Search

Introduction: Introduction: probiotics might have a potential effect to manage serum lipid levels as nutraceuticals. Objective: this systematic review was conducted to explore whether probiotics have an efficient result in non-obese healthy adults with hyperlipidemia. Methods: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science were searched for randomized controlled trials (from their commencement to January 2021). This meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager 5.3 and STATA 15.1. Changes in serum lipid levels after the intervention were used to evaluate the effect of the probiotics, which were expressed as the weighted mean difference (WMD) with a 95 % confidence interval (CI). Results: a total of 16 studies, which could be regarded as 21 independent trials with 1429 participants, were included in this meta-analysis following our inclusion criteria. It could be observed that probiotics could significantly lower total cholesterol (TC) (WMD: -0.34 mmol/L, 95 % CI: -0.45 to -0.23 mmol/L; p < 0.001, I2 = 73.9 %) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (WMD: -0.26 mmol/L, 95 % CI: -0.36 to -0.17 mmol/L; p < 0.001, I2 = 79.0 %) levels in non-obese healthy adults with hyperlipidemia, while no significant effect between the probiotic intervention and control groups was observed on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (WMD: 0.00 mmol/L, 95 % CI: -0.02 to 0.02 mmol/L; p = 0.001, I2 = 56.6 %) and triglyceride (TG) (WMD: -0.08 mmol/L, 95 % CI: -0.18 to 0.01 mmol/L; p = 0.003, I2 = 52.4 %) levels. Conclusion: this systematic review showed that probiotics may provide a promising way to reduce serum lipid levels in non-obese healthy adults with hyperlipidemia, but their specific effect still needs more clinical experiments to be proven.

Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is well known for its multidrug resistance profile. Carbapenems have been considered the treatment of choice for E. coli ST131 infections, and resistance to carbapenems is emerging due to the acquisition of carbapenemase-encoding genes. In this study, 45 carbapenem-resistant E. coli strains were collected in a hospital. The resistance mechanisms, plasmid profiles, and genetic relatedness of these strains were determined. Phylogenetic relationships between these strains were assessed by molecular profiling and aligned with patient clinical details. The genetic context of bla KPC- 2 was analyzed to trace the potential dissemination of bla KPC- 2 . The 45 carbapenem-resistant E. coli ST131 strains were closely related. Initially prevalent only in a single ward, ST131 subsequently spread to other ward, resulting in a respiratory infection outbreak of carbapenem-resistant E. coli ST131. Eight of the 30 patients died within 28 days of the first isolation of E. coli ST131. The bla KPC- 2 -positive plasmid profiles suggest that the carbapenem resistance was due to the acquisition by E. coli ST131 of transmissible plasmids pE0272&#95;KPC and pE0171&#95;KPC carrying bla KPC- 2 . Additionally, diverse multidrug resistance elements were transferred and rearranged between these plasmids mediated by IS26. Our research indicates that clinical attention should be paid to the importance of E. coli ST131 in respiratory infections and the spread of bla KPC -carrying E. coli ST131., (Copyright © 2020 Gong, Tang, Chen, Sun, Lan, Zhang, Zhou, Yuan, Chen, Zhao, Che, Bai, Zhang, Xu, Walsh, Lu, Xu, Li and Feng.)

N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU), a well known alkylating agent, is a powerful mutagen in mouse spermatogonia that is frequently used to generate mutant mice for the study of gene function. The present study was performed to investigate the toxic effects of a suggested ENU treatment protocol (100 mg/kg ENU once a week for three consecutive weeks) on the C57BL/6J mouse testis using light and transmission electron microscopy, with reference to testis weight and sperm count. Time-dependent changes in the weight of the testes, sperm counts and testicular morphology were observed, following an injury and recovery pattern; the most severe damage was observed in week four after the first injection of ENU, and then the testis gradually recovered. By the end of the experiment (week 12), the testis weights and sperm counts of the ENU-treated mice had restored to around 80% of the respective values in the control group. Histopathological alterations in the testis were identified by light and electron microscopy, which revealed that ENU led to a temporary depletion in the number of spermatogenic cells via direct and indirect toxic effects, including apoptosis and growth arrest in spermatogonia, Sertoli cell damage and peritubular cell injury. The results of this study complement the existing basic information on the toxicity of ENU in the testis, and provide scientific information for selecting the appropriate mating time for ENU-treated male mice.