Anal swab findings in an infant with COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: The transmission pathways of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remain not completely clear. In this case study the test for the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in pharyngeal swab and anal swab were compared. CASE PRESENTATION: A 3-month-old girl was admitted to our hospital with COVID-19. Her parents had both been diagnosed with COVID-19. The results of pharyngeal swab and anal swab of the little girl were recorded and compared during the course of the disease. The oropharyngeal specimen showed negative result for SARS-CoV-2 on the 14th day after onset of the illness. However, the anal swab was still positive for SARS-CoV-2 on the 28th day after the onset of the illness. CONCLUSION: The possibility of fecal-oral transmission of COVID-19 should be assessed. Personal hygiene during home quarantine merits considerable attention.

Exosomal miR-1246 in serum as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages which results in high mortality. This study aimed to identify novel circulating miRNAs as biomarkers for the early detection of GC. METHODS: Candidate miRNA was identified after integrated analysis of two Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets and clinical serum samples. Exosomes extracted were verified using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and western blot. The expressions of miRNAs were tested through qRT-PCR. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was used to explore the diagnostic utility of miRNAs. RNA pull-down assay was used to find RNA binding proteins (RBPs) which transport candidate miRNA into exosomes. Bioinformatics analysis of candidate miRNA was conducted using DAVID and Cytoscape. RESULTS: After integrated analysis of two GEO datasets, six circulating miRNAs were found to be consistently upregulated in GC patients. Then, qRT-PCR demonstrated that serum miR-1246 was the one with the largest fold change. Studies in vitro revealed that elevated serum miR-1246 was tumor-derived by being packaged into exosomes with the help of ELAVL1. Thereafter, we discovered that exosomal miR-1246 expressions in serum could differentiate GC patients with TNM stage I from healthy controls (HCs) and patients with benign diseases (BDs) with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.843 and 0.811, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis revealed miR-1246, as a tumor suppressor in GC, could regulate several signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: Circulating exosomal miR-1246 was a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of GC.

Expression of HDAC4 in Stage B Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Its Influence on Survival.

OBJECTIVES: Histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) is involved in the development of multiple types of cancers. In this study, we aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of HDAC4 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: 49 patients with stage B HCC who underwent surgical resection were enrolled in this study. All patients were followed up with an observation time of 4.8 to 7 years. Immunohistochemistry was applied to investigate the expression level of HDAC4. RESULTS: HDAC4 protein is over-expressed in HCC tissues compared with matched adjacent non-cancer tissues. Kaplan-Meier analysis shows that the positive expression of HDAC4 is associated with poor survival in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that HDAC4 over-expression is important for the development of advanced HCC, which may serve as a useful prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for this malignancy.

Trichoderma harzianum Improves Defense Against Fusarium oxysporum by Regulating ROS and RNS Metabolism, Redox Balance, and Energy Flow in Cucumber Roots.

Plant survival in the terrestrial ecosystem is influenced by both beneficial and harmful microbes. Trichoderma spp. are a group of filamentous fungi that promote plant growth and resistance to harmful microbes. Previously, we showed that the genus Trichoderma could effectively suppress Fusarium wilt in cucumber. However, the mechanisms that underlie the effects of the genus Trichoderma on plant defense have not been fully substantiated. Two essential metabolic pathways, such as the ascorbate (AsA)-glutathione (GSH) cycle and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP), have been shown to participate in plant tolerance to biotic stressors; nevertheless, the involvement of these pathways in Trichoderma-induced enhanced defense remains elusive. Here, we show that Trichoderma harzianum could alleviate oxidative and nitrostative stress by minimizing reactive oxygen species (ROS; hydrogen peroxide and superoxide) and reactive nitrogen species (nitric oxide [NO]) accumulation, respectively, under Fusarium oxysporum infection in cucumber roots. The genus Trichoderma enhanced antioxidant potential to counterbalance the overproduced ROS and attenuated the transcript and activity of NO synthase and nitrate reductase. The genus Trichoderma also stimulated S-nitrosylated glutathione reductase activity and reduced S-nitrosothiol and S-nitrosylated glutathione content. Furthermore, the genus Trichoderma enhanced AsA and GSH concentrations and activated their biosynthetic enzymes, γ-GCS and l-galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase. Interestingly, the genus Trichoderma alleviated Fusarium-inhibited activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, enzymes involved in the OPPP. Such positive regulation of the key enzymes indicates the adequate maintenance of the AsA-GSH pathway and the OPPP, which potentially contributed to improve redox balance, energy flow, and defense response. Our study advances the current knowledge of Trichoderma-induced enhanced defense against F. oxysporum in cucumber.

Prognostic value of the systematic immune-inflammation index among patients with operable colon cancer: A retrospective study.

The systematic immune-inflammation index (SII) has been used to predict the prognosis of patients with various cancers. This study aimed to determine whether the preoperative SII was associated with postoperative survival among patients with operable colon cancer.This retrospective study included 118 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects and 118 patients who underwent radical surgery for colon cancer between January 2011 and December 2013. The preoperative SII was calculated based on counts of neutrophils, lymphocytes, and platelets in the peripheral blood. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationships between the SII and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) concentration, average length of stay (ALOS), and medical costs during hospitalization. The χ test or Fisher exact test was used to analyze the relationship between the preoperative SII and the postoperative survival rate.The median SII value was 667.75 among patients with colon cancer, which was higher than the value among healthy subjects. A high SII (>667.75) was associated with a large tumor size and advanced TNM stage, although it was not associated with age, sex, tumor location, or pathological grade. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the SII was positively correlated with serum CEA concentration, ALOS, and medical costs. Relative to a low SII, a high SII was significantly associated with a lower overall survival rate at 3 years and 5 years after surgery.The present study's findings suggest that the preoperative SII is a useful prognostic index for patients with operative colon cancer.

Overexpression of E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Gene AdBiL Contributes to Resistance against Chilling Stress and Leaf Mold Disease in Tomato.

Ubiquitination is a common regulatory mechanism, playing a critical role in diverse cellular and developmental processes in eukaryotes. However, a few reports on the functional correlation between E3 ubiquitin ligases and reactive oxygen species (ROS) or reactive nitrogen species (RNS) metabolism in response to stress are currently available in plants. In the present study, the E3 ubiquitin ligase gene AdBiL (Adi3 Binding E3 Ligase) was introduced into tomato line Ailsa Craig via Agrobacterium-mediated method. Transgenic lines were confirmed for integration into the tomato genome using PCR. Transcription of AdBiL in various transgenic lines was determined using real-time PCR. Evaluation of stress tolerance showed that T1 generation of transgenic tomato lines showed only mild symptoms of chilling injury as evident by higher biomass accumulation and chlorophyll content than those of non-transformed plants. Compared with wild-type plants, the contents of AsA, AsA/DHA, GSH and the activity of GaILDH, γ-GCS and GSNOR were increased, while H2O2, [Formula: see text], MDA, NO, SNOs, and GSNO accumulations were significantly decreased in AdBiL overexpressing plants in response to chilling stress. Furthermore, transgenic tomato plants overexpressing AdBiL showed higher activities of enzymes such as G6PDH, 6PGDH, NADP-ICDH, and NADP-ME involved in pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). The transgenic tomato plants also exhibited an enhanced tolerance against the necrotrophic fungus Cladosporium fulvum. Tyrosine nitration protein was activated in the plants infected with leaf mold disease, while the inhibition could be recovered in AdBiL gene overexpressing lines. Taken together, our results revealed a possible physiological role of AdBiL in the activation of the key enzymes of AsA-GSH cycle, PPP and down-regulation of GSNO reductase, thereby reducing oxidative and nitrosative stress in plants. This study demonstrates an optimized transgenic strategy using AdBiL gene for crop improvement against biotic and abiotic stress factors.

Combined Inoculation with Multiple Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Improves Growth, Nutrient Uptake and Photosynthesis in Cucumber Seedlings.

Mycorrhizal inoculation stimulates growth, photosynthesis and nutrient uptake in a wide range of host plants. However, the ultimate effects of arbuscular mycorrhyzal (AM) symbiosis vary with the plants and fungal species involved in the association. Therefore, identification of the appropriate combinations of AM fungi (AMF) that interact synergistically to improve their benefits is of high significance. Here, three AM fungal compositions namely VT (Claroideoglomus sp., Funneliformis sp., Diversispora sp., Glomus sp., and Rhizophagus sp.) and BF (Glomus intraradices, G. microageregatum BEG and G. Claroideum BEG 210), and Funneliformis mosseae (Fm) were investigated with respect to the growth, gas exchange parameters, enzymes activities in Calvin cycles and related gene expression in cucumber seedlings. The results showed that VT, BF and Fm could successfully colonize cucumber root to a different degree with the colonization rates 82.38, 74.65, and 70.32% at 46 days post inoculation, respectively. The plant height, stem diameter, dry weight, root to shoot ratio of cucumber seedlings inoculated with AMF increased significantly compared with the non-inoculated control. Moreover, AMF colonization greatly increased the root activity, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, light saturated rate of the CO2 assimilation (Asat), maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax) and maximum ribulose-1,5-bis-phosphate (RuBP) regeneration rate (Jmax), which were increased by 52.81, 30.75, 58.76, 47.00, 69.15, and 65.53% when inoculated with VT, respectively. The activities of some key enzymes such RuBP carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), D-fructose-6-phosphatase (F6P) and ribulose-5-phosphate kinase (Ru5PK), and related gene expression involved in the Calvin cycle including RCA, FBPase, FBPA, SBPase, rbcS and rbcL were upregulated by AMF colonization. AMF inoculation also improved macro- and micro nutrient contents such as N, P, K, S, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mg, and Zn in roots. Further analysis revealed that inoculation with VT had relatively better effect on growth of cucumber seedling followed by BF and Fm, indicating that AMF composition consisting of distant AMF species may have a better effect than a single or closely related AMF spp. This study advances the understanding of plant responses to different AM fungi toward development of strategies on AMF-promoted vegetable production.

Deoxynivalenol: signaling pathways and human exposure risk assessment--an update.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a group B trichothecene and a common contaminant of crops worldwide. This toxin is known to cause a spectrum of diseases in animals and humans such as vomiting and gastroenteritis. Importantly, DON could inhibit the synthesis of protein and nucleonic acid and induce cell apoptosis in eukaryote cells. The transduction of signaling pathways is involved in the underlying mechanism of the cytotoxicity of DON. Mitogen-activated protein kinase and Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription seem to be two important signaling pathways and induce the inflammatory response by modulating the binding activates of specific transcription factors. This review mainly discussed the toxic mechanism of DON from the vantage point of signaling pathways and also assessed the profiles of DON and its metabolites in humans. Importantly, we conducted a human exposure risk assessment of DON from cereals, cereal-based foods, vegetables, water, and animal-derived foods in different countries. Some regular patterns of DON occurrence in these countries are suggested based on an analysis of global contamination with DON. This review should provide further insight for the toxic mechanism study of DON and human exposure risk assessment, thereby facilitating mycotoxin control strategies.

[Soil N/P ratio distribution characteristics of alpine grassland ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau].

The distribution characteristics of soil N/P ratio in alpine grassland ecosystem of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were surveyed by field investigation and laboratory analysis. Horizontally, soil N/ P ratio was generally higher in west and lower in east in a manner of staggered patch distribution, with higher N/P ratios mainly centralized in the hinterland of northern part of Tibet Plateau and in the lake basin area of the northern foot of Himalayas. Significant differences in soil N/P ratio were observed among grassland types and natural transects. Vertically, the distribution of N/P ratio along the soil profile from aboveground to underground among different grass types could be categorized into five patterns, including low-high-low-high, low-high-low, low-high, high-low-high-low, and high-low-high. The N/P ratio showed a significant positive correlation with soil bulk density at 0-20 cm depth, soil water content at 20-30 cm depth, contents of soil available K and total nitrogen, respectively. However, it showed significant negative correlation with soil bulk density at 20-30 cm depth, contents of soil available P and total P, respectively.

[Inhalation of aerosolized perfluorocarbon combined with tetramethylpyrazine ameliorates hemodynamics and pulmonary histopathology in a porcine model of acute lung injury].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of inhalation of aerosolized perfluorocarbon combined with tetramethylpyrazine on the hemodynamics and histopathology in a porcine model of acute lung injury. METHODS: Normal adult pigs were subjected to saline lavage of the bilateral lungs to induce acute lung injury and randomized subsequently into 3 groups for treatment with inhalation of perfluorocarbon, combined inhalation of perfluorocarbon and tetramethylpyrazine, or inhalation of tetramethylpyrazine. The changes of mean arterial pressure (MAP), PetCO(2), mPAP, CVP and PAWP were recorded at different time points following the lung injury, and the lung tissues were sampled for histological observations. RESULTS: The MAP, mPAP, CVP and PAWP all increased significantly in the 3 groups after acute lung injury. Interventions with combined tetramethylpyrazine and perfluorocarbon inhalation significantly improved these indices as compared with inhalation of tetramethylpyrazine or perfluorocarbon alone (P<0.05). The pulmonary pathology was the mildest in the combined inhalation group, and the most severe in tetramethylpyrazine group. CONCLUSION: Combined inhalation of perfluorocarbon and tetramethylpyrazine can effectively improve the oxygenation, reduce pulmonary arterial pressure?and ameliorate lung pathology in pigs with acute lung injury.