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Purpose: To explore the effects of recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) on inflammatory mediators, immune cells and prognosis in severe neurosurgical patients. Methods: From August 2020 to June 2021, a total of 236 patients who admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit (NSICU) were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into GH group (97 cases) and nGH group (139 cases) according to whether they received r-hGH treatment. Parameters including CD4+ T cell counts, inflammatory mediators and prognosis were recorded and assessed. Results: The results showed that the cure time of pneumonia and intracranial infection in GH group patients was significantly shorter than in the nGH group (24.25 ± 4.89 days and 21.33 ± 1.53 days versus 29.13 ± 7.43 days and 25.17 ± 2.32 days, respectively). However, there was no significant difference in GOS scores between two groups (31.96% ≤ 3 and 68.04% > 3 vs 39.57% ≤ 3 and 60.43% > 3) (P = 0.232). Furthermore, the number of CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in the GH group showed a significant upward trend. Last but not least, significant differences were also observed in IL-6 and IL-10 levels between two groups at days 1, 3, and 7. Conclusion: The application of r-hGH in severe neurosurgical patients was effective in increasing the number of CD4+ T cells, down-regulating inflammatory mediators, shortening the cure time of pneumonia, intracranial infections and urinary tract infections, and improving patients' prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inter-cropping is a reasonable planting pattern between different plants. Inter-cropping of Torreya grandis with Polygonatum sibiricum is a relatively mature planting pattern in China, which has been applied to improve soil ecological environment and reduce the occurrence of pests and diseases in China. However, there is currently limited knowledge on the response of soil microbial communities to this practice. Methods: In this study, we employed Illumina MiSeq sequencing coupled with Functional Annotation of Prokaryotic Taxa (FAPROTAX) and Fungi Functional Guild (FUNGuild) analyses to investigate the dynamic changes in soil microbial communities across seven treated groups [the bulk soil of the T. grandis inter-cropping with P. sibiricum (IB), the bulk soil for mono-cropping of P. sibiricum (PB), the bulk soil for mono-cropping of T. grandis (TB), the P. grandis rhizosphere soil of the T. grandis inter-cropping with P. sibiricum (IPR), the rhizosphere soil for mono-cropping of P. sibiricum (PR), the T. grandis rhizosphere soil of the T. grandis inter-cropping with P. sibiricum (ITR), and the rhizosphere soil for mono-cropping of T. grandis (TR)]. Results: The results showed that the rhizosphere soil of Torreya-Polygonatum inter-cropping exhibited higher microbial community richness, diversity and evenness than mono-cropping (ITR > TR, IPR > PR). Inter-cropping increased the abundance of Micrococcaceae, Xanthobacteraceae, Saitozyma , while decreased Bacillus, Burkholderia, Streptomyces, Cladosporium , and Gibberella significantly of the rhizosphere soil of T. grandis. Further, the abundance of pathogens, such as Fusarium and Neocosmospora , was higher in mono-cropping samples compared to inter-cropping. There existed distinct variations in bacterial and fungal communities among all groups except for IB and TB. The FAPROTAX and FUNGuild analyses results indicated that inter-cropping significantly enhanced soil microbial function associated with nutrient cycling and exhibited a consistent increase in the relative abundance of nitrogen-cycling and carbon-cycling bacteria, and decreased the abundance of plant pathogen guild in the inter-cropping sample ITR compared to the mono-cropping TR. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that T. grandis inter-cropping with P. sibiricum not only enhance the diversity of soil microbial communities, but also improve the nitrogen and carbon cycling functions. In addition, the inter-cropping can effectively reduce the relative abundance of some soil-borne pathogens for T. grandis and P. sibiricum , indicating that this intercropping method may alleviate the impact of pathogens on crops, thus providing assistance for plant disease prevention and sustainable management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the effect and mechanism of MAFF and HDAC6 on renal fibrosis and inflammation in lupus nephritis (LN). IL-33 treated renal epithelial cells and MRL/lpr mice were respectively used for in vitro and in vivo experiments. The expressions of HDAC6, MAFF, and KLF5 were measured in cells and renal tissues. Before and after cell transfection, the morphological changes in renal tissues were observed using Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson staining. The proteinuria, serum creatinine (SCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) levels were detected by biochemical analysis. The expressions of fibrosis and inflammation related proteins (including α-SMA, Vimentin, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α), p65, and iNOS were also detected. The relationship among MAFF, HDAC6, and KLF5 was determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation and dual luciferase reporter gene assay. Renal tissues and cell models had elevated expressions of HDAC6 and KLF5, and decreased MAFF expression. HDAC6 suppression or MAFF overexpression led to suppression of proteinuria, SCr, BUN, and dsDNA levels, as well as attenuation of inflammatory infiltration and collagen deposition. HDAC6 can suppress MAFF expression via deacetylation to abolish its suppression of KLF5 expression, thus increasing KLF5 expression. In vivo and in vitro experiments showed the suppressive effect of HDAC6 suppression on renal fibrosis and inflammation can be abolished by KLF5 overexpression. HDAC6 suppresses MAFF expression via deacetylation to elevate KLF5 expression, which consequently enhances fibrosis and inflammatory response in LN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthracnose of Camellia plants is caused by the Colletotrichum species. The fungal pathogens mainly infect the leaves of plants and lead to serious economic losses. However, knowledge of Camellia phyllosphere microbial community after Colletotrichum infection has not been explored which limited our understanding of the relationship between the Camellia anthracnose outbreak and interacting microorganisms. In this study, three economically and ecologically important Camellia species with anthracnose symptoms were collected and subjected to bacterial and fungal composition analysis, diversity, co-occurrence characteristics, isolation of key strains, and tie-back pathogenicity test. The results indicated that Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium were the dominant bacterial genera over the three Camellia species and Pallidocercospora, Colletotrichum, and Pichia were the dominant fungal genera. The co-occurrence analysis showed that Methylobacterium, Sphingomonas, Massilia, and Allorhizobium were the key bacterial taxa and Colletotrichum, Pallidocercospora, Pichia, Septophoma, and Septoria were the key fungal taxa over the three infected plants. The hub taxa, including the species significantly associated with the Colletotrichum abundance, were mostly beneficial bacteria over the three Camellia species. Further co-culture and tie-back pathogenicity tests verified that the hub taxa associated with pathogenic Colletotrichum in the microbial networks may play promoting/inhibiting roles on Colletotrichum infection. The results highlight the importance of phytopathological conditions for the interactions between microbial members of foliar fungal and bacterial communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical porous hypercrosslinked monoliths (PolyHIPE‐HCP) with ultrahigh specific surface areas are prepared via a solvent knitting strategy. Compared to previous work, the solvent knitting strategy is carried out in a relatively low air‐controlled atmosphere with gradient heating starting from low temperature while using DCM (Dichloromethane) as both a solvent and a cross‐linker, allowing for a slow and controlled cross‐linking process, thereby achieving a BET surface area ranging from 514 to 728 m2 g−1. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the knitting process does not affect the presence of macroporous structure in the PolyHIPE. With the introduction of mesopores and micropores, these hierarchical porous monoliths exhibit significant potential for applications in gas adsorption and water treatment. Hence, a universal, simple and low‐cost method to synthesize polymeric monoliths with hierarchically porous structure and higher surface area is proposed, which has fascinating prospects in industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is a serious complication of liver cirrhosis and a potential cause of bleeding in patients with cirrhosis. Suppressed mucosal epithelial proliferation is a crucial pathological characteristic of PHG. Our studies demonstrated an important role for PGE2 and its EP4 receptor in the promotion of mucosal proliferation. However, whether β-arrestin1 (β-arr1), a well-established mediator of GPCRs, is involved in the PGE2 /EP4 receptor-mediated mucosal proliferation complex in PHG remains unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate whether β-arr1 participated in PGE2 /EP4 receptor-mediated mucosal proliferation by recruiting the Src/EGF receptor (EGFR) complex to activate Akt/proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) signalling in PHG.Experimental Approach: Gastric mucosal proliferation was examined in patients with PHG and the PHG model of β-arr1-knockout (β-arr1-KO) and β-arr1-wild type (β-arr1-WT) mice. The induction of β-arr1 and EP4 receptor expression and the Src/EGFR signalling elements was investigated, and the mechanisms underlying PGE2 -regulated gastric mucosal proliferation were analysed.Key Results: Portal hypertension suppressed COX-1 but not COX-2, which was accompanied by a down-regulation of PGE2 generation and EP4 receptor levels in the mucosa of patients with PHG. PGE2 administration markedly promoted mucosal proliferation in a mouse model of PHG. Targeted deletion of β-arr1 abolished PGE2 /EP4 receptor-mediated gastric proliferation in PHG by repressing the Src/EGFR/Akt/PCNA signalling network.Conclusions and Implications: These results indicate that β-arr1 regulates PGE2 /EP4 receptor-mediated mucosal proliferation by promoting activation of the Src/EGFR/Akt/PCNA signalling pathway, and thus, this network is a potential therapeutic target for PHG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the clinical effects of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) on the treatment of acute intestinal pseudo obstruction (AIPO) secondary to intracerebral hemorrhage., Methods: The clinical data of a patient with AIPO secondary to intracerebral hemorrhage who was admitted to Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University was analyzed. The flora compositon between donor and patient was compared, finding the changes of intestinal flora before and after FMT (day 0 and day 25)., Results: The main clinical findings in the patient were serious bloating, expansion of the intestinal canal and intra-abdominal hypertension. A week of conventional therapy was not effective, and the symptoms became progressively worse, affecting respiratory function.The result of fecal flora suggested the intestinal microbiota dybiosis, so FMT was attempted. After FMT, the patient's gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly relieved, and there were no further episodes within 25 days. The new result of fecal flora showed that the flora colonizing the intestine was dominated by Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium, with a significant decrease in potential pro-inflammatory and gas-producing bacteria and an increased gut microbiota diversity. The results trended to be partly consistent with the donor at 25 days after FMT: at the phylum level, the relative abundance of Bacterioidetes, Vereucomicrobia, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were increased while Proteobacteria was decreased; at the class level, the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobiae, Bacterioidia, Actinobacteria, Coriobacteriia and Clostridia were increased and Gammaproteobacteria was decreased; at the order level, the relative abundance of Bacterioidales, Verrucomicrobiales, Clostridiale, Coriobacteriales were increased and Betaproteobacteriales, Enterobacteriales were decreased; at the family level, the relative abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae, Akkermansiaceae, Ruminococcaceae were increased and Enterobacteriaceae was decreased; at the genus level, the relative abundance of Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium were increased and Escherichia-Shigella, Klebsiella were decreased. At 1-year follow-up, the patient lived with self-care and scored 5 points in Glasgow outcome scale (GOS)., Conclusions: FMT may provide clinical benefit in treated patients with AIPO secondary to intracerebral hemorrhage, probably by regulating the intestinal microflora, and re-establishing proper intestinal barrier, to maintain intestinal homeostasis.

Camellia japonica is an attractive flowering woody plant with great ornamental and medicinal value in China. However, typical anthracnose lesions on the leaves are usually observed in summer in Zhejiang province. A number of 100 trees have been investigated with over 70% of leaf disease incidence. The symptom initially develops from the tip or edge of the leaf and dark green infected spots appear. The diseased spots expand and become yellow brown. The lesions are covered with abundant, small and black acervuli at the center with yellow edges. The diseased leaves become brittle, cracked, and finally fall off. Sixty leaves with typical anthracnose symptoms were sampled from gardens in Lin'an, Zhejiang province. The diseased tissues were cut into pieces and incubated in moist chambers at 25°C. The spore mass was collected using a sterile needle under dissection microscope and put on 2% malt extract agar (MEA). The cultures were incubated at 25°C in the dark for one week. Thirty single spore cultures were obtained and grown on 2% MEA at 25°C for morphological characterization. White aerial mycelia and black conidiomata with orange masses of conidia developed seven days later. Conidia are cylindrical in shape, 12-19 μm, mean lengths ranging from 15.5 ± 1.0 to 16.0 ± 1.2 μm. The morphological characteristics are consistent with those of Colletotrichum species. DNA was extracted from three selected isolates (HT-71, J-5, J-20) for sequencing. The partial regions of ribosomal internal transcribed spacers (ITS), calmodulin (CAL), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), actin gene (ACT), beta-tubulin (TUB2), Apn2-Mat1-2 intergenic spacer and partial mating type gene (ApMat), and glutamine synthetase (GS) were amplified as described by Liu et al. (2015). Sequences of the above seven loci for the selected isolates were obtained, and deposited in the GenBank database (MZ014901 to MZ014905, MZ514915 to MZ514922, MZ514925 to MZ514930, MZ497332 and MZ497333). BLAST results indicate they represent Colletotricum siamense. Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis including ex-type of C. siamense (ICMP18578=CBS130417) and related species was conducted using Maximum Likelihood method, and C. acutatum (CBS 112996) served as the outgroup. The three obtained isolates clustered with the ex-type isolate of C. siamense. Eight leaves on two Camellia plants were inoculated to confirm the pathogenicity in the field. The leaves were surface sprayed with 75% ethanol and dried with sterilized filter paper. The leaves were inoculated using the wound/drop inoculation method: an aliquot of 10 μL of spore suspension (1.0 × 106 conidia per mL) was dropped on the left side of a leaf after wounding once by pin-pricking with a sterilized needle. The sterile water was dropped on the right side of the same leaf in parallel as control. The initial symptoms were observed seven days later, all inoculated leaves developed lesions similar to those observed in the field, and no symptoms observed in the control. The fungus was successfully re-isolated only from lesions inoculated with spore suspension exhibiting morphological characteristics resembling those in C. siamense, and further confirmed with sequence data. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of anthracnose on C. japonica caused by C. siamense worldwide. Confirmation of this pathogen in the region will be helpful for the disease management on C. japonica, considering previous report of C. camelliae-japonicae on the same host. References Fu, M., et al. 2019. Persoonia. 42: 1. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2019.42.01 Guarnaccia, V., et al. 2017. Persoonia. 39: 32. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2017.39.02 Hou, L. W., et al. 2016. Mycosphere. 7: 1111. Doi 10.5943/mycosphere/si/2c/4 Liu, F., et al. 2015. Persoonia. 35: 63. http://dx.doi.org/10.3767/003158515X687597 Vieira, A. D. S., et al. 2019. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106694.

COX-1/PGE 2 is an important protective mediator in ulcerative colitis (UC). β-arrestin1 (β-arr1), which acts as a scaffold protein, is involved in PGE 2 -mediated signaling pathways. However, the interaction between PGE 2 and β-arr1 in maintaining mucosal barrier integrity remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrated that COX-1 and PGE 2 were significantly decreased, and EP4 mRNA was downregulated in both UC patients and mice during the injury phase. PGE 2 treatment was found to alleviate mucosal injury and induce EP4 expression during dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in wild-type (WT) mice. Following DSS-induced injury, β-arr1 deficient mice showed increased signs of colitis compared to β-arr1 WT mice, and the expression of PI3K and p-Akt were remarkably downregulated in β-arr1 deficient mice. In parallel, HCT116 cells transfected with β-arr1 siRNA were examined in the presence or absence of PGE 2 in vitro. PGE 2 treatment in the β-arr1 WT/KO DSS model and β-arr1 siRNA transfection of HCT116 cells confirmed that PGE 2 upregulated β-arr1 in vivo and in vitro. Collectively, our results indicate that COX-1/PGE 2 /EP4 upregulates the β-arr1 mediated Akt signaling pathway to provide mucosal protection in colitis. Thus, these findings provide support for the future development and clinical application of COX-1/PGE 2 in UC.