Background
Oral fluconazole is used to treat vulvovaginal candidiasis during pregnancy. However, there are concerns regarding the pregnancy outcomes following exposure to fluconazole.
Objectives
To ...evaluate the pregnancy outcomes associated with exposure to oral fluconazole during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Search strategy
A systematic literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies published from inception until April 2019.
Selection criteria
Relevant English‐language citations using the terms oral fluconazole and pregnancy in humans.
Data collection
Two reviewers independently ed data and assessed study quality.
Main results
Oral fluconazole use during the first trimester of pregnancy was marginally associated with an increased risk of congenital malformations (odds ratio OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.99–1.2, P = 0.088; n = 6 studies), whereas in the subgroup analysis, this association existed only for high‐dose users (>150 mg) (OR 1. 19, 95% CI 1.01–1.4, P = 0.039; n = 2). Exposure to fluconazole also increased the risk of heart malformations (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.09–1.57, P = 0.003; n = 4), cardiac septal defects (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.67, P = 0.047; n = 3), and tetralogy of Fallot (OR 3.39 95% CI 1.71–6.74, P < 0.001; n = 2) in the offspring. In addition, exposure to fluconazole was significantly associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.38–2.88, P < 0.001; n = 3).
Conclusions
Oral fluconazole use during the first trimester of pregnancy appears to be associated with heart malformations and spontaneous abortion, but a causal link cannot be proven.
Tweetable
Oral fluconazole during the first trimester of pregnancy may be associated with unfavourable pregnancy outcomes.
Tweetable
Oral fluconazole during the first trimester of pregnancy may be associated with unfavourable pregnancy outcomes.
In addition to their well‐established self‐renewal and multipotent differentiation properties, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) also possess potent immunomodulatory functions both in vitro and in vivo, ...which render them a potential novel immunotherapeutic tool for a variety of autoimmune and inflammation‐related diseases. The major mechanisms may involve (1) the secretion of an array of soluble factors such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), indoleamine 2, 3‐dioxygenase (IDO), transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β), and human leukocyte antigen G5 (HLA‐G5); (2) interactions between MSCs and immune cells such as T cells, B cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Recently, increasing evidence has supported that MSCs derived from dental tissues are promising alternative sources of multipotent MSCs. We here provide a thorough and extensive review about new findings in the immunomodulatory functions of MSCs derived from several dental tissues, including dental pulp, periodontal ligament, gingiva, exfoliated deciduous teeth, apical papilla, and dental follicle, respectively. The immunomodulatory properties of dental MSCs place them as a more accessible cell source than bone marrow‐derived MSCs for cell‐based therapy of immune and inflammation‐related diseases.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a devastative neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective loss of motoneurons. While several breakthroughs have been made in identifying ALS genetic ...defects, the detailed molecular mechanisms are still unclear. These genetic defects involve in numerous biological processes, which converge to a common destiny: motoneuron degeneration. In addition, the common comorbid Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) further complicates the investigation of ALS etiology. In this study, we aimed to explore the protein-protein interaction network built on known ALS-causative genes to identify essential proteins and common downstream proteins between classical ALS and ALS+FTD (classical ALS + ALS/FTD) groups. The results suggest that classical ALS and ALS+FTD share similar essential protein set (VCP, FUS, TDP-43 and hnRNPA1) but have distinctive functional enrichment profiles. Thus, disruptions to these essential proteins might cause motoneuron susceptible to cellular stresses and eventually vulnerable to proteinopathies. Moreover, we identified a common downstream protein, ubiquitin-C, extensively interconnected with ALS-causative proteins (22 out of 24) which was not linked to ALS previously. Our in silico approach provides the computational background for identifying ALS therapeutic targets, and points out the potential downstream common ground of ALS-causative mutations.
This study aims to explore whether the current definitions of sarcopenia are applicable to the older Chinese population. Participants were 783 Chinese adults recruited from four regions in Mainland ...China: Jinan, Guangzhou, Xi’an, and Chengdu. Body composition was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Handgrip strength, body weight, and height were measured by trained technicians, and demographic data were collected through questionnaires. Relative appendicular skeletal muscle, skeletal muscle index (SMI=100 × skeletal muscle mass/body mass) and residuals methods were applied to identify sarcopenia. Compared with young adults, no significant decrease was found in the relative appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM/height
2
) in older adults. If the criterion of two standard deviations below the mean value of ASM/height
2
in young adults is used, none of older adults in this study could be diagnosed with sarcopenia. In addition, compared with the ASM/height
2
and residuals methods, SMI shows higher discriminating power in the identifying persons with low handgrip strength. The data suggest that ASM/height
2
method may not be appropriate for diagnosis of sarcopenia in Chinese population. However, whether SMI is a better choice remains inconclusive. Prospective studies are needed to clearly define sarcopenia in Chinese population.
Circular RNA plays an important role in regulating tumour development and progression and can serve as a biomarker for cancer. This study was performed to investigate the clinical significance of ...hsa_circ_0092125 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The expression of hsa_circ_0092125 in OSCC tissues and cell lines was determined by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis. The association between hsa_circ_0092125 expression and clinicopathological data was determined by χ2 test. Overall survival (OS) curves were created using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, and the differences were examined by log-rank test. Moreover, univariate and multivariate Cox analysis were employed to evaluate the risk factors of the OSCC prognosis. The expression of hsa_circ_0092125 was significantly down-regulated in OSCC tissues and cell lines. A low expression of hsa_circ_0092125 was associated with clinicopathological factors in OSCC patients, including tumour size, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that the OS time was shorter in OSCC patients with a lower hsa_circ_0092125 expression level than in those with a higher expression level. In addition, univariate and multivariate Cox analysis identified lower hsa_circ_0092125 expression, tumour size, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis as independent risk factors for the OSCC prognosis. Thus, down-regulated expression of hsa_circ_0092125 might serve as a biomarker of the OSCC prognosis.
The origin of atmospheric dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) deposition is not very clear at present. Across China, the DON deposition was substantially larger than that of world and Europe, and we ...found significant positive correlation between contribution of DON and the deposition flux with pristine site data lying in outlier, possibly reflecting the acute air quality problems in China. For a case study in Northeast China, we revealed the deposited DON was mainly derived from intensive agricultural activities rather than the natural sources by analyzing the compiled dataset across China and correlating DON flux with NH4+–N and NO3−–N. Crop pollens and combustion of fossil fuels for heating probably contributed to summer and autumn DON flux respectively. Overall, in Northeast China, DON deposition could exert important roles in agro-ecosystem nutrient management and carbon sequestration of natural ecosystems; nationally, it was suggested to found rational network for monitoring DON deposition.
•Contribution and deposition flux of DON across China was positively correlated.•Deposited DON was more influenced by human in China than across the world and Europe.•DON of a farmland in Northeast China was mainly derived from agricultural activities.•Crop pollen and combustion of fossil fuels contributed to summer and autumn DON.•Deposited DON should not be neglected when evaluating its ecological impacts.
Synthesis of DON deposition across China implied regional importance of anthropogenic sources, and an observation in Northeast China suggested the ecological significances of the DON flux should be considered.
The Arabidopsis vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase (AVP1) has been well studied and subsequently employed to improve salt and/or drought resistance in herbaceous plants. However, the exact function of ...H(+)-pyrophosphatase in woody plants still remains unknown. In this work, we cloned a homolog of type I H(+)-pyrophosphatase gene, designated as PtVP1.1, from Populus trichocarpa, and investigated its function in both Arabidopsis and poplar. The deduced translation product PtVP1.1 shares 89.74% identity with AVP1. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR analyses revealed a ubiquitous expression pattern of PtVP1.1 in various tissues, including roots, stems, leaves and shoot tips. Heterologous expression of PtVP1.1 rescued the retarded-root-growth phenotype of avp1, an Arabidopsis knock out mutant of AVP1, on low carbohydrate medium. Overexpression of PtVP1.1 in poplar (P. davidiana × P. bolleana) led to more vigorous growth of transgenic plants in the presence of 150 mM NaCl. Microsomal membrane vesicles derived from PtVP1.1 transgenic plants exhibited higher H(+)-pyrophosphatase hydrolytic activity than those from wild type (WT). Further studies indicated that the improved salt tolerance was associated with a decreased Na(+) and increased K(+) accumulation in the leaves of transgenic plants. Na(+) efflux and H(+) influx in the roots of transgenic plants were also significantly higher than those in the WT plants. All these results suggest that PtVP1.1 is a functional counterpart of AVP1 and can be genetically engineered for salt tolerance improvement in trees.
Utilization of phenolic acids, including gallic acid, coumaric acid, caffic acid, cinnamic acid, and ferulic acid, for methanol reduction in wine was investigated. Enzyme activities of pectinesterase ...and pectin lyase decreased significantly when 0.1 mg/L of gallic acid, coumaric acid, caffic acid, cinnamic acid, or ferulic acid was added. However, no inhibition on polygalacturonase activity was observed when 0.5 mg/L of phenolic acid was added. Methanol content in commercial pectic enzyme (CPE) group increased from 11.53 ± 1.34 to 56.67 ± 3.75 ppm in the final products. Adding gallic acid or coumaric acid with CPE inhibited the increase of methanol production. In addition, when 0.2 mg/L of phenolic acid (gallic acid or coumaric acid) was added, the amount of total phenolic acid released from CPE + gallic acid or CPE + coumaric acid groups became higher than CPE group by approximately 466 and 539 mg/L, respectively. In conclusion, the values of lightness, red content, yellow content, total pigment, and total phenolic acid increased in the presence of gallic acid or coumaric acid with CPE, suggesting that adding gallic acid or coumaric acid into winemaking process is a potential method for reducing methanol content, improving wine quality, as well as increasing healthy compounds in wine production.
Synaptic transmission between dorsal root afferents and neurons in the superficial laminae of the spinal dorsal horn (laminae I-III) was examined by intracellular recording in a transverse slice ...preparation of rat spinal cord. Brief high-frequency electrical stimulation (300 pulses at 100 Hz) of primary afferent fibers produced a long-term potentiation (LTP) or a long-term depression (LTD) of fast (monosynaptic and polysynaptic) EPSPs in a high proportion of dorsal horn neurons. Both the AMPA and the NMDA receptor-mediated components of synaptic transmission at the primary afferent synapses with neurons in the dorsal horn can exhibit LTP and LTD of the synaptic responses. In normal and neonatally capsaicin-treated rats, the induction of LTP requires the activation of NMDA receptor-gated conductances. The induction of LTP or LTD, however, was not abolished in the presence of bicuculline, a GABAA receptor antagonist. The results demonstrate that distinct and long-lasting modulation in synaptic efficiency can be induced at primary afferent synapses with neurons in the superficial laminae of spinal dorsal horn by high-frequency stimulation of dorsal root afferents and that these changes may be physiologically relevant for transmission and integration of sensory information, including pain.
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