Erratum to "Evaluation of the Mechanism of Modified Lingguizhugan Decoction in the Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2022/4576679.].

Evaluation of the Mechanism of Modified Lingguizhugan Decoction in the Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) may develop into cirrhosis and liver cancer, which imposes a great burden to individuals and society. Lingguizhugan decoction is a commonly used dampness dispelling medication in traditional Chinese medicine and is often used to treat those with phlegm and retained fluid from various causes and pathogeneses. The objective of this study was to explore the effect and mechanism of modified Lingguizhugan decoction (MLGZG) on lipid metabolism and the inflammatory response to identify a theoretical basis to promote its clinical application in NASH therapy. After treatment with MLGZG for 8 weeks, the weight of high-fat-diet (HFD)-fed NASH rats was significantly higher than that of rats in the normal group, and the weights in each dose group were significantly lower than those in the model group. The treatment groups (low, medium, and high doses) had different degrees of improvement in the changes in hepatocyte tissue structure, steatosis, and inflammatory infiltration. Compared with that in the normal group, the expression of TNF receptor-associated factor-3 (TRAF-3) and nuclear factor κB (NFκB) in the model group significantly increased to varying degrees. Compared with the NASH group, the treatment groups (low, middle, and high doses) showed modified lipid metabolism gene expression and decreased inflammatory factor expression levels. Modified Lingguizhugan decoction can improve the general condition of rats with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by reducing the expression levels of TRAF3, NF-κB, the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) pathway, and related proteins, as well as the expression levels of lipid metabolism genes and cytokines.

How to Be Aggressive from Virtual to Reality? Revisiting the Violent Video Games Exposure-Aggression Association and the Mediating Mechanisms.

Few studies have simultaneously examined the underlying mechanisms of the link between violent video games exposure (VVGE) and aggression (as proposed by different theories) to examine how they explain the relationship between the concepts as independent-dependent variables. This study used a multi-informant design to examine the relationship between VVGE and the functions (proactive and reactive) of aggressive behaviors by comparing three mediating mechanisms: anger, moral disengagement, and cognitive impulsivity. The sample consisted of 2,095 Chinese children and adolescences (48.9 percent girls; Mage = 11.12 years, SD = 1.70) and their mothers. After controlling for age, gender, socioeconomic status, child maltreatment, and problematic traits, structural equation modeling indicated that anger and moral disengagement play mediating roles between VVGE and proactive and reactive aggression, but cognitive impulsivity only plays a mediating role between VVGE and reactive aggression. The discussion emphasizes the importance of creating prevention programs for anger, moral disengagement, and cognitive impulsivity to break the VVGE-to-aggression cycle, and provides suggestions for future research.

Clinical, epidemiological and virological characteristics of the first detected human case of avian influenza A(H5N6) virus.

A human infection with novel avian influenza A H5N6 virus emerged in Changsha city, China in February, 2014. This is the first detected human case among all human cases identified from 2014 to early 2016. We obtained and summarized clinical, epidemiological, and virological data from this patient. Complete genome of the virus was determined and compared to other avian influenza viruses via the construction of phylogenetic trees using the neighbor-joining approach. A girl aged five and half years developed fever and mild respiratory symptoms on Feb. 16, 2014 and visited hospital on Feb. 17. Throat swab specimens were obtained from the patient and a novel reassortant avian influenza A H5N6 virus was detected. All eight viral gene segments were of avian origin. The hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) gene segments were closely related to A/duck/Sichuan/NCXN11/2014(H5N1) and A/chicken/Jiangxi/12782/2014(H10N6) viruses, respectively. The six internal genes were homologous to avian influenza A (H5N2) viruses isolated in duck from Jiangxi in China. This H5N6 virus has not gained genetic mutations necessary for human infection and was suggested to be sensitive to neuraminidase inhibitors, but resistant to adamantanes. Epidemiological investigation of the exposure history of the patient found that a live poultry market could be the source place of infection and the incubation period was 2-5days. This novel reassortant Avian influenza A(H5N6) virus could be low pathogenic in humans. The prevalence and genetic evolution of this virus should be closely monitored.

Coexistence of and interaction relationships between an aflatoxin-producing fungus and a bacterium.

The interactions between aflatoxin-producing fungi and bacteria have opened up a new avenue for identifying biological agents suitable for controlling aflatoxin contamination. In this study, we analysed the interactions between A. flavus and the bacterium Burkholderia gladioli M3 that coexist in rice that is naturally contaminated with A. flavus. Our results showed that a cell-free culture filtrate (CCF) and the metabolite bongkrekic acid of the M3 strain potently suppressed the mycelial growth and spore production, and then affected the production of aflatoxin of A. flavus. Bongkrekic acid secreted by the M3 strain exhibited higher antifungal activity than did analogues. The CCF of the M3 strain and its metabolite bongkrekic acid can inhibit the growth of A. flavus, but the metabolites of A. flavus, aflatoxins, exerted no inhibitory effect on the growth of the M3 strain. Furthermore, we determined that the M3 cells could use the dead mycelia of A. flavus as energy sources for reproduction, while A. flavus could not grow in a solution containing dead M3 cells. In summary, these results indicated that B. gladioli has a competitive advantage in survival when it coexists with its fungal partner A. flavus.

Inability of NS1 protein from an H5N1 influenza virus to activate PI3K/Akt signaling pathway correlates to the enhanced virus replication upon PI3K inhibition.

BACKGROUND: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway, activated during influenza A virus infection, can promote viral replication via multiple mechanisms. Direct binding of NS1 protein to p85ß subunit of PI3K is required for activation of PI3K/Akt signaling. Binding and subsequent activation of PI3K is believed to be a conserved character of influenza A virus NS1 protein. Sequence variation of NS1 proteins in different influenza A viruses led us to investigate possible deviation from the conservativeness. RESULTS: In the present study, NS1 proteins from four different influenza A virus subtypes/strains were tested for their ability to bind p85ß subunit of PI3K and to activate PI3K/Akt. All NS1 proteins efficiently bound to p85ß and activated PI3K/Akt, with the exception of NS1 protein from an H5N1 virus (A/Chicken/Guangdong/1/05, abbreviated as GD05), which bound to p85ß but failed to activate PI3K/Akt, implying that as-yet-unidentified domain(s) in NS1 may alternatively mediate the activation of PI3K. Moreover, PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, did not suppress but significantly increased the replication of GD05 virus. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that activation of PI3K/Akt by NS1 protein is not highly conserved among influenza A viruses and inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway as an anti-influenza strategy may not work for all influenza A viruses.

Bisulfite sequencing reveals that Aspergillus flavus holds a hollow in DNA methylation.

Aspergillus flavus first gained scientific attention for its production of aflatoxin. The underlying regulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis has been serving as a theoretical model for biosynthesis of other microbial secondary metabolites. Nevertheless, for several decades, the DNA methylation status, one of the important epigenomic modifications involved in gene regulation, in A. flavus remains to be controversial. Here, we applied bisulfite sequencing in conjunction with a biological replicate strategy to investigate the DNA methylation profiling of A. flavus genome. Both the bisulfite sequencing data and the methylome comparisons with other fungi confirm that the DNA methylation level of this fungus is negligible. Further investigation into the DNA methyltransferase of Aspergillus uncovers its close relationship with RID-like enzymes as well as its divergence with the methyltransferase of species with validated DNA methylation. The lack of repeat contents of the A. flavus' genome and the high RIP-index of the small amount of remanent repeat potentially support our speculation that DNA methylation may be absent in A. flavus or that it may possess de novo DNA methylation which occurs very transiently during the obscure sexual stage of this fungal species. This work contributes to our understanding on the DNA methylation status of A. flavus, as well as reinforces our views on the DNA methylation in fungal species. In addition, our strategy of applying bisulfite sequencing to DNA methylation detection in species with low DNA methylation may serve as a reference for later scientific investigations in other hypomethylated species.

CYP1A1, GSTs and mEH polymorphisms and susceptibility to esophageal carcinoma: study of population from a high- incidence area in north China.

AIM: To characterize cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1), glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) polymorphisms in Chinese esophageal cancer patients. METHODS: Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR based restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) were used to detect polymorphism changes of CYP, GSTs and mEH on esophageal cancerous and precancerous lesions as well as in case control group. All the examination samples were obtained from Linzhou (formerly Linxian), Henan Province, the highest incidence area for esophageal cancer. RESULTS: The frequency of CYP1A1 3' polymorphism in case control group (26/38, 68 %) was significantly higher than in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma group (ESCC) (29/62, 47 %) (P<0.05). A significant difference in the incidence of mEH slow allele variant was observed between case control group (15/38, 39 %) and esophageal dysplasia group (22/32, 69 %) or ESCC group (39/62, 63 %) (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed among different groups in the polymorphisms of CYP1A1 exon 7, GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1 and mEH fast allele. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that CYP1A1 3' polymorphism may be one of the promising protective factors and its wild gene type may be an indicator for higher susceptibility to esophageal cancer. mEH slow allele variant, associated with the progression of esophageal precancerous lesions, may contribute to the high susceptibility to esophageal carcinoma.