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Introduction: Our objective was to understand the current status of and factors influencing the quality of life and social skills of children living with HIV and to provide a reference for improving medical service management and formulating support policies., Methods: A total of 183 children aged 7-14 years, living with HIV, and admitted to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention from March 2022 to February 2024 were included retrospectively. We used the children's basic information and their scores from the Quality of Life Scale for Children and Adolescents (QLSCA) and Normal Development of Social Skills From Infant to Junior High School Children (S-M scale) to explore their the status of their quality of life and social skills and the factors influencing both., Results: Four factors (life satisfaction, socio-psychological functioning, physical and mental health, and living environment) and QLSCA T-scores in the case group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.01). S-M scale scores (self-help, locomotion, operation, communication, socialization, self-direction) in the case group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.001). The main factors affecting the social skills of children living with HIV were side effects from antiretroviral therapy (odds ratio [OR] 7.365, p < 0.003), comorbidities (OR 12.948, p < 0.006), intellectual development (OR 6.045, p < 0.027), and awareness of HIV infection status (OR 0.261, p < 0.014)., Conclusion: Children living with HIV have low quality of life and poor social skills. Clinicians should pay attention to side effects from antiretroviral therapy, comorbidities, children's intellectual development, and their awareness of their HIV infection status., (© 2025 British HIV Association.)

Background: The quality of Acipenser sinensis deteriorates significantly during frozen storage due to its high water, protein, and unsaturated fatty acid content. Conventional freezing methods are insufficient to preserve it effectively. This study investigated the effects of liquid nitrogen freezing (LNF) on the quality and myofibrillar protein (MP) characteristics of A. sinensis during frozen storage., Results: Freezing A. sinensis with LNF resulted in faster freezing, lower free water content, smaller ice crystals, and less structural damage to MPs than refrigerator freezing (RF). It also resulted in higher shear force, Ca 2+ -ATPase activity, and total sulfhydryl content, as well as lower total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) values, thawing loss rate, and disulfide bond content, demonstrating that LNF can inhibit protein denaturation and delay the deterioration in the quality of A. sinensis during frozen storage. There were no significant differences between LNF-80 and LNF-110 in quality and myofibrillar protein characteristics of A. sinensis., Conclusions: Liquid nitrogen freezing can maintain the quality of A. sinensis and reduce the degree of MP denaturation and oxidation during frozen storage. Freezing with LNF at -80 °C might be more appropriate for A. sinensis. The study has important implications for the application of cryogenic storage technology to aquatic products. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Excessive oxidation of protein and lipids in pork leads to quality degradation and loss of nutrients. Kappa-selenocarrageenan (Se-K) can not only be used as a selenium enhancer but also as an antioxidant. To explore potential antioxidants that could be applied to pork, the effect of Se-K on myofibrillar protein (MP) and lipid oxidation was investigated. The results demonstrated that Se-K could scavenge hydroxyl radicals, DPPH radicals, and ABTS radicals. It was found that Se-K inhibited the formation of carbonyls and decreased the loss of sulfhydryl groups of MP. Se-K also inhibited cross-linking, aggregation, unfolding, and structural transformation of MP and repressed the increase in surface hydrophobicity. Additionally, Se-K enhanced the emulsibility, textural properties, and water-holding capacity of MP. We also found that Se-K delayed the increase in acid value, peroxide value, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value. Furthermore, Se-K inhibited the degradation of unsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic acid. Overall, Se-K was effective in inhibiting MP and lipid oxidation and could be a potential antioxidant for pork., (© 2024 Institute of Food Technologists.)

Background: National treatment guidelines of China evolving necessitates population-level surveillance of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) to inform or update HIV treatment strategies., Methods: We analyzed the demographic, clinical, and virologic data obtained from people with HIV (PWH) residing in 31 provinces of China who were newly diagnosed between 2018 and 2023. Evidence of TDR was defined by the World Health Organization list for surveillance of drug resistance mutations., Results: Among the 22 124 PWH with protease and reverse transcriptase sequences, 965 (4.36%; 95% CI, 4.1-4.63) had at least 1 TDR mutation. The most frequent TDR mutations were nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) mutations (2.39%; 95% CI, 2.19%-2.59%), followed by nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor mutations(1.35%; 95% CI, 1.2%-1.5%) and protease inhibitor mutations (1.12%; 95% CI, .98%-1.26%). The overall protease and reverse transcriptase TDR increased significantly from 4.05% (95% CI, 3.61%-4.52%) in 2018 to 5.39% (95% CI, 4.33%-6.57%) in 2023. A low level of integrase strand transfer inhibitor TDR was detected in 9 (0.21%; 95% CI, .1%-.38%) of 4205 PWH., Conclusions: Presently, the continued use of NNRTI-based first-line antiretroviral therapy regimen for HIV treatment has been justified., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Inspired by recent studies on MoS 2 and MoSi 2 N 4 , we propose and investigate Janus MoBXY 2 (X = N, P; Y = S, Se, Te) monolayers, which exhibit robust dynamic and thermal stabilities. Our findings reveal that all these monolayers are semiconductors, with MoBNS 2 and MoBPTe 2 exhibiting direct band gaps at the K/K' points, resulting in degenerate valleys and significant valley spin splitting (VSS) in the valence band. Notably, Berry curvatures at K and K' points, with opposite signs, suggest potential for inducing the valley Hall effect (VHE). Furthermore, MoBNS 2 and MoBPTe 2 demonstrate pronounced optical absorption in the visible light region and high carrier mobility, especially MoBNS 2 with a hole mobility reaching up to 2.0 × 10 3 cm 2 V -1 s -1 along the zig-zag direction. Attributed to their Janus structure, these monolayers exhibit strong in-plane and out-of-plane piezoelectric responses, with d 11 values ranging from 1.268 to 4.754 pm V -1 and d 31 values ranging from 0.053 to 0.137 pm V -1 . Investigation of strain effects highlights possibilities for indirect-to-direct band gap transitions and manipulation of band gaps and VSS. This study not only enriches the understanding of MoBXY 2 monolayer properties but also suggests their promising applications in valleytronics, photovoltaics, and piezoelectric devices.

Background: In 2016, China has implemented the World Health Organization's "treat all" policy. We aimed to assess the impact of significant improvements in the 95-95-95 targets on population-level human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission dynamics and incidence., Methods: We focused on 3 steps of the HIV care continuum: diagnosed, on antiretroviral therapy, and achieving viral suppression. The molecular transmission clusters were inferred using HIV-TRACE. New HIV infections were estimated using the incidence method in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control HIV Modelling Tool., Results: Between 2004 and 2023, the national HIV epidemiology database recorded 2.99 billion person-times of HIV tests and identified 1 976 878 new diagnoses. We noted a roughly "inverted-V" curve in the clustering frequency, with the peak recorded in 2014 (67.1% [95% confidence interval, 63.7%-70.5%]), concurrent with a significant improvement in the 95-95-95 targets from 10-13-<71 in 2005 to 84-93-97 in 2022. Furthermore, we observed a parabolic curve for a new infection with the vertex occurring in 2010., Conclusions: In general, it was suggested that the improvements in the 95-95-95 targets were accompanied by a reduction in both the population-level HIV transmission rate and incidence. Thus, China should allocate more effort to the first "95" target to achieve a balanced 95-95-95 target., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

To assess the effectiveness of carrageenan oligosaccharides (COs) in enhancing superchilling storage of crayfish, the physicochemical features of muscle and protein abundance in the refrigerated sample (RS), superchilled sample (SS) and COs soaked superchilled sample (CS) were evaluated. Microstructural and SDS-PAGE analyses suggested that CS exhibited fewer pores, with a microstructure and protein subunits distribution more similar to RS. Tandem Mass Tags quantitative proteomic analysis revealed 66 up-regulated differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in the CS vs. SS batch, including myosin light chain 2, neural cadherin, integrin beta, lectin-like protein, toll-1, reticulon-1, and moesin/ezrin/radixin homolog 1, which facilitate cells adhesion and maintain membrane/cytoskeleton integrity. Eukaryotic Clusters of Orthologous Groups results confirmed that COs treatment increased the stability of crayfish myofibrillar proteins by up-regulating DAPs, which were concentrated in functional categories such as "posttranslation modification, protein turnover, chaperones", "signal transduction mechanisms", "energy production and conversion", and "cytoskeleton"., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Health literacy refers to individual skills to access, process, understand, and use health information to stay healthy. Social support is a multi-faceted construct including of perceived, enacted, and structural support dimensions and negative social reactions. This study explored the mediating effect of health literacy on social support and self-care ability in older patients undergoing percutaneous coronary stent implantation (PCI)., Methods: Between December 2021 and March 2022, a total of 249 older patients who underwent PCI in our hospital were included in this cross-sectional study using the convenience sampling method. The demographic and health history of patients was collected by questionnaire. Exercise of self-care agency scale (ESCA), chronic disease health literacy management scale (HeLMS) and social support rating scale (SSRS) were also analyzed and their correlations were evaluated., Results: This study indicated that the total scores of health literacy, self-care ability and social support after PCI were 85.96±20.03, 82.82±27.65 and 25.3±4.93, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that health literacy, social support and self-care ability were positively correlated. Both social support (P=0.003) and health literacy (P=0.03) could positively predict self-care ability. Health literacy played a partial mediating role between social support and self-care ability, and the mediating effect was 0.015, accounting for 7.32% of the total effect., Conclusions: The health literacy and social support are at the high levels, and the self-care ability of PCI patients is at a medium level. The health literacy of older patients after PCI is the ability of social support and self-care ability. Medical staff can enhance the health literacy of patients by improving their level of social support, and then promote their self-care ability., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://cdt.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/cdt-24-50/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 AME Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection can cause condyloma acuminatum (CA), which is characterized by a high incidence and a propensity for recurrence after treatment. Angiogenesis plays an important role in the occurrence and development of CA. Seryl-tRNA synthetase (SerRS) is a newly identified, potent anti-angiogenic factor that directly binds to the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA) promoter, thereby suppressing its transcription. Emodin is a natural anthraquinone derivative that can promote SerRS expression. This study aimed to investigate the effects of emodin on CA and explore combined treatment strategies. The HPV-infected cell line SiHa was treated with either DMSO, emodin, ALA-PDT or a combination of emodin and ALA-PDT. We observed the effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis and the SerRS-VEGFA pathway. Our findings demonstrated that emodin targets angiogenesis through the SerRS-VEGFA pathway, resulting in the inhibition of SiHa cell proliferation and promotion of apoptosis (p < 0.001). To verify the therapeutic effect of emodin combined with ALA-PDT on HPV-associated tumours in vivo, we established an animal xenograft model by subcutaneously inoculating mice with SiHa cells (n = 4). The results showed that the combination of emodin and ALA-PDT significantly inhibited the expression of VEGFA to inhibit angiogenesis (p < 0.001), thus showing an inhibitory effect on tumour (p < 0.001). Furthermore, we determined that the mechanism underlying the decrease in VEGFA expression after emodin combined with ALA-PDT in CA may be attributed to the promotion of SerRS expression (p < 0.001). The combination of emodin and ALA-PDT holds promise as a novel therapeutic target for CA by targeting neovascularization in condyloma tissues., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Antibiotic resistance is a serious global public health issue. However, there are few reports on trends in antimicrobial susceptibility in Chinese neonates, and most of the existing evidence has been derived from adult studies. We aimed to assess the trends in antimicrobial susceptibility of common pathogens in full-term neonates with invasive bacterial infections (IBIs) in China., Methods: This cross-sectional survey study analyzed the antimicrobial susceptibility in Chinese neonates with IBIs from 17 hospitals, spanning from January 2012 to December 2021. Joinpoint regression model was applied to illustrate the trends and calculate the average annual percentage change (AAPC). Using Mantel-Haenszel linear-by-linear association chi-square test, we further compared the antibiotic minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) by pathogens between 2019 and 2021 to provide precise estimates of changes., Results: The proportion of Escherichia coli with extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-negative strains increased from 0.0 to 88.5% (AAPC = 62.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 44.3%, 82.9%), with two breakpoints in 2014 and 2018 (p-trend < 0.001). The susceptibility of group B Streptococcus (GBS) to erythromycin and clindamycin increased by 66.7% and 42.8%, respectively (AAPC = 55.2%, 95% CI: 23.2%, 95.5%, p-trend = 0.002; AAPC = 54.8%, 95% CI: 9.6%, 118.6%, p-trend < 0.001), as did Staphylococcus aureus to penicillin (AAPC = 56.2%; 95% CI: 34.8%, 81.0%, p-trend < 0.001). However, the susceptibility of Enterococcus spp. to ampicillin declined from 100.0 to 25.0% (AAPC = - 11.7%, 95% CI: - 15.2%, - 8.1%, p-trend < 0.001), and no significant improvement was observed in the antibiotic susceptibility of Escherichia coli to ampicillin, gentamicin, and cephalosporin. Additionally, the proportion of GBS/Staphylococcus aureus with relatively low MIC values for relevant antibiotics also increased in 2021 compared to 2019., Conclusions: Antimicrobial susceptibility of the most prevalent pathogens in full-term neonates seemed to have improved or remained stable over the last decade in China, implying the effectiveness of policies and practice of antibiotic stewardship had gradually emerged., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been implemented in Guangxi for a long time, and there are no reports of HIV drug resistance mutation (DRM) among children and adolescents experiencing virologic failure after ART. This study aimed to analyse HIV DRM prevalence, patterns, and influencing factors among children and adolescents experiencing virologic failure after ART in Guangxi., Methods: We collected samples from a total of 491 HIV-infected individuals under 18 years old experiencing virologic failure after ART from 14 cities in Guangxi. Sequencing and DRM analysis were performed based on pol region. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to analysis the influencing factors of DRM., Results: Among these patients, 396 cases were successfully sequenced. Of all, 52.53% exhibited HIV DRM, including NNRTI (48.48%), NRTI (34.85%) and PI (1.01%). NRTI and NNRTI dual-class resistance was prevalent (30.3%). M184V/I and K103N mutations were the common mutations in NRTI and NNRTI, respectively. Male sex (aOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.26-3.50), CRF01&#95;AE subtype (OR = 2.50, 95% CI: 1.02-5.88), the primary regimen 3TC+AZT+NVP (OR = 10.00, 95% CI: 5.00-25.00), low pretreatment CD4+ T lymphocytes (<200 cells/mm³) (OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.00-3.45), and high viral load (>1000 copies/mL) (OR = 4.90, 95% CI: 1.03-23.39) showed higher risk of DRM., Conclusion: HIV DRM is pervasive among children and adolescents experiencing virologic failure in Guangxi. Timely HIV DRM monitoring is crucial to mitigate major mutation accumulation and inform effective treatment strategies., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most prevalent form of skin cancer, with an escalating incidence rate and a notable potential (up to 5%) for metastasis. Ultraviolet radiation (UVA and UVB) exposure is the primary risk factor for cSCC carcinogenesis, with literature suggesting ultraviolet radiation (UVR) promotes vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) expression. This study aims to investigate UVR-induced upregulation of VEGFA and explore combination therapeutic strategies. The skin squamous cell carcinoma cell line A431 was exposed to specific durations of ultraviolet radiation. The effect of emodin on ATR/SerRS/VEGFA pathway was observed. The cell masses were also transplanted subcutaneously into mice (n = 8). ATR inhibitor combined with emodin was used to observe the growth and angiogenesis of the xenografts. The results showed that UV treatment significantly enhanced the phosphorylation of SerRS and the expression level of VEGFA in A431 cells (p < 0.05). Treatment with emodin significantly inhibited this expression (p < 0.05), and the combination of emodin and ATR inhibitor further enhanced the inhibitory effect (p < 0.05). This phenomenon was further confirmed in the xenograft model, which showed that the combination of ATR inhibitor and emodin significantly inhibited the expression of VEGFA to inhibit angiogenesis (p < 0.05), thus showing an inhibitory effect on cSCC. This study innovatively reveals the molecular mechanism of UV-induced angiogenesis in cSCC and confirms SerRS as a novel target to inhibit cSCC angiogenesis and progression in vitro and in vivo studies., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Mucosal immunization is a powerful weapon against viral infection. In this paper, large pore mesoporous silica nanoparticles (LMSN) with different particle sizes were synthesized for loading influenza split vaccine (SV) to explore the effect of nanoparticle sizes on mucosal immunization and adjuvant efficacy. Interestingly, it was found that among the three particle sizes of nanoparticles, only LMSN-M with around 250 nm could significantly enhance the mucosal immune effect of SV, possessing adjuvant effect. The results indicated that particle size affected the adjuvant effect of LMSN. There was no apparent difference in vaccine loading capacity of LMSN with different particle sizes, but the release of SV depended on the pore length of LMSN. The adjuvant effect of LMSN-M was attributed to its higher cellular uptake performance, intestine absorption and transport efficiency, and the ability to stimulate the maturation of dendritic cells. Simultaneously, compared with LMSN-S and LMSN-L, the more retention of LMSN-M in mesenteric lymph nodes increased the chance of interaction between vaccine and immune system, resulting in the enhanced immunity. This is the first time to study the impact of particle size of LMSN adjuvant on improving mucosal immunity of oral influenza vaccine, and the present work provides a scientific reference for adjuvant design of oral vaccine., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This research aimed to investigate the effect of PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase)/AKT (protein kinase B)/mTOR (mammalian target protein of rapamycin) signaling pathway-based clustering care combined with papaverine injection on vascular inflammation and vascular crisis after finger amputation and replantation. 100 patients admitted in General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from April 2022 to December 2022 for replantation of severed fingers were selected and divided into a control group (n = 50) and an observation group (n = 50) using the randomized grouping principle. The control group received a papaverine injection and general nursing care, the observation group received a papaverine injection and clustered care. The pain score; constipation incidence; replantation finger survival rate; physician, nurse, and patient satisfaction; serum inflammatory factors; vascular crisis parameters; and occurrence of adverse reactions were compared between the two patient groups. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect PI3K, AKT, and mTOR protein concentrations in the venous blood of the two groups, and statistical analysis of the data was performed. On postoperative day 7, the pain score and incidence of constipation in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05); the survival rate of reimplanted fingers in the observation group was 88.00%, which was higher than that in the control group 80.00% (P < 0.05); the satisfaction of doctors, nurses, and patients in the observation group was higher than that in the control group; the concentrations of interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), blood flow resistance index (RI), and arterial pulsatility index (PI) in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, while the concentration of interleukin-10 (IL-10), vascular diameter, and Vm (mean blood flow velocity) were higher in the observation group than those in the control group; the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The concentrations of PI3K, AKT, and mTOR proteins in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The concentrations of PI3K, AKT, and mTOR proteins in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Overall, these findings suggest that clustered care combined with papaverine injection reduces vascular inflammatory symptoms and vascular crisis in the treatment of severed finger replantation through the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Studies report that rapidly repeated sensory stimulation can evoke LTP-like improvement of neural response in the sensory cortex. Whether this neural response potentiation is similar to the classic LTP induced by presynaptic electrical stimulation remains unclear. This study examined the effects of repeated high-frequency (9 Hz) versus low-frequency (1 Hz) visual stimulation on visually-evoked field potentials (VEPs) and the membrane protein content of AMPA / NMDA receptors in the primary visual cortex (V1) of cats. The results showed that repeated high-frequency visual stimulation (HFS) caused a long-term improvement in peak-to-peak amplitude of V1-cortical VEPs in response to visual stimuli at HFS-stimulated orientation (SO: 90°) and non-stimulated orientation (NSO: 180°), but the effect exhibited variations depending on stimulus orientation: the amplitude increase of VEPs in response to visual stimuli at SO was larger, reached a maximum earlier and lasted longer than at NSO. By contrast, repeated low-frequency visual stimulation (LFS) had not significantly affected the amplitude of V1-cortical VEPs in response to visual stimuli at both SO and NSO. Furthermore, the membrane protein content of the key subunit GluA1 of AMPA receptors and main subunit NR1 of AMPA receptors in V1 cortex was significantly increased after HFS but not LFS when compared with that of control cats. Taken together, these results indicate that HFS can induce LTP-like improvement of VEPs and an increase in membrane protein of AMPA and NMDA receptors in the V1 cortex of cats, which is similar to but less specific to stimulus orientation than the classic LTP., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Chen, Lu, Cheng, Ye and Hua.)

The syncytiotrophoblast is a multinucleated structure that arises from fusion of mononucleated cytotrophoblasts, to sheath the placental villi and regulate transport across the maternal-fetal interface. Here, we ask whether the dynamic mechanical forces that must arise during villous development might influence fusion, and explore this question using in vitro choriocarcinoma trophoblast models. We demonstrate that mechanical stress patterns arise around sites of localized fusion in cell monolayers, in patterns that match computational predictions of villous morphogenesis. We then externally apply these mechanical stress patterns to cell monolayers and demonstrate that equibiaxial compressive stresses (but not uniaxial or equibiaxial tensile stresses) enhance expression of the syndecan-1 and loss of E-cadherin as markers of fusion. These findings suggest that the mechanical stresses that contribute towards sculpting the placental villi may also impact fusion in the developing tissue. We then extend this concept towards 3D cultures and demonstrate that fusion can be enhanced by applying low isometric compressive stresses to spheroid models, even in the absence of an inducing agent. These results indicate that mechanical stimulation is a potent activator of cellular fusion, suggesting novel avenues to improve experimental reproductive modelling, placental tissue engineering, and understanding disorders of pregnancy development., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Epidermolysis: Bullosa is a rare hereditary skin condition that causes blisters. Genes encoding structural proteins at or near the dermal-epidermal junction are mutated recessively or dominantly, and this is the primary cause of EB. Herein, two Chinese boys were diagnosed with the condition, each with a different variant in a gene that serves as a reference for EB genetic counseling. Skincare significantly impacted their prognosis and quality of life., Case Presentation: Two Chinese boys, with phenotypically normal parents, have been diagnosed with distinct blister symptoms, one with Dominant Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa and the other with a severe form of Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex. The first patient had a G-to-A variant in the COL7A1 allele, at nucleotide position 6163 which was named "G2055A". The proband is heterozygous for Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa due to a COL7A1 allele with a glycine substitution at the triple helix domain. A similar variant has been discovered in his mother, indicating its potential transmission to future generations. Another patient had severe Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex with a rare c.377T > A  variant resulting in substitution of amino acid p.Leu126Arg (NM&#95;000526.5 (c.377T > G, p.Leu126Arg) in the Keratin 14 gene. In prior literature, Keratin 14 has been associated with an excellent prognosis. However, our patient with this infrequent variant tragically died from sepsis at 21 days old. There has been a reported occurrence of the variant only once., Conclusion: Our study reveals that Epidermolysis Bullosa patients with COL7A1 c.6163G > A and KRT14 c.377T>A variants have different clinical presentations, with dominant forms of Dystrophic EB having milder phenotypes than recessive ones. Thus, the better prognosis in the c.6163G > A patient. Furthermore, c.377T>A patient was more prone to infection than the patient with c.6163G>A gene variant. Genetic testing is crucial for identifying the specific variant responsible and improving treatment options., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Limited drug loading and incomplete drug release are two major obstacles that traditional polymeric microneedles (MNs) have to overcome. For smart controlled-release MNs, since drug release duration is uncertain, a clear indication of the finish of drug release is also important for patient guidance on the timing of the next dose. In this study, MN with a triple structure of a glucose-responsive shell, loaded insulin powders and a colored propelling inner core (inspired by the mechanism of osmotic pump) was innovatively constructed. The MN patch could release insulin according to blood glucose levels (BGLs) and had excellent drug loading, more complete drug release, and good drug stability, which significantly prolonged the normoglycemic time. An approximately 0.3 cm 2 patch has a hypoglycemic effect on diabetic mice for up to 24 h. Moreover, the fading of the inner core could indicate the release process of the loaded drug and can help to facilitate uninterrupted closed loop therapy for patients. The designed triple MN structure is also suitable, and can be used in the design of other smart MN drug delivery systems to further improve their drug loading capacity and simultaneously achieve more complete, smart controlled and visualized drug release., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors declare no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was piloted in 2002 and was scaled up in 2003 in mainland China. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mortality and its possible predictors based on the long-term initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) cohort among HIV positive children and adolescents., Methods: This prospective open-labeled multicenter cohort study was conducted from January 2008 to July 2021. The participants were recruited from six representative sites in mainland China. A total of 609 participants with an HIV-positive serostatus and <18 years old were recruited and each participant was informed consent at the time of enrollment. Mortality and annual hazard were calculated, and predictors for death were analyzed using Cox regression models generating hazard ratios (HR)., Results: The results showed that the mortality was 0.721 per hundred person-years, and the annual hazard was less than 0.10 over time. Both CD4 + T cell count and CD4 + T cell percentage declined in the death group during the follow-up. The Cox regression model showed that the baseline low CD4 + T cell count level (Low vs. High: aHR = 8.309, 95% CI: (1.093, 63.135)) and age >5 years old at HIV diagnosis (6-12 vs. 0-5: aHR = 3.140, 95%CI: (1.331, 27.411)); 13-18 vs. 0-5: aHR = 5.451, 95%CI: (1.434, 20.724)) were possible risk factors for death., Conclusion: The longitudinal cohort study demonstrated the efficacy of China's ART program among HIV-positive children and adolescents which could be beneficial to other countries with limited resources., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Self-management (SM) is the key factor in controlling the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Previous studies have reported that majority of COPD patients later presented with frailty and mental health diseases, which affect self-management. This study attempted to explore the mediation role of depression and frailty between social support and self-management in elderly COPD population., Methods: Six hundred twenty-seven stable elderly COPD patients admitted to 5 public hospitals in Ningxia, China were selected as study subjects by convenience sampling method. Self-management, frailty, depression and social support were assessed using the COPD Self-management Scale (COPD-SMS), Frail Scale (FS), 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) respectively. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between variables. Additionally, SPSS25.0 PROCESS plugin Model 6 was used to explore the mediating effects of frailty and depression in the relationship between social support and self-management., Results: The mean participant age was 72.87 ± 7.03 years, 60.4% of participants were male. The mean total score of the COPD-SMS was 156.99 ± 25.15. Scores for the SSRS, FS, and GDS-15 were significantly correlated with COPD-SMS (p < 0.05). The analysis of the mediation effect demonstrated that social support has a direct predictive effect on self- management (β = 1.687, 95%CI: 1.359 to 2.318). Additionally, social support can also predict self- management indirectly through the mediation of depression (β = 0.290, 95%CI: 0.161 to 0.436) and frailty-depression (β = 0.040, 95%CI: 0.010 to 0.081). However, the mediation effect of frailty alone was not found to be statistically significant (β =-0.010, 95%CI: -0.061 to 0.036). The direct effect accounted for 84.06% of the total effect, while the indirect effect accounted for 15.94% of the total effect., Conclusion: Self-management among elderly COPD patients was relatively moderate to low. Furthermore, frailty and depression were found to have a partially mediation role in the relationship between social support and self-management. Therefore, healthcare professionals need to comprehensively consider the frailty and depression status of patients, and implement targeted intervention measures as part of their care, which can improve the self-management of elderly COPD patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Members of Cytospora include saprobes, endophytes and important plant pathogens, which are widely distributed on various wood hosts and have a wide global distribution. In this study, the species definitions were conducted, based on multigene phylogeny (ITS, act , rpb2 , tef1-α and tub2 genes) and comparisons of morphological characters. A total of 22 representative isolates obtained from 21 specimens in Fengtai District of Beijing City were identified as seven species of Cytospora , including four known species ( C.albodisca , C.ailanthicola , C.euonymina , C.haidianensis ) and three novel species ( C.fengtaiensis , C.pinea , C.sorbariae ). The results provide an understanding of the taxonomy of Cytospora species associated with canker and dieback diseases in Fengtai District, Beijing, China., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Aoli Jia, Baoyue Chen, Hongyan Lu, Yu Xing, Bin Li, Xinlei Fan.)

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common chronic lung disease in preterm infants, characterised by compromised alveolar development and pulmonary vascular abnormalities. Emerging evidence suggests that regulatory T cells (Tregs) may confer protective effects on the vasculature. Knockdown of their transcription factor, interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4), has been shown to promote vascular endothelial hyperplasia. However, the involvement of Tregs and IRF4 in the BPD pathogenesis remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the regulation of Tregs by IRF4 and elucidate its potential role in pulmonary vasculature development in a BPD mouse model., Methods: The BPD model was established using 85% hyperoxia exposure, with air exposure as the normal control. Lung tissues were collected after 7 or 14 days of air or hyperoxia exposure, respectively. Haematoxylin-eosin staining was performed to assess lung tissue pathology. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) level, flow cytometry to quantify Treg numbers, and Western blot to assess vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA), angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), forkhead box protein P3 (FOXP3), and IRF4 protein levels. We also examined the co-expression of IRF4 and FOXP3 proteins using immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence double staining. Furthermore, we employed CRISPR/Cas9 technology to knock down the IRF4 gene and observed changes in the aforementioned indicators to validate its effect on pulmonary vasculature development in mice., Results: Elevated IRF4 levels in BPD model mice led to FOXP3 downregulation, reduced Treg numbers, and impaired pulmonary vascular development. Knockdown of IRF4 resulted in improved pulmonary vascular development and upregulated FOXP3 level., Conclusion: IRF4 may affect the protective role of Tregs in the proliferation of pulmonary vascular endothelial cells and pulmonary vascular development in BPD model mice by inhibiting the FOXP3 level., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objective To explore the phenotypic conversion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the lungs of mice with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)-affected mice. Methods A total of 20 newborn C57BL/6 mice were divided into air group and hyperoxia group, with 10 mice in each group. The BPD model was established by exposing the newborn mice to hyperoxia. Lung tissues from five mice in each group were collected on postnatal days 7 and 14, respectively. Histopathological changes of the lung tissues was detected by HE staining. The expression level of surfactant protein C (SP-C) in the lung tissues was examined by Western blot analysis. Flow cytometry was performed to assess the proportion of FOXP3 + Tregs and RORγt + FOXP3 + Tregs in CD4 + lymphocytes. The concentrations of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) and IL-6 in lung homogenate were measured by using ELISA. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between FOXP3 + Treg and the expression of SP-C and the correlation between RORγt + FOXP3 + Tregs and the content of IL-17A and IL-6. Results The hyperoxia group exhibited significantly decreased levels of SP-C and radical alveolar counts in comparison to the control group. The proportion of FOXP3 + Tregs was reduced and that of RORγt + FOXP3 + Tregs was increased. IL-17A and IL-6 concentrations were significantly increased. SP-C was positively correlated with the expression level of RORγt + FOXP3 + Tregs. RORγt + FOXP3 + Tregs and IL-17A and IL-6 concentrations were also positively correlated. Conclusion The number of FOXP3 + Tregs in lung tissue of BPD mice is decreased and converted to RORγt + FOXP3 + Tregs, which may be involved in hyperoxy-induced lung injury.

Background: Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in children remains challenging due to resource-constrained settings. We conducted a 13-year, prospective, multicenter cohort study on the effectiveness and safety of LPV/r-based regimens in ART-naive and ART-experienced children., Methods: From January 2008 to May 2021, children living with HIV-1 were recruited with LPV/r-based regimens from 8 clinical research sites in 6 provinces in China. Effectiveness outcomes were virologic failure (defined as at least two consecutive measurements of VL > 200 copies/mL after 6 months of ART) and immune response (defined as CD4% recovered to more than 25% after 12 months of treatment). The safety outcomes were treatment-related grade 2-4 adverse events and abnormal laboratory test results., Results: A total of 345 ART-naïve children and 113 ART-experienced children were included in this cohort study. The median follow-up time was 7.3 (IQR 5.5-10.5) years. The incidence density of virologic failure was 4.1 (95% CI 3.3-4.9) per 100 person-years in ART-naïve children and 5.0 (95% CI 3.5-6.5) per 100 person-years in ART-experienced children. Kaplan Meyer (KM) curve analysis showed children with ART experience were at a higher risk of virologic failure ( p  < 0.05). The risk factors of virologic failure in ART-naïve children were clinic setting in rural hospitals (aHR = 2.251, 1.108-4.575), annual missed dose times >5 days of LPV intake (aHR = 1.889, 1.004-3.554); The risk factor of virologic failure in ART-experienced children was missed dose times >5 days (aHR = 2.689, 1.299-5.604) and mother as caregivers for ART administration (aHR = 0.475, 0.238-0.948). However, during long-term treatment, viral suppression rates between ART-naïve and ART-experienced children remained similar. No significant differences were observed in the immune response, treatment-related grade 2-4 events, and abnormal laboratory test results between ART-naïve children and ART-experienced children., Conclusion: Our research underscores that with consistent, long-term treatment of LPV/r-based regimens, ART-experienced children can achieve therapeutic outcomes comparable to ART-naïve children. It provides crucial insights on LPV/r-based regimens in pediatric HIV treatment, especially in resource-limited settings where high-cost Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors (INSTs) are inaccessible. This evidence-based understanding provides an essential addition to the global therapeutic strategies for pediatric HIV treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Lao, Zhang, Yan, Zhao, Zhao, Lu, Chen, Li, Chen, Ye, Yu, Xiao, Li, Liang, Yang, Yan and Zhang.)

In China, few molecular epidemiological data on hepatitis C virus (HCV) are available and all previous studies were limited by small sample sizes or specific population characteristics. Here, we report characterization of the epidemic history and transmission dynamics of HCV strains in China. We included HCV sequences of individuals belonging to three HCV surveillance programs: 1) patients diagnosed with HIV infection at the Beijing HIV laboratory network, most of whom were people who inject drugs and former paid blood donors, 2) men who have sex with men, and 3) the general population. We also used publicly available HCV sequences sampled in China in our study. In total, we obtained 1,603 Ns5b and 865 C/E2 sequences from 1,811 individuals. The most common HCV strains were subtypes 1b (29.1%), 3b (25.5%) and 3a (15.1%). In transmission network analysis, factors independently associated with clustering included the region (OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.19-0.71), infection subtype (OR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.1-0.52), and sampling period (OR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.27-0.68). The history of the major HCV subtypes was complex, which coincided with some important sociomedical events in China. Of note, five of eight HCV subtype (1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, and 3b), which constituted 81.8% HCV strains genotyped in our study, showed a tendency towards decline in the effective population size during the past decade until present, which is a good omen for the goal of eliminating HCV by 2030 in China., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Ye et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most common chronic lung disease in preterm infants and lacks effective methods for prevention and treatment. The aim of this study is to explore the efficacy and safety of montelukast in preventing or treating BPD in preterm infants. The preterm infants with BPD risk factors were divided randomly into a montelukast group and a control group. In the montelukast group, preterm infants were given 1 mg/kg of montelukast sodium daily. There was no placebo in the control group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of moderate or severe BPD between the two groups (31.8% vs. 35%). The duration of respiratory support in the montelukast group was shorter than that in the control group (36.4 ± 12.8 d vs. 43.1 ± 15.9 d, p = 0.037). The pulmonary severity score (PSS) at 21 days of life in the montelukast group was significantly lower than that in the control group (0.56 ± 0.13 vs. 0.62 ± 0.14, p = 0.048). There were no significant differences in the duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay, hospitalization expenses, or incidence of adverse events. Although montelukast cannot alleviate the severity of BPD, it may shorten the duration of respiratory support and decrease the PSS in very preterm infants. There were no significant adverse drug events associated with montelukast treatment.

Purpose: Breast ultrasound (BUS) is an important breast imaging tool. Automatic BUS image segmentation can measure the breast tumor size objectively and reduce doctors' workload. In this article, we proposed a deep supervised transformer U-shaped full-resolution residual network (DSTransUFRRN) to segment BUS images., Methods: In the proposed method, a full-resolution residual stream and a deep supervision mechanism were introduced into TransU-Net. The residual stream can keep full resolution features from different levels and enhance features fusion. Then, the deep supervision can suppress gradient dispersion. Moreover, the transformer module can suppress irrelevant features and improve feature extraction process. Two datasets (dataset A and B) were used for training and evaluation. The dataset A included 980 BUS image samples and the dataset B had 163 BUS image samples., Results: Cross-validation was conducted. For the dataset A, the proposed DSTransUFRRN achieved significantly higher Dice (91.04 ± 0.86%) than all compared methods (p < 0.05). For the dataset B, the Dice was lower than that for the dataset A due to the small number of samples, but the Dice of DSTransUFRRN (88.15% ± 2.11%) was significantly higher than that of other compared methods (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: In this study, we proposed DSTransUFRRN for BUS image segmentation. The proposed methods achieved significantly higher accuracy than the compared previous methods., (© 2023 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Objective: This study aims to characterize changes in serum lipid levels throughout twin pregnancies and explore the relationship between lipid levels and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and hypertensive disorders complicating pregnancy (HDCP). Methods: We retrospectively studied 297 twin pregnancies of women who received regular prenatal care and delivered at the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital over a period of two years. Demographic and medical data of the participants were collected by questionnaires and medical records review. Serum lipid levels were measured in the first trimester (6-13 weeks), second trimester (24-28 weeks), and third trimester (34-37 weeks). A multivariate regression model was constructed to examine the association between lipid levels and pregnancy complications. A decision tree was used to explore the relationship between early serum lipid glucose levels and GDM and HDCP in twin pregnancies. Results: Triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels increased significantly from the first trimester to the third trimester, with the exception of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), which decreased in the third trimester in twin pregnancies ( p  < 0.001). The levels of TC in the GDM and HDCP group were significantly elevated compared to those in the normal group in early pregnancies ( p  < 0.05, p  < 0.05). In the second trimester, TG in the HDCP group was substantially higher than that in the normal group ( p  = 0.01). In the third trimester, LDL-C and HDL-C levels in the GDM group are significantly lower than that in the normal group ( p  < 0.05, p  < 0.05). After adjusting for confounders, body mass index (BMI) is independently associated with GDM (odds ratio [OR] = 1.129, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.007-1.266) and HDCP(odds ratio [OR] = 1.170, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.031-1.329). The variation amplitude of HDL-C in the third trimester is related to the occurrence of GDM and HDCP(GDM:OR = 0.271, 95%CI: 0.095-0.778; HDCP: OR =0.249, 95% CI: 0.075-0.823). TG and TC levels in DCDA twins were significantly higher than that in MCDA twins in the first trimester(TG: p  < 0.05, TC: p  < 0.05). In the decision tree model for GDM, fasting blood glucose in the first trimester (FBG), TC, and pre-pregnancy BMI were identified as important nodes, while in the HDCP model, pre-pregnancy BMI, TC, and TG were key nodes. Conclusion: Serum lipid levels in twin pregnancies increase gradually during pregnancy. BMI is independently associated with the occurrence of GDM and HDCP. HDL-C may serve as a protective factor for GDM and HDCP. The predictive effect of early blood lipid on GDM and HDCP in twin pregnancy needs further study.

To clarify the characteristics in immunogenicity and safety of inactivated SARS-Cov-2 vaccines among HIV-infected individuals, a longitudinal cohort study was performed on HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected participants with no history of COVID-19 infection and COVID-19 vaccine inoculation. Participants information and adverse events were collected. Blood samples were collected on the same day before vaccination, 21 days after the first shot, 28 days after the second shot, 6 months after the second vaccination and 14 days after the third dose to test anti-receptor-binding domain IgG antibody, viral load, CD4+, CD8+ T cell count. Our result showed that although HIV-infected adults with low nadir CD4+ T cell count ≤ 350 cells/mm 3 generate significantly lower immune response after three shots of vaccine compared with HIV-negative controls, 100% of all the HIV-infected and healthy controls were seroconverted after the third shot. Seroconversion ratio and antibody level of 190 days after two shots of vaccination for HIV-infected with nadir CD4+ T cell count ≤ 350 were significantly lower than that of healthy controls. No significant difference was found in viral load among blood samples collected at each time points. CD4 and CD4/CD8 ratio value were found increased greatly after each shot of inoculation in HIV-infected individuals with nadir CD4+ T cell count ≤ 350. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that among HIV-infected individuals, PLWH with CD4+ T cell count ≤ 350 were less likely experience seroconversion 21 days after the first shot, and less likely maintained antibody immunity 6 months post 2nd dose. Adverse events after each inoculation were not serious and recovered within 1 week. In conclusion, inactivated COVID-19 vaccine was safe and effective in people living with HIV after three shots of vaccination. HIV-infected individuals with low nadir CD4+ T cell count ≤ 350 was associated with a nonoptimal antibody response. Further vaccination strategies could be developed for those with low CD4+ T cell counts., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

In this study, we employ first-principles calculations to explore the electronic and valleytronic properties of single-layer (SL) SMSiN 2 (M = Mo, W), which are two-dimensional Janus materials with strong spin-orbit coupling. Our findings indicate that SL SMoSiN 2 /SWSiN 2 possess a direct/indirect band gap, where the valence band maximum is situated at the K / K ' point, giving rise to the formation of degenerate valleys. When considering spin-orbit coupling, SMoSiN 2 and SWSiN 2 demonstrate intriguing valley spin splitting in their valleys, with a maximum splitting of up to 0.14/0.39 eV in the valence bands. By implementing magnetic doping with V and Cr, we provide a demonstration that valley polarization could be realized in SL SMSiN 2 . Moreover, the findings reveal high carrier mobility in SL SMSiN 2 , notably in SWSiN 2 , where hole carriers can achieve a remarkable mobility of up to 7.98 × 10 3 cm 2 V -1 s -1 along the zigzag direction. Furthermore, our observations suggest that strain can be effectively utilized to manipulate the character and magnitude of the band gap, as well as the valley spin splitting in these materials.

Background: To propose a new mode of HIV test and surveillance among population of men who have sex with men (MSM): Internet-based Self-sampling at home plus Laboratory testing of HIV total nucleic acid (TNA) in dried blood spot (DBS) (ISL of DBS TNA). Feasibility of ISL of DBS TNA was studied. Characteristics of the new mode and that of conventional surveillance mode at HIV voluntary counseling and testing clinic (VCT) were compared., Methods: A non-governmental organization (NGO) published the recruitment information on the WeChat public account. MSM filled in the questionnaire online, applied for self-sampling service package, and mailed the self made DBS to professional laboratory. The laboratory performed HIV TNA test and submitted the test results to online platform. Participants queried test results online with their unique ID. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) followed up participants with positive nucleic acid results using IDs and contact information. Rates were compared by using the Chi-Square test or Fisher's exact test., Results: Four hundred twenty-three questionnaires were completed. 423 self-sampling service packages were sent out and 340 DBSs were returned to professional laboratory within one month with qualified rate of sampling as high as 95.0% (323/340). Seven samples were found to be TNA positive. Comparing ISL of DBS TNA with sentinel surveillance, it was found that there was a significant difference in the composition ratio of the two modes of surveillance population (P < 0.05). HIV prevalence of ISL of DBS as 2.17% was significantly lower than sentinel site as 8.96% (χ 2  = 14.953, P = 0.000 < 0.05)., Conclusions: ISL of DBS TNA proposed is feasible and has a high self-sampling qualification rate, good confidentiality. It is an effective supplement to routine sentinel surveillance and has important promotion value., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

During the routine surveillance of HIV-1 pretreatment drug resistance in Beijing, five men who have sex with men (MSM) and a woman were observed to get infected by newly identified CRF103&#95;01B strain. To elucidate the genetic characteristics, the near full-length genome (NFLG) was obtained. Phylogenetic inference indicated that CRF103&#95;01B NFLG was composed of six mosaic segments. Segments IV and V of CRF103&#95;01B were located among the clusters subtype B and CRF01&#95;AE (group 5), respectively. The CRF103&#95;01B strain was deduced to originate from Beijing MSM population around 2002.3-2006.4 and continued to spread among MSM population at a low level, then to the general population via heterosexual contact in northern China. Molecular epidemiology surveillance of CRF103&#95;01B should be reinforced., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Two HIV-1 infections with unassigned genotypes were identified during HIV-1 pretreatment drug resistance surveillance. The near full-length genome sequences of BL5040-00 and BL5085-00 were obtained and were classified as unique recombinant forms (URFs) between CRF01&#95;AE and CRF07&#95;BC. Simplot (version 3.5) analyses showed that the two URFs shared similar recombinant forms, and in the backbone belonging to CRF01&#95;AE, the gag-pol , vpu , env , and nef gene fragments were genetically substituted by CRF07&#95;BC. BL5040-00, with 10 breakpoints, had 6 CRF07&#95;BC fragments and 5 CRF01&#95;AE fragments, whereas BL5085-00, with 6 breakpoints, had 4 CRF07&#95;BC fragments and 3 CRF01&#95;AE fragments. BL5040-00 strain had two additional recombination breakpoints in pol - vif gene. The presence of URFs suggests that the men who have sex with men population in Beijing has an active HIV epidemic and the genetic diversity of HIV-1 is complex, emphasizing molecular epidemiology and disease progression monitoring should be strengthened.

Background: A limited amount of information is available about the immunogenicity of the quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs)., Methods: HIV-infected adults and HIV-uninfected adults received a dose of quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine including strains of H1N1, H3N2, BV and BY. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and hemagglutination-inhibition assay (HAI) were used to determine IgA, IgG antibody concentration and geometric mean titers (GMT) at day 0 and day 28, respectively. Associated factors contributing to seroconversion or GMT changes were analyzed using simple logistic regression model., Results: A total of 131 HIV-infected and 55 HIV-uninfected subjects were included in the study. In both HIV-infected and uninfected arms, IgG and IgA against influenza A and B all increased significantly at day 28 after receiving QIV (P < 0.001). GMTs of post-vaccination at day 28 showed that HIV-infected persons with CD4 + T cell counts ≤ 350 cells/mm 3 were statistically less immunogenic to all strains of QIV than HIV-uninfected ones (P < 0.05). HIV-infected participants with CD4 + T cell counts ≤ 350 cells/mm 3 were less likely to achieve seroconversion to QIV (H1N1, BY and BV) than HIV-uninfected individuals at day 28 after vaccination (P < 0.05). Compared with HIV-infected patients with baseline CD4 + T cell counts ≤ 350 cells/mm 3 , individuals with baseline CD4 + T cell counts > 350 cell/mm 3 seemed more likely to generate antibody responses to H1N1 (OR:2.65, 95 %CI: 1.07-6.56) and BY (OR: 3.43, 95 %CI: 1.37-8.63), and showed a higher probability of seroconversion to BY (OR: 3.59, 95 %CI: 1.03-12.48). Compared with nadir CD4 + T cell count ≤ 350 cell/mm 3 , individuals with nadir CD4 + T cell count > 350 cell/mm 3 showed a higher probability of seroconversion to H1N1(OR: 3.15, 95 %CI: 1.14-8.73)., Conclusion: Influenza vaccination of HIV-infected adults might be effective despite variable antibody responses. HIV-positive populations with CD4 + T cell counts ≤ 350 are less likely to achieve seroconversion. Further vaccination strategies could be developed for those with low CD4 T cell counts., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a global health problem, and EPA/DHA-enriched phospholipids (EPA/DHA-PLs) have been found to have positive effects on MetS improvement. Currently, research on EPA/DHA-PL mainly focuses on special and rare seafood, such as phospholipids derived from krill, sea cucumber, squid, and fish roe. However, it has been recently demonstrated that abundant EPA/DHA-PL can also be found in bulk fish and its by-products. Nonetheless, there is still limited research on the biological activities of EPA/DHA-PL derived from these sources. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of phospholipid extracts from the heads of salmon and silver carp (S-PLE and SC-PLE) on the high-fat-diet-induced MetS in C57/BL mice. After an 8-week intervention, both SC-PLE and S-PLE had a significant ameliorating effect on MetS. Moreover, SC-PLE was more effective than S-PLE in reducing liver inflammation and fasting glucose. Both of the PL extracts were able to regulate the expression of key genes in lipid synthesis, fatty acid β-oxidation, and insulin signaling pathways. Compared with S-PLE, dietary SC-PLE had a greater influence on liver metabolomics. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that the differential metabolites of SC-PLE were mainly involved in arachidonic acid metabolism and glutathione metabolism. The results indicated that the different metabolic regulation methods of S-PLE and SC-PLE could be related to their variant molecular composition in EPA/DHA-PL., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background: High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is still the most common fatal disease at high altitudes. DNA methylation proceeds with an important role in HAPE progression. This study was designed to investigate the association between CYP39A1 methylation and HAPE., Methods: Peripheral blood samples were enrolled from 106 participants (53 HAPE patients and 53 healthy subjects) to study the association of CYP39A1 methylation with HAPE. DNA methylation site in the promoter region of CYP39A1 was detected by Sequenom MassARRAY EpiTYPER platform., Results: Probability analysis showed that the methylation probabilities of CYP39A1&#95;1&#95;CpG&#95;5 and CYP39A1&#95;3&#95;CpG&#95;21 are significant differences between the cases and controls ( p < 0.05). The methylation level analysis indicated that CYP39A1&#95;1&#95;CpG&#95;2.3.4, CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;6.7, and CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;9.10 were higher methylation in HAPE compared to the controls ( p < 0.05). CYP39A1&#95;3&#95;CpG&#95;21 and CYP39A1&#95;4&#95;CpG&#95;3 exhibited a lower methylation level in HAPE than that in the controls ( p < 0.05). The association analysis given that CYP39A1&#95;1&#95;CpG&#95;2.3.4 (OR 2.56, p = 0.035), CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;6.7 (OR 3.99, p = 0.003), CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;9.10 (OR 3.99, p = 0.003), CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;16.17.18 (OR 2.53, p = 0.033), and CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;20 (OR 3.05, p = 0.031) are associated with an increased risk of HAPE. Whereas CYP39A1&#95;1&#95;CpG&#95;5 (OR 0.33, p = 0.016) and CYP39A1&#95;3&#95;CpG&#95;21 (OR 0.18, p = 0.005) have a protective role in HAPE. Besides, age-stratification analysis showed that CYP39A1&#95;1&#95;CpG&#95;5 (OR 0.16, p = 0.014) and CYP39A1&#95;3&#95;CpG&#95;21 (OR 0.08, p = 0.023) had a protective impact on HAPE in people aged ≤32 years. CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;6.7 (OR 6.70, p = 0.008) and CYP39A1&#95;5&#95;CpG&#95;9.10 (OR 6.70, p = 0.008) were related to an increased susceptibility to HAPE aged >32 years. Moreover, the diagnostic value of CYP39A1&#95;3&#95;CpG&#95;21 (AUC = 0.712, p < 0.001) was significantly better than other CpG sites., Conclusion: The methylation level of CYP39A1 was associated with a risk of HAPE in the Chinese population, which provided new perspective for preventing and diagnosing of HAPE., Competing Interests: There were not any competing interests., (© 2023 Wang et al.)

Vascularization of ischemic and fabricated tissues is essential for successful tissue repair and replacement therapies. Endothelial cells (ECs) and mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) in close proximity spontaneously organize into vessels after coimplantation in semisolid matrices. Thus, local injection of EC mixed with MSC may facilitate tissue (re)vascularization. The organization of these cells into vessels is accompanied by induction of a key regulator of vasculogenesis, activin A, in MSC through juxtacrine pathway. Mechanisms regulating activin A expression are poorly understood; therefore, the contributions of notch signaling pathways were evaluated in EC-adipose mesenchymal stromal cells (ASC) cocultures. Disruption of notch signaling in EC + ASC cocultures with a γ-secretase inhibitor, DAPT, completely abrogated both activin A induction and production, depending on the stage of vasculogenesis. While DAPT stimulated EC proliferation concurrent with increased secretion of vasculogenic factors, it also prevented the crucial transition of ASC from progenitor to smooth muscle cell phenotype, collectively resulting in ineffective tubulogenesis. Silencing Notch2 in ASC abolished activin A production in cocultures, but resulted in normal ASC maturation. In contrast, silencing Notch3 in ASC led to autonomous upregulation of mural cell markers, and intercellular contact with EC further enhanced upregulation of these markers, concurrent with amplified activin A secretion. Strong induction of activin A expression was achieved by exposing ASC to immobilized notch ligand jagged1, whereas jagged1 IgG, added to EC + ASC incubation media, prevented activin A expression. Overall, this study revealed that EC control activin A expression in ASC through trans juxtacrine notch signaling pathways, and uninterrupted notch signaling is required for activin A production, although signaling through Notch2 and Notch3 produce opposing effects.

Backgroud: Recent research has focused on the role of immune cells and immune responses in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), but the exact mechanisms have not yet been elucidated. Previously, the key roles of type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) in the lung immune network of BPD were explored. Here, we investigated the role Th17 cell response in hyperoxia-induced lung injury of BPD, as well as the relationship between ILC2 and Th17 cell response., Methods: A hyperoxia-induced BPD mouse model was constructed and the pathologic changes of lung tissues were evaluated by Hematoxylin-Eosin staining. Flow cytometry analysis was conducted to determine the levels of Th17 cell, ILC2 and IL-6 + ILC2. The expression levels of IL-6, IL-17 A, IL-17 F, and IL-22 in the blood serum and lung tissues of BPD mice were measured by ELISA. To further confirm the relationship between ILC2 and Th17 cell differentiation, ILC2 depletion was performed in BPD mice. Furthermore, we used immunomagnetic beads to enrich ILC2 and then flow-sorted mouse lung CD45 + Lin - CD90.2 + Sca-1 + ILC2. The sorted ILC2s were injected into BPD mice via tail vein. Following ILC2 adoptive transfusion, the changes of Th17 cell response and lung injury were detected in BPD mice., Results: The expression levels of Th17 cells and Th17 cell-related cytokines, including IL-17 A, IL-17 F, and IL-22, were significantly increased in BPD mice. Concurrently, there was a significant increase in the amount of ILC2 and IL-6 + ILC2 during hyperoxia-induced lung injury, which was consistent with the trend for Th17 cell response. Compared to the control BPD group, ILC2 depletion was found to partially abolish the Th17 cell response and had protective effects against lung injury after hyperoxia. Furthermore, the adoptive transfer of ILC2 enhanced the Th17 cell response and aggravated lung injury in BPD mice., Conclusions: This study found that ILC2 regulates hyperoxia-induced lung injury by targeting the Th17 cell response in BPD, which shows a novel strategy for BPD immunotherapy., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Aim: Interindividual and interethnic differences in drug efficacy drive the development and progress of pharmacogenomics and precision medicine. This study was performed to enrich the pharmacogenomic information for the Lisu population from China. Methods: 54 very important pharmacogene variants were selected from PharmGKB and genotyped in 199 Lisu individuals. The genotype distribution data of 26 populations were downloaded from the 1000 Genomes Project and analyzed with the χ 2 test. Results: Among the 26 populations in the 1000 Genomes Project, African Caribbeans in Barbados; Esan in Nigeria; Gambian in Western Divisions, The Gambia; Luhya in Webuye, Kenya; Yoruba in Ibadan; Finnish in Finland; Toscani in Italy and Sri Lankan Tamil in the UK were the top eight nationalities with the most significant differences in genotype distribution from the Lisu population. The loci of CYP3A 5 rs776746, KCNH2 rs1805123, ACE rs4291, SLC19A1 rs1051298 and CYP2D6 rs1065852 were significantly different in the Lisu. Conclusion: The results showed that there were substantial differences in SNPs of very important pharmacogene variants, which can provide a theoretical basis for individualized drug use for the Lisu.

Peritoneal adhesions, a common postoperative complication of laparotomy, are still treated with physical barriers, but their efficacy and ease of use are controversial. In this paper, we developed a wound microenvironment-responsive hydrogel composed of Antheraea pernyi silk protein (ASF) from wild cocoons and tyramine-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-Ph) loaded with azithromycin (AZI), glucose oxidase (GOX), and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In addition, GOX-catalyzed oxygen production enhanced the antibacterial ability of the hydrogel. Moreover, the drug-loaded hydrogel increased macrophage CD206 expression while decreasing IL-6 and TNF-α expression. More importantly, the retarding effect of this novel hydrogel system on AZI almost eliminated the appearance of postoperative adhesions in rats. It was also found that the novel hydrogel enhanced the modulation of the TLR-4/Myd88/NF-κB pathway and TGF-β/Smad2/3 pathway by azithromycin in the locally damaged peritoneum of rats, which accelerated the remodeling of damaged tissues and dramatically reduced the deposition of collagen. Therefore, spraying the novel drug-loaded hydrogel on postoperative abdominal wounds can effectively inhibit the formation of postoperative adhesions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous studies have not clearly demonstrated the impact of behavioral and emotional problems (BEDs) on treatment outcomes among HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy (ART). This study aimed to describe the prevalence of BEDs among this population and identify the factors associated with HIV treatment outcomes., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangxi, China, between July and August 2021. HIV-infected children answered questionnaires about BEDs, physical health, social support, and whether they have missed doses in the past month. BEDs were assessed using the Chinese version of the self-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-C). The self-reported survey data were linked to participants' HIV care information that was obtained from the national surveillance database. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors that were associated with missed doses in the past month and virological failure., Results: The study sample was 325 HIV-infected children. HIV-infected children had a higher proportion of abnormal scores on SDQ-C total difficulties compared to their peers in the general population (16.9 vs 10.0%; P = 0.002). An abnormal SDQ-C total difficulties score (AOR = 2.06, 95%CI: 1.10-3.88) and infrequency of receiving assistance and support from parents over the past 3 months (AOR = 1.85, 95%CI: 1.12-3.06) were significantly associated with missed doses in the past month. Between the ages of 14-17 years (AOR = 2.66, 95% CI: 1.37-5.16), female (AOR = 2.21, 95% CI: 1.20-4.08), and suboptimal adherence (AOR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.32-4.57) were significantly associated with virological failure., Conclusions: Children's mental health plays a role in HIV treatment outcomes. Psychological interventions should be promoted in pediatric HIV care clinics to improve children's mental health status and HIV treatment outcomes., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objectives: The gut virome of humans is mainly composed of bacteriophages and their role in shaping the gut microbiome and influencing human health is increasingly recognized. However, little is known about the dynamic changes of the gut virome in children and its role in growth and development. In this study, we collected fecal samples from newborns and children under 5 years old from the same area during the same time period to investigate the gut viral community using viral metagenomic technique., Methods: We used viral metagenomics to compare the gut bacteriophage composition between newborns and children under 5 years of age. We collected fecal samples from 45 newborns who were born at the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University and 45 healthy children who were examined at the same hospital. The two groups were classified as the newborn group and the children group., Results: Our sequencing analysis showed that the number of seqeunce reads of the children group were more than that of the newborn group. The results of alpha diversity and beta diversity both indicated that the diversity of the children group was significantly higher than that of the newborn group and the children group is different from the newborn group. The abundance of gut virome in the children group was also higher than that in the newborn group. The analysis of the genetic characteristics of the viruses showed that the phage genome was scattered and clustered with specificity., Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the gut bacteriophage communities undergo changes over time, presenting diversity and dynamic characteristics. We characterized the composition of gut virome in children and newborns in this region. However, further research is needed to investigate the function of bacteriophages in the ecology of the gastrointestinal tract., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The plastein reaction can increase the activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Hence, hazelnut protein hydrolysate and hazelnut peptide YLVR were used as substrate to explore the effect of plastein on physicochemical properties and the mechanism of structural change. The increase in turbidity and particle size and the decrease in free amino groups indicated that the reaction occurred via condensation. The modified products of YLVR were identified by NANO-HPLC-MS/MS, indicating that the N-terminal homologous amino acid aggregates in the plastein. Novel ACE inhibitory peptide YYLVR, YLLVR, and YYLLVR were synthesized and their inhibition rates were 66.35, 72.61, and 89.10 %, respectively, which were higher than that of YLVR (52.58 %). MD simulation showed that YYLLVR exhibited the lowest binding energies of -35.98 ± 2.30 kcal/mol to ACE. Taken together, plastein reaction is a promising strategy for inducing structural modifications to improve the activity of peptide., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Novel bismuth selenite iodate oxide BiSeIO 6 was synthesized in a mild hydrothermal condition. BiSeIO 6 was crystallized in the polar space group Pna 2 1 of an orthorhombic system. The crystal structure features a three-dimensional framework composed of three types of lone pair cations with distorted BiO 7 polyhedra, SeO 3 pyramids, and IO 3 pyramids in one structure. Interestingly, BiSeIO 6 exhibits a strong and phase-matchable second-harmonic generation (SHG) of ∼6 times that of KH 2 PO 4 (KDP). Dipole moment analysis shows that all three local acentric groups of BiO 7 , SeO 3 , and IO 3 cooperatively contribute to the large macroscopic polarization and thereby strong SHG efficiency of BiSeIO 6 . In addition, BiSeIO 6 has a broad transparency range from 0.35 to 11 μm, indicating its promising nonlinear optical applications from visible to mid-infrared bands.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) sexual transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM) has increased markedly in Beijing, China in the past decade. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly efficacious biomedical prevention strategy that remarkably reduces HIV-transmission risk. This study examined PrEP awareness among MSM and the factors influencing it. From April to July 2021, respondent-driven sampling was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey among MSM in Beijing, China. Demographic, behavior, and awareness data regarding PrEP were collected. The factors influencing PrEP awareness were assessed using univariate and multivariable logistic regression. In total, 608 eligible responders were included in the study. Among the respondents, 27.9% had PrEP awareness, 3.3% had taken PrEP, and 57.9% expressed interest in receiving PrEP, if required. Greater odds of PrEP awareness were associated with higher education level (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.525, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.013-6.173, P < 0.0001), greater HIV-related knowledge (aOR 3.605, 95% CI 2.229-5.829, P < 0.0001), HIV testing (aOR 2.647, 95% CI 1.463-4.788, P = 0.0013), and sexually transmitted infections (aOR 2.064, 95% CI 1.189-3.584, P = 0.0101). Lower odds of PrEP awareness were associated with higher stigma score (aOR 0.729, 95% CI 0.591-0.897, P = 0.0029). The findings indicate sub-optimal awareness and low utilization of PrEP in Beijing and highlight PrEP inequities among MSM with stigma. Strengthening the training of peer educators in disseminating PrEP knowledge and reducing stigma are critical for improving PrEP awareness., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Camelina sativa is a self-pollinating and facultative outcrossing oilseed crop. Genetic engineering has been used to improve camelina yield potential for altered fatty acid composition, modified protein profiles, improved seed and oil yield, and enhanced drought resistance. The deployment of transgenic camelina in the field posits high risks related to the introgression of transgenes into non-transgenic camelina and wild relatives. Thus, effective bioconfinement strategies need to be developed to prevent pollen-mediated gene flow (PMGF) from transgenic camelina. In the present study, we overexpressed the cleistogamy (i.e. floral petal non-openness)-inducing PpJAZ1 gene from peach in transgenic camelina. Transgenic camelina overexpressing PpJAZ1 showed three levels of cleistogamy, affected pollen germination rates after anthesis but not during anthesis, and caused a minor silicle abortion only on the main branches. We also conducted field trials to examine the effects of the overexpressed PpJAZ1 on PMGF in the field, and found that the overexpressed PpJAZ1 dramatically inhibited PMGF from transgenic camelina to non-transgenic camelina under the field conditions. Thus, the engineered cleistogamy using the overexpressed PpJAZ1 is a highly effective bioconfinement strategy to limit PMGF from transgenic camelina, and could be used for bioconfinement in other dicot species., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by OxfordUniversity Press on behalf of Nanjing AgriculturalUniversity.)

Background: Traditional treatments for human papillomavirus-related cutaneous diseases include 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy, cryotherapy, microwave ablation, and surgical resection. These treatment methods involvevarious adverse reactions; therefore, it remains necessary to explore new treatment methods. Dihydroartemisinin shows cytotoxic effects against several malignancies by producing reactive oxygen species, and heme environments reportedly enhance its activity. However, the underlying mechanismsare still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the mechanism of dihydroartemisininin inhuman papillomavirus-infected cells., Methods: HeLa cells were treated with dihydroartemisinin, 5-aminolevulinic acid, and succinylacetone. The cell viability, apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential, and reactive oxygen species levels were investigated, and via western blotting analysis and polymerase chain reaction, dihydroartemisinin activity-related pathways were also determined., Results: Dihydroartemisinin inhibited HeLa cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis via the Bax/Bcl-2-Caspase pathway in a concentration-dependent manner. The specific cytotoxicity toward HeLa cells was enhanced by the addition of 5-aminolevulinic acid, a clinically used heme-synthesis precursor, owing to an increase in heme levels. Conversely, following the addition of succinylacetone, a heme synthesis blocker, heme levels decreased. Furthermore, dihydroartemisinin significantly increased reactive oxygen species levels as intracellular heme synthesis increased. Moreover, photodynamic therapy following dihydroartemisinin and 5-aminolevulinic acid treatment further enhanced the cytotoxic effect of dihydroartemisinin on high-risk human papillomavirus-infected cells., Conclusions: Dihydroartemisinin exerts acytotoxic effect on high-risk human papillomavirus-infected cells by modulating heme levels via the Bax/Bcl-2-Caspase pathway, and the dihydroartemisinin, 5-aminolevulinic acid, photodynamic therapy combination treatment significantly enhanced its cytotoxic effect on human papillomavirus-infected cells., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Asprosin (ASP) is a recently discovered adipocyte factor that participates in glucose metabolism and inflammatory reactions. Recent findings suggest that it may be involved in the regulation of sex hormone secretion in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis, but no studies have been reported in related populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in serum ASP levels in healthy men and obese men, as well as before and after exercise weight loss, and to investigate male hypogonadism, insulin resistance, inflammatory response, and relationships induced by ASP and obesity. Methods: Thirty-eight young male volunteers were recruited and divided into a normal group ( n = 20) and an obese group ( n = 18) according to their body mass index. Fourteen of the obese men underwent a 14-week exercise and diet intervention (first 8 weeks of aerobic exercise at 60%-70% HR max for 30-50 min/4 days a week). Beginning at week 9, the intensity was increased to 75% HR max . Participants in the obese groups maintained a calorie-restricted diet throughout the study period. Results: Serum ASP levels in the obese group were significantly higher than those in the normal group, and serum gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRh), luteinizing hormone (LH), and testosterone (T) levels were decreased. After 14 weeks of exercise and diet intervention, serum ASP decreased significantly, the levels of body weight, lean body weight, body fat rate, fasting insulin (FINS), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β decreased significantly, and the serum GnRH, LH, and T levels increased significantly. ASP was positively correlated with body weight, body fat percentage, FINS, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1β and negatively correlated with relative lean body weight and serum LH and T levels. Conclusion: The serum ASP levels were increased in obese men compared with those of normal weight individuals, resulting in a chronic inflammatory reaction, high serum insulin, and HPG axis injury. Fourteen weeks of exercise and diet intervention effectively alleviated this phenomenon. It has been speculated that ASP might regulate male reproductive function by regulating the inflammatory response and insulin sensitivity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Yao, Song, Yu, Cheng, Lu, Li, Yang, Tang and Yi.)