Does exposure to air pollution during different time windows affect pregnancy outcomes of in vitro fertilization treatment? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Few researches have examined the impact of air pollution exposure during various time windows on clinical outcomes in women receiving in vitro fertilization (IVF) therapy, and the findings of studies have been conflicting. We investigated the effects of six air pollutants exposure during different time windows (period 1, 85 days before egg retrieval to the beginning of gonadotropin; period 2, the beginning of gonadotropin to egg collection; period 3, egg collection to embryo transfer; period 4, embryo transfer to serum hCG measurement; period 5, serum hCG measurement to transvaginal ultrasonography; period 6, 85 days before egg retrieval to hCG measurement; period 7, 85 days before egg retrieval to transvaginal ultrasonography) on clinical outcomes of IVF therapy. A total of seven databases were searched. NO2 (period 6), SO2 (period 2, 3, and 7), CO (period 1, 2 and 7) exposure were linked to lower likelihoods of clinical pregnancy. PM2.5 (period 1), PM10 (period 1), SO2 (period 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6), NO2 (period 1) were linked to lower likelihoods of biochemical pregnancy. PM2.5 (period 1), SO2 (period 2 and 4) and CO (period 2) were linked to reduced probabilities of live birth. Our results implied that period 1 might be the most sensitive exposure window. Air pollution exposure is linked to reduced probabilities of clinical pregnancy, biochemical pregnancy, and live birth. Therefore, preventive measures to limit air pollution exposure should be started at least three months in advance of IVF therapy to improve pregnancy outcomes.

First report of leaf blight caused by Pantoea agglomerans on wheat in China.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the main grain crop in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China. A new leaf blight disease of wheat was observed in many wheat fields in Yinchuan City and Wuzhong City of Ningxia during 2020-2021. The average disease incidence of the cultivar Ningchun 50 was 5 to 15%, and there appeared the evident disease symptoms from the heading stage, then the symptoms got more serious until the mature stage. The tips of the leaves were chlorotic and turned bright yellow at the early stage of the disease. Later on, the yellow leaf spots were further spread from the tip to the petiole, and the yellow-colored necrotic lesions emerged, resulted in withering and death of leaves (e-Xtra 1, a-d). To isolate and identify the pathogenic agent, diseased leaves were cut into 0.5 cm × 0.5 cm small pieces, and sterilized in 5% NaOCl solution for 5 min, and were rinsed three times in sterile water, then crushed with tweezers in 2 mL sterilized water and streaked three times onto Nutrient Agar (NA) medium. and 15 single colonies which had the same colony morphology were obtained. Of the 15 colonies, 3 (named WH1, Cx1 and HJ1) were randomly selected for further morphological, biochemical and molecular characterization. The resulting bacterial colonies were incubated at 29±1°C in the dark for 3 days, colony morphology was raised, mucoid texture, round, and smooth with entire margin; the color of these colonies was white at the beginning and turned yellow later. These bacteria were rod-shaped gram-negative cells with peritrichous flagella. Based on the physiological and biochemical assay results (e-Xtra 2), the three strains were initially identified as Pantoea agglomerans (Wang, D H., et al. 2021; Wang, J J., et al. 2021). 16S rDNA and gyrB of the three strains were amplified and sequenced by ABI3730XL sequencer in GENEWIZ (Suzhou, China). The sequences of 16S rDNA and gyrB of these strains were submitted to GenBank with the accession numbers ON428446, ON428461 and ON428462 for 16S rDNA; ON461799, ON461801, ON461803 for gyrB. 16S rDNA and gyrB sequences homology analysis showed that the three strains had the highest homology which were over 99.5% with the sequences of the reported P. agglomerans (e-Xtra 1, g) . A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA and gyrB gene sequences was performed using the MEGA6.0 proximity method, and the results of the phylogenetic tree showed that strains Cx1, WH1 and HJ1 clustered on the same clade with the reported P. agglomerans strains (e-Xtra 1, h-j). Thus, Cx1, WH1 and HJ1 were identified as P. agglomerans. Pathogenicity test was performed to complete Koch's postulates, Ningchun 50 was planted in pots, four-week-old healthy wheat seedlings were inoculated with 107 CFU/mL bacterial suspension using two inoculation methods: 1) Leaf surface was poked with disposable syringe needle, and 50 µL of suspension was injected into each of the pinholes (Suraj, S., et al. 2020); 2) Leaf was cut at 45° at the lower 2-3 cm of the leaf tip with scissors dipped in the bacterial suspension. Wheat leaves inoculated with sterile distilled water were regarded as controls. The inoculated wheat was cultivated in a greenhouse (temperature 28 ± 2°C, humidity 40 ± 2%) and covered in transparent polyethylene bags at first 96 h. Symptoms appeared at 3 days after inoculation, and after 7 days, the acupunctured wheat leaves turned chlorotic and yellow around the pinholes and some were necrotic; the leaf-cutting wheat turned yellow and necrotic from the clipping point to the leaf base; the acupunctured and cut leaves totally died after 15 days, and all of the control leaves were healthy (e-Xtra 1, e-f). Subsequently, pathogens were reisolated from inoculated leaves, and identified as P. agglomerans according to molecular identification described above. To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf blight disease of wheat caused by Pantoea agglomerans globally as well as in China. Identifying the cause of the disease will support efforts for its future control and management.

Shikonin suppresses the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition by downregulating NHE1 in bladder cancer cells.

Shikonin (SK) is the major bioactive component extracted from the roots of Lithospermum erythrorhizon with anticancer activity. SK could inhibit the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism is elusive. In the present study, the inhibitory activities of SK on proliferation, invasion and migration were examined in bladder cancer (BC) cells. SK potently decreased the viabilities of BC cells but showed less cytotoxicity to normal bladder epithelial cells. Moreover, SK reversed the EMT, suppressed the migration and invasion of BC cells. Intriguingly, NHE1, the major proton efflux pump, was dramatically down-regulated by SK. The EMT-inhibitory effect of SK was mediated by NHE1 down-regulation, as NHE1-overexpress alleviated while Cariporide (NHE1 inhibitor) enhanced this effect. Further, enforced alkalinization of intracellular pH (pHi) reversed the EMT-inhibitory effect of SK, indicating a key role of acidic pHi in this process. Finally, elevated NHE1 expression was observed in human bladder cancer tissues. Collectively, this research reveals a supportive effect of NHE1 and alkaline pHi on EMT. SK can suppress EMT through inhibiting NHE1 and hence inducing an acidic pHi.

[Bacterial culture of donor semen: Analysis of results from 2008 to 2018].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the distribution of pathogenic bacteria in donor semen and the effect of bacterial infection on semen quality. METHODS: We performed bacterial culture on and counted the bacterial colonies (BC) in the semen samples collected from 4 897 sperm donors from 2008 to 2018 and divided them into groups A (BC <104 cfu/ml, n = 4 229), B (BC ≥104 cfu/ml, n = 150) and C (BC = 0 cfu/ml, n = 518). Using the biochemical reaction system of the French Biological Merry Emmanuel Company, we identified the bacterial species in group B, subjected all the semen samples to SCA computer assisted semen analysis, and compared the semen quality among different groups. RESULTS: In the 4 897 semen samples, hybrid bacterial contamination was found in 6 (0.12%) and non-hybrid bacteria in 4 379 (89.42%), including 150 (3.43%) in group B. In the semen samples with BC ≥104 cfu/ml, Gram-negative (G－) bacteria were observed in 104 (69.33%), mainly including Escherichia coli, followed by Proteusbacillus vulgaris and Enterobacteria, Gram-positive cocci (G+) in 39 (26.00%), G－ bacteria in 4 (2.67%) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in 3 (2.00%). Compared with group C, groups A and B showed remarkably reduced total sperm count (P < 0.05) and percentage of progressively motile sperm (P < 0.05) but no statistically significant differences in the semen liquefaction time, semen PH value, total sperm motility or the percentage of morphologically normal sperm (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Bacterial culture of donor semen revealed a positive rate of 89.42% and varied the bacterial species, mainly including G－ bacteria. And the semen quality decreased with the increase of bacterial colonies.