Cross-species transmission of viruses from wildlife animal reservoirs poses a marked threat to human and animal health
. Bats have been recognized as one of the most important reservoirs for emerging ...viruses and the transmission of a coronavirus that originated in bats to humans via intermediate hosts was responsible for the high-impact emerging zoonosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
. Here we provide virological, epidemiological, evolutionary and experimental evidence that a novel HKU2-related bat coronavirus, swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV), is the aetiological agent that was responsible for a large-scale outbreak of fatal disease in pigs in China that has caused the death of 24,693 piglets across four farms. Notably, the outbreak began in Guangdong province in the vicinity of the origin of the SARS pandemic. Furthermore, we identified SADS-related CoVs with 96-98% sequence identity in 9.8% (58 out of 591) of anal swabs collected from bats in Guangdong province during 2013-2016, predominantly in horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus spp.) that are known reservoirs of SARS-related CoVs. We found that there were striking similarities between the SADS and SARS outbreaks in geographical, temporal, ecological and aetiological settings. This study highlights the importance of identifying coronavirus diversity and distribution in bats to mitigate future outbreaks that could threaten livestock, public health and economic growth.
•We established a TaqMan-based real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of a novel swine diarrhea virus SADS-CoV.•The assay in this study was of high sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility.•We ...compared the accuracy between conventional PCR and TaqMan-based RT-PCR assay with adequate clinical samples.•This approach will help to provide knowledge on epidemiology and pathogenesis studies of SADS-CoV.
Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) is a novel coronavirus which was first reported in southern China in 2017. It can cause severe diarrhea disease in pigs. In order to detect this new emerging virus rapidly and reliably, a TaqMan-based real-time RT-PCR assay was established in this study. Specific primers and probe were designed and synthesized based on the conserved region within the N gene of the viral genome. Results showed that the lowest limit of detection was 3.0 × 101 copies/μL. This approach was specific for SADS-CoV, and there were no cross-reaction observed against other 15 swine viruses. It was 10 times more sensitive than the conventional PCR and gave higher SADS-CoV positive detection rate (70.69%, 123/174) than the conventional PCR (51.15%, 89/174) from clinical samples. These data indicated that the TaqMan-based real-time RT-PCR assay established here was an effective method with high sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility for faster and more accurate detection and quantification of SADS-CoV.
•We established a SYBR green-based real-time qPCR assay to detect PCV3.•We compared the LOD between gel-based assay and SYBR green-based qPCR assay.•The melt curve temperature of PCV3 was 82.5°C.•The ...CV of intra-assay was up to 1.83% and the CV of inter-assay was up to 2.27%.•The assay in this study was of high sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility.
Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) has been reported in cases of porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome, reproductive failure, cardiac and multi-systemic inflammation. A SYBR green-based real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay was established in this study to detect PCV3 in 203 clinical samples from suckling piglets affected by congenital tremors in China. The limit of detection (LOD) of PCV3 was 1.73×104 copies/μL for gel electrophoresis and 1.73×102 copies/μL for SYBR green-based real-time qPCR. The melt curve analysis showed a single melt peak at 82.5°C.The intra-assay coefficient of variation was up to 1.83% and the inter-assay coefficient of variation was up to 2.27%. The PCV3 positive detection rate of 203 clinical samples for the SYBR green-based real-time qPCR and the conventional PCR was 86.70% (176/203) and 26.60% (54/203), respectively. Each tissue detected in the SYBR green-based real-time qPCR showed a higher positive rate than that detected in the conventional PCR. These results indicated that the SYBR green-based real-time qPCR assay is a powerful method with high sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility for epidemiological investigations of PCV3.
Mononuclear cells （MNCs） isolated from peripheral blood by density gradient centrifugation were plated on human fibronectin-coated culture plates and cultured in EGM-2 medium. Attached spindle-shaped ...cells, reported as endothelial progenitor cells （EPCs） by some investigators, had elongated from adherent round cells, but had not proliferated from a small number of cells as supposed previously. The growth curve of the primary EPCs showed that the cells had little proliferative capacity. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the cells could express some of the endothelial lineage markers, while they could also express CD 14, which is considered a marker of monocyte/macrophage lineages throughout culture. In endothelial function assays, the cells demonstrated a lower level of expression of eNOS than mature endothelial cells in the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and did not show an ability to develop tube-like structures in angiogenesis assay in vitro. In this study, we identified the monocytoid function of EPCs by the combined Dillabeled acetylated low-density lipoprotein （Dil-Ac-LDL） and Indian ink uptake tests. All the cells were double positive for Dil- Ac-LDL and Indian ink uptake at days 4, 14 and 28 of culture, which means the EPCs maintained monocytoid function throughout the culture. Therefore, although adult EPCs from peripheral MNCs have some endothelial lineage properties, they maintain typical monocytic function and have little proliferative capacity.
•Porphyran (PHP) is isolated from Porphyra haitanensis.•PHP has a molecular weight of 2.01 × 105 Da.•PHP accelerates intestinal epithelial wound healing by cell proliferation.•PHP promotes intestinal ...epithelial wound healing by enhanced epithelial restitution.
This study examined the beneficial effects of porphyran from Porphyra haitanensis (PHP) on intestinal epithelial cells, in terms of cell proliferation and migration and elucidated the potential molecular mechanism of action of PHP. Purified PHP is a homogenous polysaccharide with a molecular weight of 2.01 × 105 Da, intrinsic viscosity η of 463.76 mL/g, and radius of gyration of 61.2 nm. When the intestinal epithelial wound healing activity of PHP was investigated in vitro using the IEC-6 cell line (intestinal epithelial cells-6), it was found that PHP could promote cell migration and proliferation. PHP enhanced the protein expression of cell division control protein 42, paxillin, and focal adhesion kinase, which suggest that PHP might modulate the expression of these proteins to improve intestinal epithelial healing. Thus, this study indicated that PHP could serve as a potential source of functional food constituents for intestinal epithelial protection and restoration.
Background
The increasing prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in China and the paucity of information about relevant expenditure highlight the necessity of better understanding the financial burden ...and effect of CRC diagnosis and treatment. We performed a survey to quantify the direct medical and non‐medical expenditure as well as the resulting financial burden of CRC patients in China.
Methods
We conducted a multicenter, cross‐sectional survey in 37 tertiary hospitals in 13 provinces across China between 2012 and 2014. Each enrolled patient was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. All expenditure data were inflated to the 2014 Chinese Yuan (CNY; 1 CNY = 0.163 USD). We quantified the overall expenditure and financial burden and by subgroup (hospital type, age at diagnosis, sex, education, occupation, insurance type, household income, clinical stage, pathologic type, and therapeutic regimen). We then performed generalized linear modeling to determine the factors associated with overall expenditure.
Results
A total of 2356 patients with a mean age of 57.4 years were included, 57.1% of whom were men; 13.9% of patients had stage I cancer; and the average previous‐year household income was 54,525 CNY. The overall average direct expenditure per patient was estimated to be 67,408 CNY, and the expenditures for stage I, II, III, and IV disease were 56,099 CNY, 59,952 CNY, 67,292 CNY, and 82,729 CNY, respectively. Non‐medical expenditure accounted for 8.3% of the overall expenditure. The 1‐year out‐of‐pocket expenditure of a newly diagnosed patient was 32,649 CNY, which accounted for 59.9% of their previous‐year household income and caused 75.0% of families to suffer an unmanageable financial burden. Univariate analysis showed that financial burden and overall expenditure differed in almost all subgroups (P < 0.05), except for sex. Multivariate analysis showed that patients who were treated in specialized hospitals and those who were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma or diagnosed at a later stage were likely to spend more, whereas those with a lower household income and those who underwent surgery spent less (all P < 0.05).
Conclusions
For patients in China, direct expenditure for the diagnosis and treatment of CRC seemed catastrophic, and non‐medical expenditure was non‐ignorable. The financial burden varied among subgroups, especially among patients with different clinical stages of disease, which suggests that, in China, CRC screening might be cost‐effective.
Vascular complications induced by diabetes constitute the principal cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. It has been reported that carvacrol (CAR) possesses a wide range of ...biological activities. The effects of CAR on diabetes-induced vasculopathy remain unknown. In this study, diabetic mice were created by the intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) in male C57BL/6 J mice to investigate whether CAR provided a protective effect against diabetes-induced vasculopathy and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. We found that CAR decreased blood glucose levels in diabetic mice. Moreover, CAR ameliorated diabetes-induced aortic morphological alterations, as evidenced by an increased thickness in the intima-media width and an increased number of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) layers. Further studies revealed that CAR inhibited hypercontractility in the aortas of diabetic mice and VSMCs in response to hyperglycemia, as evidenced by the relaxation of phenylephrine(PE)-induced vasoconstriction, the decreased expression of smooth muscle (SM)-α-actin, and the increased expression of Ki67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Furthermore, the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was inhibited in the aortas of diabetic mice and VSMCs in response to hyperglycemia, while CAR treatment activated the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. In conclusion, our results strongly suggest that CAR plays a protective role in diabetes-induced aortic hypercontractility, possibly by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. CAR is a potential drug for the treatment of diabetic vasculopathy.
Gasdermin D-executing pyroptosis mediated by NLRP3 inflammasomes has been recognized as a key pathogenesis during stroke. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) could protect CNS against ischemia/reperfusion ...(I/R)-induced neuroinflammation, while the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The study applied the middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) model to investigate how the brain and the retinal injuries were alleviated in sodium hydrogen sulfide (NaHS)-treated rats. The rats were assigned to four groups and received an intraperitoneal injection of 50 μmol/kg NaHS or NaCl 15 min after surgery. Neurological deficits were evaluated using the modified neurologic severity score. The quantification of pro-inflammatory cytokines, NLRP3, caspase-1, and GSDMD were determined by ELISA and Western blot. Cortical and retinal neurodegeneration and cell pyroptosis were determined by histopathologic examination. Results showed that NaHS rescued post-stroke neurological deficits and infarct progression, improved retina injury, and attenuated neuroinflammation in the brain cortexes and the retinae. NaHS administration inhibits inflammation by blocking the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway and further suppressing neuronal pyroptosis. This is supported by the fact that it reversed the high-level of NLRP3, caspase-1, and GSDMD following I/R. Our findings suggest that compounds with the ability to donate H2S could constitute a novel therapeutic strategy for ischemic stroke.
It is well known that the prognosis of Gastric cancer (GC) patient is affected by many factors. However, the latent impact of anoikis on the prognosis of GC patients is insufficient understood.
...According to the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we elected discrepantly expressed anoikis-related genes (ARGs). Univariate cox and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (lasso) analysis were applied to build the ARGs signature. The prognostic effect of the ARGs signature was also evaluated. A series of algorithms were performed to evaluate the discrepancies in the immune microenvironment. Moreover, the correlation between drug sensitivity and ARGs signature was analyzed. We also performed Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) to probe the signature.
The ARGs signature of 9 genes was constructed, which was apparently interrelated with the prognosis. The nomogram was established by combining the ARGs signature with clinicopathological characteristics. We found that the predictive power was noteworthily superior to other individual predictors. The immune microenvironment analysis indicated that ESTIMATEscore, ImmuneScores, StromalScores, tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) score were lower in the low-risk group, while immunophenoscore (IPS) was on the contrary. The infiltrated immune cells and immune checkpoint (ICP) expression levels were significantly different between the two groups. Furthermore, nine drugs were positively associated with the ARGs signature score. The results of RT-PCR analysis were consistent with our previous differential expression analysis.
The developed ARGs signature could act as the biomarker and provide a momentous reference for Individual therapy of GC patients.
Follistatin (FST) is an important regulator of skeletal muscle growth and adipose deposition through its ability to bind to several members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, ...and thus may be a good candidate for future animal breeding programs. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotypic changes have yet to be clarified in pig. We generated transgenic (TG) pigs that express human FST specifically in skeletal muscle tissues and characterized the phenotypic changes compared with the same tissues in wild-type pigs. The TG pigs showed increased skeletal muscle growth, decreased adipose deposition, and improved metabolism status (P<0.05). Transcriptome analysis detected important roles of the PIK3–AKT signaling pathway, calcium-mediated signaling pathway, and amino acid metabolism pathway in FST-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy, and depot-specific oxidative metabolism changes in psoas major muscle. Furthermore, the lipid metabolism-related process was changed in adipose tissue in the TG pigs. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that genes related to lipid synthesis, lipid catabolism, and lipid storage were down-regulated (P<0.01) in the TG pigs for subcutaneous fat, whereas genes related to lipid catabolism were significantly up-regulated (P<0.05) in the TG pigs for retroperitoneal fat compared with their expression levels in wild-type pigs. In liver, genes related to the TGF-β signaling pathway were over-represented in the TG pigs, which is consistent with the inhibitory role of FST in regulating TGF-β signaling. Together, these results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotypic changes in pig.
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