Global genome and comparative transcriptomic analysis reveal the inulin consumption strategy of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum QS7T.

Sichuan pickle is a natural combination of probiotics and dietary fibers, in which a strain Lactiplantibacillus plantarum QS7T was found to be capable of efficiently metabolizing inulin. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of inulin consumption by the strain QS7T is unclear. Therefore, this study firstly investigated the metabolic characteristics of inulin in the strain QS7T, and the results showed it could grow very well on the medium containing inulin as a carbon source (maximum OD600 nm, 1.891 ± 0.028) and degrade both short-chain oligofructose and long-chain fructan components through thin layer chromatography analysis. Genomic sequencing and analysis revealed a high percentage of functional genes associated with carbohydrate transport and metabolism, particularly glycoside hydrolase (GH) genes responsible for hydrolysing carbohydrates, within the genome of the strain QS7T. Furthermore, comparative transcriptomic analysis of L. plantarum QS7T in response to inulin or glucose indicated that functional genes associated with inulin consumption including several genes encoding PTS sugar transporters and two predicted GH32 family genes encoding beta-fructofuranosidase and beta-fructosidase were significantly up-regulated by inulin compared to the gene expression on glucose. In conclusion, we obtained a mechanistic understanding of interplay between probiotic L. plantarum QS7T derived from Sichuan pickle and natural dietary fiber, inulin; totally two operons including a sacPTS1 operon responsible for metabolizing short-chain oligofructose primarily in the cytoplasm and a fos operon responsible for extracellularly degrading all moderate and long-chain fructan components linked to inulin consumption by L. plantarum QS7T.

Rehabilitation for balance impairment in patients after stroke: a protocol of a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Multiple rehabilitation therapies have been reported to be effective for poststroke balance impairment. However, the comparative effectiveness of these rehabilitation therapies is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to summarise evidence and identify the most effective rehabilitation therapy for poststroke balance impairment. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The following databases will be searched: China Biology Medicine, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang Data, the Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Medline, Excerpt Medical Database (EMBASE), Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, from inception to June 2019. All randomised controlled trials that have used rehabilitation interventions to treat poststroke balance impairment will be included. The primary outcomes are the Berg Balance Scale, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (balance), the Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke, as well as the function in sitting test, the Sitting Balance Scale, the Ottawa Sitting Scale, the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, the Overall Balance Index and the Brunel Balance Assessment. The secondary outcomes include the Barthel Index, the Functional Ambulation Category Scale, fall rates, the Timed Up and Go test, the MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and adverse events. To ensure that all relevant studies are included without personal bias, study selection, data extraction and quality assessment will be performed independently by two reviewers. Risk of bias will be assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool. Review Manager V.5.3 software will be used to make bias risk diagram and pairwise meta-analysis, while network data synthesis will be performed using WinBUGS V.1.4.3 and R software. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval is not required for systematic review and network meta-analysis. The results will be submitted to a peer review journal or at a conference. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO (CRD 42018107441).

Polymorphism in Integrin ITGA2 is Associated with Ischemic Stroke and Altered Serum Cholesterol in Chinese Individuals.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have reported contrasting results regarding the association of polymorphisms in two integrin genes, ITGA2 and ITGB3, with ischemic stroke. AIMS: The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between the ITGA2 C807T and ITGB3 T176C polymorphic loci with ischemic stroke, as well as plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels. STUDY DESIGN: Case control study. METHODS: Human venous blood samples were collected from patients admitted for ischemic stroke (n=350, 'patients') and healthy individuals (n=300, 'controls'). Blood was genotyped at these loci by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels were measured by routine enzymatic, masking, and turbidimetry methods. RESULTS: As expected, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein were all significantly higher in patients than in controls (p<0.05). Genotype and allele frequencies of ITGA2 C807T were significantly different between patients and controls (p<0.05), but no difference was detected in genotype or allele frequencies for ITGA3 T176C. For ITGA-2, the T allele conferred a 1.226 times higher relative risk of ischemic stroke than the C allele (odds ratio=1.226, 95% confidence interval=1.053-1.428). Similarly, total cholesterol was higher in T allele carriers than in non-carriers (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: ITGA2 C807T polymorphism is associated with ischemic stroke, with the T allele acting as a susceptibility allele that appears to confer increased cholesterol levels.

The multiple lifestyle modification for patients with prehypertension and hypertension patients: a systematic review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this systematic review is to investigate the effectiveness, efficacy and safety of multiple concomitant lifestyle modification therapies for patients with hypertension or prehypertension. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Electronic searches will be performed in the Cochrane Library, OVID, EMBASE, etc, along with manual searches in the reference lists of relevant papers found during electronic search. We will identify eligible randomised controlled trials utilising multiple lifestyle modifications to lower blood pressure. The control could be drug therapy, single lifestyle change or no intervention. Changes in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure constitute primary end points, and secondary end points include the number of patients meeting the office target blood pressure, the number of patients reporting microvascular or macrovascular complications, etc. We will extract descriptive, methodological and efficacy data from identified randomised controlled trials (RCTs). We will calculate the relative risk for proportion of patients with a normal blood pressure in the experimental group. Dichotomous data will be analysed using risk difference and continuous data using weighted mean differences, both with 95% CI. We will use the χ(2) test and the I(2) statistic to assess heterogeneity. We will use the fixed effects model to compute the efficacy unless there is evidence of heterogeneity. If heterogeneity of effect size persists with respect to blood pressure change, further metaregression will be performed within groups. We will examine the potential for publication bias by using a funnel plot. DISSEMINATION: We will synthesise results from RCTs which provide more precise and accurate information on the effect of multiple lifestyle changes on blood pressure. The results of this review will increase the understanding of multiple lifestyle modifications for patients with hypertension or prehypertension. TRAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Our protocol is registered on PROSPERO (CRD42013006476), http://www.crd.your.ac.uk/PROSPERO.

Correlation between interleukin-18 promoter -607C/A polymorphism and susceptibility to ischemic stroke

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter region of interleukin-18 (IL-18), an inflammatory cytokine, have been linked to susceptibility to many diseases, including cancer and immune dysfunction. Here, we explored the potential association between the IL-18 -607C/A (rs1946518) promoter region polymorphism and susceptibility to ischemic stroke (IS). This locus was amplified from peripheral blood samples of 386 IS patients (cases) and 364 healthy individuals (controls) by the polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers. Significant differences were observed by the χ2 test in the -607C/A (rs1946518) genotype and allele frequencies between cases and controls (P < 0.05). Furthermore, after excluding for age, gender, smoking status, and hypertension, logistic regression indicated that IS susceptibility of -607C carriers increased 1.6 times (OR = 1.601, 95%CI = 1.148-2.233, P = 0.006) compared to -607A carriers. Additionally, similar increases in IS risk were noted for male patients or patients less than 65 years old. In conclusion, IL-18 -607C/A (rs1946518) promoter polymorphism is associated with IS susceptibility, and the C allele may confer increased IS risk.

Correlation between interleukin-18 promoter -607C/A polymorphism and susceptibility to ischemic stroke.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter region of interleukin-18 (IL-18), an inflammatory cytokine, have been linked to susceptibility to many diseases, including cancer and immune dysfunction. Here, we explored the potential association between the IL-18 -607C/A (rs1946518) promoter region polymorphism and susceptibility to ischemic stroke (IS). This locus was amplified from peripheral blood samples of 386 IS patients (cases) and 364 healthy individuals (controls) by the polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers. Significant differences were observed by the χ2 test in the -607C/A (rs1946518) genotype and allele frequencies between cases and controls (P < 0.05). Furthermore, after excluding for age, gender, smoking status, and hypertension, logistic regression indicated that IS susceptibility of -607C carriers increased 1.6 times (OR = 1.601, 95%CI = 1.148-2.233, P = 0.006) compared to -607A carriers. Additionally, similar increases in IS risk were noted for male patients or patients less than 65 years old. In conclusion, IL-18 -607C/A (rs1946518) promoter polymorphism is associated with IS susceptibility, and the C allele may confer increased IS risk.

Effects of exercise therapy on knee joint function and synovial fluid cytokine levels in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

The aims of this study were to observe the effect of exercise therapy on the function of the knee joint and the levels of cytokines and cytokine-related genes, specifically tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), in the synovial joints of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and to explore its mechanism of action. A total of 100 KOA patients were divided into a treatment group (n=50) and a control group (n=50) according to the order of admission. The patients in the treatment group were treated with diclofenac sodium combined with exercise therapy and the patients in the control group were treated with diclofenac sodium only. The function of the knee joint and the therapeutic efficacy was evaluated and the TNF-α, hs-CRP and MMP-3 levels in the synovial fluid were measured following 4 weeks of treatment. The results revealed that the knee joint index score and the TNF-α, hs-CRP and MMP-3 levels in the synovial fluid decreased significantly in the KOA patients of the two groups following treatment (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the knee joint index score and the TNF-α, hs-CRP and MMP-3 levels in the synovial joints were lower and the therapeutic efficacy was increased in the patients of the treatment group (P<0.05). In brief, exercise therapy may decrease cytokine and cytokine-related gene levels in the synovial fluid and inhibit inflammatory factor-mediated cartilage degradation in KOA patients, thus, effectively improving the clinical symptoms of KOA.

HER-2/neu and TOPIIa expression in gastric cancer reflect disease severity.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastric cancer is associated with high morbidity and mortality, but reliable diagnostic and prognostic markers have not been established. Here we explored the clinical significance of two proteins, HER-2/neu and TOPIIa-associated with development and progression of various tumor types-in gastric cancer. We also analyzed the correlation between expression of these proteins and clinicopathological parameters of gastric tumors. METHODOLOGY: Tumor and adjacent normal tissue samples were collected from 62 patients with gastric cancer and subjected to immunohistochemistry with anti-HER-2/neu and -TOPIIa antibodies. RESULTS: HER-2/neu (21.0%) and TOPIIa (80.6%) were expressed more commonly in gastric cancer than in normal gastric tissue (9.7% and 60.3%, respectively; p<0.05). However, there was no correlation between HER-2/neu and TOPIIa expression in gastric tumors. Further analysis showed a correlation between HER-2/neu expression and lymph node metastasis, distant metastases and tumor stage (p<0.05); TOPIIa was correlated with infiltration depth, distant metastases and tumor stage (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HER-2/neu and TOPIIa are over expressed in gastric tumors and may promote disease progression. These proteins may therefore be useful as prognostic markers in evaluation of patients with gastric cancer.

Expression of MMP-3 and TIMP-3 in gastric cancer tissue and its clinical significance.

The present study aimed to investigate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) and the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3) in gastric cancer tissue, as well as to analyze the correlation between their expression and the occurrence of gastric cancer. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of MMP-3 and TIMP-3 in the gastric cancer tissue from 18 patients with early-stage gastric cancer (early-stage group) and 26 patients with advanced-stage gastric cancer (advanced-stage group). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to observe the lymphocytes and tumor cells in gastric cancer tissue. The results showed that the expression of TIMP-3 was significantly higher, whereas that of MMP-3 and MMP-3/TIMP-3 was lower in gastric cancer tissue of the early-stage group than in that of the advanced-stage group (P<0.05). The TEM images revealed increased lymphocytes and inconspicuous tumor cells penetrating the basement membrane in gastric cancer tissue of the early-stage group, and decreased lymphocytes and obvious tumor cells penetrating the basement membrane in the advanced-stage group. In conclusion, MMP-3 and TIMP-3 may be used as indices for the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer and possess marked clinical significance in the prognostic judgment of gastric cancer.

[Adenovirus mediated expression of recombinant human single chain interleukin-27(rhscIL-27) fusion gene in hepatoma cells].

AIM: To explore the adenovirus mediated expression of recombinant human single chain interleukin-27(rhscIL-27) fusion gene in hepatoma cells. METHODS: The rhscIL-27 fusion gene was subcloned into the shuttle plasmid pAdTrack-CMV and then clone the homologous recombinant adenovirus genomic plasmid pAdEasy in bacteria. The identified recombinant plasmid AdIL-27 was tranfected into 293 cells, and then the adenovirus did the package and amplification. The HepG2 cells were infected with AdIL-27 and the target gene expression was determined by RT-PCR and ELISA. The biological activity of rhscIL-27 was detected by IFN-gamma inducing assay. RESULTS: Restriction endonuclease and gene sequencing confirmed that the recombinant adenovirus vector of rhscIL-27 fusion gene was successfully constructed. The expression of rhscIL-27 fusion gene was observed at 48 h after the transfection of the HepG2 cells with AdIL-27. The IFN-gamma inducing assay showed that the rhscIL-27 protein has the ability inducing IFN-gamma secretion. CONCLUSION: By using adenovirus expression system, rhscIL-27 fusion gene with biological activity is expressed successfully in hepatoma cells. This experiment laid a foundation for gene therapy of hepatoma with IL-27.