergone RYGB and a cross-sectional cohort of 327 subjects from the Shanghai Obesity Study were involved in the study., Main Outcome and Measures: We applied a targeted metabolomics approach to quantitatively measure 26 serum BAs. The relative proportion of each BA in total BAs was calculated., Results: In the metabolic surgery study, RYGB was effective in the reduction of body weight in both remission and nonremission groups. The reductions of body mass index (BMI) in both groups were 7.34 ± 2.10 kg/m(2) and 6.31 ± 2.38 kg/m(2), respectively (P = .14). Patients in the remission group had a shorter duration of diabetes, lower glycated hemoglobin, and higher C-peptide and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) proportion at baseline compared with the nonremission group. Multiple logistic regression indicated that a higher level of CDCA relative to total BA (CDCA%) and shorter duration of diabetes at baseline were associated with a greater chance of diabetes remission. The odd ratios were 0.19 (95% confidence interval 0.05-0.74) and 1.77 (95% confidence interval 1.13-2.76), respectively, after adjustment for age, gender, and BMI. In the cross-sectional study, CDCA% was significantly higher in obese individuals with T2DM than the normal glucose tolerance group. Correlation analysis showed CDCA% was positively correlated with BMI, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and diabetes duration., Conclusion: Increased CDCA, a major primary BA, was correlated with a shorter duration of T2DM, which was associated with a higher possibility of remission after surgery. CDCA% might act as a potential prognostic marker of RYGB.

Bile acids (BAs) are a group of important physiological agents for cholesterol metabolism, intestinal nutrient absorption, and biliary secretion of lipids, toxic metabolites, and xenobiotics. Extensive research in the last two decades has unveiled new functions of BAs as signaling molecules and metabolic regulators that modulate hepatic lipid, glucose, and energy homeostasis through the activation of nuclear receptors and G-protein-coupled receptor signaling in gut-liver metabolic axis involving host-gut microbial co-metabolism. Therefore, investigation of serum BA profiles, in healthy human male and female subjects with a wide range of age and body mass index (BMI), will provide important baseline information on the BA physiology as well as metabolic homeostasis among human subjects that are regulated by two sets of genome, host genome, and symbiotic microbiome. Previous reports on age- or gender-related changes on BA profiles in animals and human showed inconsistent results, and the information acquired from various studies was highly fragmentary. Here we profiled the serum BAs in a large population of healthy participants (n = 502) and examined the impact of age, gender, and BMI on serum BA concentrations and compositions using a targeted metabonomics approach with ultraperformance liquid chromatography triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry. We found that the BA profiles were dependent on gender, age, and BMI among study subjects. The total BAs were significantly higher in males than in females (p < 0.05) and higher in obese females than in lean females (p < 0.05). The difference in BA profiles between male and female subjects was decreased at age of 50-70 years, while the difference in BA profiles between lean and obese increased for subjects aged 50-70 years. The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the BA profiles in healthy subjects and highlights the need to take into account age, gender, and BMI differences when investigating pathophysiological changes of BAs resulting from gastrointestinal diseases.

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is still the most effective approach to prevent tuberculosis in childhood. In order to provide protection against severe forms of childhood tuberculosis, it is customary to give BCG vaccination at birth in China. Tuberculin skin testing after vaccination is usually used to evaluate the immunogenic activity and protective efficacy of the BCG. We report the results of a multi-site prospective cohort study to evaluate the immunological reactivity against BCG in four prefectural cities in China. A total of 59,022 newborn infants were vaccinated between January 2011 and March 2012, and follow-up data on 27,517 vaccinated infants were available for this study. Of these, 679 (2.5%) had PPD readings of 0-5mm, 17,072 (62.0%) had PPD readings of 5-10 mm of induration, 8864 (32.2%) had readings of 10-15 mm, 815 (3.0%) had readings of 15-20 mm, and 87 (0.3%) had readings of >20 mm of induration. The size of PPD reaction varied significantly with the geographic location, gender, season of vaccination, and grade of hospital administering the BCG vaccine (P<0.001). 97.8% of the infants with a BCG scar of >1mm had a positive TST reaction. However, only 56.9% of infants without a BCG scar had a positive PPD reaction. Our results demonstrate that the BCG immunization among newborn infants in China induces satisfactory immune response. In addition, BCG scars provide a useful indicator of vaccination response in Chinese infants., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are one of the most common types of birth defects, affecting approximately 1 of every 1000 pregnancies in the United States and an estimated 300 000 newborns worldwide each year. The metabolic signature of pregnant women with NTDs in offspring has not previously been characterized. In this paper, we report a profiling study that characterized the serum metabolome of 101 pregnant women affected with NTDs in offspring in comparison with 143 pregnant women with normal pregnancy outcomes in Lvliang prefecture, the area with the highest birth prevalence of NTDs in China. A serum metabonomic study was also conducted to identify significantly altered metabolites associated with di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP)-induced teratogenesis in mice. The metabolic signature of NTD in pregnant women is characterized by the impaired mitochondrial respiration, neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid, and methionine cycle. Of interest, consistent findings from DBP-induced teratogenesis in mice demonstrated increased succinate and decreased fumarate, suggesting an inhibited succinic dehydrogenase implicated in the defective mitochondria. The characteristic disruption of maternal metabolism offers important insights into metabolic mechanisms underlying human NTDs as well as potential preventive strategies.