Mei (Prunus mume) is an ornamental woody plant that has been domesticated in East Asia for thousands of years. High diversity in floral traits, along with its recent genome sequence, makes mei an ideal model system for studying the evolution of woody plants. Here, we investigate the genetic architecture of floral traits in mei and its domestication history by sampling and resequencing a total of 351 samples including 348 mei accessions and three other Prunus species at an average sequencing depth of 19.3×. Highly-admixed population structure and introgression from Prunus species are identified in mei accessions. Through a genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identify significant quantitative traits locus (QTLs) and genomic regions where several genes, such as MYB108, are positively associated with petal color, stigma color, calyx color, and bud color. Results from this study shed light on the genetic basis of domestication in flowering plants, particularly woody plants.
To observe slimming effect of acupuncture for females of obesity of different types, and search for the best indication of acupuncture.Eighty-three cases were divided into two groups: an abdominal obesity group (n = 31) with exceeding standard waist circumference (WC) and Body mass index (BMI)< 25, and an obesity group (n = 52) of simple obesity (BMI>25). They were treated by same acupuncture therapy for one month.BMI, WC and the ratio of WC to hip circumference (WHR) lowered in the two groups with very significant differences as compared with those before treatment (P<0.01 or P<0.05). In the abdominal obesity group, changes of WC and WHR were positively correlated to changes of BMI (P<0.01 or P<0.05). In the obesity group, WC was positively correlated to BMI (P<0.01) and WHR was not significantly correlated to BMI (P>0.05).Acupuncture has very good effects of slimming and reducing the waist circumference for the female of abdominal obesity with exceeding standard WC, or the patient of simple obesity, and it is suitable to obesity of different types.
Introduction: Statins, first introduced in 1987 as a revolutionary cholesterol lowering agent, are known for possibly causing mild elevations in alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Despite this, clinically relevant drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a rare phenomenon. While their cardioprotection is exerted multimodally, most notably through HMG-CoA reductase inhibition, less is known about their effect on the immune system. We present a rare case of statin induced autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Case Description/Methods: This is a 71-year-old female with type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypothyroidism, and hyperlipidemia was admitted for transaminitis, 6-8 weeks of right-sided abdominal discomfort, lethargy, and dark urine. One week prior to her onset of symptoms she was initiated on atorvastatin, which she discontinued after 2 weeks due to its correlation with her symptoms. Her initial labs were alkaline phosphatase 255, AST 873, ALT 672 and direct bilirubin 1.5. Cross-sectional imaging and ultrasound was negative liver or biliary findings. Serologic workup showed positive ANA, ANCA 1:10240, ASMA 1:320 and an elevated IgG to 2,320. AMA, MPO, viral hepatitis, and HIV were all negative. Liver biopsy demonstrated active portal and lobular hepatitis with abundant plasma cells and marked interface activity with lobular perivenular accentuation, confirming the diagnosis of atorvastatin induced liver injury. She has shown marked improvement in her LFTs and symptoms with budesonide and mycophenolate mofetil. Discussion: Statins are considered safe medications but can on occasion cause rhabdomyolysis and rarely severe hepatotoxicity. Literature review reports the risk of severe statin induced hepatotoxicity at ∼0.001% While it is difficult to deduce the difference between drug induced AIH and DILI histologically, portal neutrophil infiltration favors DILI while portal and intra-acinar plasma cell infiltration favor drug induced AIH, consistent with our patient’s presentation. Presently, the mechanism of injury is unknown, but it is believed that reactive metabolites from hepatic metabolism and drug clearance will binding to intracellular proteins that are subsequently recognized as antigenic by the immune system. Since literature dating back the 1950s, there have only been 16 other cases of statin induced AIH. Given how ubiquitous statins are prescribed by physicians, more data is needed to understand the mechanism of injury to prevent severe hepatotoxic complications in the future.
Apricot mei, a hybrid of Prunus mume and Prunus sibirica, usually has greater cold resistance than P. mume; however, most varieties of Apricot mei lack the characteristic floral scent of P. mume. The volatile and intracellular metabolites, activity levels of key enzymes, and transcriptomes of blooming flowers were comprehensively investigated in five varieties of P. mume. Benzyl acetate and eugenol were determined to be the main components of the P. mume floral scent. However, benzyl benzoate and benzyl alcohol benzoyltransferase activity was detected in only the low-fragrance varieties "Dan Fenghou" and "Yanxing." No benzyl alcohol or benzaldehyde reductase (BAR) activity was detected in the non-fragrant variety "Fenghou." PmBAR1 and PmBAR3 were identified as the key genes responsible for BAR activity. The lack of benzyl alcohol synthesis in the "Fenghou" variety was caused by low activity of PmBAR1-Fen and low expression of PmBAR3. The 60-aa segment at the N-terminus of PmBAR3 was found to play an important role in its enzymatic activity. Correlation tests between floral scent metabolites and the transcriptomes of the five different scented varieties showed that some transcripts associated with hormones, stresses, posttranslational modifications and transporters may also play important regulatory roles in floral scent metabolism in the different varieties.
Introduction: Lymphocytic esophagitis (LyE) is a new and emerging immune-mediated esophageal disease, manifesting clinically as dysphagia. Its natural history and effective treatments remain poorly characterized. We present a patient with LyE complicated by esophageal strictures refractory to proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy, who demonstrated clinical, endoscopic and histologic improvement on swallowed oral viscous budesonide (OVB). Case Description/Methods: A 77-year-old nonsmoker nonatopic female with a history of remote buccal lichen planus, lymphocytic colitis, depression, anxiety, osteoarthritis, presented with chronic progressively worsening dysphagia to solids refractory to omeprazole 20 mg twice daily. Initial EGD elsewhere showed a narrowed esophagus with diffuse pallor, edema, decreased vascularity, diffuse rings, mucosal scarring, and distal strictures status post dilation. Esophageal biopsies showed LyE with >25 intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL)/hpf proximally and distally. Our index EGD, 5 months after the initial outside EGD, revealed similar findings requiring esophageal dilation to 15-mm. Optimization of omeprazole was attempted but was limited to 20 mg daily due to dizziness. Repeat EGD after 3 months (month 8) showed worsening disease. OVB at 2 mg twice daily was added at month 9 to low-dose PPI, with clinical improvement within 2 weeks. OVB was reduced to 1 mg twice daily after 3 months due to joint pain. After 5 months on OVB and low-dose PPI, EGD showed partial improvement, with histologic remission proximally but not distally. EGD after 2 additional months on OVB monotherapy, off PPI, showed continued endoscopic improvement with decreased edema, improved vascularity, and improved esophageal caliber with no mucosal scarring. Mild diffuse esophageal rings were still present but appeared improved. Two distal esophageal strictures were dilated to 15-mm. Pan-esophageal biopsies improved histologically. Patient remains clinically improved on reduced OVB dose at 0.5 mg twice daily. Discussion: LyE has clinical and endoscopic features reminiscent of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE); however, esophageal non-granulocytic infiltration with >20 peripapillary IEL/hpf is a predominant histologic feature within a spongiotic epithelium. Guidance for LyE therapy has not been established. Using OVB dosing regimen from EoE clinical trials, our case details longitudinal clinical, endoscopic and histologic outcomes in PPI-refractory LyE with treatment response to OVB, serving a basis for future studies.
Immunohistochemical stains are routinely used to detect abnormal DNA mismatch repair (MMR) protein expression in colorectal carcinomas, particularly when Lynch syndrome is suspected. Complete loss of MMR protein expression is often associated with underlying microsatellite instability (MSI), and the combined results of mutL homolog 1 (MLH1), postmeiotic segregation increased 2 (PMS2), mutS homolog 2 (MSH2), or mutS homolog 6 (MSH6) immunostains may point to the defective MMR protein in tumors with MSI. We have noted that some neoadjuvantly treated colorectal carcinomas display loss of MMR protein immunoexpression, despite a lack of underlying MSI and preserved staining in pretreatment tumor samples. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of this finding. We identified 51 neoadjuvantly treated resected colorectal cancers. Posttreatment tumor samples were immunohistochemically stained with MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6 antibodies. Loss of staining for any marker was followed by analysis for MSI and assessment of MMR protein expression in pretreatment tumor samples. All of the 51 posttreatment tumor samples showed preserved MLH1, PMS2, and MSH2, but 10 posttreatment tumor samples (20%) showed decreased MSH6 staining. Of these, 9 posttreatment tumor samples displayed loss of staining in less than 100% of tumor cells, but preserved MSH6 expression in pretreatment tumor samples. One case showed a complete absence of MSH6 staining in both pretreatment and posttreatment tumor samples. All 10 cases were microsatellite stable. We conclude that extensive loss of MSH6 immunoexpression is common among neoadjuvantly treated colorectal carcinomas, but generally does not reflect underlying MSI. Therefore, diminished MSH6 staining in treated tumors should prompt immunohistochemical evaluation of pretreatment biopsy samples before genetic testing for Lynch syndrome.
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