👤 Xuefan Bin

Pregnant women have a high incidence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). To explore the influence factor on perinatal psychology, we analysed the SCFAs, lipids, cognition, emotion, and cytokines in the late pregnant women. The mood, cognition, SCFAs of the non-pregnant group were compared to those in the late pregnancy. The differences in SCFAs, lipids, cognition, and cytokines between the high-risk and low-risk groups for affective disorders among women in the late pregnancy were analysed, and the risk factors were sought. Compared with the non-pregnant group, the pregnant group scored lower on the SDMT (P < 0.001), DST (P = 0.035), VRT (P = 0.001), and VFT (P < 0.001), and took longer on the TMTA (P = 0.004). Acetate (P = 0.001) and butyrate (P = 0.002) were higher, while propionate (P < 0.001) and isobutyrate (P = 0.001) were lower in the pregnant group than in the non-pregnant group. Among the pregnant women, CRP was higher in the high-risk group for mood disorders than in the low-risk group (P = 0.048). Meanwhile, HDL was positively associated with DST (P = 0.000), VRT (P = 0.015), and VFT (P < 0.001). Longer TMTA completion times were associated with reduced propionate (P = 0.072) and LPa (P = 0.022). Longer TMTB completion time was associated with lower life satisfaction (P = 0.037), as well as decreased cholesterol (P = 0.026). Pregnant women experience changes in cognition and SCFAs. CRP is a sensitive indicator for monitoring affective disorder. Regulation of SCFAs and lipids may be beneficial for cognition and affect. Show less

Rodents are widely used in immunology but do not always recapitulate human immune functions. The tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) is phylogenetically closer to primates than rodents and may help bridge this gap, yet its immune system has not been comprehensively characterised at single-cell resolution. Here, we present a single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the tree shrew immune system, profiling 39 cell types across 12 tissues. We uncover human-like tonsillar structures and two transcriptionally distinct splenic macrophage subsets: an NR1H3 Show less

To investigate whether activation of the liver X receptors (LXRs) inhibits amyloid β Confluent cultures of human primary RPE and ARPE-19 cells pretreated with 5 μΜ of TO901317 (TO90), a synthetic agonist of LXR, or vehicle were incubated with 1 μΜ of Aβ A negative linear relationship between the Aβ Activation of the LXRα-ABCA1 axis may alleviate Aβ Show less

Bardet-Biedl syndrome is a pleiotropic disorder with 14 BBS genes identified. BBS1, BBS2, BBS4, BBS5, BBS7, BBS8, and BBS9 form a complex called the BBSome, which is believed to recruit Rab8(GTP) to the primary cilium and promote ciliogenesis. The second group, the chaperonin-like proteins BBS6, BBS10, and BBS12, have been defined as a vertebrate-specific branch of the type II chaperonin superfamily. These may play a role in the regulation of BBSome assembly. Using sequence analysis, the role of BBS6, 10 and 12 was assessed in the patient population comprising 93 cases from 74 families. Systemic and ocular phenotypes were defined. In the study, chaperonin-like BBS gene mutations accounted for the disease in approximately 36.5% of BBS families. A total of 38 different non-polymorphic exonic sequence variants were identified in 40.5% of BBS families (41.9% cases), of which 26 were novel (68%). Six cases had mutations present in more than one chaperonin-like BBS gene. One case with four mutations in BBS10 had a phenotype of overall greater severity. The phenotypes observed were beyond the classic BBS phenotype as they overlapped with characteristics of MKKS (congenital heart defect, vaginal atresia, hydrometrocolpos, cryptorchidism), as well as Alström syndrome (diabetes, hearing loss, liver abnormalities, endocrine anomalies, cardiomyopathy). While overlap between the MKKS and BBS phenotypes has previously been reported for cases with BBS6 mutations, we also observed MKKS phenotypes involving BBS10 and BBS12 and Alström-like phenotypes associated with mutations in BBS1, BBS2, BBS6, BBS7, BBS9, BBS10 and BBS12 for the first time. Show less

Bardet Biedl syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous ciliopathy with fourteen genes currently identified. To date, mutations in BBS7 and TTC8 (BBS8) were reported in 4.2% and 2.8% of BBS families respectively. We sequenced the coding regions of BBS7 and TTC8 in 35 BBS families of diverse ancestral backgrounds. In addition, the role of putative modifier genes on phenotype severity; NXNL1 and MGC1203 c.430C>T, was assessed. Genotype-phenotype correlation was explored in patients with identified mutations. Four novel pathogenic BBS7 changes were identified in 2/35 families (5.7%). In one family with two affected individuals with BBS7 mutations, a more severe phenotype was observed in association with a third mutation in BBS4. The overall retinal phenotype appeared more severe than that seen in patients with BBS1 mutations. This study confirms the small role of BBS7 and TTC8 in the overall mutational load of BBS patients. The variability of the ocular phenotype observed, could not be explained by the putative modifier genes; NXNL1 and MGC1203 c.430C>T. Show less

A polysaccharide from the water extract of cultured Cordyceps militaris was isolated through ethanol precipitation, deproteination and gel-filtration chromatography. Their molecular weight was determined using gel-filtration chromatography. The structure of polysaccharide CPS-1 was elucidated by sugar analysis, Smith degradation, IR and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. CPS-1 was shown to possess a significant antiinflammatory activity and suppressed the humoral immunity in mice but had no significant effects on the cellular immunity and the non-specific immunity. Show less