Anti-hypertensives associated with survival in cancer patients receiving immunotherapy: new evidence from a real-world cohort study and meta-analysis.

Background: The efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer patients taking anti-hypertensive drugs is still not well established.

Objective: To elucidate the effect of anti-hypertensive drugs on the clinical outcome of cancer patients receiving immunotherapy.

Design: A retrospective cohort study and meta-analysis.

Enrichment and characterization of human-associated mucin-degrading microbial consortia by sequential passage.

Mucin is a glycoprotein secreted throughout the mammalian gastrointestinal tract that can support endogenous microorganisms in the absence of complex polysaccharides. While several mucin-degrading bacteria have been identified, the interindividual differences in microbial communities capable of metabolizing this complex polymer are not well described. To determine whether community assembly on mucin is deterministic across individuals or whether taxonomically distinct but functionally similar mucin-degrading communities are selected across fecal inocula, we used a 10-day in vitro sequential batch culture fermentation from three human donors with mucin as the sole carbon source.

Molecular Deformation Is a Key Factor in Screening Aggregation Inhibitor for Intrinsically Disordered Protein Tau.

Direct inhibitor of tau aggregation has been extensively studied as potential therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease. However, the natively unfolded structure of tau complicates the structure-based ligand design, and the relatively large surface areas that mediate tau-tau interactions in aggregation limit the potential for identifying high-affinity ligand binding sites. Herein, a group of isatin-pyrrolidinylpyridine derivative isomers (IPP1-IPP4) were designed and synthesized.

Microbiota from human infants consuming secretors or non-secretors mothers' milk impacts the gut and immune system in mice.

Unlabelled: Maternal secretor status is one of the determinants of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) composition, which, in turn, influences the gut microbiota composition of infants. To understand if this change in gut microbiota impacts immune cell composition, intestinal morphology, and gene expression, 21-day-old germ-free C57BL/6 mice were transplanted with fecal microbiota from infants whose mothers were either secretors (SMM) or non-secretors (NSM) or from infants consuming dairy-based formula (MFM). For each group, one set of mice was supplemented with HMOs.

Protein combined with certain dietary fibers increases butyrate production in gut microbiota fermentation.

The modern diet delivers nearly equal amounts of carbohydrates and protein into the colon representing an important protein increase compared to past higher fiber diets. At the same time, plant-based protein foods have become increasingly popular, and these sources of protein are generally less digestible than animal protein sources. As a result, a significant amount of protein is expected to reach the colon and be available for fermentation by gut microbiota.

Structural and rheological characterization of water-soluble and alkaline-soluble fibers from hulless barley.

Background: Highland hulless barley has garnered attention as a promising economic product and a potential healthy food ingredient. The present study aimed to comprehensively investigate the molecular structure of extractable fibers obtained from a specific highland hulless barley. Water-soluble fiber (WSF) and alkaline-soluble fiber (ASF) were extracted using enzymatic digestion and an alkaline method, respectively.

Impact of granule-associated lipid removal on the property changes of octenylsuccinylated small-granule starches.

Starch granule associated lipids (GALs) are known to alter the properties and functions of small granule starches. To test the hypothesis that the removal GALs from small granule starches could increase the overall reactive surface and improve octenyl-succinylation (OSA) modification efficiency, four small granules starches from rice, oat, quinoa, amaranth and a waxy maize starch were subjected to defat, OSA esterification and combined defatted and OSA treatment. The combined treatment showed a significant improvement in the degree of substitution for all starches from both tritration and H NMR methodologies.

Structure and Function of Polysaccharides and Oligosaccharides in Foods.

Polysaccharides and oligosaccharides are abundantly found in various foods [...

Impact of Six Extraction Methods on Molecular Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Polysaccharides from Young Hulless Barley Leaves.

Young hulless barley leaves are gaining recognition for potential health benefits, and the method of extracting polysaccharides from them is critical for potential food industry applications. This study delves into a comparative analysis of six distinct fiber extraction techniques: hot water extraction; high-pressure steam extraction; alkaline extraction; xylanase extraction; cellulase extraction; and combined xylanase and cellulase extraction. This analysis included a thorough comparison of polysaccharide-monosaccharide composition, structural properties, antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP), and rheological properties among fibers extracted using these methods.

Differences in fine arabinoxylan structures govern microbial selection and competition among human gut microbiota.

Dietary fibers are known to modulate microbiome composition, but it is unclear to what extent minor fiber structural differences impact community assembly, microbial division of labor, and organismal metabolic responses. To test the hypothesis that fine linkage variations afford different ecological niches for distinct communities and metabolism, we employed a 7-day in vitro sequential batch fecal fermentation with four fecal inocula and measured responses using an integrated multi-omics approach. Two sorghum arabinoxylans (SAXs) were fermented, with one (RSAX) having slightly more complex branch linkages than the other (WSAX).

Complexing curcumin and resveratrol in the starch crystalline network alters in vitro starch digestion: Towards developing healthy food materials.

Starch is an abundant and common food ingredient capable of complexing with various bioactive compounds (BCs), including polyphenols. However, little information is available about using native starch network arrangement for the starch-BCs inclusion. Herein, two BCs, curcumin, and resveratrol, were undertaken to delineate the role of different starch crystalline types on their encapsulation efficiency.

A turn-on unlabeled colorimetric biosensor based on aptamer-AuNPs conjugates for amyloid-β oligomer detection.

Amyloid-β oligomers (AβO) have been identified as core biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). For the first time, a "turn-on" unlabeled colorimetric aptasensor based on aptamer-polythymine (polyT)-polyadenine (polyA)-gold nanoparticles (pA-pT-apt@AuNPs) was developed for highly sensitive and specific detection of amyloid-β oligomers (Aβ40-O). In this system, polyA sequence could preferentially anchor onto AuNPs surface as well as reduce the non-specific adsorption, and the aptamer could form upright conformation for the specific recognition of Aβ40-O.

Evaluation of the performance of different membrane materials for microalgae cultivation on attached biofilm reactors.

Attached microalgae production in wastewater is a promising method to further develop biofilm reactors by reducing economic costs associated with biomass separation and harvesting. However, the reliability of materials to support such adherence needs further investigation. Five common microfiltration membranes were evaluated in this study to assess their influence on the efficacy of harvesting .

Mechanistic insights into consumption of the food additive xanthan gum by the human gut microbiota.

Processed foods often include food additives such as xanthan gum, a complex polysaccharide with unique rheological properties, that has established widespread use as a stabilizer and thickening agent. Xanthan gum's chemical structure is distinct from those of host and dietary polysaccharides that are more commonly expected to transit the gastrointestinal tract, and little is known about its direct interaction with the gut microbiota, which plays a central role in digestion of other dietary fibre polysaccharides. Here we show that the ability to digest xanthan gum is common in human gut microbiomes from industrialized countries and appears contingent on a single uncultured bacterium in the family Ruminococcaceae.

Dynamic-Inspired Perspective on the Molecular Inhibitor of Tau Aggregation by Glucose Gallates Based on Human Neurons.

A molecular inhibitor of tau protein aggregation offers an attractive therapeutic possibility as disease-modifying treatment of Alzheimer's disease. However, the ineffectiveness as well as adjoint toxicity due to superficial understanding of the inhibition mechanism has hindered drug development. Conventional approaches for screening drug ligands rely on compatible docking with the well-defined structure of a protein receptor.

Fine Carbohydrate Structure of Dietary Resistant Glucans Governs the Structure and Function of Human Gut Microbiota.

Increased dietary fiber consumption has been shown to increase human gut microbial diversity, but the mechanisms driving this effect remain unclear. One possible explanation is that microbes are able to divide metabolic labor in consumption of complex carbohydrates, which are composed of diverse glycosidic linkages that require specific cognate enzymes for degradation. However, as naturally derived fibers vary in both sugar composition and linkage structure, it is challenging to separate out the impact of each of these variables.

A self-amplified nanocatalytic system for achieving "1 + 1 + 1 > 3" chemodynamic therapy on triple negative breast cancer.

Background: Chemodynamic therapy (CDT), employing Fenton or Fenton-like catalysts to convert hydrogen peroxide (HO) into toxic hydroxyl radicals (·OH) to kill cancer cells, holds great promise in tumor therapy due to its high selectivity. However, the therapeutic effect is significantly limited by insufficient intracellular HO level in tumor cells. Fortunately, β-Lapachone (Lapa) that can exert HO-supplementing functionality under the catalysis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) enzyme offers a new idea to solve this problem.

[Ruifuping pectin protects against intestinal mucosal injury in the rat exertional heat stroke model].

Objective: To evaluate the intestinal function in rats with exertional heat stroke (EHS) and explore the protective role of Ruifuping pectin (RFP) against heat related intestinal mucosal injury.

Methods: One hundred and twenty healthy special pathogen free (SPF) male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into normothermic control group, EHS model group, hyperthermic plus drinking water group (HO+EHS group) and hyperthermic plus pectin group (RFP+EHS group) with 30 rats in each group. The rats in the HO+EHS group and RFP+EHS group were given water 20 mL/kg or RFP 20 mL/kg orally for 5 days during adaptive training period.

Preparation and characterization of corn flours with variable starch digestion.

Several grains such as wheat, rice, corn, oat, barley and rye are cultivated throughout the world. They are converted to variety of food products using a multitude of processing technologies to quench the growing organoleptic demands and consumers' preferences. Among them, corn, ranking third in wide consumption, is cost-effective and has long-term storability.

A PDA-DTC/Cu-MnO nanoplatform for MR imaging and multi-therapy for triple-negative breast cancer treatment.

Herein, a multi-functional nanoplatform (PDA-DTC/Cu-MnO2) was established, which has been employed for MR imaging-guided multi-therapy (CDT, PTT and chemotherapy) for cancer treatment. The in vitro and in vivo results confirmed that the biocompatible nanoplatform could significantly induce tumor cell death and inhibit tumor growth.

High arabinoxylan fine structure specificity to gut bacteria driven by corn genotypes but not environment.

While gut bacteria have different abilities to utilize dietary fibers, the degree of fiber structural alignment to bacteria species is not well understood. Corn bran arabinoxylan (CAX) was used to investigate how minor polymer fine structural differences at the genotype × environment level influences the human gut microbiota. CAXs were extracted from 4 corn genotypes × 3 growing years and used in in vitro fecal fermentations.

An artificial intelligence process of immunoassay for multiple biomarkers based on logic gates.

We present a universal platform to synchronously analyze the possible existing state of two protein biomarkers. This platform is based on the integration of three logic gates: NAND, OR and NOT. These logic gates were constructed by the principle of immune recognition and fluorescence quenching between fluorescein labelled antibodies/antigens and antibody-conjugated graphene oxide (GO).

A multifunctional SN38-conjugated nanosystem for defeating myelosuppression and diarrhea induced by irinotecan in esophageal cancer.

A combination of chemotherapy and phototherapy has been proposed as a promising treatment for esophageal cancer (EC). Irinotecan as a first-line treatment option is widely prescribed for metastatic EC, however, its clinical application is extremely restricted by the low conversion rate to SN38, severe myelosuppression and diarrhea. As a more potent active metabolite of irinotecan, SN38 is a better substitution for irinotecan, but the poor water solubility and the difficulty of encapsulation hindered its medical application.

New Strategy for Reducing Tau Aggregation Cytologically by A Hairpinlike Molecular Inhibitor, Tannic Acid Encapsulated in Liposome.

Inhibition of Tau protein aggregation is an attractive therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease. However, most of the inhibitors have failed in clinical trials due to the superficial understanding of inhibition mechanism and drug-transfer pharmacokinetics. Innovation of design strategy has become a top priority.