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Lipid metabolism plays an important role in plant response to abiotic stress. Four salt/alkali-tolerant phosphate-solubilizing bacteria strains (W5, Y7, Y14 and Y31, with Latin names of Bacillus siamensis, Pseudo-monas sp., B. wiedmannii and Acinetobacter sp., respectively) screened in the previous study were used for soybean pot experiment to investigate the effects of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) on the growth of soybean plants under salt/alkali conditions, and to analyze the changes of lipid compounds in soybean leaves. The results showed that the chlorophyll content, plant height, root length, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root fresh weight and root dry weight of soybean were increased after treatment with the four strains, and the Y7 strain treatment group had the best effect. The Y7 strain treatment group was selected for soybean leaf lipid metabolism analysis. It showed that a total of 429 lipids were detected, and 30 significantly different metabolites (16 up-regulated and 14 down-regulated) were screened in the Y7 strain treatment group. The metabolic pathways with the largest enrichment of differential metabolic pathways were glyceride metabolism from lipid metabolism, in which the content of diglyceride (DG) was significantly increased, the content of triglyceride ( TG) was significantly decreased, and the total content of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylserine ( PS) was significantly increased, and the total content of phosphatidic acid (PA) and phosphatidylinositol (PI) total compounds was significantly decreased. The comprehensive results showed that salt/alkali-tolerant phosphate-solubilizing bacteria applied to salt/alkali soil had obvious growth promotion effect on soybean and affected soybean leaf lipid metabolic pathways and products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diabetic distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSPN) is one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus, and it has become a major public health problem worldwide because of its high and increasing prevalence, morbidity, and disability rate. The current medications for DSPN are not entirely satisfactory. Preliminary studies indicated that the Chinese herbal TangBi Formula may alleviate signs and symptoms and improve the velocity of nerve conduction in patients with DSPN. This study was designed to determine if Chinese herbal medicine used in combination with conventional treatment is more effective than conventional treatment alone.Methods/design: We are conducting a multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial as a means of assessing the therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment. A total of 188 patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to a treatment group (TangBi Formula plus mecobalamin) and a control group (placebo plus mecobalamin). The test period lasts 6 months, during which all of the patients will be given standard medical care as recommended by established guidelines. The primary outcome will be development of differences in changes in clinical symptoms and signs in patients and changes in Michigan Diabetic Neuropathy Score (MDNS) between the two groups before and after treatment. The secondary outcome will be changes in nerve conduction velocity and in single clinical signs and symptoms. Safety assessments and adverse events will also be evaluated.Discussion: We postulate that patients with DSPN will benefit from therapy that includes TCM. If successful, this work will provide an evidence-based complementary therapeutic approach for treatment of DSPN.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03010241 . Registered on 2 January 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate adipokines levels in obese children with acanthosis nigricans (AN) and to explore the relationship between AN and metabolic syndrome (MS)., Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 109 obese children and 47 age- and gender-matched normal controls. The obese children were divided into two groups with AN and without AN. Serum levels of adiponectin, leptin, TNF-α and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) were measured using ELISA. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the association of clinical parameters with MS., Results: Waist-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride, fasting insulin and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) were significantly higher in obese children with AN than in those without AN and normal controls (P<0.05). The obese children with AN and without AN had lower adiponectin levels than normal controls (P<0.05), on the contrary, the obese children with AN had higher leptin levels than those without AN and normal controls (P<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that AN (OR=3.469, 95%CI: 1.518-7.929) and BMI (OR=7.108, 95%CI: 2.359-21.416) were independent risk factors for MS., Conclusions: As a visible marker of insulin resistance, AN is associated with abnormal adipokines secretion. Reducing the incidence of AN and losing weight may prevent obesity associated MS.