Dietary Mushroom Intake May Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Epidemiological studies have investigated the potential anticancer effects of mushroom intake. This review aims to clarify the evidence on the association of dietary mushroom intake with breast cancer risk and to quantify its dose-response relationship. Relevant studies were identified by a search of PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar up to December 31, 2013. Observational studies with relative risks (RRs) or hazard ratios (HRs) or odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of breast cancer for three or more categories of mushroom intake were eligible. The quality of included studies was assessed by using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. A dose-response meta-analysis was performed by utilizing generalized least squares trend estimation. Eight case-control studies and two cohort studies with a total of 6890 cases were ultimately included. For dose-response analysis, there was no evidence of non-linear association between mushroom consumption and breast cancer risk (P = 0.337) and a 1 g/d increment in mushroom intake conferred an RR of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.96–0.98) for breast cancer risk, with moderate heterogeneity (I² = 56.3%, P = 0.015). Besides, available menopause data extracted from included studies were used to evaluate the influence of menopausal statues. The summary RRs of mushroom consumption on breast cancer were 0.96 (95% CI: 0.91–1.00) for premenopausal women and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91–0.97) for postmenopausal women, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that mushroom intake may be inversely associated with risk of breast cancer, which need to be confirmed with large-scale prospective studies further.     

Rat Hepatocytes Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis Identifies Specific Modules and Hub Genes Related to Liver Regeneration after Partial Hepatectomy

The recovery of liver mass is mainly mediated by proliferation of hepatocytes after 2/3 partial hepatectomy (PH) in rats. Studying the gene expression profiles of hepatocytes after 2/3 PH will be helpful to investigate the molecular mechanisms of liver regeneration (LR). We report here the first application of weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to analyze the biological implications of gene expression changes associated with LR. WGCNA identifies 12 specific gene modules and some hub genes from hepatocytes genome-scale microarray data in rat LR. The results suggest that upregulated MCM5 may promote hepatocytes proliferation during LR; BCL3 may play an important role by activating or inhibiting NF-kB pathway; MAPK9 may play a permissible role in DNA replication by p38 MAPK inactivation in hepatocytes proliferation stage. Thus, WGCNA can provide novel insight into understanding the molecular mechanisms of LR.     

40种植物丙酮提取物对朱砂叶螨的毒杀活性

为推动植物源杀螨剂的研发进程,采用玻片浸渍法测定40种植物丙酮提取物对朱砂叶螨（Tetranychus cinnabrinus）雌成螨的毒杀活性,以期发现具开发潜力的植物资源。结果表明,沙茴香（Ferula bungeana）、盐肤木（Rhus chinensis）、黄连木（Pistacia chinensis）、紫丁香（Syringa oblata）和南方六道木（Abelia dielsii）等5种植物丙酮提取物对朱砂叶螨的毒杀活性较好;毒力测定表明,沙茴香和盐肤木丙酮提取物对朱砂叶螨的毒杀活性最好,LC₅₀分别为0.08 g·mL^-1和0.09 g·mL^-1。可见,沙茴香和盐肤木可作为植物源杀螨剂研发的候选材料,值得进一步研究。     

18种植物源物质对枸杞鲜果的保鲜活性

为延长枸杞鲜果的贮存时间,开发专用植物源保鲜剂,采用浸泡法初步研究18种植物提取物对枸杞鲜果的保鲜作用。结果表明,荷叶乙醇提取物和柠檬油对枸杞鲜果具有较好的保鲜活性,在1 g/L和1 mL/L剂量时,处理5 d后好果率分别为78.64%和72.22%,质量损失率分别为7.68%和8.13%,显著优于标准药剂1-甲基环丙烯（1-MCP 0.25 μL/L,P<0.05）;其次为肉桂油、丁香叶油、香紫苏油、卡楠加油、丹参提取物和知母提取物,好果率均在50%以上;最佳使用剂量筛选表明,荷叶乙醇提取物和柠檬油二者分别在2 g/L和400 μL/L时对枸杞鲜果的保鲜效果最好,处理5 d后枸杞鲜果好果率均在80%以上,显著优于1-MCP（0.25 μL/L）处理。可见荷叶提取物和柠檬油对枸杞鲜果具有较好的保鲜活性,值得进一步研究。     

GCN2 deficiency protects against high fat diet induced hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance in mice

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by hepatic lipid deposition and oxidative stress. It has been demonstrated that general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) is required to maintain hepatic fatty acid homeostasis under conditions of amino acid deprivation. However, the impact of GCN2 on the development of NAFLD has not been investigated. In this study, we used Gcn2^?/? mice to investigate the effect of GCN2 on high fat diet (HFD)-induced hepatic steatosis. After HFD feeding for 12?weeks, Gcn2^?/? mice were less obese than wild-type (WT) mice, and Gcn2^?/? significantly attenuated HFD-induced liver dysfunction, hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance. In the livers of the HFD-fed mice, GCN2 deficiency resulted in higher levels of lipolysis genes, lower expression of genes related to FA synthesis, transport and lipogenesis, and less induction of oxidative stress. Furthermore, we found that knockdown of GCN2 attenuated, whereas overexpression of GCN2 exacerbated, palmitic acid-induced steatosis, oxidative & ER stress, and changes of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and metallothionein (MT) expression in HepG2 cells. Collectively, our data provide evidences that GCN2 deficiency protects against HFD-induced hepatic steatosis by inhibiting lipogenesis and reducing oxidative stress. Our findings suggest that strategies to inhibit GCN2 activity in the liver may provide a novel approach to attenuate NAFLD development.     

Synthesis and acrosin inhibitory activity of methyl 5-substituted-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl carbamate derivatives

A series of novel methyl 5-substituted 1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-ylcarbamates were designed, synthesized, and their acrosin inhibitory activities evaluated in vitro. The results of acrosin inhibitory activity showed that all title compounds were more potent than the control TLCK. Compound 4w displayed the most potent acrosin inhibitory activity among all the compounds, with an IC(50) of 6.3×10(-5)M. The studies provide a new structural class for the development of novel acrosin inhibitory agents.     

Establishment of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for rapid detection of Brucella spp. and application to milk and blood samples

Brucella spp. are facultative intracellular bacteria that infect humans and animals. In this study, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was used to detect the Brucella-specific gene omp25. Reaction conditions were optimized as temperature 65°C, reaction time 60 min, Mg(2+) concentration 8.0 mmol/L, polymerase content Bst DNA, 0.5 μL, deoxyribonucleotide concentration 1.6 mmol/L, and inner/outer primer ratio 1:8. The LAMP method was evaluated with 4 Brucella species and 29 non-Brucella bacteria species. Positive reactions were observed on all the 4 Brucella species but not on any non-Brucella species. The limit of detection of the LAMP method was 3.81 CFU Brucella spp. Using the LAMP method, 7 of 110 raw milk samples and 5 of 59 sheep blood samples were detected positive of Brucella spp. Results indicated that LAMP is a fast, specific, sensitive, inexpensive, and suitable method for diagnosis of Brucella spp. infection.     

基于主成分分析的古树土壤肥力综合评价

以广州市海珠区登记在册的40株古树为研究对象,调查其生长状况,采集土壤测定pH、EC值、容重、通气度、有机质、全N、全P、全K、水解N、有效P、速效K含量等11项理化指标,采用主成分分析和聚类分析对古树土壤肥力进行综合评价.结果表明:海珠区大多数古树土壤EC值偏低(<0.35 mS·cm-1),表现为强变异;土壤有机质...