Application of Nuclear rDNA Phylogeny in Coniferopsida and Taxaceae

Due to differences in morphology, ecology and biology, the phylogenesis of Coniferopsida and Taxaceae remains controversial, and the phylogenetic relationship of Pseudotaxus is yet to be confirmed. Three rDNA regions, ITS1, 5.8S rDNA, and ITS2, were prepared for 77 species belonging to seven families of Coniferopsida, including Taxaceae. Maximum parsimony(MP)and Neighbor-joining(NJ) analyses were performed. Results showed that:(1) the Coniferopsida species formed three branches:(Taxaceae, Cephalotaxaceae, Cupressaceae, Taxodiaceae),(Araucariaceae, Podocarpaceae), and(Pinaceae);(2) Taxaceae included Taxus, Pseudotaxus, Amentotaxus, and Torreya; and(3) Pseudotaxus belonged to Taxaceae, with a support rate of 97%in MP analyses and 99% in NJ analyses.

Application of Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria in patients with liver cirrhosis

Background:The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition(GLIM)criteria were published to build a global consensus on nutritional diagnosis.Reduced muscle mass is a phenotypic criterion with strong evidence to support its inclusion in the GLIM consensus criteria.However,there is no consensus regarding how to accurately measure and define reduced muscle mass in clinical settings.This study aimed to investigate the optimal reference values of skeletal muscle mass index for diagnosing sarcopenia and GLIM-defined malnutrition,as well as the prevalence of GLIM-defined malnutrition in hospitalized cirrhotic patients.Methods:This retrospective study was conducted on 1002 adult patients with liver cirrhosis between January 1,2018,and February 28,2022,at Beijing You-An Hospital,Capital Medical University.Adult patients with a clinical diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and who underwent an abdominal computed tomography(CT)examination during hospitalization were included in the study.These patients were randomly divided into a modeling group(cohort 1,667 patients)and a validation group(cohort 2,335 patients).In cohort 1,optimal cut-off values of skeletal muscle index at the third lumbar skeletal muscle index(L3-SMI)were determined using receiver operating characteristic analyses against in-hospital mortality in different gender groups.Next,patients in cohort 2 were screened for nutritional risk using the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002(NRS-2002),and malnutrition was diagnosed by GLIM criteria.Additionally,the reference values of reduced muscle mass in GLIM criteria were derived from the L3-SMI values from cohort 1.Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between GLIM-defined malnutrition and clinical outcomes.Results:The optimal cut-off values of L3-SMI were 39.50 cm 2/m 2 for male patients and 33.06 cm 2/m 2 for female patients.Based on the cut-off values,31.63%(68/215)of the male patients and 23.3%(28/120)of the female patients had CT-determined sarcopenia in cohort 2.The prevalence of GLIM-defined malnutrition in cirrhotic patients was 34.3%(115/335)and GLIM-defined malnutrition was an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis(Wald=6.347,P=0.012).Conclusions:This study provided reference values for skeletal muscle mass index and the prevalence of GLIM-defined malnutrition in hospitalized patients with liver cirrhosis.These reference values will contribute to applying the GLIM criteria in cirrhotic patients.

LONP1 ameliorates liver injury and improves gluconeogenesis dysfunction in acute-on-chronic liver failure

Background:Acute-on-chronic liver failure(ACLF)is a severe liver disease with complex pathogenesis.Clinical hypoglycemia is common in patients with ACLF and often predicts a worse prognosis.Accumulating evidence suggests that glucose metabolic disturbance,especially gluconeogenesis dysfunction,plays a critical role in the disease progression of ACLF.Lon protease-1(LONP1)is a novel mediator of energy and glucose metabolism.However,whether gluconeogenesis is a potential mechanism through which LONP1 modulates ACLF remains unknown.Methods:In this study,we collected liver tissues from ACLF patients,established an ACLF mouse model with carbon tetrachloride(CCl 4),lipopolysaccharide(LPS),and D-galactose(D-gal),and constructed an in vitro hypoxia and hyperammonemia-triggered hepatocyte injury model.LONP1 overexpression and knockdown adenovirus were used to assess the protective effect of LONP1 on liver injury and gluconeogenesis regulation.Liver histopathology,biochemical index,mitochondrial morphology,cell viability and apoptosis,and the expression and activity of key gluconeogenic enzymes were detected to explore the underlying protective mechanisms of LONP1 in ACLF.Results:We found that LONP1 and the expressions of gluconeogenic enzymes were downregulated in clinical ACLF liver tissues.Furthermore,LONP1 overexpression remarkably attenuated liver injury,which was characterized by improved liver histopathological lesions and decreased serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)in ACLF mice.Moreover,mitochondrial morphology was improved upon overexpression of LONP1.Meanwhile,the expression and activity of the key gluconeogenic enzymes were restored by LONP1 overexpression.Similarly,the hepatoprotective effect was also observed in the hepatocyte injury model,as evidenced by improved cell viability,reduced cell apoptosis,and improved gluconeogenesis level and activity,while LONP1 knockdown worsened liver injury and gluconeogenesis disorders.Conclusion:We demonstrated that gluconeogenesis dysfunction exists in ACLF,and LONP1 could ameliorate liver injury and improve gluconeogenic dysfunction,which would provide a promising therapeutic target for patients with ACLF.