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Bioinformatic analysis revealed that the genomes of ubiquitous Penicillium spp. might carry dozens of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), yet many clusters have remained uncharacterized. In this study, a detailed investigation of co-culture fermentation including the basidiomycete Armillaria mellea CPCC 400891 and the P. brasilianum CGMCC 3.4402 enabled the isolation of five new compounds including two bisabolene-type sesquiterpenes (arpenibisabolanes A and B), two carotane-type sesquiterpenes (arpenicarotanes A and B), and one polyketide (arpenichorismite A) along with seven known compounds. The assignments of their structures were deduced by the extensive analyses of detailed spectroscopic data, electronic circular dichroism spectra, together with delimitation of the biogenesis. Most new compounds were not detected in monocultures under the same fermentation conditions. Arpenibisabolane A represents the first example of a 6/5-fused bicyclic bisabolene. The bioassay of these five new compounds exhibited no cytotoxic activities in vitro against three human cancer cell lines (A549, MCF-7, and HepG2). Moreover, sequence alignments and bioinformatic analysis to other metabolic pathways, two BGCs including Pb-bis and Pb-car, responsible for generating sesquiterpenoids from co-culture were identified, respectively. Furthermore, based on the chemical structures and deduced gene functions of the two clusters, a hypothetic metabolic pathway for biosynthesizing induced sesquiterpenoids was proposed. These results demonstrated that the co-culture approach would facilitate bioprospecting for new metabolites even from the well-studied microbes. Our findings would provide opportunities for further understanding of the biosynthesis of intriguing sesquiterpenoids via metabolic engineering strategies. Key points: • Penicillium and Armillaria co-culture facilitates the production of diverse secondary metabolites • Arpenibisabolane A represents the first example of 6/5-fused bicyclic bisabolenes • A hypothetic metabolic pathway for biosynthesizing induced sesquiterpenoids was proposed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Studies have confirmed that uric acid is involved in the regulation of cognitive function. This study aimed to investigate the expression of serum uric acid in alcohol-dependent patients and evaluate its clinical diagnostic value for cognitive impairment., Methods: Blood sample was collected for assessment of serum uric acid levels. Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale scores were obtained to assess cognitive function. Anxiety and depression scores on the Symptom Check List 90 scale were used to assess mental health status. The alcohol-dependent patients were divided into non-cognitive impairment and cognitive impairment groups according to Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale score, and the serum uric acid levels of these groups were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic curve evaluated the diagnostic value of serum uric acid in cognitive impairment patients. Pearson correlation coefficient evaluated the correlation between uric acid and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale score, anxiety score, and depression score. Multivariate logistic regression analyzed the association between each index and cognitive impairment in patients., Results: Serum uric acid was higher in patients than in controls ( P < .001). Uric acid was significantly increased in cognitive impairment patients than in non-cognitive impairment patients ( P < .001). Serum uric acid has certain diagnostic value in patients with cognitive impairment. Anxiety score and depression score were positively correlated with uric acid level, while Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale score was negatively correlated with uric acid. Additionally, serum uric acid, Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale score, and anxiety and depression scores were the risk factors for cognitive impairment in patients ( P < .05)., Conclusion: The abnormal expression of uric acid has a high diagnostic accuracy for distinguishing cognitive impairment from non-cognitive impairment., (2023 authors.)

Aim: To explore the expression of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in the brain of patients with alcohol dependence. Further, to evaluate the diagnostic value of oxy-Hb in the cognitive impairment of patients with alcohol dependence., Methods: Seventy-one alcohol-dependent adults and 70 healthy adults were recruited in the observation and control groups, respectively. The oxy-Hb level and scores of Wisconsin card sorting test, brief visuospatial memory test-revised, digital sequence test, digital span test, and continuous performance test were recorded and compared between the two groups. Further, the sensitivity and specificity of the oxy-Hb level for the diagnosis of cognitive impairment in patients with alcohol dependence were evaluated by drawing an ROC curve. Moreover, the correlation between the oxy-Hb level and cognitive function test scores was analyzed by Pearson's correlation analysis., Results: During cognitive activities, the oxy-Hb levels in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (p<0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) of oxy-Hb was 0.930, and the sensitivity and specificity were 89.1% and 84.0%, respectively. The scores of responses administered, trials to compete first category, perseverative responses, and the perseverative response errors in executive function in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (p<0.001), whereas the correct responses score and categories completed score were lower than those in the control group (p<0.001). Similarly, the memory and attention scores of the observation group were lower than those of the control group (p<0.001). Moreover, the scores of correct responses, categories completed, brief visuospatial memory test-revised, digital sequence test, digital span test, and continuous performance test were positively correlated with the level of oxy-Hb (p<0.05). However, the scores of responses administered, trials to compete first category, and perseverative response errors were negatively correlated with the oxy-Hb level (p<0.001)., Conclusions: The oxy-Hb levels are reduced in patients with alcohol dependence and have high diagnostic accuracy for cognitive impairment in such patients.