ABSTRACT This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of lactic acid bacteria preparations on microbial diversity and community structure of calves. On days 1 and 7 of the trial period, feces were collected into sterile tubes and labeled (Day 1: control group D1DZ, experimental group D1SY, and Day 7: control group D7DZ, experimental group D7SY). Twenty Angus calves (150±10 kg) were selected and randomly divided into two groups of 10 calves each. The control group fed a basal diet. In addition to feeding the basal diet, the experimental group was given 15 mL lactobacillus preparation orally at 09:00 and 16:00 h every day. Calves were allowed free feeding and drinking water. All other feeding environments and management conditions remained consistent with the experiment lasting for seven days. At the end of the experiment, the fecal microflora of the calves was analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing techniques. The 16S rRNA analysis data were processed using the Excel 2007 software and analyzed by the IBM SPSS statistical software (Statistical Analysis System, version 22). The Alpha diversity index analysis showed that the Chao and the Ace indices were significantly different after feeding supplemented with lactic acid bacteria. The PCA analysis showed that the fecal flora structure differed significantly after supplementation with the lactic acid bacteria preparation. Further analysis showed that the lactic acid bacteria increased Firmicutes, Patescibacteria, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, and prevotellaceae_UCG-003 in the feces. Therefore, we speculate that lactic acid bacteria preparations play an important role in animal production and are beneficial to the diversity of the fecal microflora of the calves.

Abstract Objective To compare the efficacy and safety between baricitinib (BARI) and tofacitinib (TOFA) for the treatment of the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving methotrexate (MTX) in clinical practice. Methods This retrospective study recruited 179 RA patients treated with BARI (2–4 mg/d) or TOFA (10 mg/d) at The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from September 2019 to January 2022. The rate of low disease activity (LDA) was used as the primary end point. Secondary end points included the Disease Activity Scale-28 (DAS-28)-C-reactive protein (CRP); the rate of DAS28-CRP remission; visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, swollen joint, and tender joint counts; and adverse events at the 6-month follow-up. Several factors affecting LDA achievement were also analyzed. Results Seventy-four patients were treated with BARI and 105 were treated with TOFA, including 83.24% females, with a median (IQR) age of 56.0 (53.0–56.0) years old and disease duration of 12.0 (6.0–12.0) months. There was no difference of the rate of LDA between the BARI and TOFA treatment groups. All disease indices in the two groups were significantly improved, including a significantly lower VAS in the BARI group (P < 0.05), reflecting the drug efficacy after 1 and 6 months of treatment. The incidence of adverse reactions was similar in these two groups. Conclusion The treatment efficacy and safety of BARI and TOFA in the RA patients were similar, but BARI was more effective in pain relief than TOFA. An older baseline age was more likely to achieve LDA in the BARI group, while a low baseline erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was more likely to achieve LDA in the TOFA group.

RESUMO A perturbação da microbiota intestinal comensal está relacionada à dermatose inflamatória crônica. Analisamos a diversidade da microbiota intestinal para caracterizar a variação biológica da psoríase (Ps). Diferenças significativas do perfil microbiológico intestinal foram reveladas no modelo murino com psoríase pelo sequenciamento da região variável 16S rRNA V3-V4. As comparações de grupo incluíram o creme imiquimod (grupo IMQ, n=8), o creme imiquimod e antibióticos (ATB) (grupo PC+IMQ, n=8) e o controle saudável (grupo CTRL, n=8). A microbiota intestinal existia nos grupos Ps, incluindo o grupo IMQ e o grupo PC+IMQ englobava menos diversidade do que os controles, que foram atribuídos à diminuição da presença de vários taxa. Os dois grupos de Ps caracterizavam-se por uma redução significativa nos firicutes. Neste estudo, a microbiota da psoríase foi definida por um aumento da presença de bacteroides. Após o tratamento com ATB, encontramos um aumento substancial de Lactobacillales mas uma diminuição significativa de Clostridiales e Coriobacteriales. Uma menor abundância relativa de bactérias intestinais múltiplas foi observada nos grupos de Ps. Embora parte dos gêneros tenha sido concomitantemente reduzida tanto em condições IMQ como PC+IMQ, descobrimos que a especialidade das amostras do grupo PC+IMQ era que continham menor abundância de taxas benéficas. As características dos perfis de microbiota intestinal em ratos de Ps eram comparáveis aos perfis em pacientes com Ps, que estavam relacionados à alteração de proteínas inflamatórias específicas em grupos de doenças, mas eram significativamente diferentes do grupo controle. Assim, este estudo enfatiza o papel da microbiota intestinal na patogênese do Ps e fornece novos conhecimentos para investigar a associação entre micróbios intestinais e inflamação imunológica.

ABSTRACT Disturbance of commensal intestinal microbiota is related to chronic inflammatory dermatosis. We analyzed the diversity of the gut microbiota to characterize the biological variation of psoriasis (Ps). Significant differences of gut microbiome profiles were revealed in murine model with psoriasis by sequencing 16S rRNA V3-V4 variable region. Group comparisons included the imiquimod cream (IMQ group, n=8), the imiquimod cream and antibiotics (ATB) (PC+IMQ group, n=8) and the healthy control (CTRL group, n=8). The gut microbiota existed in Ps groups including IMQ group and PC+IMQ group encompassed less diversity than controls, which were attributed to decreased presence of several taxa. The two Ps groups were characterized by significant reduction in firmicutes. In this study, microbiota of psoriasis was defined by an increase presence of Bacteroides. After treated with ATB, we found substantial increase of Lactobacillales but significant decrease of Clostridiales and Coriobacteriales. Relative lower abundance of multiple intestinal bacteria was observed in Ps groups. Although part of genera were concomitantly reduced in both IMQ and PC+IMQ conditions, we discovered the specialty of PC+IMQ group samples was that contained lower abundance of beneficial taxa. Characteristics of gut microbiota profiles in Ps mice were comparable to profiles in patients with Ps, which were related to alteration of specific inflammatory proteins in disease groups but were significantly different from control group. Thus, this study emphasizes the role of intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of Ps and provides new insight for investigating association between intestinal microbes and immune inflammation.

Abstract This study investigated the effects of puerarin (PUE) on blood lipid and inflammatory factor levels in rats with lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO). Sixty rats were randomly divided into control, model, simvastatin, low-PUE, middle-PUE and high-dose PUE group. The animals in later 5 groups were with lower limb ASO, and the later 4 groups were given 1 mg/kg simvastatin and 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg PUE, respectively. The blood lipid and inflammatory factor levels were determined. Results showed that, the serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level in model group were significantly increased (P <0.01), while the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly decreased (P <0.01). Compared with model group, TC, TG, LDL-C, IL-6, TNF-α and hs-CRP in high-dose PUE and simvastatin group were significantly decreased (P <0.01 or P <0.05), and HDL level was significantly increased (P <0.01 or P <0.05). There was no significant difference of each index between simvastatin and high-dose PUE group (P >0.05). PUE can obviously decrease the blood lipid and inflammatory factor levels in rats with lower limb ASO.

Sepsis is one of the major causes of death and is the biggest obstacle preventing improvement of the success rate in curing critical illnesses. Currently, isotonic solutions are used in fluid resuscitation technique. Several studies have shown that hypertonic saline applied in hemorrhagic shock can rapidly increase the plasma osmotic pressure, facilitate the rapid return of interstitial fluid into the blood vessels, and restore the effective circulating blood volume. Here, we established a rat model of sepsis by using the cecal ligation and puncture approach. We found that intravenous injection of hypertonic saline dextran (7.5% NaCl/6% dextran) after cecal ligation and puncture can improve circulatory failure at the onset of sepsis. We found that the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6 and intracellular adhesion molecule 1 levels in the lung tissue of cecal ligation and puncture rats treated with hypertonic saline dextran were significantly lower than the corresponding levels in the control group. We inferred that hypertonic saline dextran has a positive immunoregulatory effect and inhibits the overexpression of the inflammatory response in the treatment of sepsis. The percentage of neutrophils, lung myeloperoxidase activity, wet to dry weight ratio of lung tissues, histopathological changes in lung tissues, and indicators of arterial blood gas analysis was significantly better in the hypertonic saline dextran-treated group than in the other groups in this study. Hypertonic saline dextran-treated rats had significantly improved survival rates at 9 and 18 h compared to the control group. Our results suggest that hypertonic saline dextran plays a protective role in acute lung injury caused after cecal ligation and puncture. In conclusion, hypertonic/hyperoncotic solutions have beneficial therapeutic effects in the treatment of an animal model of sepsis.

This study was conducted to reveal genetic diversity among 100 Osmanthus fragrans cultivars using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Eight AFLP primer combinations produced a total of 443 polymorphic fragments with an average of 64 per primer combination. The percentage of polymorphic bands (86.81%), the resolving power (Rp) (32.71) and the PIC values (0.331) showed the efficiency of used primer combinations. The revealed AFLP makers were effective in distinguishing all the cultivars considered. Cluster analysis were performed to assess patterns of diversity among cultivars and showed the abundant genetic diversity. The overall distribution pattern of molecular variation suggested that 93.33% of the total genetic variance was within the identified groups and 6.67% of the genetic variation was among the identified groups. Our results showed that AFLP markers are useful for Osmanthus fragrans germplasm discrimination as well as for investigation of genetic diversity and variation. The information will facilitate germplasm identification, conservation and new cultivar development.

We investigated inheritance and carried out gene fine mapping of aroma in crosses between the aromatic elite hybrid rice Oryza sativa indica variety Chuanxiang-29B (Ch-29B) and the non-aromatic rice O. sativa indica variety R2 and O. sativa japonica Lemont (Le). The F1 grains and leaves were non-aromatic while the F2 non-aroma to aroma segregation pattern was 3:1. The F3 segregation ratio was consistent with the expected 1:2:1 for a single recessive aroma gene in Ch-29B. Linkage analysis between simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and the aroma locus for the aromatic F2 plants mapped the Ch-29B aroma gene to a chromosome 8 region flanked by SSR markers RM23120 at 0.52 cM and RM3459 at 1.23 cM, a replicate F2 population confirming these results. Three bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones cover chromosome 8 markers RM23120 and RM3459. Our molecular mapping data from the two populations indicated that the aroma locus occurs in a 142.85 kb interval on BAC clones AP005301 or AP005537, implying that it might be the same gene reported by Bradbury et al (2005a; Plant Biotec J. 3:363-370). The flanking markers Aro7, RM23120 and RM3459 identified by us could greatly accelerate the efficiency and precision of aromatic rice breeding programs.