Berberine ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium -induced colitis through tuft cells and bitter taste signalling.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a persistent gastrointestinal disease, is featured with impaired gut immunity. Previous studies have demonstrated that tuft cells can regulate the intestinal type 2 immune response by activating downstream ILC2 and Th2 cells and repair gut barrier upon invasion of parasitic helminths, bacteria, protozoans, and enteritis through different chemo-sensing receptors, such as bitter taste receptors. Berberine is a widely used in the treatment of diarrhea in clinic, however the mechanism underlying this effect is not clear.

Dural Tregs driven by astrocytic IL-33 mitigate depression through the EGFR signals in mPFC neurons.

The dura sinus-resident immune cells can influence the process of central neural system (CNS) diseases by communicating with central nerve cells. In clinical, Tregs are also frequently impaired in depression. However, the significance of this relationship remains unknown.

The rebalancing of the immune system at the maternal-fetal interface ameliorates autism-like behavior in adult offspring.

Maternal immune activation (MIA) is critical for imparting neuropathology and altered behaviors in offspring; however, maternal-fetal immune cell populations have not been thoroughly investigated in MIA-induced autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Here, we report the single-cell transcriptional landscape of placental cells in both PBS- and poly(I:C)-induced MIA dams. We observed a decrease in regulatory T (Treg) cells but an increase in the M1 macrophage population at the maternal-fetal interface in MIA dams.

Helminth-derived molecules: pathogenic and pharmacopeial roles.

Parasitic helminths, taxonomically comprising trematodes, cestodes, and nematodes, are multicellular invertebrates widely disseminated in nature and have afflicted people continuously for a long time. Helminths play potent roles in the host through generating a variety of novel molecules, including some excretory/secretory products and others that are involved in intracellular material exchange and information transfer as well as the initiation or stimulation of immune and metabolic activation. The helminth-derived molecules have developed powerful and diverse immunosuppressive effects to achieve immune evasion for parasite survival and establish chronic infections.

A comparative study of the relationship between time in range assessed by self-monitoring of blood glucose and continuous glucose monitoring with microalbuminuria outcome, HOMA-IR and HOMA-β test.

Aims: To compare the time in range (TIR) obtained from self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) with that obtained from continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), and explore the relationship of TIR with microalbuminuria outcome, HOMA-IR and HOMA-β test.

Methods: We recruited 400 patients with type 2 diabetes to carry out blood glucose monitoring by both SMBG and CGM for 3 consecutive days. TIR, TAR, TBR and other blood glucose variation indices were calculated respectively through the glucose data achieved from SMBG and CGM.

Computer-aided designing of a novel multi‑epitope DNA vaccine against severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne viral disease caused by the SFTS virus (Dabie bandavirus), which has become a substantial risk to public health. No specific treatment is available now, that calls for an effective vaccine. Given this, we aimed to develop a multi-epitope DNA vaccine through the help of bioinformatics.

Effects of virtual reality simulation on medical students' learning and motivation in human parasitology instruction: a quasi-experimental study.

Background: Despite the proven effectiveness of simulation-based learning activities, its adoption in medical education remains limited, and the influence of simulation on student motivation, particularly subjective task values, is seldom explored. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a simulation-based learning activity on student learning and subjective task values in a medical morphology-related course of Human Parasitology.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 113 Chinese undergraduate medical students who participated in a Human Parasitology course during April to May 2022.

Advances in research on schistosomiasis and toxoplasmosis in China: A bibliometric analysis of Chinese academic journals published from 1980 to 2021.

Background: The scale-up of zoonoses prevention control and eradication in China, coupled with numerous academic articles in Chinese journals has led to the development of new tools and strategies aimed at further consolidating parasite control goals. As a result, there is a growing need for an up-to-date understanding of the research progress and prevention and control experience of parasitic diseases in China.

Methods: To understand the research status of schistosomiasis and toxoplasmosis in China, academic articles published in Chinese journals from 1980 to 2021 were retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang databases.

Identification and Characterization of Antigenic Properties of Heat Shock Protein 90α Derived Peptides.

It is known that schistosome-derived antigens induce innate and adaptive immune responses that are essential for the formation of hepatic immunopathology. Here, we screened and synthesized four peptides derived from () heat shock protein 90α (Sjp90α-1, -2, -3, and -4), which is widely expressed in adults and eggs of the genus and induces remarkable immune reactions. To define the antigenicity of these peptides, we stimulated splenocytes with peptides, and the results showed that only the Sjp90α-1 peptide could predominately induce the activation of dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages as well as alter the proportion of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells.

Oral berberine ameliorates high-fat diet-induced obesity by activating TAS2Rs in tuft and endocrine cells in the gut.

Background And Aims: Although oral berberine, a natural compound extracted from the Chinese herbal medicine curcumin, has low bioavailability, it is still effective in suppressing obesity; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Berberine can bind to bitter-taste receptors (TAS2Rs) in intestinal endocrine secretin tumor (STC-1) cells to promote glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion. Notably, TAS2Rs also exist in the tuft cells of the gut.

Differences in Insulin Sensitivity, Secretion, and the Metabolic Clearance Rate of Glucose in Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: The Influences of Body Mass Index and Fatty Liver.

Obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are strongly associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), affecting insulin sensitivity and β-cell function. They interact, exacerbating the development of hyperinsulinemia to T2DM. Through oral glucose tolerance and insulin secretion tests, the relationships between insulin sensitivity and secretion, glucose clearance, body mass index (BMI), and fatty liver were studied in newly diagnosed T2DM patients.

Pipiserpin, a Culex factor Xa inhibitor, affects female reproductive capacity and serves as a potential target for mosquito control.

Background: Mosquito control is still the main prevention and control measure for numerous mosquito-borne diseases causing millions of deaths each year. New strategies for mosquito control are in demand. Proteases play an important role in mosquito physiology, therefore this study explored the inhibition of a serpin (serine protease inhibitor) in mosquitoes and its effect on reproductive capacity.

Indolepropionic acid reduces obesity-induced metabolic dysfunction through colonic barrier restoration mediated via tuft cell-derived IL-25.

Previous studies have indicated that indolepropionic acid (IPA), derived from dietary tryptophan via gut microbiota conversion, is negatively correlated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and systemic low-grade inflammation. However, the effects of IPA administration on obesity, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remain unclear. In the present study, we observed that obesity leads to a dramatic reduction in IPA levels in both the serum and colonic mucosa, and IPA supplementation exerted beneficial effects on weight, as well as on glucose and lipid metabolism disorders.

Up-regulation of MELK by E2F1 promotes the proliferation in cervical cancer cells.

Cervical cancer is a common gynecologic cancer and a frequent cause of death. In this study, we investigated the role of MELK (maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase) in cervical cancer. We found that HPV 18 E6/E7 promoted MELK expression by activating E2F1.

Predictive Modeling of MAFLD Based on Hsp90α and the Therapeutic Application of Teprenone in a Diet-Induced Mouse Model.

Background And Aims: The heat shock protein (Hsp) 90α is induced by stress and regulates inflammation through multiple pathways. Elevated serum Hsp90α had been found in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Geranylgeranylacetone (GGA, also called teprenone) is a terpenoid derivative.

Therapeutic inhibition of miR-802 protects against obesity through AMPK-mediated regulation of hepatic lipid metabolism.

The host-parasite relationship is based on subtle interplay between parasite survival strategies and host defense mechanisms. It is well known that helminth infection, which afflicts more than one billion people globally, correlates with a decreased prevalence of obesity. Dissecting the underlying mechanisms can provide new targets for treating obesity from the host-parasite interaction perspective.