Search

Copyright of Moreana is the property of Edinburgh University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by persistent activation of immune cells and overproduction of autoantibodies. The accumulation of senescent T and B cells has been observed in SLE and other immune‐mediated diseases. However, the exact mechanistic pathways contributing to this process in SLE remain incompletely understood. In this study, we found that in SLE patients: (1) the frequency of CD4+CD57+ senescent T cells was significantly elevated and positively correlated with disease activity; (2) the expression levels of B‐lymphoma‐2 (BCL‐2) family and interferon‐induced genes (ISGs) were significantly upregulated; and (3) in vitro, the cytokine IL‐15 stimulation increased the frequency of senescent CD4+ T cells and upregulated the expression of BCL‐2 family and ISGs. Further, treatment with ABT‐263 (a senolytic BCL‐2 inhibitor) in MRL/lpr mice resulted in decreased: (1) frequency of CD4+CD44hiCD62L−PD‐1+CD153+ senescent CD4+ T cells; (2) frequency of CD19+CD11c+T‐bet+ age‐related B cells; (3) level of serum antinuclear antibody; (4) proteinuria; (5) frequency of Tfh cells; and (6) renal histopathological abnormalities. Collectively, these results indicated a dominant role for CD4+CD57+ senescent CD4+ T cells in the pathogenesis of SLE and senolytic BCL‐2 inhibitor ABT‐263 may be the potential treatment in ameliorating lupus phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Merlot grapes were elaborated as raw materials obtaining the separated must from the marc and the press must at different pressures (0.02-1.70 kPa). In order to improve the pressing effect and the quality of the Carbonic Maceration (CM) wine, the samples' physical and chemical parameters and aroma components were analyzed against the free-run must. The results showed the balance of C/N ratio (0.43) and the glucose/fructose ratio (0.97) in the sample applying 1.09 kPa pressing, reducing the risk of slow or stagnant fermentation; accumulating active substances concluding the total phenols of (47.52±2.97)mg/L and the total anthocyanins of (188.76±10.33) mg/L, increased by 7.01% and 0.96%, respectively; the color improvement and the enhancement of color parameters. The free-run must was perceived as having a fuller aroma than the press must. In addition, the pressing of 1.09-1.70 kPa gave the wine crisp acidity and intense tannins, increasing aromas such as acetate and aldehydes and enhancing the fruit, spice and fatty flavours in the wine. The study of pressing pressure provided a new basis for the production of high-quality CM wine, which is expected to be applied to the production of pressing wine in wineries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), which is highly malignant, shows a relatively poor prognosis, due to the insensitivity of the tumour to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has become a promising palliative therapeutic option for patients with unresectable cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), while the functional amount of ROS is limited by intracellular redox systemen. Sulfasalazine (SASP), a well-known anti-inflammatory agent, which also acts as an inhibitor of the amino acid transport system xc (xCT), decreases the intracellular glutathione (GSH) level, thus weakening the antioxidant defence of the cell by inhibition of the antiporter. However, the combination of SASP and PDT remains unexplored. We have reported that polyhematoporphyrin (PHP)-mediated PDT inhibits the cell viability of CCA cells and organoids. Furthermore, in PHP-enriched HCCC-9810 and TFK-1CCA cells, SASP enhances the sensitivity to PHP-mediated PDT through a GSH-dependent mechanism. We found that PHP-PDT can up-regulate xCT expression to promote cells against overloaded ROS, while SASP reduces GSH levels. After the combination of SASP and PHP-PDT, cell viability and GSH levels were significantly inhibited. xCT was also observed to be inhibited by SASP in human organoid samples. Our findings suggest that, in combination with PDT, SASP has potential as a promising approach against CCA.

Abstract Background Underlying liver function is a major concern when applying surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to explore the capability of the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade to predict post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) and long-term survival after hepatectomy for HCC patients with different Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages. Methods Between January 2010 and December 2014, 338 HCC patients who were treated with liver resection were enrolled. The predictive accuracy of ALBI grade system for PHLF and long-term survival across different BCLC stages was examined. Results A total of 26 (7.7%) patients developed PHLF. Patients were divided into BCLC 0/A and BCLC B/C categories. ALBI score was found to be a strong independent predictor of PHLF across different BCLC stages by multivariate analysis. In terms of overall survival (OS), it exhibited high discriminative power in the total cohort and in BCLC 0/A subgroup. However, differences in OS between ALBI grade 1 and 2 patients in BCLC B/C subgroup were not significant (P = 0.222). Conclusion The ALBI grade showed good predictive ability for PHLF in HCC patients across different BCLC stages. However, the ALBI grade was only a significant predictor of OS in BCLC stage 0/A patients and failed to predict OS in BCLC stage B/C patients.

Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has revolutionized the therapeutic strategy for achalasia with promising results. We conducted this meta-analysis to compare clinical outcomes between Eastern and Western countries. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases to query for studies that assessed the efficacy of POEM for achalasia. All articles published from inception to December 31, 2021 were included. The primary outcome was the pooled clinical success rate. The secondary outcomes included the pooled technical success rate, incidence of adverse events, procedure time and hospital stay. Eighteen Eastern studies involving 5962 patients and 11 Western studies involving 1651 patients were included. The pooled clinical success rate and technical success rate for POEM was equal in the Eastern studies compared to Western studies. The pooled incidence of procedure adverse events for POEM was a little lower in the Eastern studies compared to Western studies (6.6% vs. 8.7%). Similarly, the incidence of reflux-related adverse events was lower in Eastern studies than that in Western studies. The pooled procedure time of POEM was shorter in Eastern studies compared to Western studies (61 minutes vs. 80 minutes), while the length of hospital stay was longer in Eastern studies compared to Western studies (5.8 days vs. 2.4 days). Overall, Eastern countries have the similar POEM outcomes compared to Western countries. However, Eastern countries still need to do more to reduce the length of hospital stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential anti-aging effects of a topical BCL-2 inhibitor called ABT-737 on skin photoaging in mice. Photoaging is caused by long-term exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and is characterized by changes in the dermis and epidermis, as well as an increase in senescent cells. ABT-737 has been shown to eliminate senescent cells and delay aging when administered through intraperitoneal injection. This study aimed to investigate the effects of ABT-737 when applied topically. The results showed that ABT-737 gel improved skin smoothness, reduced wrinkles, increased collagen fiber density, and decreased epidermal thickness in the mice. It also inhibited the expression of BCL-2 and reduced the levels of p21 and Mmp2, which are associated with photoaging. The study suggests that ABT-737 has potential as a topical treatment for photoaging. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to explore the relationship between the basic characteristics of college students’ social anxiety and the perceived social support and sense of coherence, and further explore the mediating role of the sense of coherence between perceived social support and social anxiety. A questionnaire survey of 420 college students was conducted using the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) and the Sense of Coherence-13(SOC-13). The results showed that: (1) The social anxiety in contemporary college students was very high, and the phenomenon of social anxiety of female is significantly higher than male. (2) College students’ social anxiety were significantly negatively correlated with both perceived social support and sense of coherence, and perceived social support was significantly related to sense of coherence. (3) Sense of coherence plays a partial mediation between perceived social support and social anxiety. This study provides theoretical support for revealing the mechanism between perceived social support and social anxiety.

Lactic acid bacteria can be inoculated at different stages of alcoholic fermentation during winemaking' but the influence of inoculation timing of indigenous lactic acid bacteria on wine is not well defined. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of inoculation timing of Chinese indigenous lactic acid bacteria and commercial yeast on physiochemical parameters and the color of synthetic red grape juice. Three selected lactic acid bacteria 6-20' GZC3 and V22 were used to ferment the synthetic medium with Saccharomyces cerevisiae CECA. Two inoculation strategies were applied in the fermentation' including simultaneous and sequential inoculation' with single fermentation as the control. The sequential inoculation includes inoculating Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2 and 4 days prior to inoculating lactic acid bacteria and vice versa. The fermentation process was monitored by regularly measuring residual sugar' malic acid' and the colony numbers of both yeast and bacteria. After completion of fermentation' basic physiochemical parameters such as total acidity' volatile acidity' and pH were measured. Following this' total polyphenols and anthocyanins were determined by the Forlin phenol method and pH-differential method' respectively. Color parameters were then obtained through CIELab color space. Further, the correlation between color parameters and anthocyanin content was analyzed to evaluate wine color characteristics. Finally, Adobe Photoshop CS6 software was used to intuitively simulate the color of each wine sample. Results showed that there were significant differences in fermentation characteristics of simulated wine fermented by different inoculation strategies and these were strain-dependent. All strain pairs successfully completed alcohol fermentation (AF) in approximately 15 days. Malolactic fermentation (MLF) occurs simultaneously with or earlier than AF, depending on the inoculation timing of lactic acid bacteria. Not surprisingly, MLF was completed together with AF, or shortly after the depletion of residual sugar. Early inoculation of lactic acid bacteria was more conducive to MLF, whilst inoculation of yeast prior to lactic acid bacteria was more beneficial to AF. Particularly for CECA/6-20 mixed fermentations, AF took 2-4 days less when inoculating CECA prior to the inoculation of 6-20 compared to the rest inoculation strategies. Simultaneous inoculation of both S. cerevisiae and lactic acid bacteria had no significant effect on overall fermentation duration. The basic physicochemical parameters of all wine samples met the relevant national wine standards. In addition, the total phenol content and total anthocyanin level of most fermentation groups decreased significantly, and there was a significant correlation between these two parameters, though their correlation to CIELab color parameters was weak. With regard to wine colors, sequential inoculation resulted in darker colors compared to the simultaneous inoculation group. Interestingly, wine color was also species-specific, in particular, samples inoculated with Oenococcus oeni GZC3 were generally darker than that inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum V22 and 6-20. To conclude, this study clearly proved that our selected indigenous lactic acid bacteria strains were compatible with the commercial yeast CECA regardless of inoculation timing, thereby reducing the overall fermentation duration. Co-fermentation of yeast and bacteria would impact certain physiochemical parameters of wine. This study provides theoretical support and reference for efficient local production of high-quality red wine as well as helps promote the wide application of indigenous wine in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]