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Abstract Background Gout is caused by monosodium urate (MSU) crystals deposition to trigger immune response. A recent study suggested that inhibition of Class I Histone deacetylases (HDACs) can significantly reduce MSU crystals-induced inflammation. However, which one of HDACs members in response to MSU crystals was still unknown. Here, we investigated the roles of HDAC3 in MSU crystals-induced gouty inflammation. Methods Macrophage specific HDAC3 knockout (KO) mice were used to investigate inflammatory profiles of gout in mouse models in vivo, including ankle arthritis, foot pad arthritis and subcutaneous air pouch model. In the in vitro experiments, bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from mice were treated with MSU crystals to assess cytokines, potential target gene and protein. Results Deficiency of HDAC3 in macrophage not only reduced MSU-induced foot pad and ankle joint swelling but also decreased neutrophils trafficking and IL-1β release in air pouch models. In addition, the levels of inflammatory genes related to TLR2/4/NF-κB/IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway were significantly decreased in BMDMs from HDAC3 KO mice after MSU treatment. Moreover, RGFP966, selective inhibitor of HDAC3, inhibited IL-6 and TNF-α production in BMDMs treated with MSU crystals. Besides, HDAC3 deficiency shifted gene expression from pro-inflammatory macrophage (M1) to anti-inflammatory macrophage (M2) in BMDMs after MSU challenge. Conclusions Deficiency of HDAC3 in macrophage alleviates MSU crystals-induced gouty inflammation through inhibition of TLR2/4 driven IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway, suggesting that HDAC3 could contribute to a potential therapeutic target of gout.

There has been no specific review on the secondary metabolites from soft corals of the genus Capnella till now. In this work, all secondary metabolites from different species of the title genus were described. It covered the first work from 1974 to May 2024, spanning five decades. In the viewpoint of the general structural features, these chemical constituents were classified into four groups: sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, steroids, and lipids. Additionally, the 1H and 13C NMR data of these metabolites were provided when available in the literature. Among them, sesquiterpenes were the most abundant chemical compositions from soft corals of the genus Capnella. A variety of pharmacological activities of these compounds were evaluated, such as cytotoxic, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory activities. In addition, the chemical synthesis works of several representative sesquiterpenes were provided. This review aims to provide an up-to-date knowledge of the chemical structures, pharmacological activities, and chemical synthesis of the chemical constituents from soft corals of the genus Capnella.

Salinization of freshwater ecosystems is a pressing global issue. Changes in salinity can exert severe pressure on aquatic animals and jeopardize their survival. Procambarus clarkii is a valuable freshwater aquaculture species that exhibits some degree of salinity tolerance, making it an excellent research model for freshwater aquaculture species facing salinity stress. In the present study, crayfish were exposed to acute low salt (6 ppt) and high salt (18 ppt) conditions. The organisms were continuously monitored at 6, 24, and 72 h using RNA-Seq to investigate the mechanisms of salt stress resistance. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the crayfish responded to salinity stress with numerous differentially expressed genes, and most of different expression genes was observed in high salinity group for 24h. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that metabolic pathways were the primary response pathways in crayfish under salinity stress. This suggests that crayfish may use metabolic pathways to compensate for energy loss caused by osmotic stress. Furthermore, gene expression analysis revealed the differential expression of immune and antioxidant-related pathway genes under salinity stress, implying that salinity stress induces immune disorders in crayfish. More genes related to cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, such as the Foxo, Wnt, Hippo, and Notch signaling pathways, responded to high-salinity stress. This suggests that regulating the cellular replication cycle and accelerating apoptosis may be necessary for crayfish to cope with high-salinity stress. Additionally, we identified 36 solute carrier family (SLC) genes related to ion transport, depicting possible ion exchange mechanisms in crayfish under salinity stress. These findings aimed to establish a foundation for understanding crustacean responses to salinity stress and their osmoregulatory mechanisms.

Marine sponges of the genus Spongia have proven to be unabated sources of novel secondary metabolites with remarkable scaffold diversities and significant bioactivities. The discovery of chemical substances from Spongia sponges has continued to increase over the last few years. The current work provides an up-to-date literature survey and comprehensive insight into the reported metabolites from the members of the genus Spongia, as well as their structural features, biological activities, and structure–activity relationships when available. In this review, 222 metabolites are discussed based on published data from the period from mid-2015 to the beginning of 2024. The compounds are categorized into sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, sesterterpenes, meroterpenes, linear furanoterpenes, steroids, alkaloids, and other miscellaneous substances. The biological effects of these chemical compositions on a vast array of pharmacological assays including cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, neuroprotective, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B)-inhibitory, and phytoregulating activities are also presented.

Background: Salinity is one of the main influencing factors in the culture environment and is extremely important for the survival, growth, development and reproduction of aquatic animals.Methods: In this study, a comparative transcriptome analysis (maintained for 45 days in three different salinities, 30 psu (HC group), 18 psu (MC group) and 3 psu (LC group)) was performed by high-throughput sequencing of economically cultured Penaeus monodon. P. monodon gill tissues from each treatment were collected for RNA-seq analysis to identify potential genes and pathways in response to low salinity stress.Results: A total of 64,475 unigenes were annotated in this study. There were 1,140 upregulated genes and 1,531 downregulated genes observed in the LC vs. HC group and 1,000 upregulated genes and 1,062 downregulated genes observed in the MC vs. HC group. In the LC vs. HC group, 583 DEGs significantly mapped to 37 signaling pathways, such as the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway; in the MC vs. HC group, 444 DEGs significantly mapped to 28 signaling pathways, such as the MAPK signaling pathway, Hippo signaling pathway and calcium signaling pathway. These pathways were significantly associated mainly with signal transduction, immunity and metabolism.Conclusions: These results suggest that low salinity stress may affect regulatory mechanisms such as metabolism, immunity, and signal transduction in addition to osmolarity in P. monodon. The greater the difference in salinity, the more significant the difference in genes. This study provides some guidance for understanding the low-salt domestication culture of P. monodon.

Marine soft corals are prolific sources of various natural products that have served as a wealthy reservoir of diverse chemical scaffolds with potential as new drug leads. The genus Litophyton contains almost 100 species but only a small proportion of them has been chemically investigated, which calls for more attentions from global researchers. In the current work, 175 secondary metabolites have been discussed, drawing from published data spanning almost five decades, up to July 2023. The studied species of the genus Litophyton resided in various tropical and temperate regions and encompassed a broad range of biologically active natural products including terpenes, steroids, nitrogen-containing metabolites, lipids, and other metabolites. A wide spectrum of pharmacological effects of these compounds had been evaluated, such as cytotoxic, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-malarial, antifeedant, anti-inflammatory, molluscicidal, PTP1B inhibitory, insect growth inhibitory, and neuroprotective activities. This review aims to offer an up-to-date survey of the literature and provide a comprehensive understanding of the chemical structures, taxonomical distributions, and biological activities of the reported metabolites from the title genus whenever available.

As a highly conserved transcription factor family, DMRTs (Doublesex and Mab-3-related transcription factors) are involved in sex determination and sexual differentiation in numerous animals. In the present study, we identified a DM (Doublesex/Mab-3)-domain gene in Penaeus monodon, which we named PmDMRT11E because it shared many similarities with DMRT11E homologs and has a close relationship in the phylogeny of different species. The three-dimensional structure and amino acid alignments indicated the stability and conservation of the DM domain. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that PmDMRT11E was highly and preferentially expressed in the testis of sub-adult shrimp. During embryogenesis, the expression level of PmDMRT11E was higher at the nauplius than at other periods. PmDMRT11E dsRNA injection significantly decreased the transcription factor Sox9 and increased ovarian marker Foxl2 expression, implying its important regulatory role in the mechanism of male determination. Moreover, dsDMRT11E caused abnormal sperm development, indicating that PmDMRT11E may be closely related to gonadal development and spermatogenesis.

The soft coral Sarcophyton trocheliophorum, which was frequently encountered on Indo-Pacific and Red Sea coral reefs, furnished a wealth of secondary metabolites. Notably, terpenoids dominated the chemical profile of this species. In this review, we summarized the discovery of 156 terpenoids from the soft coral S. trocheliophorum specimens in different geographical areas. The structures comprised 13 terpenoidal classes with various functionalities. We covered the era from the first report of S. trocheliophorum-derived metabolites in 1976 up to October 2022. The biological effects of these chemical compositions on a vast array of potential pharmacological activities such as protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitory, neuroprotective, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antivirus, and immunomodulatory activities were also presented. This review also revealed an immense demand to explore the terpene biosynthetic gene clusters of this species besides the chemo- and bio-investigations.

Doublesex (Dsx) is a polymorphic transcription factor of the DMRTs family, which is involved in male sex trait development and controls sexual dimorphism at different developmental stages in arthropods. However, the transcriptional regulation of the Dsx gene is largely unknown in decapods. In this study, we reported the cDNA sequence of PmDsx in Penaeus monodon, which encodes a 257 amino acid polypeptide. It shared many similarities with Dsx homologs and has a close relationship in the phylogeny of different species. We demonstrated that the expression of the male sex differentiation gene Dsx was predominantly expressed in the P. monodon testis, and that PmDsx dsRNA injection significantly decreased the expression of the insulin-like androgenic gland hormone (IAG) and male sex-determining gene while increasing the expression of the female sex-determining gene. We also identified a 5′-flanking region of PmIAG that had two potential cis-regulatory elements (CREs) for the PmDsx transcription. Further, the dual-luciferase reporter analysis and truncated mutagenesis revealed that PmDsx overexpression significantly promoted the transcriptional activity of the PmIAG promoter via a specific CRE. These results suggest that PmDsx is engaged in male reproductive development and positively regulates the transcription of the PmIAG by specifically binding upstream of the promoter of the PmIAG. It provides a theoretical basis for exploring the sexual regulation pathway and evolutionary dynamics of Dmrt family genes in P. monodon.

Gout is sterile joint inflammation triggered by the damaging effects of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals accumulation. Previous studies suggest transcription factor T-bet plays an important role in inflammatory arthritis. Notably, mice lacking T-bet markedly reduced joint inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis models, however, the involvement of T-bet in gouty inflammation has yet to be clarified. Here, we took advantage of T-bet knockout (KO) mice to investigate the role of T-bet in the pathogenesis of MSU-induced gout inflammation. T-bet KO and wild type (WT) mice were used for models of acute inflammation induced with MSU crystals, including footpad, air pouch and peritonitis models. Inflammatory cytokines and phagocytosis were detected in bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from T-bet KO and WT mice treated with MSU crystals in vitro. In addition, T-bet expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from gout patients was measured, as well as plasma inflammatory cytokines. We found that the levels of interleukin (IL)-17, IL-23, and interferon-γ were reduced, but tumor necrosis factor-α was not, in BMDMs from T-bet KO compared with WT mice after MSU challenge in vitro, as well as MSU phagocytosis. In comparison with WT mice in vivo, the swelling index of T-bet KO mice was significantly decreased in the footpad model. T-bet deficiency also dramatically relieved MSU-induced inflammatory cell infiltration in peritonitis and air pouch models in vivo, and as well as the IL-1β levels of air pouch lavage fluid (APLF). In addition, plasma IL-17 and IL-23 levels were elevated in acute gout, whereas protein levels of T-bet were downregulated in PBMCs from acute gout patients and intercritical gout treated with MSU crystals in vitro as well. Transcription factor T-bet deficiency protects against MSU-induced gouty inflammation, suggesting that downregulation of T-bet could be a protective strategy and contribute to spontaneous remission of inflammation in acute gout.

BACKGROUND: The toll-like receptor (TLR)4-interleukin1β (IL1β) signaling pathway is involved in the monosodium urate (MSU)-mediated inflammation. The aim of this present study was to determine whether the TLR4 gene rs2149356 SNP is associated with gouty arthritis (GA) susceptibility and whether rs2149356 SNP impacts the TLR4-IL1β signaling pathway molecules expression. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The rs2149356 SNP was detected in 459 GA patients and 669 control subjects (containing 459 healthy and 210 hyperuricemic subjects). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) TLR4 mRNA and serum IL1β were measured in different genotype carriers, and correlations between TLR4 gene SNP and TLR4 mRNA, IL1β were investigated. The frequencies of the genotype and allele were significantly different between the GA and control groups (P

The experiment simulated the logistical transportation of Penaeus monodon. It set four distinct gradient Vitamin C (Vc) addition levels, including 0mg/L, 111mg/L, 222mg/L, and 333mg/L, to investigate the impact of Vc on the anti-stress ability of P. monodon during transportation. And the survival rate following transportation and a 15-day interim rearing period were recorded. Moreover, the alterations in tissue structure and activity of the enzymes alkaline phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and total superoxide dismutase (T-AOC) were checked. The results showed that with the increase of Vc supplemental level, the survival rate of P. monodon after transportation and after 15 days of temporary rearing increased to varying degrees. ACP and AKP in the hepatopancreas increased first and then decreased. T-SOD activity in the 0mg/L group was the lowest and then decreased gradually. The activity of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the 0mg/L group was the lowest and then stabilized. The branchial tissue structure also changed. The branchial tissue blood cell disorder decreased, the diaphragm gradually narrowed, the cornered cortex gradually recovered, and the swelling decreased. In conclusion, Vc positively affects the survival rate of P. monodon after transportation and temporary cultivation and alleviates the stress of P. monodon. The amount of Vc added at about 333mg/Lin, the transportation of P. monodon could play a positive role. The experimental results provide primary data for the transportation of P. monodon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, three genes, PmATP synthase, PmNa+-K+-ATPase and PmToll receptor gene, were selected to study their relative expression in different tissues of Penaeus monodon. The results showed that the mRNA level of PmATP synthase gene was not significantly up-regulated under low salt stimulation (P> 0.05),while under high salinity stimulation, the transcription level of PmATP synthase mRNA reached the maximum at 16th h (P<0.05).The expression level of PmNa+-K+-ATPase mRNA increased at 4th h and 16th h, which was significantly higher than that in the beginning under low salt stimulation (P<0.05) and then decreased at 32nd h,,while under high salinity stimulation, the expression level of PmNa+-K+- ATPase mRNA reached the highest at 8th h and 32nd h. The expression level of PmToll receptor mRNA reached the highest at 4th h after low salinity stimulation (P<0.05), and then down-regulated after 16th h, while under high salinity stress, the expression level was up-regulated and reached the maximum at 8th h, which was 2.4 times of that the in the control group (P<0.05) and decreased at 16th h after stress. PmATP synthase gene was relatively high expression, while PmNa+-K+-ATPase and PmToll receptor gene expression were low, so we guess that the large amounts of ATP of the body synthesis mainly use for the growth of the body. PmNa+-K+-ATPase and PmToll receptor gene expression are relatively high, which indicate that the body osmotic pressure regulation and the body’s immune process consume a lot of energy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel TRY homolog was cloned in Penaeus monodon by RACE technology, named PmTry (GenBank: KP998480). The PmTry cDNA was 916 bp, which encodes 266 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 28.38 KDa and an isoelectric point of 4.58. Homologous analysis indicated that PmTry shared 42%~91% similarity with other species. The phylogenetic tree showed that PmTry was closely related to Fenneropenaeus chinensis. Tissue expression profiles showed that PmTry was most expressed in the hepatopancreas and the lowest in the eyestalk nerve. It was expressed in the whole growth stage of P. monodon, but the relative expression level of each stage was significantly different. In addition, PmTry-524 and PmTry-798 were particularly related to growth traits of P. monodon by genotype. The SNP markers may provide a basis for genetic selection and breed improvement studies in P. monodon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metapenaeus affinis is a crustacean with important commercial value in the fishery of the South China Sea. Overfishing has resulted in the decline of the wild population and germplasm degradation. However, there is little background knowledge about its gonadal development, and there is a lack of research on the development of this species. To better understand the molecular regulatory mechanisms during gonadal development, here, we performed RNA-Seq on immature and mature ovaries and compared their transcriptomic signatures. 126,930,488 and 122,677,356 clean sequencing reads were obtained from the Illumina sequencing platform, respectively. 394 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, of which 136 were up-regulated, and 258 were downregulated. Further analysis revealed rich transcriptional sequences, which have homology with genes related to reproduction and development. Expression patterns of COX, GPX, E3s, PCNA, STPK, and other genes were changed during ovarian development. Validation by qRT-PCR demonstrated the reliability of RNASeq. This study has made a significant contribution to the currently available sequence data of M. affinis and provided reference data for the development of genetic and breeding work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional broodstock diets, being susceptible to virus attacks or carrying the virus to parent shrimps, bring a huge bio-security risk to shrimp breeding. This study was carried out to determine the feasibility of Pheretima tschiliensis as a replacement of traditional bait to accelerate the maturity of parent shrimps of Penaeus monodon, which was verified by the dynamics of vitellogenin gene expression in hepatopancreas and ovary of P. monodon. The parent shrimps fed on four different diets including commercial parent shrimps feed (Diet A), Pheretima tschiliensis combination bait (Diet B), Pheretima tschiliensis (Diet C) and Nereis succinea combination bait (Diet D), and the effect of each diet on the maturity of parent shrimps was evaluated by testing the gonad weight increase rate, eggs amount, average spawning time and levels of VTG mRNA expression. The results showed that P. tschiliensis, as a closely related terrestrial species of N. succinea, had the best effect on maturation of parent shrimps. The highest gonad weight increase rate of 1845.28% and the largest consecutive spawning rate with average value of 70.66% were both in groups fed on P. tschiliensis, with no significant difference from the groups fed on N. succinea combination bait. The dynamics of VTG mRNA level were observed in hepatopancreas and ovary of P. monodon with the trend of increasing firstly and then decreasing, which reflected reproductive performance of the parent shrimps and was suggested to be an indicator of reproductive performance for selective breeding. As a result, P. tschiliensis is a suitable substitute of N. succinea based on its effect on the reproductive traits and VTG mRNA expression level in parent shrimps of P. monodon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the growth response of black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, reared in indoor cement ponds fed at variable daily feeding frequencies. Five hundred healthy shrimp (1.26±0.37 g initial weight) were stocked in 12 cement ponds (5.5x2.5x1.5m). Three ponds in each group were assigned to four different feeding frequency i.e., two, three, four and six times/day designated as FF1, FF2, FF3 and FF4, respectively. Artificial diet (40% fishmeal protein) was used to feed at eight percent of total shrimp body weight per day for a total period of 56 days. The shrimp length and weight were measured fortnightly and the feeding rate was adjusted according to the new weight. At the end of the trial, all shrimp remained healthy and active with the survival rate of 70-85%. The specific growth rate (SGR) were the highest in groups FF3 (4.21±0.53) and FF4 (4.23±1.04), which were significantly higher than those in FF1 (3.82±0.49) and FF2 (4.02±1.03) groups. Whole body proximate composition (protein, ash, moisture and lipid) remained similar in all the treatment groups. It could be concluded that the black tiger shrimp, P. monodon, would be grown in indoor cement ponds effectively by feeding four times day-1 to achieve significantly better growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fertilized eggs of "Nanhai 2" Penaeus monodon bred by our research group were incubated at the same temperature (30°C), different salinity (20, 25, 30, 35, 40), different pH (7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0) and different alkalinity (2.0 mmol/L, 2.5 mmol/L, 3.0 mmol/L, 3.5 mmol/L, 4.0 mmol/L) to explore the effects of salinity, pH and alkalinity on hatching rate of fertilized eggs of P. monodon. The results showed that the hatching rate of fertilization rate of P. monodon was closely related to salinity, and the best hatching rate was obtained when the seawater salinity was 30 with the average hatching rate was 82.60%. The hatching rate was very low when the salinity was as low as 20 or as high as 40, which was significantly lower than that of other treatments (P<0.05). The hatching effect of the fertilized eggs of P. monodon was closely related to the pH value of seawater, and the slightly alkaline seawater was conducive to the normal development of the fertilized eggs. Among them, the hatching effect of the seawater pH value of 8.0 was the best, and the average hatching rate of the fertilized eggs was 80.62%. Too low or too high pH value of the seawater was not conducive to the development of the embryo, and the hatching rate of the fertilized eggs decreased in varying degrees. There was no significant correlation between the hatching effect of fertilized eggs and the change of seawater alkalinity. The average hatching rate of fertilized eggs ranged from 78.65% to 83.12% in the alkalinity range of 2.0-4.0 mmol/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effect of concentrated dephenolic cottonseed protein (CDCP) partly instead of fish meal on the non-specific immune of Penaeus monodon, we designed a single factor test to study the four types of non-specific immunity of P. monodon hepatopancreas after acute salinity stress. A total number of 5,400 P. monodon were selected with an initial body weight of 1.76±0.15g and randomly divide into 6 groups (3 replicates per group, 900 tails per replicate). Shrimp were feed with two protein level diets (Diet A and Diet B). After 8 weeks of feeding, P. monodon were randomly selected with an average weight of 14.71±1.06g in each feed group, and subjected to acute salinity stress of 10ppt and 20ppt after temporary rearing, and the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), Na+-K+-ATPase, cortisol and the content of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured. The results of the study showed that when the CDCP partially replaced fish meal of P. monodon diet, the hepatopancreas HSP70, and the contents of Na+-K+-ATPase and cortisol were significantly higher than those of the control group. In the acute salinity change, there was no significant difference in the survival rate of P. monodon at 48h under the two salinity stresses, and the four immune indexes showed different trends. The expression level of Cortisol was more prominent than that of HSP70, which could better reflect the stress degree of P. monodon. Most of the indicators showed a trend of rising and then falling and then rising compared with the original level, and the changes of the four indicators of hepatopancreas in the Diet B group were significantly higher than those in the Diet A group at most time point of the two salinities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effect of microecological preparations on the growth and stress resistance of Litopenaeus vannamei larvae, different amounts of Bacillus and Lactobacillus bacteria were added to the L. vannamei aquaculture water during seeding. Seven groups were established and the microecological preparations were added every 5 d. Bacillus concentrations in the Y1, Y2 and Y3 groups were 10 ppm, 15 ppm and 20 ppm, respectively, and the Lactobacillus concentrations in the R1, R2 and R3 groups were 20 ppm, 25 ppm and 30 ppm. The control (C) group had no microecological preparation added. Results showed that the Y2 larvae achieved the heaviest body weights, which were significantly higher than those of all other groups (P < 0.05), except for Y3 and R3 (P > 0.05). The body weights of the Y2 group were 27.18%, 11.97%, 27.18% and 23.58% higher than the weights of the C, Y1, R1 and R2 groups, respectively. Furthermore, except for that of the R2 group (P > 0.05), the survival rate of the R3 group was significantly higher than that of the C (34.86%), Y1 (21.49%), Y2 (17.60%), Y3 (15.75%) and R1 (15.75%) groups (P < 0.05). Microecological preparation addition also improved the stress resistance of L. vannamei larvae. Results showed that under stress conditions (60 min in fresh water and a sudden temperature change of 5°C), the survival rate in the two treatment groups was markedly higher than that in the C group (14.46% and 9.65%, respectively; P < 0.05). These results demonstrated that microecological preparations significantly enhanced the growth, survival and stress resistance of L. vannamei larvae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of temperature on oxygen and energy metabolism in the hepatopancreas of the black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) were investigated via the effects of thermal stress on superoxide anion (O2-) production, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, glutathione (GSH) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration, as well as nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and nitric oxide (NO) concentration catalyzed by NOS. Based on biochemical analysis of the above, results showed that O2- production could be induced significantly after cold stress at 15°C and heat stress above 30°C. SOD activity showed a similar changing profile as the concentration of O2- after thermal stress between 15°C and 30°C, and GSH concentration increased significantly under both high and low temperature. The NOS activity and concentration of NO catalyzed by NOS increased significantly after heat stress. The ATP concentration increased significantly after both low and high temperature stress, but returned to the control level after 8 h of recovery. Thus, low and high temperature stress could lead to oxygen metabolism disorder in the hepatopancreas of P. monodon, which might induce antioxidant enzyme responses. Our findings suggest that SOD and GSH might play different roles in the response of the shrimp to low and high temperature, whereas NO might play an important role in the induction of many signaling pathways in response to thermal stress. Additional ATP was also produced after cold and heat stress, suggesting that more energy was required to cope with temperature extremes. Our findings indicate that temperature stress led to oxygen metabolism disorder, possibly due to the temperature being beyond the oxygen- and capacitylimitation of thermal tolerance of P. monodon. Oxygen metabolism disruption might also impact energy metabolism and other physiological activities in P. monodon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence and causes of anemia in the primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). One hundred and thirty-two consecutive patients with pSS were enrolled into the study. Standard hematological and immunological tests and examination of bone marrow were performed. Anemia occurred in 45 (34.1%) patients. The causes of anemia included anemia of chronic disease (69%), autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA, 18%), iron deficiency anemia (9%) and other causes (4%), of which AIHA caused the most severe anemia. The prevalence of ANA, anti-Ro/SSA, and anti-La/SSB was much higher in patients with anemia than those without anemia. Anticardiolipin antibodies were most commonly detected in AIHA; the prevalence of IgG and hypocomplementemia in AIHA was much higher in patients without anemia. Abnormal bone marrow changes were observed in two cases with anemia, one with morphological changes in the myeloid, megakaryocytic, and erythroid lineages and one with hypocellularity in the erythroid lineage. Therefore, pSS patients with anemia may be associated with destruction of peripheral mature blood cells, impaired red cells production, and hematopoietic abnormalities due to an immune mechanism, although the concrete pathogenesis is still unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]