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Deoxynivalenol (DON) is widely emerging in various grain crops, milk, and wine products, which can trigger different toxic effects on humans and animals by inhalation or ingestion. It also imposes a considerable financial loss on the agriculture and food industry each year. Previous studies have reported acute and chronic toxicity of DON in liver, and liver is not only the main detoxification organ for DON but also the circadian clock oscillator directly or indirectly regulates critical physiologically hepatic functions under different physiological and pathological conditions. However, researches on the association of circadian rhythm in DON-induced liver damage are limited. In the present study, mice were divided into four groups (CON, DON, Bmal1

Background In order to meet nutritional needs and prevent nutritional deficiencies and chronic diseases, dietary guidelines (DGs), tailored to nation's dietary and lifestyle characteristics, were developed by many countries. So far, there are many researches focusing DGs on one country or continent, but a full and systematic comparison of global DGs is still sparse. Scope and approach DGs and related information of 96 countries (regions), including 46 full texts in English, 95 key items and 91 graphics, were collected complying with explicit inclusion criteria. A comparative study is made on graphics, food groupings, associated messages of healthy eating and behavior and DGs for specific populations based on information extracting from DGs key items, graphics and full texts. Key findings and conclusions Pyramid model was the preferred model of most countries in Asia and Europe to illustrate their food guide, other shapes were the choices of most countries in both South and North Americas. Vegetable/fruit, salt/sodium, fat, sugar, physical activity, water, dairy/milk, grain/cereal, fish, variety/diversity are mentioned most frequently, suggesting these projects or items are currently the major concerns for world diet. Few countries have developed specific DGs for special populations. Different countries presented different features in DGs due to various reasons such as traditional culture, geographical condition, ethnic relation and other social-cultural conditions. Based on the interpretation of the similarities and differences of DGs among different countries, we believe that this review could provide some available information and help for a better understanding of dietary guidelines about the main points and important principles.

Allicin, a thiosulfonate extract from freshly minced garlic, has been reported to have various biological effects on different organs and systems of animals and human. It can reduce oxidative stress, inhibit inflammatory response, resist pathogen infection and regulate intestinal flora. In addition, dozens of studies also demonstrated allicin could reduce blood glucose level, protect cardiovascular system and nervous system, and fight against cancers. Allicin was widely used in disease prevention and health care. However, more investigations on human cohort study are needed to verify the biological or clinical effects of allicin in the future. In this review, we summarized the biological effects of allicin from previous outstanding and valuable studies and provided useful information for future studies on the health effects of allicin.

The age‐related loss of muscle mass and muscle function known as sarcopenia is a primary contributor to the problems faced by the old people. Sarcopenia has been a major public health problem with high prevalence in many countries. The related underlying molecular mechanisms of sarcopenia are not completely understood. This review is focused on the potential mechanisms and current research strategies for sarcopenia with the aim of facilitating the recognition and treatment of age‐related sarcopenia. Previous studies suggested that protein synthesis and degradation, autophagy, impaired satellite cell activation, mitochondria dysfunction, and other factors associated with muscle weakness and muscle degeneration may be potential molecular pathophysiology of sarcopenia. Importantly, we also prospectively highlight that exosomes (small vesicles) as carriers can regulate muscle regeneration and protein synthesis according to recent researches. Dietary strategies and exercise represent the interventions that can also alleviate the progression of sarcopenia. At last, building on recent studies pointing to exosomes with the roles in increasing muscle regeneration, mediating the beneficial effects of exercise, and serving as messengers of intercellular communication and as carriers for research strategies of many diseases, we propose that exosomes could be a potential research direction or strategies of sarcopenia in the future.

Interleukin-22 (IL22) has been implicated in inflammation and tumorigenesis. The association between IL22 gene polymorphisms and cancer risk has been widely explored. However, the limited sample sizes of previous studies may produce inadequate statistical power and conflicting results, which calls for further investigations. In this study, we recruited a total of 1490 cancer patients (480 liver cancer patients, 550 lung cancer patients, and 460 gastric cancer patients) and 800 normal controls to explore the associations between IL22 gene polymorphisms (rs1179251, rs2227485, rs2227511, and rs2227473) and cancer risk. The genotyping was performed with polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) and Sanger sequencing. Our results showed that none of the four IL22 gene polymorphisms was associated with the risk of liver, lung or gastric cancer in Hubei Han Chinese population. To improve the statistical strength, a meta-analysis was further conducted. The results further confirmed our present findings and showed that rs1179251, rs2227485, and rs2227473 were not associated with cancer risk in total or stratified analysis. Consequently, the rs1179251, rs2227485, rs2227511, and rs2227473 polymorphisms may not be associated with cancer risk. However, further investigations using larger samples in different ethnic populations are required.

Background mTOR, mLST8 and RAPTOR are the core components of mTORC1, which has been found to be closely related to tumorigenesis. Currently, multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in mTOR gene (rs2295080, rs17036508 and rs1034528), mLST8 gene (rs3160 and rs26865) and RPTOR gene (rs1062935, rs3751932, rs3751834, rs12602885) have been extensively studied for their associations with cancer risk. However, the results remained inconclusive and conflicting. Therefore, we here performed a meta-analysis of all available studies to investigate the association between these SNPs and cancer risk. Methods Up to April 2021, 25 related publications were retrieved and included in this meta-analysis. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) calculated by fixed or random effects models were applied to assess the strength of association. Trial Sequential Analysis (TSA) was conducted to weaken the random error and enhance the reliability of evidence. Results After Bonferroni correction, it was revealed that rs3160, rs26865, rs1062935, rs3751932, rs3751834 and rs10602885 were not associated with cancer risk. However, rs17036508 and rs1034528 showed significant association with total cancer risk. A significant association was also found between rs2295080 and total cancer risk, and stratified analysis by cancer type suggested that rs2295080 was specifically associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia risk, prostate cancer risk, and breast cancer risk. Conclusions The present meta-analysis suggested that the rs2295080, rs17036508 and rs1034528 polymorphisms in mTOR gene may be the susceptive factors for cancer development, while the target genetic polymorphisms in mLST8 gene or RPTOR gene may not be associated with cancer risk. However, these findings remain to be confirmed or further reinforced in large and well-designed studies in different ethnic populations.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most common mycotoxins which contaminate cereals and their by-products worldwide. Previous studies have stated toxic effects of DON on liver. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) plays a potential role in protecting liver and maintaining gut microbiota homeostasis. Therefore, a study on the potential and basic interaction between DON, HO-1 and intestinal flora would be helpful for better understanding DON-induced hepatotoxicity. In the present study, male C57BL6/J mice were exposed to 25 μg/kg bw/day DON for 30 days. Compared with control group, liver lymphocytes accumulation and elevated ALT activity were observed in DON group, however, AST activity was not notably changed. Several genera, including Parabacteroides and Enterobacter, were significantly increased after DON administration while Lactobacillus, Odoribacter and Lachnospiracea incertae sedis were mostly reduced. The top distinct microbial pathways predicted by PICRUSt included signal transduction, metabolism and genetic information processing. Importantly, liver-specific knockdown of HO-1 caused more severe pathological alterations in liver after DON administration and overexpression of HO-1 protected against DON-induced liver inflammation. The gut microbiota and related microbial pathways were changed in different ways after gene-editing. In conclusion, low dose of DON triggered low-grade inflammation in liver and changes in gut microbiota. HO-1 could attenuate DON-induced inflammation in liver, where gut microbiota may play an important role. HO-1 also could be a potential protective factor between homeostasis of gut microbiota and DON-induced hepatotoxicity in animal models.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination is indicated as a worldwide problem since it causes economic losses for the grain and is a potential threat to both animal and human health. This study concentrated on DON-induced oxidative damage and the accompanying nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) translocation during DON-induced maternal hepatotoxicity. The 0, 1.0 and 2.5 mg/kg/day of DON were used as doses for the experiment during gestation days. DON slightly increased the levels of ALT and AST in GD12.5 d instead of GD18.5 d. Oxidative stress and anti-oxidization system were both found to be activated in the experiment which marked by ROS, MDA and GSH increasing, especially on GD12.5 d. The levels of HO-1 were significantly increased by DON exposure at different two time points. Moreover, Nrf2 translocation appeared both in GD 12.5 d and GD 18.5 d. In conclusion, DON-induced ROS accumulation may cause maternal liver damage in the initial stages, but the related stimulation of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway improves the removal of ROS and decreases the level of oxidative stress thereby protecting the liver damage. Therefore, upregulating the Nrf2-dependent response is one of the potential methods that protects maternal liver from DON-induced oxidative damage.

Background Consumptions of DON-contaminated food by farm animals and humans lead to mycotoxicoses. Based on the previous studies, DON may cause the morphological, numerical and functional abnormity of erythrocyte in animals such as pigs, poultry, horses, mice, humans and so on. But at present, there is still a lack of full and systematic discussion of the DON-induced erythrocyte damage. Scope and approach Therefore, the aim of the present review is to summarize and update the prominent evidences, explore possible mechanisms, put forward preventive measures, and suggest a hypothesis for future research regarding the effects of DON on erythrocyte. Key finding And conclusions what we summarize are 1) Apart from ruminant, DON can induce erythrocyte damage in animals and there is a threshold level about damage. However, the value of threshold level and the extent of damage are still unclear; 2) DON exerts toxicity on erythrocyte mainly by penetrating the phospholipid bilayers, interacting with the cellular membranes, and phospholipid peroxidation. Most probably, more than one mechanism operates at the same time; 3) The existing methods for preventing damage can be classified as reducing absorption of DON through intestinal tract and blocking mechanisms that DON exerts toxicity on erythrocyte.

Background Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most common mycotoxins in cereal crops and their by-products, posing severe effects to the health of human and animals. However, DON-induced food contamination varies from different regions. Therefore, it is urgent to summarize a review to update information about DON exposure in various food commodities worldwide for future research and regulation. Scope and approach In this review, we summarize some typical surveys on the occurrence of DON in food raw materials and food production on human DON exposure around the world. In addition, we conclude the findings regarding masked DON in some food and discuss the daily intakes of DON in food from different regions. Key finding and conclusion DON contamination in food is a serious problem worldwide. Infants and children are susceptible to the high risk of DON exposure, which is harmful to their growth and development. Otherwise, masked DON also represents potential health risks to the population. Last but not least, the study further emphasizes strict and food security policies are needed all over the world.

Whey protein has been reported to be an impactful dietary supplement to ameliorate skeletal muscle aging for a long time. However, whether whey protein could contribute to muscle aging amelioration by post-transcriptional modulation remains unclear. In this study, 19-month-old mice orally received whey protein supplementation (1.0 g/kg/bw/d, whey protein group) or deionized water (the control group) for 3 months. Differentially expressed ncRNAs and mRNAs in quadriceps were identified by RNA-seq. Construction of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs)-associated competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks as well as GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were also carried out subsequently. Meanwhile, ultrasound measurement, HE staining, myofiber cross-sectional area measurement, western blotting and RT-qPCR were performed in the quadriceps to evaluate muscle status and verify the RNA-seq data. Whey protein supplementation for 3 months increased quadriceps-body weight ratio and improved the histological as well as ultrasonographic characteristics of aging in muscle. Moreover, the protein expression levels of Myog, Myf4, Myf5 and MyoD1 were all significantly elevated in quadriceps. The expression of 90 lncRNAs, 334 mRNAs, six circRNAs and 52 miRNAs were significantly up or down-regulated in quadriceps after whey protein supplementation. Furthermore, ncRNAs-associated networks and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed whey protein may influence muscle aging process through selected ncRNAs-associated ceRNA networks. Therefore, post-transcriptional modulation could be a potential crucial way to ameliorate skeletal muscle aging after whey protein supplementation. The selected ncRNAs-associated ceRNA networks may provide new insight for the underlying mechanism and profound therapeutic target for skeletal muscle aging.

Recently, four single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2585428, rs4809960, rs6022999 and rs6068816) in CYP24A1 gene were extensively studied for their associations with cancer risk. However, these studies included only a few types of cancer, which calls for further investigations. In view of this, we here conducted a case-control study to explore the associations between these four CYP24A1 gene polymorphisms and risk of liver, lung and gastric cancer in a Chinese population. A total of 480 liver cancer patients, 550 lung cancer patients, 460 gastric cancer patients and 800 normal controls were recruited in this study. The genotyping of CYP24A1 gene polymorphisms was applied with Sanger sequencing assay. Single-locus analysis demonstrated that rs6022999 was significantly associated with risk of liver and lung cancer, while rs6068816 was significantly associated with the risk of gastric cancer. Haplotype analysis revealed that haplotype GTAT was associated with an increased risk of liver cancer and a decreased risk of lung cancer, and haplotype ATGC was associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer. The further meta-analysis of rs6068816 and lung cancer risk showed that rs6068816 was not associated with lung cancer risk in Chinese population, which confirmed our present finding. Conclusively, rs6022999 may be a genetic biomarker for liver and lung cancer susceptibility in Chinese population, and rs6068816 may be used to predict gastric cancer risk in Chinese population.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) cannot be totally removed due to its stable chemical characteristics and chronic exposure to low doses of DON causes significant toxic effects in humans and animals. However, the potential hazard of such low-dose exposure in target organs still remains not completely understood, especially in liver, which is mainly responsible for detoxification of DON. In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that estimated human daily DON exposure (25 μg/kg bw) for 30 and 90 days caused low-grade inflammatory infiltration around hepatic centrilobular veins, elevated systemic IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α and impaired liver function evidenced by increased serum ALT activity. At the molecular level, expressions of autophagy-related proteins as well as Cleaved Caspase-3 and Cleaved Caspase-7 were upregulated during DON exposure, which indicated the activation of autophagy and apoptosis. Importantly, AAV-mediated liver-specific overexpression of HO-1 reversed DON-induced liver damages, upregulated autophagy and attenuated apoptosis in liver, while AAV-mediated HO-1 silence aggravated DON-induced liver damages, inhibited autophagy and increased apoptosis. Furthermore, in vitro experiments demonstrated that lentivirus-mediated HO-1 overexpression in Hepa 1–6 cells prolonged the duration of autophagy and delayed the onset of apoptosis. HO-1 silence in Hepa 1–6 cells inhibited activation of autophagy and accelerated occurrence of apoptosis, and these could be recovered by CO pre-treatment. Therefore, we suppose that HO-1 might be a potential research target to protect human and animal from liver injuries induced by low dose of DON exposure.

As a neuropsychiatric disorder, substance addiction represents a major public health issue with high prevalence and mortality in many countries. Recently, gut microbiota has been certified to play a part in substance addiction through various mechanisms. Hence, we mainly focused on three substance including alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine in this review, and summarized their relationships with gut microbiota, respectively. Besides, we also concluded the possible treatments for substance addiction from the perspective of applying gut microbiota. This review aims to build a bridge between substance addiction and gut microbiota according to existing evidences, so as to excavate the possible bi-directional function of microbiota-gut-brain axis in substance addiction for developing therapeutic strategies in the future.

The regulatory effects of competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network have been highlighted on the occurrence and development of diseases. However, the effect of ceRNA network in liver with subchronic deoxynivalenol (DON) exposure has remained unclear so far. Here, lncRNA Gm20319-miR-7240-5p-GNE (glucosamine UDP-N-acetyl-2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase) network was identified in DON exposed-liver tissues after DON exposure for 90 days. Subchronic DON exposure induced the mild inflammation in liver tissues. In DON-treated liver tissues and Hepa 1–6 cell line, the expression of Gm20319 and GNE were both downregulated while miR-7240-5p expression was upregulated. The gain- and loss-of-function expression in vitro revealed there was a mutual repression between Gm20319 and miR-7240-5p, and they regulated GNE expression in an opposite direction. Dual luciferase reporter assays showed miR-7240-5p inhibited Gm20319 and GNE expression by directly binding. Co-transfection experiment in vitro revealed Gm20319 and miR-7240-5p could indirectly regulate sialic acid level by directly modulating GNE expression, thereby also influencing the expression of SOD1 and IL-1β. This study revealed Gm20319-miR-7240-5p-GNE network reduced sialic acid level to influence the expression of SOD1 and IL-1β in liver, which might involve in liver damage induced by DON. Gm20319 might be a potential research molecular target for DON-induced liver damage.

Organ transplantation is often the only effective treatment for patients with end-stage diseases, such as heart, liver, kidney and small bowel failure and is carried out frequently worldwide. Still the post-transplantation complications remain health- and life-threatening outcome that needed to be resolved. With the rapid development of molecular technologies in recent years, more and more researchers realize that the gut microbiota may play a critical role in human diseases. The intestinal microbiome has been proved to provide a lot of functions to the host, such as digesting food, modulating metabolism, promoting angiogenesis and regulating the immune system. Several studies have investigated the alteration of intestinal microbiota in post-transplantation patients and observed significant changes in the intestinal microbiome compared to the pre-transplant condition. Due to the abovementioned features that the gut microbiota may be used in the prognosis of clinical outcome of organ transplantation. In addition, the FMT (fecal microbiota transplantation), probiotics and prebiotics as the newest therapy methods, effectiveness of which has been verified in some diseases, such as Clostridium difficile infection, inflammatory bowel disease and other chronic disorders, might be used as the prognosis tool in organ transplantation as well. The purpose of this present review is to elucidate the relationship between gut microbiota and organ transplantation as well as the potential use of new therapies like fecal microbiota transplantation, probiotic and prebiotic administration after the transplantation, and provide some ideas for future researches in field of organ transplantation.

Deoxynivalenol (DON, vomitoxin) is the most frequent mycotoxin in grains and grain products. DON contamination in fodder and food is a serious threat for health, since it impairs the immune and gastrointestinal systems of both human and animals. Gut microbiota seems to play a more and more important part in human and animals' health according to related researches. Previous studies implied some associations among gut microbiota, DON and immune system. For example, DON affects immune system as well as the composition and abundance of gut microbiota, and the latter influences immune system as well. In the present short review, we not only provide the available information about the toxic consequences of DON-induced immunotoxicity on different animals and cell lines and discuss its main possible molecule mechanisms, but also summarize research results concerning the role of gut microbiota in DON-induced immunotoxicity and gender differences, with the aim to find some potential therapeutic strategies to tackle DON-induced immunotoxicity.

Mycotoxins, produced by fungi, are secondary metabolites causing adverse, toxic and pathological effects on human and animals. Studies about the association between mycotoxins and microRNAs (miRNAs) were developed since miRNAs have been demonstrated to play a critical role in many developmental processes for regulating messenger RNA (mRNA). As published studies showed, dozens of miRNAs were influenced by mycotoxins, indicating that miRNAs can play important roles in the occurrence and development of mycotoxicosis. Besides, a hypothesis called competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) was reported to indirectly modulate the expression of mRNA via miRNA response elements (MREs) to consequently regulate cell functions. As a result, four common miRNAs were focused to predict the corresponding ceRNAs based on their own characteristics and the effects of mycotoxins on them, in hope of providing potential ways or directions of miRNAs regulation for mycotoxicosis, and expanding the research field about mycotoxicosis from ceRNA.

Skeletal muscle aging is characterized by decline in skeletal muscle mass and function along with growing age, which consequently leads to age-related sarcopenia, if without any preventive timely treatment. Moreover, age-related sarcopenia in elder people would contribute to falls and fractures, disability, poor quality of life, increased use of hospital services and even mortality. Whey protein (WP) and/or resistance training (RT) has shown promise in preventing and treating age-related sarcopenia. It seems that sex hormones could be potential contributors for gender differences in skeletal muscle and age-related sarcopenia. In addition, skeletal muscle and the development of sarcopenia are influenced by gut microbiota, which in turn is affected by WP or RT. Gut microbiota may be a key factor for WP and/or RT against age-related sarcopenia. Therefore, focusing on sex hormones and gut microbiota may do great help for preventing, treating and better understanding age-related sarcopenia.

The Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation was introduced to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients based on serum creatinine. The CKD-EPI equation shows better accuracy compared with the current gold standard equation, the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation, but it has not been externally validated in Chinese patients. This study compared the CKD-EPI equation with the original MDRD equation and two Chinese MDRD-based equations for estimating GFR in 200 Chinese CKD patients. The 99mTc-diethylenetriamine penta-acetate (99mTc-DTPA) method was used to determine actual GFR. The CKD-EPI equation produced GFR estimates that were more consistent with the 99mTc-DTPA GFR than did the MDRD equations. The precision and accuracy of the CKD-EPI equation were significantly higher than those of the MDRD equations. In conclusion, the CKD-EPI equation was superior to the existing MDRD equations in terms of estimating GFR and we recommend its clinical use in Chinese CKD patients.