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Background: The study aimed to investigate the association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and ischemic stroke events after revascularization in patients with Moyamoya disease (MMD). Methods: This study prospectively enrolled 275 MMD patients from September 2020 to December 2021. Patients with alcoholism and other liver diseases were excluded. NAFLD was confirmed by CT imaging or abdominal ultrasonography. Stroke events and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at the latest follow-up were compared between the two groups. Results: A total of 275 patients were enrolled in the study, among which 65 were diagnosed with NAFLD. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that NAFLD (P = 0.029) was related to stroke events. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that NAFLD is a predictor of postoperative stroke in MMD patients (OR = 27.145, 95% CI = 2.031–362.81, P = 0.013). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that compared with MMD patients with NAFLD, patients in the control group had a longer stroke-free time (P = 0.004). Univariate Cox analysis showed that NAFLD (P = 0.016) was associated with ischemic stroke during follow-up in patients with MMD. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that NAFLD was an independent risk factor for stroke in patients with MMD (HR = 10.815, 95% CI = 1.259–92.881, P = 0.030). Furthermore, fewer patients in the NAFLD group had good neurologic status (mRS score ≤ 2) than the control group (P = 0.005). Conclusion: NAFLD was an independent risk factor for stroke in patients with MMD after revascularization and worse neurological function outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gut microbiota plays an important role in many metabolic diseases such as diabetes and atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) knock-out (KO) mice are frequently used for the study of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis. However, it is unknown whether apoE KO mice have altered gut microbiota when challenged with a Western diet. Methods: In the current study, we assessed the gut microbiota profiling of apoE KO mice and compared with wild-type mice fed either a normal chow or Western diet for 12 weeks using 16S pyrosequencing. Results: On a western diet, the gut microbiota diversity was significantly decreased in apoE KO mice compared with wild type (WT) mice. Firmicutes and Erysipelotrichaceae were significantly increased in WT mice but Erysipelotrichaceae was unchanged in apoE KO mice on a Western diet. The weighted UniFrac principal coordinate analysis exhibited clear separation between WT and apoE KO mice on the first vector (58.6%) with significant changes of two dominant phyla ( Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes ) and seven dominant families ( Porphyromonadaceae , Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Helicobacteraceae, Erysipelotrichaceae and Veillonellaceae ). Lachnospiraceae was significantly enriched in apoE KO mice on a Western diet. In addition, Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae were positively correlated with relative atherosclerosis lesion size in apoE KO. Conclusions: Collectively, our study showed that there are marked changes in the gut microbiota of apoE KO mice, particularly challenged with a Western diet and these alterations may be possibly associated with atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a research conducted on mice to demonstrate the alleviating therapeutic effect of cytokines by proliferators activated receptor alpha (PPARα) induction in the treatment of alcoholic liver fibrosis. As per the study, PPARα acts by the downregulation of proinflammatory factors and upregulates the protective cytokine IL-10. The study also found that transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β) 1 is an important profibrogenic factor for liver fibrogenesis.