Investigating the Impact of Gut Microbiota on Gout Through Mendelian Randomization.

Background: The relationship between gout and gut microbiota has attracted significant attention in current research. However, due to the diverse range of gut microbiota, the specific causal effect on gout remains unclear. This study utilizes Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate the causal relationship between gut microbiota and gout, aiming to elucidate the underlying mechanism of microbiome-mediated gout and provide valuable guidance for clinical prevention and treatment. Materials and Methods: The largest genome-wide association study meta-analysis conducted by the MiBioGen Consortium (n=18,340) was utilized to perform a two-sample Mendelian randomization investigation on aggregate statistics of intestinal microbiota. Summary statistics for gout were utilized from the data released by EBI. Various methods, including inverse variance weighted, weighted median, weighted model, MR-Egger, and Simple-mode, were employed to assess the causal relationship between gut microbiota and gout. Reverse Mendelian randomization analysis revealed a causal association between bacteria and gout in forward Mendelian randomization analysis. Cochran's Q statistic was used to quantify instrumental variable heterogeneity. Results: The inverse variance weighted estimation revealed that Rikenellaceae exhibited a slight protective effect on gout, while the presence of Ruminococcaceae UCG_011 is associated with a marginal increase in the risk of gout. According to the reverse Mendelian Randomization results, no significant causal relationship between gout and gut microbiota was observed. No significant heterogeneity of instrumental variables or level pleiotropy was detected. Conclusion: Our MR analysis revealed a potential causal relationship between the development of gout and specific gut microbiota; however, the causal effect was not robust, and further research is warranted to elucidate its underlying mechanism in gout development. Considering the significant association between diet, gut microbiota, and gout, these findings undoubtedly shed light on the mechanisms of microbiota-mediated gout and provide new insights for translational research on managing and standardizing treatment for this condition.

Andrographolide suppresses osteoarthritis progression by regulating circ_Rapgef1/miR-383-3p/NLRP3 signaling axis.

BACKGROUND: Andrographolide (AD) has been reported to play a potential anti-arthritic role by facilitating the proliferation and inhibiting the apoptosis of chondrocytes. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the protective role of AD in osteoarthritis (OA) remains to be elucidated. METHODS: OA mice model was established via anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) operation. OA cell model was established through treating mice primary chondrocytes with LPS (1 µg/mL, 24 h). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in the supernatant. Cell proliferation was assessed by 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry. The intermolecular interaction was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: AD administration reduced the infiltration of inflammatory cells in the synovial tissues of ankle joint and suppressed the inflammatory response in OA mice model in vivo. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation suppressed the proliferation and induced the apoptosis and inflammation of chondrocytes, and AD treatment protected chondrocytes from LPS-induced dysfunction. Circular RNA (circRNA) Rap guanine nucleotide exchange factor 1 (circ_Rapgef1) overexpression attenuated AD-mediated protective effects in OA cell model. Circ_Rapgef1/microRNA-383-3p (miR-383-3p)/Nod-like receptor pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) axis was identified in this study for the first time. Circ_Rapgef1 overexpression-mediated effects were partly reversed by the overexpression of miR-383-3p in chondrocytes. NLRP3 silencing partly overturned miR-383-3p knockdown-mediated effects in chondrocytes. Circ_Rapgef1 overexpression up-regulated the expression of NLRP3 partly by targeting miR-383-3p in chondrocytes. CONCLUSION: Circ_Rapgef1 suppressed AD-mediated protective effects in OA partly by regulating miR-383-3p/NLRP3 signaling.

Autologous platelet lysates local injections for treatment of tibia non-union with breakage of the nickelclad: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Nonunions of the tibia represent challenging orthopedic problems, which require the surgeon to analyze numerous factors and choose an appropriate treatment. This article presents a case report of tibia and fibula fracture patient who failed the internal fixation surgery and successfully recovered after one course of percutaneous autologous platelet lysates injection. CASE DESCRIPTION: The patient received an internal nickelclad breakage at 9 months post-surgery but reluctant to accept a second surgery, then autologous platelet lysates (APL) injection which is a less invasive method was recommended. The injections were carried once a week for three times. Radiologic evaluation was conducted every month until recovery. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of tibia delayed union with breakage of the plate resolved with APL injection. Improved clinical evidence was observed at 4 and 6 months after injection. The patient got good bony union at 8 months post-injection. The patient didn't feel any discomfort postinjection, no complications such as infection, refracture etc. were observed. CONCLUSIONS: APL percutaneous injection could be a new therapeutic option for the treatment of nonunion or delayed healing fractures.

Autologous platelet lysate local injections for the treatment of refractory lateral epicondylitis.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of autologous platelet lysate (APL) local injections in reducing pain and improving function in patients with refractory lateral epicondylitis. METHODS: A total of 56 patients with refractory lateral epicondylitis were enrolled in this study. All the patients received three injections in one course of treatment. Subjective assessments include visual analog scale (VAS) pain score and Mayo elbow score before injection (baseline) and at 1, 6, and 12 months after injection. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed in VAS and Mayo scores at baseline and at 1, 6, and 12 months after injection. Overall, the injections of APL improved local symptoms and all the patients recovered to normal elbow function with 12 months follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Local injections of APL resulted in favorable clinical outcomes for the treatment of lateral epicondylitis. APL could be clinically effective in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis.

[Selection of digital filtering in the escaping ammonia monitoring with TDLAS].

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy technology (TDLAS), with its advantages of high selectivity and accuracy, provides a reliable approach to the on-line detection of escaping ammonia. Firstly, the present paper introduces the TDLAS principle, experimental system and the analyses of system noise. Then with the concentration of 90 x 10(-6) and 30 x 10(-6) NH3 for example, we used TDLAS system to collect their second harmonic original spectrum with all kinds of noise interference. To improve the signal spectrum, five types of digital filtering methods were respectively used to filter the original spectrum. Finally we did the NH3 experiments of concentration gradient and the long time monitoring: NH3 experiment of 20 x 10(-6). The analysis indicated that the averaging-wavelet filtering is validated to be more accurate than the other filtering methods in the noise reduction, which can improve the precision of the monitoring system from 10 x 10(-6) to 1.25 x 10(-6) and the SNR also increases by 14 times. It provides an effective pretreatment during the monitoring of escaping ammonia of extremely low concentration.

[Improving precision in coal moisture detection using wavelet transform].

Moisture, as a core determination of the economic value of coal, can result in the utilization and energy inefficiency. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, with advantages of high accuracy and low cost, provides significant solution to the quick and non-invasive detection of coal moisture. In the present paper, the improvement of the coal moisture analysis was conducted based on the precision of 1% and insufficient comparisons in recent experiments, and aspects of spectrum pretreatment and wavelength selection were mainly discussed. The optimized result with R-square of 0.995, RMSEC of 0.06% and RMSEP of 0.27% indicates the priority of wavelet decomposition and reconstruction, compared with other methods, in the noise reduction and baseline removing of original spectra (1 300-2 400 nm) before PLS modeling, and the stability experiment validates its robust potential in improving precision of coal moisture detection based on the NIR spectroscopy.