Fogpike2206
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M
) and spike protein are crucial for viral replication and transmission. Spike protein recognizes the human ACE2 receptor and transmits SARS-CoV-2 into the human body. Thus, M
, spike protein, and ACE2 receptor act as appropriate targets for the development of therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. Spices are traditionally known to have anti-viral and immune-boosting activities. Therefore, we investigated the possible use of selected spice bioactives against the potential targets of SARS-CoV-2 using computational analysis.
Molecular docking analysis was performed to analyze the binding efficiency of spice bioactives against SARS-CoV-2 target proteins along with the standard drugs. Drug-likeness properties of selected spice bioactives were investigated using Lipinski's rule of five and the SWISSADME database. Pharmacological properties such as ADME/T, biological functions, and toxicity were analyzed u9.Conventional one-layer models have yet to achieve clinically relevant classification rates in predicting exacerbations for patients with COPD. The present study investigates whether a two-layer probabilistic model can increase classification rates compared to a one-layer model. Continuous measurements of oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and blood pressure from nine patients with COPD were structured into 17 prodromal exacerbation periods and 398 control periods. A one-layer model was compared to a two-layer model based on prior probabilities using double cross-validation. The two models were compared by the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve and sensitivity at an arbitrarily set specificity of 0.95. This comparison was carried out across nine different classification algorithms. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was increased across all nine classification algorithms and by a mean value of 0.11. Sensitivity at an arbitrarily set specificity of 0.95 was also increased by a mean value of 0.13. In conclusion, a two-layer probabilistic model for predicting COPD exacerbations can increase classification rates compared to a one-layer model, and to a level of clinical relevance, for patients in telehealth.
Electromoxibustion devices are commercially available and can be self-administered by patients. Nevertheless, little is known about the effectiveness and potential burn injury of these devices as this topic is under-investigated.
To assess the preliminary effects and safety of an electromoxibustion (EM) device for improving knee pain and joint functions in older adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).
This was a pilot two-armed assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of electromoxibustion (EM) on older adults with KOA. A total of 38 subjects aged 60 or above, with KOA for 3 months or above were recruited. Participants were randomized to the EM group or the knee health education group. The intervention group (n=21) received 12 sessions of EM spanning across four weeks, while the control group (n=17) received two sessions of knee health education.
Primary outcome included the pain severity Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) at baseline and week 4. Secondary outcomes included the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Short-Form Six-Dimension (SF6D), Timed Up & Go Test (TUG) and Fast Speed Gait (FSG).
Both groups showed a decreasing trend in knee pain intensity by NRS at post-intervention. There were also trends of improvement in the WOMAC score, TUG score, FGS test score and SF-6D score at week 4. Only a small between-group effect size (d=0.13) was found, but medium between-group effects sizes were found in the WOMAC total score (d=0.40) and WOMAC functional sub-score (d=0.51). However, the differences were not statistically significant.
This study suggested that EM may be beneficial for KOA in older adults, particularly in terms of improving knee function. Replication of similar studies in larger RCTs is warranted to confirm the effectiveness of EM on reducing pain and knee function of older adults with KOA.
NCT04034394.
NCT04034394.
In recent years, great attention has been paid to the role of herbal medicine in the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Sumac (Rhus coriaria L.) is a popular herb which contains major bioactive compounds known for a variety of health benefits. This study aimed to assess the effects of sumac powder supplementation on hepatic fibrosis and some metabolic markers in patients with NAFLD.
Eighty-four patients diagnosed with NAFLD were included in this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. They were randomly assigned to receive 2000mg per day sumac powder (n=42) or placebo (n=42) for 12 weeks. Also, both groups received a 500-calories deficit diet plan. Hepatic fibrosis and liver enzymes (ALT and AST) as well as fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum insulin, HbA1c, HOMA-IR (insulin resistance index), QUICKI (insulin sensitivity index), malondialdehyde (MDA), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured at baseline and the end of trial.
Eighty patients completed the trial. After 12-weeks of intervention, subjects in the sumac group showed a greater decrease in hepatic fibrosis and liver enzymes as well as FBS, serum insulin, HbA1c, HOMA-IR, MDA, and hs-CRP, compared to the placebo (P-value<0.05); while the QUICKI was significantly higher in the sumac group at the end of intervention.
Daily intake of 2000mg sumac powder along with a low-calorie diet for 12 weeks was beneficial for the management of NAFLD.
Daily intake of 2000 mg sumac powder along with a low-calorie diet for 12 weeks was beneficial for the management of NAFLD.Exosomes are important mediators of vesicle transportation and contain microRNAs (miRNAs) that mediate transcriptional gene knockout and silencing in biological processes. Moreover, exosomic miRNAs are promising biomarkers for disease diagnosis and physiological status indication in many species, including fish. The impact of the Vibrio harveyi pathogen on Cynoglossus semilaevis aquaculture is becoming more and more serious as the industry expands. To overcome this challenge, miRNAs in mucous exosomes were screened by small RNA sequencing and verified by quantitative real-time PCR to develop biomarkers. This is the first capture of exosomes from flatfish mucus coupled with miRNA profiling. The results revealed significant differences in expression levels of some miRNAs between infected and healthy fish. Three unique miRNAs were identified for V. harveyi infection diagnosis; expression levels of dre-miR-205-5p and dre-miR-205-5p in infected fish were significantly lower than controls, while dre-miR-100-5p expression was higher. These miRNAs in mucous exosomes could be used to differentiate diseased and healthy fish in an early screening method with practical value for breeding disease-resistant C. semilaevis.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widespread degenerative joint disease that affects more than 350 million people worldwide. Although YAP1 has been proved to play a key role in OA, the biological function and mechanism of YAP1 in OA still need further investigation. In the present study, we demonstrated that YAP1 was highly expressed in OA rat chondrocytes. Recently, growing microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to play important roles in OA development. Among them, miR-582-3p is one of the few significantly downregulated miRNAs and attracted our attention. Functional investigations indicated that miR-582-3p inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis, reduced the proinflammatory cytokine production and suppressed extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation. Subsequently, molecular mechanism exploration implied that YAP1 is a downstream target of miR-582-3p. Furthermore, rescue assays revealed that YAP1 amplification can reverse miR-582-3p mimic-mediated effects on chondrocyte apoptosis, inflammatory response, and ECM degradation. Moreover, the OA rat model was established to explore the function of miR-582-3p/YAP1 axis in vivo. The results showed that YAP1 overexpression can recover the effects induced by injection of AAV-miR-582-3p mimic on OA progression. To sum up, these findings implied a crucial role of miR-582-3p/YAP1 axis in OA, which may provide a promising therapeutic strategy for OA.Microbial-induced carbonate precipitation is important in the global carbon cycle, especially in fixing atmospheric CO2. Many simulation experiments have shown that microbes can induce carbonate precipitation, although there is no established understanding of the mechanism. In this study, several mineralization experiments were performed using Curvibacter lanceolatus strain HJ-1, including its secreted extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and carbonic anhydrase (CA). We found that strain HJ-1, EPS, and CA could promote carbonate precipitation if compared with the respective control experiments (CK). Also, both HJ-1 and EPS1 experiments contained calcite and aragonite, whereas CA experiments formed calcite only. Therefore, HJ-1 and EPS is favorable for carbonate precipitation, especially for aragonite. Besides, the formation of calcite in the EPS2 experiments indicated that EPS contains a trace amount of CA, which might promote CO2 hydration and eventually lead to carbonate precipitation. It was suggested that CA only provide CO32- for the formation of carbonate minerals. In the absence of exogenous HCO3-, the optimized calcification rate followed the order HJ-1(49.5 %) > CA(6.6 %) > EPS2(4.1 %). In addition, MICP mechanisms was studied, an increase in pH and CO2 hydration by CA play synergetic roles in providing supersaturated alkaline conditions in the system with bacteria. Finally, bacterial cells and EPS promote the formation of calcite and aragonite by acting as nucleation sites.Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) seriously affects the quality of life for patients. The pathogenesis of IBD contains the environmental, host genetic and epigenetic factors. In recent years, the studies of protein ubiquitination, an important protein post-translational modification as an epigenetic factor, have emerged in the pathogenesis and development of IBD. In the past few years, accumulative evidence illustrated that six E3 ubiquitin ligases, namely, ring finger protein (RNF) 183, RNF 20, A20, Pellino 3, TRIM62 and Itch, exhibited clear mechanisms in the development of IBD. They regulate the intestinal inflammation by facilitating the ubiquitination of targeted proteins which participate in different inflammatory signaling pathways. Besides, it was reported that some deubiquitinating enzymes such as Cylindromatosis and USP7 were involved in the development of IBD, but the molecular mechanism was still unclear. This review summarized the role and regulatory mechanism of protein ubiquitination in the pathogenesis and development of IBD, providing insights to develop a new therapeutic strategy in IBD treatments.Lung cancer is the primary cause of cancer-related deaths, and the persistent inflammation is inextricably linked with the lung cancer tumorigenesis. Pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-33 (IL-33) is able to serve as a potent modulator of cancer. Mounting evidence indicates IL-33 has significant effect on lung cancer progression by regulating host immune response, but the current opinions about the function and mechanism of IL-33 in lung cancer are still controversial. Meanwhile, antibacterial peptide LL-37 also exerts a momentous effect on immune responses to lung cancer. LL-37 is regarded as versatile, including antimicrobial activities, chemotaxis and immunoregulation. However, the immunomodulatory mechanism of IL-33 and LL-37 in lung cancer remains thoroughly not defined. Here, we determined the secretion of LL-37 was up-regulated in lung cancer serum samples. Similarly, the expression of CRAMP was enhancive in macrophages after co-cultured with lung cancer cells. Terfenadine purchase Moreover, we expounded that IL-33 could up-regulate LL-37 secretion in macrophages, resulting in the massive releases of IL-6 and IL-1β.