Stigma and Efficacy of Zhizhu Kuanzhong Capsules Versus Doxepin in the Treatment of Refractory Functional Dyspepsia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Qian-Qian Wang,Li Cheng,Bi-Yu Wu,Hong-Yi Qiu,Ping Xu,Bo Wang,Xiu-Juan Yan,Sheng-Liang Chen 대한소화기 기능성질환∙운동학회 2023 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.29 No.3

Background/AimsStigma related with antidepressants is prevalent in patients with functional dyspepsia. It affects medication compliance and efficacy. Herbal medicine acquired a deep-rooted cultural identity in relieving dyspeptic symptoms in Asians. The research was designed to compare the effectiveness of Zhizhu Kuanzhong capsules (ZZKZ) versus doxepin hydrochloride (doxepin) on alleviating stigma and medication nonadherence among patients with refractory FD (rFD). MethodsPatients with rFD from February 2021 to February 2022 were randomly allocated to receive either doxepin (n = 56) or ZZKZ (n = 57) combined with omeprazole for 4 weeks. Medication possession ratio (MPR), the disease- and medication-associated stigma were analyzed. The scales were utilized to assess dyspeptic symptoms (Leeds Dyspepsia Questionnaire) and psychological conditions (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire). ResultsThe MPR values for ZZKZ were significantly higher than those for doxepin (P < 0.001). The stigma scores decreased in ZZKZ group while increased in doxepin group compared to baseline after treatment. The proportion of patients showing ZZKZ-associated stigma was significantly lower than doxepin-associated stigma (P < 0.001). The MPR values were negatively correlated with post-treatment stigma scores in both groups (P < 0.001). Dyspeptic symptoms and psychological condition were improved in both groups after treatment, with no significant difference on post-treatment Leeds Dyspepsia Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire, or Patient Health Questionnaire scores between 2 groups. ConclusionZZKZ is superior to doxepin in alleviating stigma and medication non-adherence, with comparable efficacy in improving dyspeptic symptoms and psychological condition of patients with rFD.

Effect of Knitting Structure and Polyethylene Content on Thermalwet Comfort and Cooling Properties of Polyethylene/polyester Fabrics

Juan Qian,Ting Xie,Liqun Chen,Zhijiang Li,Ning Guo,Shaoju Fu,Peihua Zhang 한국섬유공학회 2022 Fibers and polymers Vol.23 No.11

Polyethylene is getting tremendous attention in personal thermal management textiles for summer, but there is lackof systematical coolness and thermal-wet comfort research in wearing knitting fabrics. In this work, two group of knittingstructure were designed following a sandwich structure model that consisted of a middle layer of multifilament and twoasymmetric outer layers. Nine bi-layer samples interknitted with polyester were fabricated with one face composed ofpolyester filaments and the other face built of polyethylene and polyester filaments. Textile parameters, such as knittingstructure, polyethylene fractions and distribution in the inner layer, yarn composition and relative porosity, were considered. Breathability, thermal transfer properties, moisture management performance and dynamic cooling performance wasmeasured and evaluated to investigate the thermal-wet and coolness relevant comfort properties of these fabrics. It was foundthat the fabrics knitted with tuck stitches have better air permeability, contact coolness, overall moisture management anddynamic cooling performance in comparison to the fabrics knitted with float stitches. The air permeability became better withthe increasing proportion of polyethylene and the decreasing ratio of tuck stitch. The effective contact area of polyethylenewith skin was beneficial to promote the transient thermal conductivity and dynamic cooling performance of fabric. The resultalso suggested that an asymmetric structure with meshes in the inner layer were beneficial to promote moisture management. Meanwhile, when the proportion of tuck stitch in inner layer was 6.25 %, the air permeability and heat transfer properties offabric were the best. Moreover, independent tests had proved that the performance of transient and steady thermalconductivity of polyethylene/polyester fabric was the best when the mass ratio of polyethylene was 49.3 % in this study.

Novel reassortant 2.3.4.4B H5N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses circulating among wild, domestic birds in Xinjiang, Northwest China

Qian Zhang,Xindi Mei,Cheng Zhang,Juan Li,Nana Chang,Dilihuma Aji,Weifeng Shi,Yuhai Bi,Zhenghai Ma 대한수의학회 2021 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.22 No.4

Background: The H5 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) of clade 2.3.4.4 circulate in wild and domestic birds worldwide. In 2017, nine strains of H5N6 AIVs were isolated from aquatic poultry in Xinjiang, Northwest China. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the origin, reassortment, and mutations of the AIV isolates. Methods: AIVs were isolated from oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs of poultry. Identification was accomplished by inoculating isolates into embryonated chicken eggs and performing hemagglutination tests and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The viral genomes were amplified with RT-PCR and then sequenced. The sequence alignment, phylogenetic, and molecular characteristic analyses were performed by using bioinformatic software. Results: Nine isolates originated from the same ancestor. The viral HA gene belonged to clade 2.3.4.4B, while the NA gene had a close phylogenetic relationship with the 2.3.4.4C H5N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) isolated from shoveler ducks in Ningxia in 2015. The NP gene was grouped into an independent subcluster within the 2.3.4.4B H5N8 AIVs, and the remaining six genes all had close phylogenetic relationships with the 2.3.4.4B H5N8 HPAIVs isolated from the wild birds in China, Egypt, Uganda, Cameroon, and India in 2016–2017, Multiple basic amino acid residues associated with HPAIVs were located adjacent to the cleavage site of the HA protein. The nine isolates comprised reassortant 2.3.4.4B HPAIVs originating from 2.3.4.4B H5N8 and 2.3.4.4C H5N6 viruses in wild birds. Conclusions: These results suggest that the Northern Tianshan Mountain wetlands in Xinjiang may have a key role in AIVs disseminating from Central China to the Eurasian continent and East African.

In vitro Antioxidant Activities of Proanthocyanidins Extracted from the Lotus Seedpod and Ameliorative Effects on Learning and Memory Impairment in Scopolamine-induced Amnesia Mice

Juan Xiao,Shuyi Li,Yong Sui,Xiaopeng Li,Qian Wu,Ruifen Zhang,Mingwei Zhang,Bijun Xie,Zhida Sun 한국식품과학회 2015 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.24 No.4

The antioxidant activity of proanthocyanidins extracted from the lotus seedpods (LSPC) in vitro and ameliorative effects on memory impairment induced using scopolamine in mice were studied. 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging ability, oxygen radical absorbance capacity, and cellular antioxidant activity assays revealed a potent LSPC antioxidant activity. Y-maze and step-down avoidance testing showed that LSPC administration at 30, 60, and 90 mg/kg ameliorated memory impairment. LSPC improved glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities, inhibited activities of monoamine oxidase-B, total nitric oxide synthase, neuronal nitric oxide synthase, and acetylcholinesterase, and had no influence on inducible nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide levels in the brain. LSPC ameliorated scopolamineinduced memory impairment based on improvement of the antioxidant system and cholinergic activity, which may be associated with potent antioxidant ability.

The discovery of potent immunostimulatory CpG-ODNs widely distributed in bacterial genomes

Juan Liu,Yan Wei,Yongling Lu,Yangyuling Li,Qian Chen,Yan Li 한국미생물학회 2020 The journal of microbiology Vol.58 No.2

Oligodeoxynucleotides containing unmethylated CpG dinucleotides (CpG-ODN) can be specifically recognized by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), provoking innate immune responses. Designed according to this structural feature, many synthetic phosphorothioate CpG-ODNs successfully activate macrophages. However, it is difficult to find potent stimulatory CpG-DNA fragments in microbial genomes. Therefore, whether microbial CpG-DNA substantially contributes to infectious and immune diseases remains controversial. In this study, high-throughput scanning was carried out for thousands of bacterial genomes with bioinformatics tools to comprehensively evaluate the distribution of CpG-DNA fragments. A random sampling test was then performed to verify their immunostimulatory properties by experiments in vitro and in vivo. Natural TLR9-dependent and potent stimulatory CpG-DNA fragments were found in microbial genomes. Interestingly, highly conserved stimulatory CpG-DNA fragments were found in 16S and 23S rDNA sequences with multiple copies, while others were species-specific. Additionally, we found that the reported active motifs were mostly nonstimulatory in natural CpG fragments. This evidence indicates that the previous structural descriptions of functional CpG-ODNs are incomplete. Our study has assessed the distribution of microbial CpG-DNA fragments, and identified natural stimulatory CpG-DNA fragments. These findings provide a deeper understanding of CpG-ODN structures and new evidence for microbial DNA inflammatory function and pathogenicity.

Assembly Mechanism of [Fe2S2] Cluster in Ferredoxin from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Qian Chen,Hong Yu Mo,Lin Tang,Juan Du,Fang Qin,Jia Zeng 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2011 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.21 No.2

Ferredoxin is a typical iron-sulfur protein that is ubiquitous in biological redox systems. This study investigates the in vitro assembly of a [Fe2S2] cluster in the ferredoxin from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans in the presence of three scaffold proteins: IscA, IscS, and IscU. The spectra and MALDI-TOF MS results for the reconstituted ferredoxin confirm that the iron-sulfur cluster was correctly assembled in the protein. The inactivation of cysteine desulfurase by L-allylglycine completely blocked any [Fe2S2] cluster assembly in the ferredoxin in E. coli, confirming that cysteine desulfurase is an essential component for iron-sulfur cluster assembly. The present results also provide strong evidence that [Fe2S2] cluster assembly in ferredoxin follows the AUS pathway.

Integrative Analysis of Microarray Data to Reveal Regulation Patterns in the Pathogenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

( Juan Chen ),( Zhenwen Qian ),( Fengling Li ),( Jinzhi Li ),( Yi Lu ) 대한소화기학회 2017 Gut and Liver Vol.11 No.1

Background/Aims: The integration of multiple profiling data and the construction of a transcriptional regulatory network may provide additional insights into the molecular mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present study was conducted to investigate the deregulation of genes and the transcriptional regulatory network in HCC. Methods: An integrated analysis of HCC gene expression datasets was performed in Gene Expression Omnibus. Functional annotation of the differentially expression genes (DEGs) was conducted. Furthermore, transcription factors (TFs) were identified, and a global transcriptional regulatory network was constructed. Results: An integrated analysis of eight eligible gene expression profiles of HCC led to 1,835 DEGs. Consistent with the fact that the cell cycle is closely related to various tumors, the functional annotation revealed that genes involved in the cell cycle were significantly enriched. A transcriptional regulatory network was constructed using the 62 TFs, which consisted of 872 TF-target interactions between 56 TFs and 672 DEGs in the context of HCC. The top 10 TFs covering the most downstream DEGs were ZNF354C, NFATC2, ARID3A, BRCA1, ZNF263, FOXD1, GATA3, FOXO3, FOXL1, and NR4A2. This network will appeal to future investigators focusing on the development of HCC. Conclusions: The transcriptional regulatory network can provide additional information that is valuable in understanding the underlying molecular mechanism in hepatic tumorigenesis. (Gut Liver 2017;11:112-120)

Effects of Fruits Fermented Cream on “Fuji” Apple Aroma Compounds

Ming-juan Liu,Jie Zhang,Yun-cong Yao,Qian-long Ji 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-

ABERRANT MEIOSES IN HYBRID PROGENY PRODUCED BY NATURAL TETRAPLOID LOACH Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (♀) AND NATURAL Paramisgurnus dabryanus (♂)

Xiao-juan Cao,Xian-chang Tian,Song-qian Huang,Xiu-wen Xu,Wei-min Wang 한국수산과학회 양식분과 2015 한국수산과학회 양식분과 학술대회 Vol.2015 No.5

Enzymatic Synthesis of Theanine with Escherichia coli γ-glutamyltranspeptidase from a Series of γ-glutamyl Anilide Substrate Analogues

Hong-juan Zhang,Wei-guo Zhang,Zhi-yuan Wang,Yue-ping Zhan,Li-sheng Xu,Jun-zhong Liu,Qian Liu,Qing-cai Jiao 한국생물공학회 2013 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.18 No.2

In order to investigate the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli γ-glutamyltranspeptidase, ten para- and meta- substituted γ-glutamyl anilides were chemically prepared and employed as substrates to synthesize L-theanine to assay the activity of γ-glutamyltranspeptidase. The reaction was optimized for γ-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide. Key factors such as substrate specificity, pH, temperature, and the substrate mole ratio were all investigated. Kinetic studies of the acyl transfer reaction were described and the Hammett plot was constructed. This study indicated that the ratelimiting acylation reaction of γ-glutamyltranspeptidase can apparently be accelerated by either the electron-withdrawing or electron-donating substituents of γ-glutamyl anilides. The reaction could be catalyzed by the general acid and carboxy of Asp-433 or phenolic hydroxyl Tyr-444 may be the acid by autodock simulation for all prepared γ-glutamyl anilides.