Gut microbiota-derived tryptamine and phenethylamine impair insulin sensitivity in metabolic syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome.

The incidence of metabolic syndrome is significantly higher in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Gut microbiota is causatively linked with the development of both metabolic dysfunctions and gastrointestinal disorders, thus gut dysbiosis in IBS may contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome. Here, we show that human gut bacterium Ruminococcus gnavus-derived tryptamine and phenethylamine play a pathogenic role in gut dysbiosis-induced insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and IBS.

Automated System for Multiplexing Detection of COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Pathogens.

Objective: Infectious diseases are global health challenge, impacted the communities worldwide particularly in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. The need of rapid and accurate automated systems for detecting pathogens of concern has always been critical. Ideally, such systems shall detect a large panel of pathogens simultaneously regardless of well-equipped facilities and highly trained operators, thus realizing on-site diagnosis for frontline healthcare providers and in critical locations such as borders and airports.

Non-targeted detection of food adulteration using an ensemble machine-learning model.

Recurrent incidents of economically motivated adulteration have long-lasting and devastating effects on public health, economy, and society. With the current food authentication methods being target-oriented, the lack of an effective methodology to detect unencountered adulterants can lead to the next melamine-like outbreak. In this study, an ensemble machine-learning model that can help detect unprecedented adulteration without looking for specific substances, that is, in a non-targeted approach, is proposed.

COVID-19 Delta variants-Current status and implications as of August 2021.

The SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant has evolved as the dominant strain of the current pandemic. Studies have shown that this variant has increased infectivity/viral load, and reduced neutralization by the host antibodies from convalescent patients/vaccinees. Clinically, Delta variant infection has been observed/documented in convalescent patients/vaccinees, although with less incidence of severe diseases, but can serve as reservoir to spread the infection to the unvaccinated.

Apolipoprotein E Gene Revisited: Contribution of Rare Variants to Alzheimer's Disease Susceptibility in Southern Chinese.

Background: APOE ε4 is the best-known risk factor for late-onset alzheimer's disease (AD). Population studies have demonstrated a relatively low prevalence of APOE ε4 among Chinese population, implying additional risk factors that are Chinese-specific may exist. Apart from - alleles, genetic variation profile along the full-length APOE has rarely been investigated.

Population-Wide Genetic Risk Prediction of Complex Diseases: A Pilot Feasibility Study in Macau Population for Precision Public Healthcare Planning.

The genetic bases of many common diseases have been identified through genome-wide association studies in the past decade. However, the application of this approach on public healthcare planning has not been well established. Using Macau with population of around 650,000 as a basis, we conducted a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of population genomic research and its potential on public health decisions.

Nucleic acid-based diagnostics for infectious diseases in public health affairs.

Infectious diseases, mostly caused by bacteria and viruses but also a result of fungal and parasitic infection, have been one of the most important public health concerns throughout human history. The first step in combating these pathogens is to get a timely and accurate diagnosis at an affordable cost. Many kinds of diagnostics have been developed, such as pathogen culture, biochemical tests and serological tests, to help detect and fight against the causative agents of diseases.

A new specialization in astrocytes: glutamate- and ammonia-induced nuclear size changes.

We observed nuclear swelling in glutamate (Glu)-treated astrocytes that was concomitant with but independent of astrocytic cell swelling. We confirmed Glu-induced nuclear swelling with nuclei isolated from astrocytes. Ammonia is metabolically related to Glu and could induce a nuclear swelling in intact astrocytes but shrinkage in isolated nuclei.

Astrocytes: implications for neuroinflammatory pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with major clinical hallmarks of memory loss, dementia, and cognitive impairment. Neuroinflammation is involved in the onset of several neurodegenerative disorders. Astrocyte is the most abundant type of glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS) and appears to be involved in the induction of neuroinflammation.

Development of multiplex nucleic acid sequence-based amplification for detection of human respiratory tract viruses.

A group of common lower respiratory tract infections, influenza A, influenza B, human parainfluenza virus 1-4 (HPIV1-4), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rubella virus (RV) and Coxsackie virus (CSV), were selected for the development of a multiplex nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) assay. Quantifiable measurement utilizing an enzyme-linked oligonucleotide capture (EOC) optical detection method, which was described previously, alleviated the requirement of specialized instrumentation that is commonly used in other molecular techniques. Multiplex NASBA-EOC provided rapid and specific detection of a single virus from a multiplexed group, reducing laboratory testing time and enabling high throughput screening.

[Progress in functional polyphosphate in prokaryotic and eukaryotic living organisms].

Polyphosphate (poly P) has been widely identified in both inorganic environment and living organisms. Research shows that poly P in bacteria enhances their resistance to severe environment, triggers their protective responses, increases biofilm formation and involves in predation and bacterial virulence. In eukaryotes, poly P has been found to enhance the proliferation of fibroblast and many tumor cell lines, induce the calcification of osteoblast and be involved in calcium ion release.

Responses of astrocyte to simultaneous glutamate and arachidonic acid treatment.

After cellular injury many endogenous toxins are released from injured cells and result in secondary injury. To elucidate mechanisms of such injury many of these toxins have been studied individually. However, the data obtained is only useful for reference and does not accurately represent the multifactorial situation under pathophysiological conditions.

Ischemia activates JNK/c-Jun/AP-1 pathway to up-regulate 14-3-3gamma in astrocyte.

Ischemia occurs in the brain as the result of stroke and other related injuries and few therapies are effective. If more is understood then potential treatments could be investigated. It was previously reported that 14-3-3gamma could be up-regulated by ischemia in astrocyte to protect cells from ischemia-induced apoptosis.

[The impact of antibiotic treatment in patients with influenza-like illness].

Objective: To study the etiology of influenza-like illness (ILI) in Beijing, and to investigate the impact of antibiotic treatment on outcomes.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. Patients with diagnosis of influenza-like illness were prospectively enrolled for study of bacterial and viral pathogens.

Neutrophils may be a vehicle for viral replication and dissemination in human H5N1 avian influenza.

The mechanism of systemic spread of H5N1 virus in patients with avian influenza is unknown. Here, H5N1 nucleoprotein and hemagglutinin were identified by immunohistochemistry in the nucleus and cytoplasm of neutrophils in the placental blood of a pregnant woman. Viral RNA was detected in neutrophils by in situ hybridization and enhanced real-time polymerase chain reaction.

H5N1 infection of the respiratory tract and beyond: a molecular pathology study.

Background: Human infection with avian influenza H5N1 is an emerging infectious disease characterised by respiratory symptoms and a high fatality rate. Previous studies have shown that the human infection with avian influenza H5N1 could also target organs apart from the lungs.

Methods: We studied post-mortem tissues of two adults (one man and one pregnant woman) infected with H5N1 influenza virus, and a fetus carried by the woman.

Detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus by nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA).

A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) assay for the detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). Two detection methods: NASBA-electrochemiluminescence (NASBA-ECL) and a newly developed NASBA-enzyme-linked oligonucleotide capture (NASBA-EOC) were evaluated. The diagnostic sensitivity of these assays was compared with other laboratory-based methods using 200 clinical samples collected from different regions of the world.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor protects astrocytes from staurosporine- and ischemia- induced apoptosis.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) promotes the survival and functions of neurons. It has been shown to be a promising candidate in the treatment of ischemia and other neurodegenerative diseases. We transfected mouse astrocytes in primary cultures with a human GDNF gene and found that their conditioned medium could not only support the growth and survival of cultured dopaminergic neurons but also protect astrocytes from staurosporine- and ischemia-induced apoptosis.

The novel neurotrophin-regulated neuronal development-associated protein, NDAP, mediates apoptosis.

We identified a novel gene and named it, "neuronal development-associated protein (NDAP)". We detected NDAP mRNA presence in most tissues including the brain where it was present in the area from the external granular layer to the multiform layer in the cerebral cortex, and in CA1, CA2, CA3 and the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus. Its expression increased transiently in primary cultures of 2-4 day neurons and 1-2 week astrocytes and was significantly reduced in older cultures.

Detection of Newcastle disease virus using nucleic acid sequence-based amplification.

Newcastle disease (ND) is a contagious and widespread avian disease affecting most species of birds. ND virus (NDV) is the only member of the avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (APMV1) causing ND outbreak in bird flocks. The technique of nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) is a potential method to rapidly and reliably detect NDV isolates.

Identification of a mouse synaptic glycoprotein gene in cultured neurons.

Neuronal differentiation and aging are known to involve many genes, which may also be differentially expressed during these developmental processes. From primary cultured cerebral cortical neurons, we have previously identified various differentially expressed gene transcripts from cultured cortical neurons using the technique of arbitrarily primed PCR (RAP-PCR). Among these transcripts, clone 0-2 was found to have high homology to rat and human synaptic glycoprotein.

Minocycline inhibits LPS-induced retinal microglia activation.

Retinal neurodegenerative disease involves an inflammatory response in the retina characterized by an increase in inflammatory cytokines and activation of microglia. The degree of microglia activation may influence the extent of retinal injury following an inflammatory stimulus. Cytokines released by activated microglia regulate the influx of inflammatory cells to the damaged area.

Inactivation of bad by site-specific phosphorylation: the checkpoint for ischemic astrocytes to initiate or resist apoptosis.

Bcl-2-associated death protein (Bad), a member of the Bcl family, directs astrocytes in primary cultures to enter or resist apoptosis during ischemia in vitro. Under ischemia, Bad was the only Bcl family member whose expression was upregulated significantly during the early stages of an ischemic insult. Increased endogenous Bad was translocated from the cytoplasm to mitochondria to induce apoptosis in astrocytes.

A model to induce low temperature trauma for in vitro astrogliosis study.

Astrogliosis is an inevitable and rapid response of astrocytes to physical, chemical and pathological injuries. To study astrogliosis, we developed a reproducible in vitro model in which low temperature injury to cultured astrocytes could be induced by placing the culture dish onto a copper pipe pre-cooled by liquid nitrogen. Using this model, the relationship between the temperature decline and the severity of cellular damage was analyzed.