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BackgroundMethodResultsConclusionBehcet’s disease (BD) is a rare and recurrent autoinflammatory disorder characterized by systemic vasculitis, frequently manifested as recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). We aim to identify specific serum proteins to discriminate between BD and idiopathicRAS.Peripheral blood was collected from 12 BD patients, 12 idiopathic RAS patients, and 21 healthy volunteers. The serum samples underwent Tandem Mass Tag-based mass spectrometry analysis. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified for KEGG pathway enrichment, Gene Ontology (GO), and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses. ELISA was utilized to verify two BD-specific DEPs in another cohort consisting of 18 BD patients, 18 idiopathic RAS patients, and 18 controls.Compared with RAS serum, BD serum showed 242 DEPs. 49 proteins were differentially expressed in BD but not RAS serum compared to healthy controls. KEGG pathway and GO analyses revealed that DEPs in BD and RAS have similar biological functions and cellular distributions, featuring a significant association with pathways regulating blood coagulation and immune response. When comparing DEPs between BD and RAS, several keratins emerged as markers that distinguish RAS from BD. We also identified multiple DEPs in BD but not RAS patients. PPI analysis uncovered that lipoprotein metabolism regulators serve as hub proteins, indicating their potentially essential roles in BD pathology. In addition, ELISA results confirmed the elevated LRG1 and SOD3 levels in BD, but not RAS patients, compared to healthy donors.Our data uncovered novel serum proteins that distinguish BD from RAS, which may potentially be useful in BD diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a model organism that has helped revolutionize life sciences, Caenorhabditis elegans has been increasingly used in nutrition research. Here we explore the tradeoffs between pros and cons of its use as a dietary model based primarily on literature review from the past decade. We first provide an overview of its experimental strengths as an animal model, focusing on lifespan and healthspan, behavioral and physiological phenotypes, and conservation of key nutritional pathways. We then summarize recent advances of its use in nutritional studies, e.g. food preference and feeding behavior, sugar status and metabolic reprogramming, lifetime and transgenerational nutrition tracking, and diet–microbiota–host interactions, highlighting cutting-edge technologies originated from or developed in C. elegans. We further review current challenges of using C. elegans as a nutritional model, followed by in-depth discussions on potential solutions. In particular, growth scales and throughputs, food uptake mode, and axenic culture of C. elegans are appraised in the context of food research. We also provide perspectives for future development of chemically defined nematode food ("NemaFood") for C. elegans, which is now widely accepted as a versatile and affordable in vivo model and has begun to show transformative potential to pioneer nutrition science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 26 strains of lactic acid bacteria were screened with the aim of achieving a high flavonoid aglycone conversion rate in fermented seabuckthorn juice. The fermentation was optimized through single strain selection, followed by mixed inoculation. Lactobacillus plantarum L23, Pediococcus pentosaceus P27, and Lactobacillus plantarum L21 emerged as the most efficient conversion strains used for mixed inoculation. Subsequently, the orthogonal test was conducted to optimize pH value, temperature, and carbon source addition. The flavonoid aglycone content (calculated by isorhamnetin) was measured as a primer value for optimization. After screening, the highest flavonoid aglycone content was obtained under the following conditions: pH value of 4, temperature of 30 °, carbon source of 6% (m/V), and inoculation ratio of 1:2:1. The contents of total flavonoids, total phenolic acid, organic acid, and crude polysaccharides were measured before and after fermentation of seabuckthorn raw juice. The flavonoid aglycone content increased by approximately 90%, whereas the total flavonoid content increased by approximately 108%. In this formula, the contents of crude polysaccharide, organic acid, and total phenolic acid were also significantly different from those of the original seabuckthorn juice before fermentation. This study serves as a valuable reference for investigating the conversion mechanism of flavonoid aglycones using lactic acid bacteria, providing guidance for further industrial processing of seabuckthorn in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of complex wounds with large skin defects presents a real challenge for orthopedic or reconstructive surgeons. We developed a simple skin stretching system associated with vacuum sealing drainage to examine the efficiency and complication. A total of 34 patients with different types of complex wounds were retrospectively included from January 2015 to March 2021. All patients in the study were underwent the treatment by 2 stages. The method was used to the wounds from 4.71 to 169.65 cm2 with a median defect size of 25.13 cm2. The median time for wound closure was 11.5 days (range: 5-32 days), although the median absolute reduction was 2.08 cm2/day (range: 0.15-25.66 cm2/day). Depending on the site of the wounds, the cause of the wound, and the rate of max-width/max-length (W / L), these complex wounds could be separately divided into several groups. There were statistically significant differences in the median value of the above variables (P <.05 Kruskal–Wallis test). The results showed that different anatomical sites had different viscoelastic properties, the complex wounds caused by trauma were easier to close than caused by diabetic foot and the complex wounds in group A (W / L ＞ 0.5) were more difficult to close than in group B (W / L ≤ 0.5). No major complications were encountered in this study. In summary, the results of our study showed that the simple skin stretching system associated with vacuum sealing drainage was a safe approach for closure of complex wounds. Nevertheless, more attention should be paid to the viscoelasticity of the wounds to ensure closure and avoid undue complications when applying the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]