Comprehensive Analysis of Fecal Microbiome and Metabolomics in Hepatic Fibrosis Rats Reveal Hepatoprotective Effects of Yinchen Wuling Powder From the Host-Microbial Metabolic Axis

Hepatic fibrosis (HF) is a typical consequence in the development of multiple chronic liver diseases, which is intimately related to the composition and metabolic status of gut microbiota. A myriad of evidence has indicated that traditional Chinese medicine can treat HF by regulating gut microbiota. Yinchen Wuling powder (YCWLP) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine prescription, which has been used to relieve liver diseases for thousands of years. YCWLP has demonstrated protective function on HF, but its effect on the alterations of gut microbiota is still unclear, and its explicit therapeutic mechanism also needs to be further elucidated. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and fecal metabolomics analysis were combined to investigate the influence of YCWLP on gut microbiota in HF rats and the interactions between gut microbiota and host metabolism. The results showed that YCWLP treatment significantly improved the disorder of multiple organ indices, HF-related cytokines and plasma LPS induced by HF. Masson’s trichrome stainings also showed that YCWLP treatment could significantly alleviate the severity of HF in rats. Additionally, YCWLP could reverse the significant changes in the abundance of certain genera closely related to HF phenotype, including Barnesiella [Ruminococcus] and Christensenella. Meanwhile, YCWLP significantly increased the abundance of Bifidobacterium, Coprococcus and Anaerostipes, which are closely related to butyrate production. Metabolomics and Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that YCWLP could regulate the disorder of arginine biosynthesis, sphingolipid metabolism and alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism in HF rats, and these regulations were intimately related to Barnesiella, [Ruminococcus], Christensenella, Coprococcus and Anaerostipes. By explaining the biological significance of the above results, we concluded that YCWLP might ameliorate HF by regulating the imbalance of gut microbiota, increasing the abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria to reduce ammonia production, promote ammonia degradation, and regulate pro-inflammatory cytokines and immune function.

Nomogram of age-specific anti-Müllerian hormone levels in healthy Egyptian females

Background Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is an important determinant of ovarian reserve in fertility workups in many clinical settings. Thus, we investigated the age dependent decline in AMH specific to the Egyptian population and sought to establish an age dependent reference interval parametrically. Methods Serum samples were collected from 841 apparently healthy women. AMH was measured using an electro-chemiluminescent technique. Box-Cox power transformation was used to make the AMH distribution Gaussian for parametric derivation of reference intervals. Results Power of 0.4 was found optimal for Gaussian transformation of AMH reference values. We demonstrate the strong negative relation between circulating AMH and female age with Spearman’s correlation coefficient of rS = −0.528. Age-specific reference interval was determined for every 5 years of age from 16 to 49, and nomogram was constructed by smoothing the lines connecting adjacent lower and upper reference limits. Conclusion The age-specific reference intervals and the age-AMH nomogram could be valuable in the clinical practice of in reproductive medicine. To our knowledge, this is the first study to confirm AMH levels in Egyptian females. We were able to explore age-related AMH levels specific to Egyptian females in the fertile age group and to treat skewed AMH data in a multi-step scheme using power transformation. Thus, a more accurate nomogram was constructed accommodating a profile delineated for a wide age range and a rescaled AMH axis improving its usability.

Knowledge and Attitude of Malaysian Fruit Growers on Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a sustainable approach for pest control. However, the adoption of IPM remains low in Malaysia. The main objectives of this study were to identify the knowledge level and attitude of Malaysian fruit farmers on IPM. A total number of 150 respondents were selected through a non-random sampling method and the data was collected through an online questionnaire. The knowledge level and attitude of the respondents were accessed on a scoring scale of one to five. The respondents recorded a moderate knowledge of IPM with a mean score of 3.36. However, farmers showed poor knowledge on different modes of action of pesticides (2.25), and the ability to identify insect pests (2.25). The respondents showed a positive attitude on IPM with a mean score of 3.58. Among the attitude aspects, farmers displayed a positive attitude on the cost-effectiveness of IPM (3.53) and are willing to learn and adopt IPM practices (4.35). The Spearman’s correlation test revealed that there was no significant correlation between age and educational level of farmers on their knowledge on IPM. The findings of this study could assist in the development of IPM programs for better country wide IPM adoption.

Bifico Relieves Irritable Bowel Syndrome By Regulating Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Inflammatory Cytokines in an Animal Model

Gut microbiota dysbiosis, a core pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is closely related to immunological and metabolic functions. Gut microbiota-based therapeutics have been recently explored in several studies. Bifico is a probiotic cocktail widely used in gastrointestinal disorders which relate to the imbalance of gut microbiota. However, the efficacy and potential mechanisms of Bifico treatment in IBS remains incompletely understood. In this animal experiment, IBS mice received Bifico by intragastric administration. Subsequently, abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) scores showed a protective effect of Bifico in IBS mice. Then 16S rDNA, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and western blot assays were performed to analyze alterations of gut microbiota, microbiome metabolites and inflammatory cytokines, respectively. Results suggested that while Bifico did not increase gut microbial diversity, it could change the composition of gut microbiota which were characterized by an increase of Proteobacteria phylum and Actinobacteria phylum, Muribaculum genera, Bifidobacterium genera and a decrease of Parabacteroides genera, Sutterella genera and Lactobacillus genera. Moreover, Bifico elevated the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and reduced protein levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). From further Spearman's correlation analysis, Bifidobacterium genera were positively correlated with SCFAs including propionate, butyrate, valerate and negatively correlated with IL-6 and TNF-α. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that Bifico could alleviate symptoms of IBS mice through regulation of the gut microbiota, elevating production of SCFAs and reducing the colonic inflammatory response. Therefore, Bifico may have utility in clinical practice.

Evaluation of the Correlation Between Depression and Physical Activity Among Elderly Patients with Osteoporosis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Depression and osteoporosis are two chronic diseases that affect many people and have a significant impact on incidence, mortality, and quality of life. An association between osteoporosis and depression has been described in the literature. However, few studies have reported the correlation between depression and physical activity in elderly patients with osteoporosis in China.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from August 1, 2020, to January 29, 2021. Eligible participants were aged ≥60 years and identified as having osteoporosis. One hundred and seventy-three patients were recruited in the outpatient department of West China Hospital. A self-designed demographic data questionnaire, self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and physical activity scale in the elderly (PASE) were used to evaluate anxiety and depression status and physical activity of the participants. Multivariate linear regression was performed to evaluate the factors affecting physical activity. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation among physical activity, anxiety, and depression in elderly patients with osteoporosis.Results: Of the 173 participants with osteoporosis, 114 (65.9%) were aged 60-75 years. The physical activity scores were 78.17±3.03.131 (75.72%) for participants with anxiety and 122 (70.52%) for participants with depression. Multiple linear regression showed that age, education, smoking, participation in social activity, activity of daily life, frailty phenotype, SAS, and SDS were independent risk factors for physical activity in elderly patients with osteoporosis. Physical activity was negatively correlated with anxiety and depression. This means that the higher the physical activity score was, the lower the incidence of anxiety and depression.Conclusions: We found that anxiety and depression were prevalent, and physical activity was negatively correlated with anxiety and depression in elderly patients with osteoporosis in China. Medical staff should focus on the factors that influence anxiety and depression among elderly patients with osteoporosis and reduce the incidence of anxiety and depression.

Relationship Between the Journal Self-Citation and Author Self-Citation and the Impact Factor in Iranian, American ,and European ISI Indexed Medical Journals in 2014-2021

Background: Author and journal self-citation contributes to the overall citation count of an article and the impact factor of the journal in which it appears. Little is known, however, about the extent of self-citation in the general clinical medicine literature. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of self-citation (Journal and Author) on the impact factor of Iranian, American, and European English medical journals. Methods: IF (Impact Factor), IF without self-citations (corrected IF), journal self-citation rate, and author self-citation rate for medical journals were investigated from 2014–2021, by reviewing the Journal Citation Report. Twenty Iranian English medical journals in WoS indexed were selected and compared with twenty American and twenty European English medical journals. The correlation between the journal self-citation and author self-citation with IF was obtained. We used Spearman’s correlation coefficient for correlation of self-citation and IF. A P. value of0.05 was considered as significant in all the tests. Results: The overall journal citations were higher in the American and European journals compared to the Iranian ones between 2014 and 2021. There was a significant relationship between journal self-citation rates and impact factor (P

Influenza A virus infection in turkeys induces respiratory and enteric bacterial dysbiosis correlating with cytokine gene expression

Turkey respiratory and gut microbiota play important roles in promoting health and production performance. Loss of microbiota homeostasis due to pathogen infection can worsen the disease or predispose the bird to infection by other pathogens. While turkeys are highly susceptible to influenza viruses of different origins, the impact of influenza virus infection on turkey gut and respiratory microbiota has not been demonstrated. In this study, we investigated the relationships between low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) virus replication, cytokine gene expression, and respiratory and gut microbiota disruption in specific-pathogen-free turkeys. Differential replication of two LPAI H5N2 viruses paralleled the levels of clinical signs and cytokine gene expression. During active virus shedding, there was significant increase of ileal and nasal bacterial contents, which inversely corresponded with bacterial species diversity. Spearman’s correlation tests between bacterial abundance and local viral titers revealed that LPAI virus-induced dysbiosis was strongest in the nasal cavity followed by trachea, and weakest in the gut. Significant correlations were also observed between cytokine gene expression levels and relative abundances of several bacteria in tracheas of infected turkeys. For example, interferon γ/λ and interleukin-6 gene expression levels were correlated positively with Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas abundances, and negatively with Lactobacillus abundance. Overall, our data suggest a potential relationship where bacterial community diversity and enrichment or depletion of several bacterial genera in the gut and respiratory tract are dependent on the level of LPAI virus replication. Further work is needed to establish whether respiratory and enteric dysbiosis in LPAI virus-infected turkeys is a result of host immunological responses or other causes such as changes in nutritional uptake.

THE IMPACT OF DURATION OF MENOPAUSE ON BONE METABOLISM IN DETECTING AND PREVENTING OSTEOPOROTIC FRACTURES

ABSTRACT Background: Menopause accelerates bone loss after 10 years of cessation of the menstrual cycle causing osteoporosis. Hip fractures among postmenopausal women escalate morbidity and mortality in these women. Objective: The study was done to evaluate the effect of duration of menopause on BTMs so that it could detect post-menopausal osteoporosis at the earliest and predict the fracture risk Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Mangalore on 100 postmenopausal women. The duration of menopause was divided into quartiles. Evaluation and correlation of serum osteocalcin, urinary hydroxyproline, BMI, calcium, phosphorous and alkaline phosphatase was done on the duration of menopause. The subjects comprised 50 osteoporotic and 50 non-osteoporotic post-menopausal women. Continuous variables were represented as median and interquartile ranges. Comparison between two groups was done using the Mann Whitney U test. Comparison between more than two groups was done using the Kruskal Wallis test. The correlation was done using spearman’s correlation test. Statistical significance was considered at p<0.05. Results: Serum osteocalcin levels significantly declined and urinary hydroxyproline levels elevated between quartiles of duration of menopause in the entire study group and in osteoporotic women. (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in osteocalcin and hydroxyproline levels between the quartiles in the fracture group. 82% of the osteoporotic had >15 YSM. Conclusion: Osteocalcin levels plateaued after 8years of menopause and started decreasing after 15 YSM. Osteoporotic fractures were higher in more than 15 YSM and the osteocalcin level was 2.47 ng/ml in this quartile. There is no significant difference in osteocalcin levels in those with fractures, indicating no significance of screening for serum osteocalcin levels once the fractures have occurred. Hence concluding that the duration of menopause is the key indicator for osteoporosis and serum osteocalcin is a potent biomarker for detection of the risk of fracture. Monitoring of serum osteocalcin levels(<2.55ng/ml) after 8 years of menopause is very essential for early prophylactic treatment in order to prevent osteoporotic fractures and the burden associated with it. KEYWORDS: Duration of menopause, osteocalcin, quartiles, urinary hydroxyproline, osteoporotic fractures

Assessment of Catatonia and Inter-Rater Reliability of Three Instruments: A Descriptive Study in an Acute Mental Health Unit in Urban South Africa

BackgroundClinical assessment of catatonia includes the use of diagnostic systems, like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM-5) and International Classification of Disease Manual 10 (ICD-10), or screening tools such as the Bush Francis Screening Instrument (BFCSI)/Bush Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS) and Braunig’s Catatonia Rating Scale. In this study, we describe the inter-rater reliability (IRR), utilizing the BFCSI, BFCRS and DSM-5 to screen for catatonia. MethodData from 10 participants recruited as part of a larger prevalence study were used to determine IRR by five assessors after they were trained in the application of the 14-item BFCSI, 23-item BFCRS and DSM-5 to assess catatonia in new admissions. Krippendorff α was used to compute the IRR, and Spearman’s correlation was used to determine concordance between screening tools. The study was performed at a 35-bed acute mental health unit in Dora Nginza Hospital, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. Participants were mostly involuntary admissions under the Mental Health Care Act of 2002 and between the ages of 13 and 65 years and older.ResultsThe majority (8, 80%) were 35 years or less and males (8, 80%). At least six (60%) of the ten participants were found to have catatonia based on the BFCSI/BFCRS and DSM-5 criteria.The BFCRS (complete 23-item scale) had the greatest level of inter-rater agreement with an α=0.798, while the DSM-5 had the lowest level of inter-rater agreement with an α=0.565. The highest correlation coefficients were observed between the BFCRS and BFCSI.ConclusionThe BFCSI and BFCRS were found to be sensitive tools for screening for catatonia with high IRR and high correlation coefficients, while the DSM 5 showed some deficiencies in screening for catatonia with low IRR and lowest correlation with the other two tools.

Design and Clinical Evaluation of Pharmacologic Stress-Test with Dalargin for SPECT Detection of Viable Myocardium in Patients after Myocardial Infarction

Purpose: To develop a functional stress-test with Dalargin used as a pharmacological stress agent and to study its diagnostic capabilities for quantifying the general and segmental systolic function of the left ventricle in patients with IHD using SPECT and echo methods. Material and methods: The study comprised 29 male patients with CHD-angina of 2-3 functional classes, studied on 15–25 days (on average 20 ± 2.8 days) after a large-focal myocardial infarction. A fractional step-wise injection of Dalargin was performed with step doses as 0.1 mg / kg (1 ml up to a total of 8 ml, with intervals of 90 seconds, for a total of 12 minutes), in a supine position. After each dose of Dalargin, blood pressure, heart rate, ECG were recorded, and an echocardiographic assessment of hemodynamic parameters and local contractility was carried out. At the peak of the effect of dalargin, 99mTc-Tetrofosmin was administered intravenously (370 – 540 MBq), followed by chest SPECT. Results: The optimal dose of dalargin for assessing the contractility of the LV was 0.3 mg/kg. From the data of myocardial perfusion SPECT, at dalargin test, the number of segments with normal regional blood supply increased statistically significantly from 56,0 % to 64,7 %, the number of hypoperfused segments decreased from 41.0% to 33.7% as compared to rest, and the number of non-perfused ones – from 3.0 % to 1.6 %. Spearman’s correlation coefficient between segmental contractility and local perfusion at the top dalargin inotropic effect was high and significant (R=0.67, p<0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of the pharmacological test with intravenous administration of dalargin for prediction of postoperative improvement of perfusion and contractility of the viable myocardium were: sensitivity 78.8 %, specificity 76.4 %, diagnostic accuracy 77.6 %. Conclusion. The use of the agonist of the μ - and δ-opioid receptors dalargin as a pharmacological stress-agent at perfusion SPECT and Stress Echocardiography to assess the contractile reserve of a dysfunctional viable myocardium is informative and appropriate. In patients with IHD who have suffered a myocardial infarction and are referred to myocardial revascularization, dalargin can be employed as an effective stress-agent for assessing the reserve of perfusion and contractility of dysfunctional left ventricular myocardium using perfusion SPECT and echocardiography.