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Berries contain vitamin C and are also a rich source of phytochemicals, especially anthocyanins which occur along with other classes of phenolic compounds, including ellagitannins, flavan-3-ols, procyanidins, flavonols and hydroxybenzoate derivatives. This review examines studies with both human subjects and animals on the absorption of these compounds, and their glucuronide, sulphate and methylated metabolites, into the circulatory system from the gastrointestinal tract and the evidence for their localisation within the body in organs such as the brain and eyes. The involvement of the colonic microflora in catabolising dietary flavonoids that pass from the small to the large intestine is discussed along with the potential fate and role of the resultant phenolic acids that can be produced in substantial quantities. The in vitro and in vivo bioactivities of these polyphenol metabolites and catabolites are assessed, and the current evidence for their involvement in the protective effects of dietary polyphenols, within the gastrointestinal tract and other parts of the body to which they are transported by the circulatory system, is reviewed.

(1) Background: Numerous meta-analyses have shown that a high intake of dietary fiber plays a protective role in preventing the development of various types of cancer. However, previous studies have been limited by focusing on a single type of dietary fiber and variations in outcome measures, which may not be effectively applied to provide dietary guidance for the general population. (2) Object: We summarized the meta-analysis of dietary fiber and cancer, and provided references for residents to prevent cancer. (3) Methods: Systematic search of relevant meta-analyses on the association between dietary fiber and cancer occurrence in PubMed, Web of Science and other databases was conducted from the time of database construction to February 2023. The method logical and evidence quality assessments were performed by applying the criteria in the “A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews-2” (AMSTAR2) scale and the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) Expert Report, respectively. (4) Results: Our analysis included 11 meta-analyses, and the AMSTAR 2 assessment revealed that the overall methodological quality was suboptimal, with two key items lacking sufficient information. Nonetheless, our findings indicate that a high intake of dietary fiber is associated with a reduced risk of several types of cancer, including esophageal, gastric, colon, rectal, colorectal adenoma, breast, endometrial, ovarian, renal cell, prostate, and pancreatic cancers. The majority of these associations were supported by a “probable” level of evidence. (5) Conclusions: Dietary fiber intake has different protective effects on different cancers.

Male preponderance in autistic behavioral impairment has been explained in terms of a hypothetical protective effect of female sex, yet little research has tested this hypothesis empirically. If females are protected, they should require greater etiologic load to manifest the same degree of impairment as males. The objective of this analysis was to examine whether greater familial etiologic load was associated with quantitative autistic impairments in females compared with males. Subjects included 3,842 dizygotic twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) and 6,040 dizygotic twin pairs from the Child and Adolescent Twin Study of Sweden (CATSS). In both samples, we compared sibling autistic traits between female and male probands, who were identified as children scoring in the top 90th and 95th percentiles of the population autistic trait distributions. In both TEDS and CATSS, siblings of female probands above the 90th percentile had significantly more autistic impairments than the siblings of male probands above the 90th percentile. The siblings of female probands above the 90th percentile also had greater categorical recurrence risk in both TEDS and CATSS. Results were similar in probands above the 95th percentile. This finding, replicated across two nationally-representative samples, suggests that female sex protects girls from autistic impairments and that girls may require greater familial etiologic load to manifest the phenotype. It provides empirical support for the hypothesis of a female protective effect against autistic behavior and can be used to inform and interpret future gene finding efforts in autism spectrum disorders.

The mechanisms by which probiotic strains enhance the health of the host remain largely uncharacterized. Here we demonstrate that Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118, a recently sequenced and genetically tractable probiotic strain of human origin, produces a bacteriocin in vivo that can significantly protect mice against infection with the invasive foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. A stable mutant of Lb. salivarius UCC118 that is unable to produce the Abp118 bacteriocin also failed to protect mice against infection with two strains of L. monocytogenes, EGDe and LO28, confirming that bacteriocin production is the primary mediator of protection against this organism. Furthermore, Lb. salivarius UCC118 did not offer any protection when mice were infected with a strain of L. monocytogenes expressing the cognate Abp118 immunity protein AbpIM, confirming that the antimicrobial effect is a result of direct antagonism between Lb. salivarius and the pathogen, mediated by the bacteriocin Abp118.

There were high injury risks on lumbar and lower limb joints in parachuting landing, and the lumbar brace could protect lumbar. Besides, a backpack load was necessary in parachute landing and increased the injury risk. This study aimed to evaluate multi-joints protective effects of the lumbar brace on lumbar and lower limb joints in parachuting landing with the backpack load. Seven participants landed from a 120 cm height platform without and with a lumbar brace and without and with a 5-kg backpack load, respectively. Infrared makers were pasted on trunk, pelvis, and lower limb in order to build a multi-rigid-body model for calculating kinematic and kinetic parameters. The joint angular displacements of lumbar and ankle and the peak vertical ground reaction force were significantly decreased from 29.2 ± 9.2°, 45.2 ± 7.8°, and 14.7 ± 2.0 bodyweight to 21.6 ± 4.9° (p < 0.05), 39.0 ± 10.1° (p < 0.05) and 10.7 ± 1.3 bodyweight (p < 0.05) respectively by the lumbar brace with no backpack load, and the joint angular displacement of hip was significantly increased from 52.6 ± 7.2° to 68.3 ± 12.5° (p < 0.05). The joint angular displacement of lumbar and ankle were significantly decreased from 29.0 ± 5.0° and 53.8 ± 5.1° to 25.1 ± 5.2° (p < 0.05) and 48.5 ± 2.5° (p < 0.05) respectively by the lumbar brace with the backpack load, and the joint angular displacement of hip and knee were significantly increased from 60.1 ± 8.2° and 110.1 ± 9.3° to 69.7 ± 13.2° (p < 0.05) and 116.8 ± 5.8° (p < 0.05), respectively. The lumbar brace could provide the multi-joint protective effect by decreasing injuries of lumbar and ankle in landing both without and with the backpack load.

Mutations in PARK2/Parkin, which encodes a ubiquitin E3 ligase, cause autosomal recessive Parkinson disease (PD). Here we show that the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase c-Abl phosphorylates tyrosine 143 of parkin, inhibiting parkin's ubiquitin E3 ligase activity and protective function. c-Abl is activated by dopaminergic stress and by dopaminergic neurotoxins, 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP⁺) in vitro and in vivo by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), leading to parkin inactivation, accumulation of the parkin substrates aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase-interacting multifunctional protein type 2 (AIMP2) (p38/JTV-1) and fuse-binding protein 1 (FBP1), and cell death. STI-571, a c-Abl-family kinase inhibitor, prevents the phosphorylation of parkin, maintaining parkin in a catalytically active and protective state. STI-571's protective effects require parkin, as shRNA knockdown of parkin prevents STI-571 protection. Conditional knockout of c-Abl in the nervous system also prevents the phosphorylation of parkin, the accumulation of its substrates, and subsequent neurotoxicity in response to MPTP intoxication. In human postmortem PD brain, c-Abl is active, parkin is tyrosine-phosphorylated, and AIMP2 and FBP1 accumulate in the substantia nigra and striatum. Thus, tyrosine phosphorylation of parkin by c-Abl is a major post-translational modification that inhibits parkin function, possibly contributing to pathogenesis of sporadic PD. Moreover, inhibition of c-Abl may be a neuroprotective approach in the treatment of PD.

Dehydrins proteins accumulate and play important protective roles in most plants during abiotic stresses. The objective of this study was to characterize a YSK2-type dehydrin gene, WDHN2, isolated from Triticum aestivum previously. In this work, wheat dehydrin WDHN2 was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography, which exhibited as a single band by sodium dodecyl sulfonate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and western blotting. We show that WDHN2 is capable of alleviating lactate dehydrogenase inactivation from heat and desiccation in vitro enzyme activity protection assay. In vivo assay of Escherichia coli viability demonstrates the enhancement of cell survival by the overexpression of WDHN2. The protein aggregation prevention assay explores that WDHN2 has a broad protective effect on the cellular proteome. The results show that WDHN2 is mainly accumulated in the nucleus and cytosol, suggesting that this dehydrin may exert its function in both cellular compartments. Our data suggest that WDHN2 acts as a chaperone molecular in vivo.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury is one of the major causes of acute kidney injury (AKI), which is increasingly prevalent in clinical settings. Glaucocalxin A (GLA), a biologically ent-kauranoid diterpenoid, has various pharmacological effects like antioxidation, immune regulation, and antiatherosclerosis. In this study, the effect of GLA on AKI and its mechanism were studied in vitro. HK-2 human renal tubular epithelial cells were exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R), which were established as an in vitro AKI model. Subsequently, the mRNA expressions of inflammatory and antioxidant factors were determined by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death were detected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. GLA pre-treatment improved the cell viability of HK-2 cells exposed to H/R. GLA suppressed the H/R-induced ROS production in HK-2 cells. GLA also elevated the activities of superoxide dismutase of HK-2 cells exposed to H/R. Moreover, GLA prevented H/R-induced cell death in HK-2 cells. Furthermore, GLA ameliorated the activation of the protein kinase B (Akt)/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) signaling pathway in HK-2 cells exposed to H/R. Our findings suggested that GLA protected HK-2 cells from H/R-induced oxidative damage, which was mediated by the Akt/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. These results indicate that GLA may serve as a promising therapeutic drug for AKI.

Malaria has been a major selective force on the human population, and several erythrocyte polymorphisms have evolved that confer resistance to severe malaria. Plasmodium falciparum rosetting, a parasite virulence phenotype associated with severe malaria, is reduced in blood group O erythrocytes compared with groups A, B, and AB, but the contribution of the ABO blood group system to protection against severe malaria has received little attention. We hypothesized that blood group O may confer resistance to severe falciparum malaria through the mechanism of reduced rosetting. In a matched case-control study of 567 Malian children, we found that group O was present in only 21% of severe malaria cases compared with 44-45% of uncomplicated malaria controls and healthy controls. Group O was associated with a 66% reduction in the odds of developing severe malaria compared with the non-O blood groups (odds ratio 0.34, 95% confidence interval 0.19-0.61, P < 0.0005, severe cases versus uncomplicated malaria controls). In the same sample set, P. falciparum rosetting was reduced in parasite isolates from group O children compared with isolates from the non-O blood groups (P = 0.003, Kruskal-Wallis test). Statistical analysis indicated a significant interaction between host ABO blood group and parasite rosette frequency that supports the hypothesis that the protective effect of group O operates through the mechanism of reduced P. falciparum rosetting. This work provides insights into malaria pathogenesis and suggests that the selective pressure imposed by malaria may contribute to the variable global distribution of ABO blood groups in the human population.

To determine whether gowning and gloving for all patient care reduces contamination of healthcare worker (HCW) clothing, compared to usual practice. Cross-sectional surveys. Five study sites were recruited from intensive care units (ICUs) randomized to the intervention arm of the Benefits of Universal Gown and Glove (BUGG) study. All HCWs performing direct patient care in the study ICUs were eligible to participate. Surveys were performed first during the BUGG intervention study period (July-September 2012) with universal gowning/gloving and again after BUGG study conclusion (October-December 2012), with resumption of usual care. During each phase, HCW clothing was sampled at the beginning and near the end of each shift. Cultures were performed using broth enrichment followed by selective media. Acquisition was defined as having a negative clothing culture for samples taken at the beginning of a shift and positive clothing culture at for samples taken at the end of the shift. A total of 348 HCWs participated (21-92 per site), including 179 (51%) during the universal gowning/gloving phase. Overall, 51 (15%) HCWs acquired commonly pathogenic bacteria on their clothing: 13 (7.1%) HCWs acquired bacteria during universal gowning/gloving, and 38 (23%) HCWs acquired bacteria during usual care (odds ratio [OR], 0.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2-0.6). Pathogens identified included S. aureus (25 species, including 7 methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA]), Enterococcus spp. (25, including 1 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus [VRE]), Pseudomonas spp. (4), Acinetobacter spp. (4), and Klebsiella (2). Nearly 25% of HCWs practicing usual care (gowning and gloving only for patients with known resistant bacteria) contaminate their clothing during their shift. This contamination was reduced by 70% by gowning and gloving for all patient interactions.