Search

This study focuses on the relationship between circulating pentraxin 3 (PTX3) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 can initiate the inflammatory reaction of the body, trigger a series of immune mechanisms, and cause death in severe cases. PTX3 is a soluble pattern recognition molecule (PRM) belonging to the humoral innate immune system, which may be increasingly deemed as an independent strong prognostic indicator in severe infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. Five databases (Pubmed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Clinicaltrials.gov, and gray literature) were searched for six keywords. There was no significant difference in circulating PTX3 levels between intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU patients with COVID-19, while the PTX3 levels of nonsurvival patients with COVID-19 was significantly lower than those of survival patients. Circulating PTX3 may indicate good diagnostic value in predicting the mortality of COVID-19, which may be useful as an indicator for monitoring.

In this work, a reaction-based ratiometric and colorimetric sensor was designed and synthesized for probing bisulfite (HSO3–) by coupling coumarin (CM) with barbituric (BA) moiety. Further tests have shown that CM–BAhas high selectivity and sensitivity for the recognition of HSO3–, which can be applied for the detection of HSO3–in environmental and biological systems very effectively. The fluorescence intensity ratios (F462/F568) exhibited an outstanding HSO3–-dependent response with ultrafast response time (within 20 s) and a lower detection limit (105 nM). Meanwhile, the color of the CM–BAsolution changed from green to colorless during the recognition process, and its fluorescence changed from green to blue. The mechanism of response is confirmed by the density functional theory (DFT) model. In summary, CM–BAhas demonstrated low toxicity and good permeability, which can be applied for imaging HSO3–in cells and zebrafish safely and effectively. Besides, this novel sensor CM–BAsuccessfully realized the quantification of the concentration of HSO3–in paper strips and food samples.

Subclinical hypocalcaemia (SH) is an important metabolic disease in dairy cows that has a serious impact on production performance. The objective of this study was to investigate novel aspects of pathogenesis using proteomics technology to identify proteins that are differentially expressed in diseased and healthy animals. Dairy cows were divided into an SH group (T, n= 10) and a control group (C, n= 10) based on plasma calcium concentration. A total of 398 differentially expressed proteins were identified, of which 265 proteins were overlapped in the two parallel experiments. Of these, 24 differentially expressed proteins were statistically significant. Gene Ontology analysis yielded 74 annotations, including 7 cellular component, 55 biological process and 12 molecular function categories. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that calcium regulation, immune and inflammatory response, blood coagulation and complement pathway were all related to SH. Our iTRAQ/LC-MS/MS (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification/liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry) approach proved highly effective for plasma protein profiling of dairy cows with SH, and the results pave the way for further studies in this area.

Background:Ketosis is an important metabolic disorder in dairy cows during the transition period. The urine proteomics of ketosis has not been investigated using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS).Objective:The aim is to determine differences between urine proteomic profiles of healthy cows and those with clinical ketosis, and facilitate studies of the underlying physiological and biochemical mechanisms that lead to liver pathology in ketosis.Animals and methods:We analyzed the urine samples of 20 cows with clinical ketosis (group 1) and 20 control cows (group 2) using SELDI-TOF-MS.Results:Thirty-nine peptide peaks differed between both groups. Polypeptides corresponding to 26 of these differential peptide peaks were identified using the SWISS-PROT protein database. We found that the peaks of 11 distinct polypeptides from the urine samples of the ketosis group were significantly reduced, compared with those of the control group as based on the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Among these were VGF (non-acronymic) protein, amyloid precursor protein, serum amyloid A (SAA), fibrinogen, C1INH, apolipoprotein C-III, cystatin C, transthyretin, hepcidin, human neutrophil peptides, and osteopontin.Conclusion:These proteins may represent novel biomarkers of the metabolic changes that occur in dairy cows with ketosis. Our results will help to better understand the physiological changes and pathogenesis observed in cows with ketosis.Clinical importance:The SELDI-TOF-MS can be used to understand the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of ketosis and identify biomarkers of the disease.

Background:Milk fever (MF) is a common calcium metabolism disorder in perinatal cows. Currently, information regarding the detailed metabolism in cows suffering from MF is scant.Objective:The purpose was to study the metabolic profiling of serum samples from cows with MF in comparison to control cows, and thereby exploring other underlying pathological mechanisms of this disease.Animals and methods:In the current study, we compared the serum metabolomic profile of dairy cows with MF (n= 8) to that of healthy dairy cows (n= 24) using a 500-MHz digital 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectrometer. Based on their clinical presentation and serum calcium concentration, cows were assigned either to the control group (no MF symptoms and serum calcium concentration >2.5 mmol/L) or to the MF group (MF symptoms and serum calcium concentration <1.4 mmol/L). For statistical analysis, a one-way analysis of variance was performed.Results:We identified differences regarding nine metabolites between the two groups, among which glucose, alanine, glycerol, phosphocreatine, and gamma-aminobutyrate decreased, and β-hydroxybutyrate, acetone, pyruvate, and lysine increased in cows with MF. Most of these were carbohydrates and amino acids involved in various energy metabolism pathways.Conclusion:The different metabolites in cows with MF reflected the pathological features of negative energy balance and fat mobilization, suggesting that MF is associated with altered energy metabolism.Clinical importance:The 1H-NMR spectroscopy can be used to understand the pathogenesis of MF and identify biomarkers of the disease.