Recently, exposure to air pollutants has been associated with the development and progression of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The current study aims to evaluate the effects of air pollutants ...on SLE hospital admissions in Bengbu, China. We performed distributed lag non-linear model combined with quasi-Poisson generalized linear regression to assess the impacts of air pollutants on SLE admissions from 2015 to 2017. Subgroup analyses by admission status (first admission or readmission) were also evaluated. A total of 546 hospital admissions during 2015–2017 were included. For single-day lag structures, the risk effects occurred from lag 2 to lag 9 for the 75th percentile particulate matter (PM)2.5, lag 3 to lag 9 for the 80th percentile PM2.5. For cumulative lag structures, the risk effects occurred from lag 0–5 to lag 0–14 for both 75th PM2.5 and 80th PM2.5, and no significant effect was observed for 90th PM2.5. In addition, the adverse effects on SLE first admissions occurred from lag 0 to lag 1 for NO2, lag 1 to lag 2 for SO2. The maximum effect of PM2.5 on SLE was 4.27 (95% confidence interval: 1.34–13.59) at lag 0–13 day, the minimum effect value was 1.12 (95% confidence interval: 1.03–1.23) at lag 9 day. These findings demonstrate that high PM2.5, NO2 and SO2 are associated with SLE hospital admissions. In addition, this study further revealed that exposure to high concentration of PM2.5 increased the risk of SLE relapse, while high levels of NO2 and SO2 increased the risk of SLE first admissions.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The present study was performed to explore the underlying molecular mechanism of Cu-induced disorder of lipid metabolism in fish. To this end, adult zebrafish were exposed to three waterborne Cu ...concentrations (0 (control), 8 and 16 μg Cu/L, respectively) for 60 days. Hepatic Cu content and hepatosomatic index increased after waterborne Cu exposure. H&E and oil red O stainings showed extensive steatosis in the liver of Cu-exposed fish. Cu exposure up-regulated lipogenic enzymes activities of ME, ICDH, 6PGD, G6PD and FAS, but down-regulated CPTI activities. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that lipid metabolism related pathways were significantly enriched in both low-dose and high-dose Cu exposure group. Genes involved in lipogenic process from fatty acid biosynthesis, fatty acid elongation, fatty acid desaturation to glycerolipid biosynthesis were up-regulated by Cu. To elucidate the mechanism, LXRα inhibitor SR9243 and SREBP1 inhibitor fatostatin were used to verify the role of LXRα and SREBP1 in Cu-induced disorder of lipid metabolism. Both SR9243 and fatostatin significantly attenuated the Cu-induced increase of TG accumulation of hepatocytes. Meanwhile, SR9243 significantly attenuated the Cu-induced up-regulation of expression of lipogenic genes (acaca, fas, icdh, dgat1, moat2 and moat3), and fatostatin significantly attenuated the up-regulation of expression of acaca, fas, g6pd, dgat1 and moat2. Enzymes analysis showed both SR9243 and fatostatin blocked the Cu-induced increase of lipogenic enzymes activities. Taken together, our findings highlight the importance of LXRα and SREBP1 in Cu-induced hepatic lipid deposition, which proposed a novel mechanism for elucidating metal element exposure inducing the disorder of lipid metabolism in aquatic vertebrates.
•Hepatic Cu content and hepatosomatic index increased after waterborne Cu exposure.•Cu exposure induced extensive steatosis in the liver.•Cu altered the expression of genes related to lipogenesis and lipolysis.•LXRα and SREBP1 mediated Cu-induced hepatic lipid deposition.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Little study has investigated the differences between Talatomyces marneffei (T. marneffei) respiratory infection and tuberculosis and the prognostic factors of such infection. This study investigated ...the characteristics and prognostic factors of T. marneffei infections with respiratory lesions and the causes of misdiagnosis.
Clinical characteristics and prognoses of patients with T. marneffei infections with respiratory system lesion were investigated. T. marneffei diagnosis followed isolation from clinical specimens using standard culture, cytology, and histopathology. Survival curves were estimated by using Kaplan-Meier analysis, with log-rank test to compare differences in survival rates between groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were also performed to assess significant differences in clinical characteristics of overall survival.
Of 126 patients diagnosed with T. marneffei infections, 63 (50.0%) had T. marneffei respiratory system infections; 38.1% (24/63) were misdiagnosed as having tuberculosis. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, CD4/CD8 < 0.5, percentage of CD4 T cells <42.8%, and length of time from onset to confirmation of diagnosis >105 days were potential risk factors for poor prognoses. Length of time from onset to confirmation of diagnosis persisted as an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in multivariate analysis (odds ratio: 0.083, 95.0% confidence interval: 0.021-0.326, P < 0.001). However, the size of the lung lesions, dyspnea, thoracalgia, mediastinal lymphadenopathy, and pleural effusion did not significantly predict overall survival. There was no significant difference in prognosis according to the type of treatment.
T. marneffei infections involving the respiratory system are common. The critical determinants of prognosis are HIV infection, CD4/CD8, percentage of CD4 T cells, type of treatment, and the time range from onset to confirmation of diagnosis. Rapid and accurate diagnosis is crucial for improving prognosis.
Although patients with psoriasis frequently report seasonal changes in their symptoms, the seasonality of psoriasis has rarely been explored. This study aims to investigate the seasonal pattern of ...and global public interest in psoriasis using Google search data.
Internet search data were collected from Google Trends. Data on the relative search volume (RSV) from January 2004 to December 2018 were retrieved using the term psoriasis. Cosinor analyses were conducted to examine the seasonality of psoriasis using data from two southern hemisphere countries (Australia and New Zealand) and four northern hemisphere countries (USA, Canada, UK and Ireland).
Overall, searches for psoriasis steadily decreased between 2004 and 2010, and then rose from 2011 to 2018. On cosinor analyses, RSV of 'psoriasis' displayed a significant seasonal variation worldwide (
<0.025). Further analyses confirmed the seasonality of psoriasis-related RSV in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK and Ireland (
<0.025 for all), with peaks in the late winter/early spring months and troughs in the late summer/early autumn months. The top 11 rising topics were calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate, ustekinumab, apremilast, shampoo, eczema, guttate psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis, dermatitis, psoriatic arthritis, atopic dermatitis and arthritis.
There was a significant seasonal pattern for psoriasis, with peaks in the late winter/early spring and troughs in the late summer/early autumn. Further studies are warranted to confirm the seasonal pattern of psoriasis using clinical data and to explore the underlying mechanisms.
Zingiberales includes eight families and more than 2600 species, with many species having important economic and ecological value. However, the backbone phylogenetic relationships of Zingiberales ...still remain controversial, as demonstrated in previous studies, and molecular dating based on chloroplast genomes has not been comprehensively studied for the whole order. Herein, 22 complete chloroplast genomes from 21 species in Zingiberales were sequenced, assembled, and analyzed. These 22 genomes displayed typical quadripartite structures, which ranged from 161,303 bp to 163,979 bp in length and contained 111–112 different genes. The genome structures, gene contents, simple sequence repeats, long repeats, and codon usage were highly conserved, with slight differences among these genomes. Further comparative analysis of the 111 complete chloroplast genomes of Zingiberales, including 22 newly sequenced ones and the remaining ones from the national center for biotechnology information (NCBI) database, identified three highly divergent regions comprising ccsA, psaC, and psaC-ndhE. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic analyses based on chloroplast genome sequences found identical topological structures and identified a strongly supported backbone of phylogenetic relationships. Cannaceae was sister to Marantaceae, forming a clade that was collectively sister to the clade of (Costaceae, Zingiberaceae) with strong support (bootstrap (BS) = 100%, and posterior probability (PP) = 0.99–1.0); Heliconiaceae was sister to the clade of (Lowiaceae, Strelitziaceae), then collectively sister to Musaceae with strong support (BS = 94–100%, and PP = 0.93–1.0); the clade of ((Cannaceae, Marantaceae), (Costaceae, Zingiberaceae)) was sister to the clade of (Musaceae, (Heliconiaceae, (Lowiaceae, Strelitziaceae))) with robust support (BS = 100%, and PP = 1.0). The results of divergence time estimation of Zingiberales indicated that the crown node of Zingiberales occurred approximately 85.0 Mya (95% highest posterior density (HPD) = 81.6–89.3 million years ago (Mya)), with major family-level lineages becoming from 46.8 to 80.5 Mya. These findings proved that chloroplast genomes could contribute to the study of phylogenetic relationships and molecular dating in Zingiberales, as well as provide potential molecular markers for further taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of Zingiberales.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Autoimmune diseases (ADs) are a broad spectrum of disorders featured by the body's immune responses being directed against its own tissues, resulting in prolonged inflammation and subsequent tissue ...damage. Recently, the exposure to ambient air pollution has been implicated in the occurrence and development of ADs. Mechanisms linking air pollution exposures and ADs mainly include systemic inflammation, increased oxidative stress, epigenetic modifications induced by exposures and immune response caused by airway damage. The lung may be an autoimmunity initiation site in autoimmune diseases (ADs). Air pollutants can bind to the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) to regulate Th17 and Treg cells. Oxidative stress and inducible bronchus associated lymphoid tissue caused by the pollutants can influence T, B cells, resulting in the production of proinflammatory cytokines. These cytokines stimulate B cell and dendritic cells, resulting in a lot of antibodies and self-reactive T lymphocytes. Moreover, air pollutants may induce epigenetic changes to contribute to ADs. In this review, we will concern the associations between air pollution and immune–inflammatory responses, as well as mechanisms linking air pollution exposure and autoimmunity. In addition, we focus on the potential roles of air pollution in major autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).
•Air pollution is association with autoimmune diseases (ADs).•The lung may be an autoimmunity initiation site in ADs.•Air pollution can cause T cell imbalance, production of proinflammatory cytokines, local pulmonary inflammation, oxidative stress and methylation changes and ultimately involved in the onset and the exacerbation of these diseases.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Objectives. This study was to investigate the association of melatonin (MTN) pathway gene’s single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods. ...We recruited 495 SLE patients and 493 healthy controls, 11 tag SNPs in MTN receptor 1a (MTNR1a), MTNR1b, and arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) genes were genotyped and analyzed. Serum MTN concentration was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Results. Two SNPs of AANAT gene (rs8150 and rs3760138) associated with the risk of SLE; CC carriers of rs8150 had a lower risk as compared to GG (OR=0.537, 95% CI: 0.361, 0.799), whereas GG carrier in rs3760138 had an increased risk (OR=1.823, 95% CI: 1.154, 2.880) compared to TT. However, we did not find any genetic association between the other nine SNPs with SLE risk. Case-only analysis showed associations of rs2165667 and rs1562444 with arthritis, rs10830962 with malar rash, rs3760138 with immunological abnormality, and rs8150 with hematological abnormality. Furthermore, a significant difference between plasma MTN levels with different genotypes of rs1562444 was observed. Haplotype analyses revealed that haplotype of CCTAT, CTAGT, and GGG was significantly associated with the increased risk in SLE susceptibility, but TCTAT and CTG appeared to be a protective haplotype. Conclusions. The present study supported the genetic association of MTN pathway genes with SLE susceptibility and specific clinical manifestations, suggesting the potential role of MTN pathway genes in the pathogenesis and development of SLE.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Salinity tolerance is an important physiological index for crop breeding. Roots are typically the first plant tissue to withstand salt stress. In this study, we found that the tomato (Solanum ...lycopersicum) trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (SlTPP4) gene is induced by abscisic acid (ABA) and salt, and is mainly expressed in roots. Overexpression of SlTPP4 in tomato enhanced tolerance to salt stress, resulting in better growth performance. Under saline conditions, SlTPP4 overexpression plants demonstrated enhanced sucrose metabolism, as well as increased expression of genes related to salt tolerance. At the same time, expression of genes related to ABA biosynthesis and signal transduction was enhanced or altered, respectively. In-depth exploration demonstrated that SlTPP4 enhances Casparian band development in roots to restrict the intake of Na+. Our study thus clarifies the mechanism of SlTPP4-mediated salt tolerance, which will be of great importance for the breeding of salt-tolerant tomato crops.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•Early diagnosis could improve lung cancer survival rate.•The availability of blood-based screening could increase lung cancer patient uptake.•An interdisciplinary mechanism combines metabolomics and ...machine learning methods.•Metabolic biomarkers could be potential screening biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer.•Naïve Bayes is recommended as an exploitable tool for early lung tumor prediction.
Early diagnosis has been proved to improve survival rate of lung cancer patients. The availability of blood-based screening could increase early lung cancer patient uptake. Our present study attempted to discover Chinese patients’ plasma metabolites as diagnostic biomarkers for lung cancer. In this work, we use a pioneering interdisciplinary mechanism, which is firstly applied to lung cancer, to detect early lung cancer diagnostic biomarkers by combining metabolomics and machine learning methods. We collected total 110 lung cancer patients and 43 healthy individuals in our study. Levels of 61 plasma metabolites were from targeted metabolomic study using LC-MS/MS. A specific combination of six metabolic biomarkers note-worthily enabling the discrimination between stage I lung cancer patients and healthy individuals (AUC = 0.989, Sensitivity = 98.1%, Specificity = 100.0%). And the top 5 relative importance metabolic biomarkers developed by FCBF algorithm also could be potential screening biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer. Naïve Bayes is recommended as an exploitable tool for early lung tumor prediction. This research will provide strong support for the feasibility of blood-based screening, and bring a more accurate, quick and integrated application tool for early lung cancer diagnostic. The proposed interdisciplinary method could be adapted to other cancer beyond lung cancer.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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