Dissecting Causal Relationships Between Gut Microbiota, Blood Metabolites, and Stroke: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Wang Qi,Dai Huajie,Hou Tianzhichao,Hou Yanan,Wang Tiange,Lin Hong,Zhao Zhiyun,Li Mian,Zheng Ruizhi,Wang Shuangyuan,Lu Jieli,Xu Yu,Liu Ruixin,Ning Guang,Wang Weiqing,Bi Yufang,Zheng Jie,Xu Min 대한뇌졸중학회 2023 Journal of stroke Vol.25 No.3

Background and Purpose We investigated the causal relationships between the gut microbiota (GM), stroke, and potential metabolite mediators using Mendelian randomization (MR). Methods We leveraged the summary statistics of GM (n=18,340 in the MiBioGen consortium), blood metabolites (n=115,078 in the UK Biobank), and stroke (cases n=60,176 and controls n=1,310,725 in the Global Biobank Meta-Analysis Initiative) from the largest genome-wide association studies to date. We performed bidirectional MR analyses to explore the causal relationships between the GM and stroke, and two mediation analyses, two-step MR and multivariable MR, to discover potential mediating metabolites. Results Ten taxa were causally associated with stroke, and stroke led to changes in 27 taxa. In the two-step MR, <i>Bifidobacteriales</i> order, <i>Bifidobacteriaceae</i> family, <i>Desulfovibrio</i> genus, apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), phospholipids in high-density lipoprotein (HDL_PL), and the ratio of apolipoprotein B to ApoA1 (ApoB/ApoA1) were causally associated with stroke (all <i>P</i><0.044). The causal associations between <i>Bifidobacteriales</i> order, <i>Bifidobacteriaceae</i> family and stroke were validated using the weighted median method in an independent cohort. The three GM taxa were all positively associated with ApoA1 and HDL_PL, whereas <i>Desulfovibrio</i> genus was negatively associated with ApoB/ApoA1 (all <i>P</i><0.010). Additionally, the causal associations between the three GM taxa and ApoA1 remained significant after correcting for the false discovery rate (all q-values <0.027). Multivariable MR showed that the associations between <i>Bifidobacteriales</i> order, <i>Bifidobacteriaceae</i> family and stroke were mediated by ApoA1 and HDL_PL, each accounting for 6.5% (<i>P</i>=0.028) and 4.6% (<i>P</i>=0.033); the association between <i>Desulfovibrio</i> genus and stroke was mediated by ApoA1, HDL_PL, and ApoB/ApoA1, with mediated proportions of 7.6% (<i>P</i>=0.019), 4.2% (<i>P</i>=0.035), and 9.1% (<i>P</i>=0.013), respectively. Conclusion The current MR study provides evidence supporting the causal relationships between several specific GM taxa and stroke and potential mediating metabolites.

Comparative Analysis of Antioxidant Activity in Almond and Pistachio Seeds

Lu Lu Wang,노광수 계명대학교 자연과학연구소 2014 Quantitative Bio-Science Vol.33 No.1

In order to compare the antioxidant activity of almond and pistachio seeds, total flavonoid content, total polyphenol content, ABTS free radical scavenging activity, and DPPH electron donating activity were measured. In case of almond seed, the highest value of the total flavonoid content and the total polyphenol content was observed from hot water extracts, while the highest values were observed from 100% methanol extracts in pistachio seed. Total flavonoid content was higher in almond than in pistachio seed, and the total polyphenol content was higher in pistachio seed. ABTS free radical scavenging activity of both almond and pistachio seeds were observed to be highest from hot water extracts, and it is higher in pistachio than in almond seed for all solvent extracts. Higher DPPH free radical scavenging activity was observed from hot water extracts rather than other solvent extracts in both almond and pistachio seeds. DPPH free radical scavenging activity was higher than ABTS free radical scavenging activity. In consequence, almond and pistachio seeds showed antioxidant activity, and these two nuts are worth being utilized as natural antioxidants in many fields.

Angelica Sinensis Polysaccharide Induces Erythroid Differentiation of Human Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia K562 Cells

Wang, Lu,Jiang, Rong,Song, Shu-Dan,Hua, Zi-Sen,Wang, Jian-Wei,Wang, Ya-Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.9

Leukemia is a clonal disorder with blocked normal differentiation and cell death of hematopoietic progenitor cells. Traditional modalities with most used radiation and chemotherapy are nonspecific and toxic which cause adverse effects on normal cells. Differentiation inducing therapy forcing malignant cells to undergo terminal differentiation has been proven to be a promising strategy. However, there is still scarce of potent differentiation inducing agents. We show here that Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP), a major active component in Dong quai (Chinese Angelica sinensis), has potential differentiation inducing activity in human chronic erythro-megakaryoblastic leukemia K562 cells. MTT assays and flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that ASP inhibited K562 cell proliferation and arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase. ASP also triggered K562 cells to undergo erythroid differentiaton as revealed by morphological changes, intensive benzidine staining and hemoglobin colorimetric reaction, as well as increased expression of glycophorin A (GPA) protein. ASP induced redistribution of STAT5 protein from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. Western blotting analysis further identified that ASP markedly sensitized K562 cells to exogenous erythropoietin (EPO) by activating EPO-induced JAK2/STAT5 tyrosine phosphorylation, thus augmenting the EPO-mediated JAK2/STAT5 signaling pathway. On the basis of these findings, we propose that ASP might be developed as a potential candidate for chronic myelogenous leukemia inducing differentiation treatment.

Preparation and electrochemical properties of mesoporous Co3O4 crater-like microspheres as supercapacitor electrode materials

Lu Wang,Xiaoheng Liu,Xin Wang,Xujie Yang,Lude Lu 한국물리학회 2010 Current Applied Physics Vol.10 No.6

Mesoporous Co3O4 microspheres with unique crater-like morphology were obtained by utilizing the mesoporous silica material MCM-41 as a template. The analysis results of N2 adsorptionedesorption measurement indicate that the product has a large BrunauereEmmetteTeller (BET) surface area of 60 m2 g-1 and a narrow pore size distribution centering around 3.7 nm. Its electrochemical properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)measurements. The findings reveal that this novel morphology material has a smaller inner resistance of about 0.4 U and a higher onset frequency of 550 Hz. This material can provide a high specific capacitance of 102 F g-1 and a large capacity retention of 74% in 500 continuous cycles test at a sweep rate of 3 mV s-1. More significantly, the mass loading of electroactive species can reach as large as 2 mg cm-2, which is one order of magnitude larger than common amount used.

Development of the 3.7 GHz LHCD System on HL-2A

B. Lu,M. Huang,H. Zeng,X. Y. Bai,X. H. Mao,Z. H. Lu,J. Liang,Z. H. Kang,M. W. Wang,K. Feng,H. Wang,C. Wang,J. Q. Wang,S. Wei,T. Yao,Y. N. Bu,J. Feng,G. Y. Cheng,S. D. Song,D. H. Xia,J. Rao 한국물리학회 2014 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.65 No.8

A 2 MW-3.7 GHz lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system is under development for physicsexperiments on the HL-2A device. The RF Power is generated by four TH2103A klystron amplifiersand propagates in the TE10 mode through WR284 waveguides. The transmission lines with a lengthof 20 m to 30 m are pressurized with 2 bars of nitrogen to decrease the possibility of arcing. Thelauncher, based on the passive-active multi-junction (PAM) concept, has been developed and iscurrently being realized. It was designed for a power spectrum peaked at Nk = 2.75 with goodcoupling properties over a wide range of plasma parameters. The four klystrons are fed by ahigh-voltage power supply (HVPS) based on the pulse step modulation (PSM) concept with a fastswitch-off time of less than ten μs. This system is expected to be in operation within 1 years and willexplore many international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) related LH experiments inthe following years.

Prognosis and Clinicopathology of CXCR4 in Colorectal Cancer Patients: a Meta-analysis

Li, Lu-Ning,Jiang, Kai-Tong,Tan, Peng,Wang, Ai-Hua,Kong, Qing-Yin,Wang, Cui-Yue,Lu, Hua-Rong,Wang, Jing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.9

The chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) has been widely used in diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, there is no current consensus on the impact of CXCR4 on CRC patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic and clinicopathological importance of CXCR4 in CRC patients. Databases, such as PubMed, Cochrane library, CBM and EMBASE updated to 2014 were searched to include eligible articles. We analysed correlations between CXCR4 expression and clinicopathological features and overall survival (OS). A total of 1, 055 CRC patients from twelve studies were included in the study. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) which indicated CXCR4 expression was likely to be associated with TNM stage (OR=0.43, CI=0.34-0.55, P<0.00001), lymph node status (OR=2.23, CI=1.23-4.05, P=0.008) and vascular invasion (OR=2.21, CI=1.11-4.39, P=0.02). Poor overall survival of CRC cancer was found to be significantly related to CXCR4 overexpression (hazard ratio (HR) 1.36 CI=1.17-1.59, P<0.0001), whereas combined ORs revealed that CXCR4 expression had no correlation with gender or differentiation. Based on the published studies, CXCR4 overexpression in patients w ith CRC indicates poor survival outcome and clinicopathological factors.

Overexpression of a peroxiredoxin gene from Tamarix hispida, ThPrx1, confers tolerance to oxidative stress in yeast and Arabidopsis

Liuqiang Wang,Zhen Li,Chao Wang,Deyin Wang,Yucheng Wang,Mengzhu Lu 한국식물학회 2017 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.60 No.6

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are ubiquitous thiol-specificantioxidant enzymes that are critically involved in cell defenseand protect cells from oxidative damage. In this study, aputative Type II Prx (ThPrx1) was identified and characterizedfrom Tamarix hispida. The expression of ThPrx1 is highlyinduced in response to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and methylviologen (MV) stresses. When expressed ectopically, ThPrx1showed enhanced tolerance against oxidative stress in yeastand Arabidopsis. In addition, transgenic Arabidopsis plantsoverexpressing ThPrx1 displayed improved seedling survivalrates and increased root growth and fresh weight gain underH2O2 and MV treatments. Moreover, transgenic Arabidopsisplants showed decreased accumulation of H2O2, superoxide(O2•−) and malondialdehyde (MDA), increased superoxidedismutase (SOD) activity compared to wild-type (WT) plantsunder oxidative stress. Moreover, transgenic plants maintainedhigher photosynthesis efficiency and lower electrolyte leakagerates than that of WT plants under stress conditions. Theseresults clearly indicated that ThPrx1 plays an important rolein cellular redox homeostasis under stress conditions, leadingto the maintenance of membrane integrity and increasedtolerance to oxidative stress.

LUXURY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR OF CHINESE YOUNG ADULTS – A COMPARISON BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS & YOUNG CONSUMERS FROM MAINLAND CHINA

Anne-Flore Maman Larraufie,Lu Wang,Nathalie Veg-Sala 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2015 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2015 No.06

The Chinese market has played an important role for the luxury industry in the past years, with double-digit yearly growth (except for last year). Luxury brands have tried to design strategies to meet the local requirements, be it in terms of retail formats or communication strategies. However, Chinese luxury consumers are evolving in terms of consumption habits and materialistic value: observations from the field show that there is less and less emphasis on logo display among certain consumers (Dubois & Laurent, 1994; Lin & Wang, 2010). Such changes might affect also young consumers, which already stand for a great share of luxury consumers (Source: Red Luxury,2012). Besides, past studies on Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward luxury and values behind luxury consumption have often relied on student-samples, acknowledging the potential limitation to their results due to a potential lack of representativeness of the population interviewed. Few studies have provided analyses of the causes of the values and behaviours of young Chinese customers towards luxury product consumption, focused on them as ‘young people’ (Wang et al., 2012; Xue & Wang, 2012). Besides, most of those that tried to do so relied upon student samples of Chinese students studying abroad (in the USA or Europe) (Chen & Kim, 2013). This paper attempts to investigate the contemporary young Chinese consumers’ behaviour towards luxury consumption, segmenting them into two groups : the international student group and mainland Chinese young consumer group. A quantitative survey collected data from 104 respondents within a month where the snowball sampling method was applied to broadcast both online and offline questionnaires. Qualitative data was analyzed through lexical analyzis, while quantitative data was analyzed with the help of SPSS (Levene-test and T-tests). This study mainly focuses on four features: Chinese culture, materialism, young Chinese generation culture and buying motivation. The results of the study mainly indicate that there have been some changes between generations. One such change is that Chinese youths are more individualistic than what was found in previous studies, and another change is that young Chinese consumers hold different points of view towards the values of luxury consumption. As far as differences between international students and local young people from Mainland China are concerned, we found the following differences: • Finding 1: International students purchase luxury products to fit-in with their friends & because they want others to view them as a member of the upper class & as a successful person more than their local fellows. • Finding 2: International students’ income is more able to support them purchase luxury products than for young locals, and they are more inclined to save money to buy luxury products that their local fellows. • Finding 3: Mainland Chinese young people usually go luxury shopping with their parents more than international students do and claim they will still purchase luxury products even if prices increase more than them as well. • Find 4: Purchasing luxury products make local young people happier than international students, and they care more about the style (as opposed to price) of luxury products than these lasts.  We believe such findings will help luxury companies refine their strategies for the coming generations and help researchers notice on which dimensions of luxury consumption using expatriated Chinese students might have an impact and lead towards biased results.

Clinical effectiveness of different types of bone-anchored maxillary protraction devices for skeletal Class III malocclusion: Systematic review and network meta-analysis

Wang, Jiangwei,Yang, Yingying,Wang, Yingxue,Zhang, Lu,Ji, Wei,Hong, Zheng,Zhang, Linkun The Korean Association Of Orthodontists 2022 대한치과교정학회지 Vol.52 No.5

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the clinical effects of different types of bone-anchored maxillary protraction devices by using a network meta-analysis. Methods: We searched seven databases for randomized and controlled clinical trials that compared bone-anchored maxillary protraction with tooth-anchored maxillary protraction interventions or untreated groups up to May 2021. After literature selection, data extraction, and quality assessment, we calculated the mean differences, 95% confidence intervals, and surface under the cumulative ranking scores of eleven indicators. Statistical analysis was performed using R statistical software with the GeMTC package based on the Bayesian framework. Results: Six interventions and 667 patients were involved in 18 studies. In comparison with the tooth-anchored groups, the bone-anchored groups showed significantly more increases in Sella-Nasion-Subspinale (°), Subspinale-Nasion-Supramentale(°) and significantly fewer increases in mandibular plane angle and the labial proclination angle of upper incisors. In comparison with the control group, Sella-Nasion-Supramentale(°) decreased without any statistical significance in all treated groups. IMPA (angle of lower incisors and mandibular plane) decreased in groups with facemasks and increased in other groups. Conclusions: Bone-anchored maxillary protraction can promote greater maxillary forward movement and correct the Class III intermaxillary relationship better, in addition to showing less clockwise rotation of mandible and labial proclination of upper incisors. However, strengthening anchorage could not inhibit mandibular growth better and the lingual inclination of lower incisors caused by the treatment is related to the use of a facemask.

Intravenous Tenecteplase for Acute Ischemic Stroke Within 4.5–24 Hours of Onset (ROSE-TNK): A Phase 2, Randomized, Multicenter Study

Wang Lu,Dai Ying-Jie,Cui Yu,Zhang Hong,Jiang Chang-Hao,Duan Ying-Jie,Zhao Yong,Feng Ye-Fang,Geng Shi-Mei,Zhang Zai-Hui,Lu Jiang,Zhang Ping,Zhao Li-Wei,Zhao Hang,Ma Yu-Tong,Song Cheng-Guang,Zhang Yi,Ch 대한뇌졸중학회 2023 Journal of stroke Vol.25 No.3

Background and Purpose Intravenous tenecteplase (TNK) efficacy has not been well demonstrated in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) beyond 4.5 hours after onset. This study aimed to determine the effect of intravenous TNK for AIS within 4.5 to 24 hours of onset. Methods In this pilot trial, eligible AIS patients with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) mismatch were randomly allocated to intravenous TNK (0.25 mg/kg) or standard care within 4.5–24 hours of onset. The primary endpoint was excellent functional outcome at 90 days (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] score of 0–1). The primary safety endpoint was symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). Results Of the randomly assigned 80 patients, the primary endpoint occurred in 52.5% (21/40) of TNK group and 50.0% (20/40) of control group, with no significant difference (unadjusted odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval 0.46–2.66; <i>P</i>=0.82). More early neurological improvement occurred in TNK group than in control group (11 vs. 3, <i>P</i>=0.03), but no significant differences were found in other secondary endpoints, such as mRS 0–2 at 90 days, shift analysis of mRS at 90 days, and change in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at 24 hours and 7 days. There were no cases of sICH in this trial; however, asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 3 of the 40 patients (7.5%) in the TNK group. Conclusion This phase 2, randomized, multicenter study suggests that intravenous TNK within 4.5–24 hours of onset may be safe and feasible in AIS patients with a DWI-FLAIR mismatch.