Expression and Possible Significance of ACE2 in the Human Liver, Esophagus, Stomach, and Colon

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been identified as the key receptor of SARS coronavirus that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of SARS. It is known that ACE2 mRNA can be expressed in most organs. However, the protein expression of ACE2 is not clear yet. To explore the role of ACE2 as a precipitating factor in digestive organ damage under COVID-19, this study investigated the expression of ACE2 protein in the human liver, esophagus, stomach, and colon. The result showed that ACE2 can be expressed in the liver, esophagus, stomach, and colon, which suggests SARS-CoV-2 may enter the digestive system through ACE2 and cause liver and gastrointestinal damage. It is hoped that the result of the study will provide a new strategy for the prevention and treatment of digestive organ damage under COVID-19.

Heart failure and dementia: A comparative analysis with different types of cancer

Objectives The prognosis and quality of life of heart failure (HF) patients is determined by comorbidities, with dementia/cognitive decline believed to have a significant impact in this regard. This study compares the incidence of dementia in heart failure patients with that in patients with common cancers in a large collective of outpatients. Methods and Results This retrospective cohort study assessed the incidence of dementia/cognitive decline (ICD-10: I50) in a cohort of patients ≥65 years diagnosed with HF (ICD-10: I50), breast cancer (ICD-10: C50), prostate cancer (ICD-10: C61), or digestive organ cancer (ICD-10: C15-C26) in 1,274 German general practices between January 2000 and December 2018. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to study the association between HF and dementia compared to each of three cancer cohorts. We included 72,259 patients with heart failure, 10,310 patients with breast cancer, 12,477 patients with prostate cancer and 12,136 patients with digestive organ cancer. 27.8% of HF patients were diagnosed with dementia during the 10-year observation period compared to 16.2% of breast cancer patients, 18.6% of patients with digestive organ cancer, and 16.1% of patients with prostate cancer. HF patients were significantly more likely to develop dementia within 10 years after diagnosis than patients with breast cancer (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.36 (95% confidence interval 1.28-1.45, P < 0.001), prostate cancer (HR 1.38 (1.130-1.47), P < 0.001), or gastrointestinal tumors (HR 1.31 (1.24-1.39), P < 0.001). Conclusions Our study demonstrates the significance of dementia in patients with heart failure, in whom the condition is much more prevalent than in cancer patients.

Growth and meat quality of broiler chickens fed Moringa oleifera leaf meal, a probiotic and an organic acid

Six hundred one-day-old broiler chicks were used to determine the effects of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM), a probiotic, and an organic acid on growth, weights of digestive organs, and meat quality. Starter, grower, and finisher diets were formulated to which the additives were supplemented, namely T1: 300 g/ton zinc bacitracin and 500 g/ton salinomycin; T2: 1000 g/ton MOLM; T3: probiotic (500 g/ton Enviva Pro); T4: organic acid (1000 g/ton Novyrate C); and T5: without additives. Bodyweight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and feed intake (FI) were measured weekly through day 28. On days 1 to 7, FI was highest for T4 (22.01 g/d) and lowest for T2 (20.13 g/d). Birds in T3 had the lowest ADG and highest FCR on days 21 to 28, and the highest BW on day 14 and day 21. Twelve birds were randomly selected from each treatment to measure carcass yield, organ sizes and meat quality. pH of the breast muscle was recorded at 45 minutes and 24 hours post mortem. Colour and drip loss were measured 24 hours post mortem. Birds in T4 had the lightest carcasses (1451 g). Birds in T2 had higher redness and chroma values, while hue angle values were highest in T3 birds. The effects of MOLM were comparable with the probiotic and organic acid. That is, they improved growth performance, digestive organ size and meat quality characteristics when included in broiler diets as alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP). Keywords: alternative growth promoters, carcass characteristics, digestive organ size, feed conversion

Serum Anti-AP3D1 Antibodies Are Broad-Spectrum Biomarkers for Atherosclerosis, Acute Ischemic Stroke, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Chronic Kidney Disease, and Digestive Organ Cancer

Background: Atherosclerosis has been considered as the main cause of morbidity, mortality, premature incapacity, and disability worldwide. For early and sensitive diagnosis, development of novel biomarkers is expected and of significant practical importance.Methods: The first screening for antigen markers was conducted using the serological identification of antigens by recombinant cDNA expression cloning (SEREX). Serum antibody levels were examined using the amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay-linked immunosorbent assay (AlphaLISA) using a recombinant protein as an antigen.Results: SEREX screening has identified adaptor-related protein complex 3 subunit delta 1 (AP3D1) as an antigen recognized by serum IgG antibodies of patients with atherosclerosis. As per the results of AlphaLISA, it was determined that the serum antibody levels against AP3D1 were higher in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS), transient ischemic attack (TIA), diabetes mellitus (DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and colorectal carcinoma than those in the healthy donors. The area under the curve values of DM, nephrosclerosis type of CKD, and ESCC calculated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were noted to be higher than that of other diseases. Correlation analysis showed that the anti-AP3D1 antibody levels were highly associated with maximum intima-media thickness, which indicates that this marker reflected the development of atherosclerosis. The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study results have verified that the serum antibody levels against AP3D1 showed significantly higher odds ratios with the risk of AIS for persons with the third quartiles and the highest quartiles versus the lowest quartile, indicating that this antibody marker is deemed useful as risk factors for AIS.Conclusions: Serum anti-AP3D1 antibodies, which are broad-spectrum biomarkers of atherosclerotic diseases and digestive organ cancers, could be useful in predicting the onset of AIS.