Impact of chronic ethanol consumption and SARS-COV-2 on the liver and intestine: A pilot dose-response study in mice.

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was a marked increase in alcohol consumption. COVID-19 superimposed on underlying liver disease notably worsens the outcome of many forms of liver injury. The goal of a current pilot study was to test the dual exposure of alcohol and COVID-19 infection in an experimental animal model of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD).

Fluoxetine inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclastic differentiation .

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor correlates with decreased bone mineral density and impedes orthodontic tooth movement. The present study aimed to examine the effects of fluoxetine on osteoclast differentiation and function. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs) and murine RAW264.

The ethanolic extract of var. flowers ameliorates depressive-like behaviors of mice by modulating the serotonin system and suppressing neuroinflammation.

It is crucial to explore the impact of dietary interventions on depression and develop functional antidepressant foods, due to the significant side effects and poor treatment compliance of antidepressant drugs. flowers are edible and medicinal materials owing to their delightful floral aroma and significant health benefits. Here, we evaluated the antidepressant effects of the ethanolic extract of var.

Diagnostic accuracy of artificial intelligence-assisted caries detection: a clinical evaluation.

Objective: This clinical study aimed to evaluate the practical value of integrating an AI diagnostic model into clinical practice for caries detection using intraoral images.

Methods: In this prospective study, 4,361 teeth from 191 consecutive patients visiting an endodontics clinic were examined using an intraoral camera. The AI model, combining MobileNet-v3 and U-net architectures, was used for caries detection.

The Method of Lipemia Clearance Should be Based on the Characteristics and the Method of Testing in the Emergency Laboratory.

Background: This study aimed to compare the lipemia removal efficiency of highspeed centrifugation, lipid scavengers, and dilution for biochemical analytes.

Methods: We collected 30 cases of lipemic plasma in an emergency laboratory and divided them into 4 aliquots. Lipemia was removed by highspeed centrifugation, lipid scavenger, dilution, and ultracentrifugation, then analytes were measured by an AU5800 analyzer.

Age-associated temporal decline in butyrate-producing bacteria plays a key pathogenic role in the onset and progression of neuropathology and memory deficits in 3×Tg-AD mice.

Alterations in the gut-microbiome-brain axis are increasingly being recognized to be involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. However, the functional consequences of enteric dysbiosis linking gut microbiota and brain pathology in AD progression remain largely undetermined. The present work investigated the causal role of age-associated temporal decline in butyrate-producing bacteria and butyrate in the etiopathogenesis of AD.

Large-area and few-layered 1T'-MoTethin films grown by cold-wall chemical vapor deposition.

This study employs cold-wall chemical vapor deposition to achieve the growth of MoTethin films on 4-inch sapphire substrates. A two-step growth process is utilized, incorporating MoOand Te powder sources under low-pressure conditions to synthesize MoTe. The resultant MoTethin films exhibit a dominant 1T' phase, as evidenced by a prominent Raman peak at 161 cm.

The small-molecule drug homoharringtonine targets HSF1 to suppress pancreatic cancer progression.

Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), an essential transcription factor for stress response, is exploited by various tumors to facilitate their initiation, progression, invasion, and migration. Amplification of HSF1 is widely regarded as an indicator in predicting cancer severity, the likelihood of treatment failure and reduced patient survival. Notably, HSF1 is markedly amplified in 40% of pancreatic cancer (PC), which typically have limited treatment options.

Efficacy of astragalus combined with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers in the treatment of stage III diabetic nephropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of Astragalus combined with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers in treating stage III diabetic nephropathy (DN) by meta-analysis.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Wiley, and Web of Science databases were searched for articles published between August 2007 and August 2022. Clinical studies on Astragalus combined with RAAS blockers for the treatment of stage III DN were included.

Endoscopic resection of extra-luminal gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors using a snare assisted external traction technique (with video).

Objective: The primary purpose of the study was to explore the clinical efficacy of the novel snare assisted endoscopic resection of extraluminal growing gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (gastric GISTs) using external traction, and the secondary purpose was to compare the novel snare assisted endoscopic resection of extraluminal GISTs with the standard laparoscopic procedure.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the patients who underwent novel external traction assisted endoscopic resection or laparoscopic resection for their extraluminal gastric GIST ≤5 cm in diameter.

Results: A total of 111 patients (27 in the endoscopic group and 84 in the laparoscopic group) were included in this study.

Progress of engineered bacteria for tumour therapy.

Finding novel therapeutic modalities, improving drug delivery efficiency and targeting, and reducing the immune escape of tumor cells are currently hot topics in the field of tumor therapy. Bacterial therapeutics have proven highly effective in preventing tumor spread and recurrence, used alone or in combination with traditional therapies. In recent years, a growing number of researchers have significantly improved the targeting and penetration of bacteria by using genetic engineering technology, which has received widespread attention in the field of tumor therapy.

Ultrasound Viscosity Imaging in Breast Lesions: A Multicenter Prospective Study.

Rationale And Objectives: To explore and validate the clinical value of ultrasound (US) viscosity imaging in differentiating breast lesions by combining with BI-RADS, and then comparing the diagnostic performances with BI-RADS alone.

Materials And Methods: This multicenter, prospective study enrolled participants with breast lesions from June 2021 to November 2022. A development cohort (DC) and validation cohort (VC) were established.

Mitochondrial carrier homolog 2 increases malignant phenotype of human gastric epithelial cells and promotes proliferation, invasion, and migration of gastric cancer cells.

Background: The precise role of mitochondrial carrier homolog 2 (MTCH2) in promoting malignancy in gastric mucosal cells and its involvement in gastric cancer cell metastasis have not been fully elucidated.

Aim: To determine the role of MTCH2 in gastric cancer.

Methods: We collected 65 samples of poorly differentiated gastric cancer tissue and adjacent tissues, constructed MTCH2-overexpressing and MTCH2-knockdown cell models, and evaluated the proliferation, migration, and invasion of human gastric epithelial cells (GES-1) and human gastric cancer cells (AGS) cells.

Comparative Analysis of Enbloc or Piecemeal Removal After Enbloc Resection of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors.

Objective: To investigate the safety and prognosis of enbloc or piecemeal removal after enbloc resection of a gastric GIST by comparing the clinical data of endoscopic en block resection and piecemeal removal (EP) and en block resection and complete removal (EC) of gastric GISTs.

Methods: A total of 111 (43 endoscopic piecemeal, and 68 complete removal) patients with gastric GIST's ≥ 2 cm in diameter who underwent endoscopic therapy from January 2016 to June 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were retrospectively analyzed. In all cases, it was ensured that the tumor was intact during the resection, however, it was divided into EP group and EC group based on whether the tumor was completely removed or was cut into pieces which were then removed.

Elucidating the cardioprotective mechanisms of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors beyond glycemic control.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have emerged as a pivotal intervention in diabetes management, offering significant cardiovascular benefits. Empagliflozin, in particular, has demonstrated cardioprotective effects beyond its glucose-lowering action, reducing heart failure hospitalizations and improving cardiac function. Of note, the cardioprotective mechanisms appear to be inde-pendent of glucose lowering, possibly mediated through several mechanisms involving shifts in cardiac metabolism and anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative pathways.

Hepatocyte-specific mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1 in sexual dimorphism and susceptibility to alcohol induced liver injury.

Background: It is well established that females are more susceptible to the toxic effects of alcohol, although the exact mechanisms are still poorly understood. Previous studies noted that alcohol reduces the expression of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP1), a negative regulator of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) in the liver. However, the role of hepatocyte- specific MKP1 in the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) remains uncharacterized.

Bone regeneration with hydroxyapatite particles loaded in photo-cross-linkable hydrogel: An experimental study.

This study explores the use of in situ cross-linked hyaluronic acid methacryloyl (HAMA) and hydroxyapatite particles (HAP) for bone defect repair. Human periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) were isolated and co-cultured with the HAMA-HAP composite. Osteogenic differentiation was evaluated using Alizarin Red staining, alkaline phosphatase activity quantification, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

A novel method for evaluating pseudoallergy based on β-hexosaminidase and its application for traditional Chinese medicine injections.

Pseudoallergy is a typical and common adverse drug reaction to injections, especially in traditional Chinese medicine injections (TCMIs). At present, the evaluation methods for pseudoallergy include cell methods in vitro and animal methods in vivo. The mast cell evaluation method based on the β-hexosaminidase (β-Hex)-catalyzed substrate, 4-nitrophenyl-β-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminide (4-NPG), is an important method for the evaluation of drug-induced pseudoallergy, but it is prone to false positive results and has insufficient sensitivity.

An automatic analysis and quality assurance method for lymphocyte subset identification.

Objectives: Lymphocyte subsets are the predictors of disease diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Determination of lymphocyte subsets is usually carried out by flow cytometry. Despite recent advances in flow cytometry analysis, most flow cytometry data can be challenging with manual gating, which is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and error-prone.

STAT5 promotes PD-L1 expression by facilitating histone lactylation to drive immunosuppression in acute myeloid leukemia.

Immunotherapy is a revolutionized therapeutic strategy for tumor treatment attributing to the rapid development of genomics and immunology, and immune checkpoint inhibitors have successfully achieved responses in numbers of tumor types, including hematopoietic malignancy. However, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease and there is still a lack of systematic demonstration to apply immunotherapy in AML based on PD-1/PD-L1 blockage. Thus, the identification of molecules that drive tumor immunosuppression and stratify patients according to the benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors is urgently needed.

Increased expression of phosphodiesterase 4 in activated hepatic stellate cells promotes cytoskeleton remodeling and cell migration.

Activation and transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) into migratory myofibroblasts is a key process in liver fibrogenesis. Cell migration requires an active remodeling of the cytoskeleton, which is a tightly regulated process coordinated by Rho-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and the Rho family of small GTPases. Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) promotes assembly of focal adhesions and actin stress fibers by regulating cytoskeleton organization.

Mechanism and origins of cobalt-catalyzed ligand-controlled regiodivergent C-H functionalization of aldehydes with enynes.

The influence of the P-M-P bite angle in diphosphine ligands on selectivity has been observed in various catalytic reactions. A better understanding of the ligand bite angle concept is important for the rational design of efficient catalytic systems. In the present work, the mechanism of cobalt-catalyzed C-H functionalization of aldehydes with enynes and how the diphosphine ligands alter regioselectivity were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.