l-arginine is a versatile amino acid with a number of bioactive metabolites. Increasing evidence implicates altered arginine metabolism in the aging and neurodegenerative processes. The present study, for the first time, determined the effects of sex and estrous cycle on the brain and blood (plasma) arginine metabolic profile in naïve rats. Female rats displayed significantly lower levels of l-arginine in the frontal cortex and three sub-regions of the hippocampus when compared to male rats. Moreover, female rats had significantly higher levels of l-arginine and γ-aminobutyric acid, but lower levels of l-ornithine, agmatine and putrescine, in plasma relative to male rats. The observed sex difference in brain l-arginine appeared to be independent of the enzymes involved in its metabolism, de novo synthesis and blood-to-brain transport (cationic acid transporter 1 protein expression at least), as well as circulating l-arginine. While the estrous cycle did not affect l-arginine and its metabolites in the brain, there were estrous cycle phase-dependent changes in plasma l-arginine. These findings demonstrate the sex difference in brain l-arginine in the estrous cycle-independent manner. Since peripheral blood has been increasingly used to identify biomarkers of brain pathology, the influences of sex and estrous cycle on blood arginine metabolic profile need attention when experimental research involves female rodents.
To provide prognosis of an 18 patient cohort who were confirmed to have H7N9 lung infection in Shanghai.
Methods
Patients'' history, clinical manifestation, laboratory test, treatment strategy and mortality were followed and recorded for data analysis.
Results
A total of 18 patients had been admitted into Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center from April 8th to July 29, 2013. 22.2% of the patients were found to have live poultry contact history and 80% were aged male patients with multiple co-morbidities including diabetes, hypertension and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This group of patients was admitted to the clinical center around 10 days after disease onset. According to laboratory examinations, increased C reactive protein (CRP), Procalcitonin (PCT), Plasma thromboplastin antecedent (PTA) and virus positive time (days) were indicative of patients'' mortality. After multivariate analysis, only CRP level showed significant prediction of mortality (P = 0.013) while results of prothrombin time (PT) analysis almost reached statistical significance (P = 0.056).
Conclusions
H7N9 infection induced pneumonia of different severity ranging from mild to severe pneumonia or acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome to multiple organ failure. Certain laboratory parameters such as plasma CRP, PCT, PTA and virus positive days predicted mortality of H7N9 infection and plasma CRP is an independent predictor of mortality in these patients. 相似文献
Biochemical 2,3-butanediol is a renewable material with the potential to be used as an alternative fuel. However, in the lack of an effective separation process has limited its industrial application. In this paper, an effective process was achieved to separate 2,3-butanediol by reactive-extraction. Acetaldehyde and cyclohexane were chosen as the reactant and extractant, respectively. Ion-exchange resin HZ732 was used as the catalyst. Reaction equilibrium and a kinetic study on the reaction between 2,3-butanediol and acetaldehyde were investigated to provide basic data for process development. The reaction enthalpy and activation energy of reaction of 2,3-butanediol and acetaldehyde were ?30.05 ± 1.62 KJ/mol and 45.29 ± 2.89 KJ/mol, respectively. Feasible conditions were obtained as follows: operating temperature = 20°C, acetaldehyde: 2,3-butanediol = 0.5:1 (w/w), cyclohexane: fermentation broth = 0.5:1 (w/w), catalyst amount = 100 g/L, stirring rate = 500 rpm and three-stage counter-current extraction method was used. Under these conditions, the total yield rate of 2,3-butanediol from fermentation broth was over 90% and the mass fraction of 2,3-butanediol in the final product reached 99%. 相似文献
Nicotinamide, the amide form of Vitamin B3, is a common nutrient supplement that plays important role in human fetal development. Nicotinamide has been widely used in clinical treatments, including the treatment of diseases during pregnancy. However, its impacts during embryogenesis have not been fully understood. In this study, we show that nicotinamide plays multiplex roles in mesoderm differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Nicotinamide promotes cardiomyocyte fate from mesoderm progenitor cells, and suppresses the emergence of other cell types. Independent of its functions in PARP and Sirtuin pathways, nicotinamide modulates differentiation through kinase inhibition. A KINOMEscan assay identifies 14 novel nicotinamide targets among 468 kinase candidates. We demonstrate that nicotinamide promotes cardiomyocyte differentiation through p38 MAP kinase inhibition. Furthermore, we show that nicotinamide enhances cardiomyocyte survival as a Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor. This study reveals nicotinamide as a pleiotropic molecule that promotes the derivation and survival of cardiomyocytes, and it could become a useful tool for cardiomyocyte production for regenerative medicine. It also provides a theoretical foundation for physicians when nicotinamide is considered for treatments for pregnant women.Subject terms: Regenerative medicine, Kinases, Target identification, Stem-cell differentiation相似文献