Severe pantothenic acid deficiency induces alterations in the intestinal mucosal proteome of starter Pekin ducks

Pantothenic Acid Alleviates Fat Deposition and Inflammation by Suppressing the JNK/P38 MAPK Signaling Pathway

Excessive fat deposition leads to obesity and cardiovascular diseases with abnormal metabolism. Pantothenic acid (PA) is a major B vitamin required for energy metabolism. However, the effect of PA on lipid metabolism and obesity has not been explored. We investigated the effects and molecular mechanism of PA on fat accumulation as well as the influence of adipogenic marker genes in both adult male mice and primary adipocytes. First, we demonstrated that PA attenuates weight gain in mice fed high-fat diet (HFD). Besides, PA supplementation substantially improved glucose tolerance and lipid metabolic disorder in obese mice. Furthermore, PA significantly inhibited white adipose tissue (WAT) deposition as well as fat droplets visualized by magnification in both chow and HFD group. More importantly, PA obviously suppressed the mRNA levels of CD36, IL-6, and TNF-α to alleviate inflammation and reduced the levels of PPARγ, aP2, and C/EBPα genes that are related to lipid metabolism in inguinal white adipose tissue (ing-WAT) and epididymal white adipose tissue (ei-WAT). In vitro, PA supplementation showed a lower lipid droplet aggregation as well as reduced expression levels of adipogentic genes. Finally, we identified that PA inhibits the phosphorylation levels of p38 and JNK in murine primary adipocytes. Collectively, our data demonstrated for the first time that PA attenuates lipid metabolic disorder as well as fat deposition by JNK/p38 MAPK signaling pathway.

COVID-19 and its genomic variants: Molecular pathogenesis and therapeutic interventions

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), caused by a β-coronavirus and its genomic variants, is associated with substantial morbidities and mortalities globally. The COVID-19 virus and its genomic variants enter host cells upon binding to the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 receptors that are expressed in a variety of tissues, but predominantly in the lungs, heart, and blood vessels. Patients afflicted with COVID-19 may be asymptomatic or present with critical symptoms possibly due to diverse lifestyles, immune responses, aging, and underlying medical conditions. Geriatric populations, especially men in comparison to women, with immunocompromised conditions, are most vulnerable to severe COVID-19 associated infections, complications, and mortalities. Notably, whereas immunomodulation, involving nutritional consumption, is essential to protecting an individual from COVID-19, immunosuppression is detrimental to a person with this aggressive disease. As such, immune health is inversely correlated to COVID-19 severity and resulting consequences. Advances in genomic and proteomic technologies have helped us to understand the molecular events underlying symptomatology, transmission and, pathogenesis of COVID-19 and its genomic variants. Accordingly, there has been development of a variety of therapeutic interventions, ranging from mask wearing to vaccination to medication. This review summarizes the current understanding of molecular pathogenesis of COVID-19, effects of comorbidities on COVID-19, and prospective therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of this contagious disease.

Operable hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: gut microbiota profile of patients at different ages

Background

Age was important prognostic factors for operable hepatocellular carcinoma patients. The aim of the present study was to assess the difference in gut microbiota in patients with operable hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HBV-HCC) at different ages ; to investigate the features of the microbiota and its function associated with different ages; to provide a preliminary look at effects of the gut microbiota dimension on prognostic.

Methods

From September 2020 to May 2021, patients with HBV-HCC were able to undergo liver resection and were recruited consecutively and divided into the younger age group (age <45 years) (Y.AG) (n=20), middle age group (age from 45 to 65 years) (M.AG) (n=13) 45–65 years, and older age group (age >65 years) (O.AG) (n=20). The relationships between gut microbiota and different ages were explored using 16S rRNA gene sequencing data. PICRUST2 was used to examine the metagenomic data in PHLF patients. Fisher’s exact and Mann-Whitney U-test were used for the data analysis.

Results

Pairwise comparison between the three groups showed that the α-diversity of Y.AG was significantly higher than that of O.AG (ACE Index, P=0.017; chao1 Index, P=0.031; observed_species Index, P=0.011; and goods_coverage Index, P=0.041). The β-diversity in the 3 groups differed significantly (stress =0.100), while the composition (β-diversity) differed significantly between the Y.AG and the M.AG (stress =0.090), the M.AG and the O.AG (stress =0.095), and the Y.AG and the O.AG (stress =0.099). At the genus level, 7 bacterial genera were significantly enriched in the O.AG compared with the Y.AG, of which Streptococcus, Blautia, Erysipelotrichaceae_UCG-003, and Fusicatenibacter represented the major variances in O.AG microbiomes. Eleven genera were significantly increased in the O.AG, of which Prevotella, Allorhizobium-Neorhizobium-Pararhizobium-Rhizobium, Ruminiclostridium, and Phascolarctobacterium represented the major variances in the O.AG. The Y.AG and the O.AG were predicted by PICRUSt2 analysis, which found 72 pathways related to differential gut microbiome at the genus level. Redundancy analysis showed that 7 environmental factors were significantly correlated with intestinal microorganisms, especially in the Y.AG compared with the O.AG.

Conclusions

Analysis of gut microbiota characteristics in patients of different ages could ultimately contribute to the development of novel avenues for the treatment of HCC at different ages.

Effects of Pantothenic Acid Supplementation on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits, Plasma Parameters of Starter White Pekin Ducks Fed a Corn-Soybean Meal Diet

Simple Summary

The yield of meat duck has increased over the past decade. Precise nutrition of ducks would contribute to improve growth performance and feed efficiency. As one of the important B-vitamins, pantothenic acid is essential for animals, and the deficiency of this vitamin could lead to growth depression, high mortality, and abnormal glucose metabolism. Similarly, pantothenic acid is also needed for ducks. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of dietary pantothenic acid levels on growth performance, carcass traits, and plasma biochemical parameters of ducks, as well as the pantothenic acid requirement of ducks based on conventional corn–soybean meal diets. The results showed that among all ducks, the birds fed the basal diet without pantothenic acid supplementation had the lowest growth performance, breast meat yield, and plasma pantothenic acid and glucose contents. In addition, all these parameters increased linearly or quadratically as the dietary pantothenic acid level increased. The pantothenic acid requirements of starter male white Pekin ducks were 13.29–15.0 mg/kg. The data potentially provides theoretical support for the utilization of pantothenic acid in duck production.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different dietary pantothenic acid levels on growth performance, carcass traits, and plasma biochemical parameters of starter Pekin ducks from 1 to 21 days of age, as well as the pantothenic acid requirement of starter ducks. A total of 384 one-day-old male white Pekin ducklings were assigned randomly into 6 dietary treatments, each with 8 replicate pens of 8 ducks. Ducks were fed conventional basal corn–soybean diets containing 8.5, 10.5, 12.5, 14.5, 16.5, and 18.5 mg/kg pantothenic acid for 21 days. Growth depression, poor pantothenic acid status, fasting hypoglycemia, and elevated plasma uric acid (UA) content were observed in the ducks fed the pantothenic acid-deficient basal diet (p < 0.05), and these adverse effects were ameliorated by pantothenic acid supplementation. Among all ducks, the birds fed the basal diet with no supplementation of pantothenic acid had the lowest body weight, average daily weight gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), breast meat yield, and plasma pantothenic acid and glucose contents (p < 0.05), and the greatest plasma UA content (p < 0.05). In addition, all these parameters showed a linear or quadratic response as dietary pantothenic acid levels increased (p < 0.05). According to broken-line regression, the pantothenic acid requirements of starter male white Pekin ducks for body weight, ADG, and plasma pantothenic acid content were 13.36, 13.29, and 15.0 mg/kg, respectively. The data potentially provides theoretical support for the utilization of pantothenic acid in duck production.