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Background: Vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is associated with an altered microbiota in older men. However, the relationship between the gut microbiota and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels remains unknown in postmenopausal women. In this study, fecal microbiota profiles for 88 postmenopausal women in the high 25(OH)D (HVD) group (n = 44) and the low 25(OH)D (LVD) group (n = 44) were determined. An integrated 16S rRNA gene sequencing and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS)-based metabolomics approach was applied to explore the association of serum 25(OH)D levels with the gut microbiota and fecal metabolic phenotype. Adjustments were made using several statistical models for potential confounding variables identified from the literature. Results: The results demonstrated that the community diversity estimated by the Observe, Chao1 and ACE indexes was significantly lower in the LVD group than in the HVD group. Additionally, two kinds of characteristic differences in the microflora were analyzed in the HVD group, and ten kinds of characteristic differences in the microflora were analyzed in the LVD group. We observed that some bacteria belonging to the genera Bifidobacterium, Bacillus, F0332 and Gemella, were enriched in the LVD group, as were other genera, including Lachnoclostridium, UC5_1_2E3, Ruminococcus_gnavus_group and un_f_Lachnospiraceae. Christensenellaceae, Eggerthellaceae and Cloacibacillus were enriched in the HVD group. The L-pyroglutamic acid, inosine, and L-homocysteic acid levels were higher in the HVD group and were negatively correlated with the 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid and cholic acid metabolic levels. Conclusions: These observations provide a better understanding of the relationships between serum 25(OH)D levels and the fecal microbiota and metabolites in postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study hoped to explore the potential biomarkers and associated metabolites during osteosarcoma (OS) progression based on bioinformatics integrated analysis. Methods: Gene expression profiles of GSE28424, including 19 human OS cell lines (OS group) and 4 human normal long bone tissue samples (control group), were downloaded. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in OS vs. control were investigated. The enrichment investigation was performed based on DEGs, followed by protein–protein interaction network analysis. Then, the feature genes associated with OS were explored, followed by survival analysis to reveal prognostic genes. The qRT-PCR assay was performed to test the expression of these genes. Finally, the OS-associated metabolites and disease-metabolic network were further investigated. Results: Totally, 357 DEGs were revealed between the OS vs. control groups. These DEGs, such as CXCL12, were mainly involved in functions like leukocyte migration. Then, totally, 38 feature genes were explored, of which 8 genes showed significant associations with the survival of patients. High expression of CXCL12, CEBPA, SPARCL1, CAT, TUBA1A, and ALDH1A1 was associated with longer survival time, while high expression of CFLAR and STC2 was associated with poor survival. Finally, a disease-metabolic network was constructed with 25 nodes including two disease-associated metabolites cyclophosphamide and bisphenol A (BPA). BPA showed interactions with multiple prognosis-related genes, such as CXCL12 and STC2. Conclusion: We identified 8 prognosis-related genes in OS. CXCL12 might participate in OS progression via leukocyte migration function. BPA might be an important metabolite interacting with multiple prognosis-related genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhodiola crenulata has been widely used as a health food, antifatigue and antidepressant in China and many other countries for centuries. However, to date the metabolism of it in vivo still remains unclear. In this study, UHPLC-FT-ICR MS was used to analyze the major components and their metabolites in rats after oral administration of Rhodiola crenulata for the first time. A total of 179 constituents, including 37 prototype compounds and 142 metabolites (89 phase I metabolites and 53 phase II metabolites) were tentatively identified. The metabolic pathways included hydroxylation, deglycosylation, dehydrogenation, glucuronidation and sulphate conjugation. In summary, this study showed an insight into the metabolism of Rhodiola crenulata in vivo , which may provide helpful chemical information for better understanding the multiple functions of it. And also, the developed method could be used as a reliable strategy to study the metabolic profile for other traditional chinese medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, a reliable and sensitive ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry method was developed for the systematic study of the metabolic profile of Kudiezi injection in rat plasma, bile, urine, and feces after intravenous administration of a single dose. The chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent Eclipse Plus C18 column (4.6 mm × 50 mm, 1.8 μm) and the identification of prototype components and metabolites was achieved on a Bruker Solarix 7.0 T ultra‐high resolution spectrometer in negative ion mode. Results indicated that a total of 76 constituents including 29 prototype compounds and 47 metabolites (10 phase I metabolites and 37 phase II metabolites) were tentatively identified. And the metabolic pathways of these prototype compounds including hydroxylation, dehydrogenation, glucuronidation, and sulfate conjugation. In conclusion, the developed method with high resolution and sensitivity was effective for screening and identification of prototypes and metabolites of Kudiezi injection in vivo. Moreover, these results would provide significant information for further pharmacokinetic and pharmacological research of Kudiezi injection in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Endophyte induced JA accumulation, promoted ET and Pip biosynthesis. • Jasmonic acid and ET positively regulated host's disease resistance. • Endophyte promoted phenolics accumulation in host via L-tyrosine metabolism pathway. • Endophyte might induced ISR in host via JA/ET signaling pathways. Epichloë endophytes can improve the resistance of host grasses to pathogenic fungi in grasslands. However, little is known about the mechanisms involved. We investigated the mechanisms underlying the effect of Epichloë sibirica on the resistance of Achnatherum sibiricum to Curvularia lunata by metabolomics approaches. The results demonstrated that before and after pathogen inoculation, 58 and 157 differential metabolites (DMs) were respectively induced by endophytes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses of DMs showed that amino acids and phenols were mostly accumulated by endophytic infection. Moreover, integrated transcriptome and metabolomics KEGG analyses revealed that plant hormone signal transduction was significantly enriched. After measurement, we found that endophytic infection increased jasmonic acid (JA) concentration before pathogen inoculation and increased ethylene (ET) and pipecolic acid concentration after pathogen inoculation. Exogenous phytohormones treatment verified that endophytes improved the disease resistance of A. sibiricum by promoting JA and ET accumulation. In phenylpropanoid synthetic pathway, the endophytes promoted the accumulation of ferulic acid, p-coumaroylagmatine, and feruloylputrescine which was related to resistance against plant disease. Overall, our research suggests that Epichloë endophytes presumably trigger induced systemic resistance of the hosts to pathogenic fungi via activating JA/ET signaling pathways and promoted antimicrobial phenol accumulation in hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]