Green autofluorescence of the skin and fingernails is a novel biomarker for evaluating the risk for developing acute ischemic stroke.

The only existing approach for assessing the risk of developing acute ischemic stroke (AIS) necessitates that individuals possess a strong understanding of their health status. Our research gathered compelling evidence in favor of our hypothesis, suggesting that the likelihood of developing AIS can be assessed by analyzing the green autofluorescence (AF) of the skin and fingernails. Utilizing machine learning-based analyses of AF images, we found that the area under the curve (AUC) for distinguishing subjects with three risk factors from those with zero, one, or two risk factors was 0.79, 0.76, and 0.75, respectively. Our research has revealed that green AF serves as an innovative biomarker for assessing the risk of developing AIS. Our method is objective, non-invasive, efficient, and economic, which shows great promise to boost a technology for screening natural populations for risk of developing AIS.

Gut microbiome affects the response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Checkpoint-blockade immunotherapy targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) has recently shown promising efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the factors affecting and predicting the response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in HCC are still unclear. Herein, we report the dynamic variation characteristics and specificities of the gut microbiome during anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in HCC using metagenomic sequencing. RESULTS: Fecal samples from patients responding to immunotherapy showed higher taxa richness and more gene counts than those of non-responders. For dynamic analysis during anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, the dissimilarity of beta diversity became prominent across patients as early as Week 6. In non-responders, Proteobacteria increased from Week 3, and became predominant at Week 12. Twenty responder-enriched species, including Akkermansia muciniphila and Ruminococcaceae spp., were further identified. The related functional genes and metabolic pathway analysis, such as carbohydrate metabolism and methanogenesis, verified the potential bioactivities of responder-enriched species. CONCLUSIONS: Gut microbiome may have a critical impact on the responses of HCC patients treated with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. The dynamic variation characteristics of the gut microbiome may provide early predictions of the outcomes of immunotherapy in HCC, which is critical for disease-monitoring and treatment decision-making.

HCV Diversity among Chinese and Burmese IDUs in Dehong, Yunnan, China.

HCV transmission is closely associated with drug-trafficking routes in China. Dehong, a prefecture of Yunnan, is the important trade transfer station linking Southeast Asia and China, as well as the drug-trafficking channel linking "Golden triangle" and other regions of China and surrounding countries. In this study, we investigated the HCV genotype diversity among IDUs in Dehong based on 259 HCV positive samples from 118 Chinese and 141 Burmese IDUs. HCV genotypes were determined based on the phylogenies of C/E2 and NS5B genomic sequences. Six HCV subtypes, including 1a, 1b, 3a, 3b, 6n and 6u, were detected. Interestingly, 4 HCV sequences from Burmese IDUs did not cluster with any known HCV subtypes, but formed a well-supported independent clade in the phylogenetic trees of both C/E2 and NS5B, suggesting a potential new HCV subtype circulating in Dehong. Subtype 3b was the predominant subtype, followed by subtypes 6n and 6u. Comparison showed that Dehong had a unique pattern of HCV subtype distribution, obviously different from other regions of China. In particular, HCV subtypes 6u and the potential new HCV subtype had a relatively high prevalence in Dehong, but were rarely detected in other regions of China. There was no significant difference in HCV subtype distribution between Burmese and Chinese IDUs. Few HCV sequences from Burmese and Chinese IDUs clustered together to form transmission clusters. Furthermore, about half of HCV sequences from Burmese IDUs formed small transmission clusters, significantly higher than that from Chinese IDUs (p<0.01). These suggest that the Chinese and Burmese IDUs were relatively isolated from each other in injection drug use behavior and the Burmese IDUs might prefer to inject drugs themselves together. The unique genotype distribution and complex diversity of genotype 6 among IDUs may be associated with the special geographical position of Dehong.

[SAMHD1 − a HIV-1 restriction factor derived from Myeloid lineage monocytes].

HIV-1 restriction factors have became one of the hottest fields of AIDS researches. In 2011, SAMHD1 was demonstrated to be a novel HIV-1 restriction factor, adding to a list of HIV-1 restriction factors that include APOBEC3G, TRIM5α and Tetherin. SAMHD1 is highly expressed in myeloid-lineage monocytes, such as macrophages and dendritic cells. In this paper, we review the current research progress on the structure of SAMHD1, its antiviral mechanism, interaction with the lentivirus Vpx, and evolution. The identification of SAMHD1 opens the door towards understanding the role of SAMHD1 in lentiviral pathogenesis.