Photodynamic therapy treats acne by altering the composition of the skin microbiota.

BACKGROUND: Acne is the eighth-most prevalent inflammatory skin disease with no optimal treatment. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective treatment for severe acne. AIMS: The effect of PDT on the composition and diversity of skin microflora in severe acne patients was studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 18 patients with severe acne and 8 healthy individuals were selected for this study. Patients were treated with 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated PDT once a week three times in total; the skin microbiome was measured by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing before and after treatment (1 week after each PDT). RESULTS: The microflora composition was different between healthy controls and patients, and between patients before and after treatment. Alpha diversity indices were lower in patients than those in control. There were 15 bacterial genera with high relative abundance that had noticeable changes during treatment. At the genus level,particularly Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes formerly Propionibacterium acnes), there was no statistically significant difference among different group. The abundances of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus were low. DISCUSSION: The microbial composition is different between severe acne patients acne patients and healthy individuals. The therapeutic efficacy of severe acne treated with PDT is associated with the composition and diversity of skin microbiota. CONCLUSION: The skin microbial composition changes after PDT treatment. PDT is an effective method for the treatment of severe acne.

Association between dietary inflammation and erectile dysfunction among US adults: A cross-sectional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2004.

Background: Although chronic low-grade inflammation has been linked to the development of erectile dysfunction (ED), the association between pro-inflammatory diets and ED is unclear. The dietary inflammation index (DII) is a novel method to quantify the inflammatory potential of a diet. Objective: Our objective was to investigate the association between the DII and ED among US males. Design: This cross-sectional study included 3,693 males 20-85 year of age from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2004. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were used to assess the association between the DII and ED. All analyses accounted for the complex sampling design. Results: The mean ± SE of the DII was 0.8 ± 0.1 and 0.4 ± 0.1 among participants with and without ED, respectively. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, education, smoking status, physical activity, drinking status, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia, BMI, and eGFR, the DII score was associated with ED (odds ratio 1.12; 95% CI: 1.04-1.19). Moreover, this association was also stable in our subgroup analysis or sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: Dietary inflammatory potential, as estimated by the DII score, is positively associated with ED among US males.

Association Between Psoriasis and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Among Outpatient US Adults.

Importance: Recent studies have shown an association between psoriasis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in US inpatients, but the association is still unclear in the outpatient US population. Objective: To assess whether psoriasis is associated with NAFLD in outpatient US adults. Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cross-sectional study used data on US adults aged 20 to 59 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006 and 2009-2014 cycles. Data were analyzed from June to September 2021. Exposures: Self-reported psoriasis. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was NAFLD, defined as a US fatty liver index score greater than 30. Sampling weights were calculated according to NHANES guidelines. Results: Among 5672 adults included in this study (mean age, 38.9 years [95% CI, 38.4-39.3 years]; 2999 [51.1%] female), 148 (3.0%) had psoriasis and 5524 (97.0%) did not have psoriasis. A total of 1558 participants (26.8%) were classified as having NAFLD. Compared with participants without psoriasis, those with psoriasis had a higher prevalence of NAFLD (32.7% [52] vs 26.6% [1506]). In a multivariable logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex, race and ethnicity, educational level, family income, marital status, NHANES cycles, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and smoking and alcohol drinking status, psoriasis was associated with NAFLD (odds ratio [OR], 1.67; 95% CI, 1.03-2.70). In subgroup analyses, psoriasis was associated with NAFLD among men (OR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.10-4.24), among those aged 20 to 39 years (OR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.09-5.67), and among those without diabetes (1.70; 95% CI, 1.05-2.76). An association between psoriasis and NAFLD was found in sensitivity analyses that excluded potential hepatotoxic medication use (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.01-2.95) or non-Hispanic Black participants (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.07-2.87), redefined NAFLD based on the hepatic steatosis index score (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.01-2.50), and used inverse probability of treatment weighting (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.09-1.86). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, psoriasis was associated with NAFLD in the outpatient US adult population in adjusted models. This association may be important to consider in the context of clinicians prescribing potentially hepatotoxic medication for psoriasis management.

Association Between Weight Change and Increased Likelihood of Abdominal Aortic Calcification Among Men.

Objective: We aimed to explore the effect of weight change on abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) among men. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2013 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Self-reported cardiovascular disease patients were excluded. Lateral spine images were used to quantify AAC score and severe AAC was defined as a AAC score greater than 6. Weight change over a 10-year period was defined as long-term weight change, and weight change over a 1-year period was defined as short-term weight change. The relationship between long-term and short-term weight change with AAC grade was estimated by using multivariable regression analysis and subgroup analysis. Results: After adjusting for covariates, weight gain, especially severe weight gain (> 10 kg), was associated with increased likelihood of AAC and severe AAC both in the short term (1 year) and long term (10 years) among men when compared to stable weight change, while long-term weight loss could also lead to an increased likelihood of AAC and severe AAC. Conclusion: Stable body weight might be a predictor of a lower risk of AAC and severe AAC among men in the long term and short term.

Quantitative Proteomics Reveals that GmENO2 Proteins Are Involved in Response to Phosphate Starvation in the Leaves of Glycine max L.

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is a major crop providing important source for protein and oil for human life. Low phosphate (LP) availability is a critical limiting factor affecting soybean production. Soybean plants develop a series of strategies to adapt to phosphate (Pi) limitation condition. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for LP stress response remain largely unknown. Here, we performed a label-free quantification (LFQ) analysis of soybean leaves grown under low and high phosphate conditions. We identified 267 induced and 440 reduced differential proteins from phosphate-starved leaves. Almost a quarter of the LP decreased proteins are involved in translation processes, while the LP increased proteins are accumulated in chlorophyll biosynthetic and carbon metabolic processes. Among these induced proteins, an enolase protein, GmENO2a was found to be mostly induced protein. On the transcriptional level, GmENO2a and GmENO2b, but not GmENO2c or GmENO2d, were dramatically induced by phosphate starvation. Among 14 enolase genes, only GmENO2a and GmENO2b genes contain the P1BS motif in their promoter regions. Furthermore, GmENO2b was specifically induced in the GmPHR31 overexpressing soybean plants. Our findings provide molecular insights into how soybean plants tune basic carbon metabolic pathway to adapt to Pi deprivation through the ENO2 enzymes.

Characterization of the complete plastome of Dendrophthoe pentandra (Loranthaceae), a stem hemiparasite.

Dendrophthoe pentandra (Linnaeus) Miquel (Loranthaceae) is a stem hemiparasite distributed in southwest China and Indochina. Here, we present the first complete plastome of the plant. The plastome is 115,721 bp in length, and encodes 92 unique genes, including 63 protein-encoding gens, 4 rRNAs, and 25 tRNAs. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that D. pentandra is close to Macrosolen cochinchensis (Loureiro) Tieghem and Helixanthera parasitica Loureiro.

The complete chloroplast genome of Elytranthe Albida (Loranthaceae), a hemiparasitic shrub.

The complete chloroplast genome (plastome) of Elytranthe albida (Blume) Blume (Loranthaceae) was sequenced. The plastome is 128,658 bp in length, which encodes 96 unique genes, including 64 protein-coding genes, 4 rRNAs, and 28 tRNAs. The complete plastome-based phylogeny indicated that E. albida is sister to remaining Loranthaceae species.

The complete plastome of Taxillus vestitus (Loranthaceae), a hemiparasitic plant.

Taxillus vestitus (Wallich) Danser (Loranthaceae) is a stem hemiparasite occurring in southwest China and Himalayas. In this study, we report the first complete plastome of this species. The plastome is 122,200 bp in size, which encodes 94 unique genes (64 protein-encoding gens, 4 ribosomal RNAs, and 26 tRNAs). Compared to the plastomes of the autotrophic relatives, the T. vestitus plastome is significantly reduced. A total of 15 protein-coding genes, and 4 tRNAs were deleted from the plastome.