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Rotundic acid (RA) is a major triterpene constituent in the barks of Ilex rotunda Thunb, which have been widely used to make herbal tea for health care in southern China. RA has a variety of bioactivities such as anti-inflammation and lipid-lowering effect. However, little is known about the effects and mechanisms of RA on metabolic disturbance in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its effect on gut microbiota. A T2D rat model induced by high fat diet (HFD) feeding and low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) injection was employed and RA showed multipronged effects on T2D and its complications, including improving glucolipid metabolism, lowering blood pressure, protecting against cardiovascular and hepatorenal injuries, and alleviating oxidative stress and inflammation. Furthermore, 16s rRNA gene sequencing was carried out on an Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform and RA treatment could restore the gut microbial dysbiosis in T2D rats to a certain extent. RA treatment significantly enhanced the richness and diversity of gut microbiota. At the genus level, beneficial or commensal bacteria Prevotella, Ruminococcus, Leuconostoc and Streptococcus were significantly increased by RA treatment, while RA-treated rats had a lower abundance of opportunistic pathogen Klebsiella and Proteus. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that the abundances of these bacteria were strongly correlated with various biochemical parameters, suggesting that the improvement of gut microbiota might help to prevent or attenuate T2D and its complication. In conclusion, our findings support RA as a nutraceutical agent or plant foods rich in this compound might be helpful for the alleviation of T2D and its complications through improving gut microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the genetic and family environmental risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea（OSA） in children with habitual snoring. Method: Children with habitual snoring who underwent overnight PSG were recruited. Subjects were divided into the snoring group and OSA group according to the criteria of the International Classification of Sleep Disorder（ICSD-3）. The demographic data, symptoms, signs and family environmental factors of the two groups were compared. Result: One hundred and fifty-five families were included（including children with habitual snoring and their parents）. Children were 3 to 13 years old, including 88 cases in the snoring group and 67 cases in the OSA group. Using binary logistic regression analysis, existence of apnea, higher BMI z score and mother's medical history of repeated tonsillitis and/or adenotonsillectomy in childhood were risk factors for OSA in children with habitual snoring, and the odds ratio（95% CI ） was 4.081（1.835, 9.073）, 1.347（1.071, 1.694）, 3.897（1.400, 10.849） respectively. There were no significant differences in the distribution of environmental factors such as family residence, per capita household income, and parental smoking history. Conclusion: The risk factors of OSA in habitual snoring children are symptom of apnea, higher BMI z score and mother's medical history of repeated tonsillitis and/or adenotonsillectomy in childhood., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)