To study the mechanism of lactoferrin (LF) regulating metabolic disorders in nutritionally obese mice through intestinal microflora. Twenty-one male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group, model group and LF treatment group. The mice in control group were fed with maintenance diet and drank freely. The mice in model group were fed with high fat diet and drank freely. The mice in LF treatment group were fed with high fat diet and drinking water containing 2% LF freely. Body weight was recorded every week. Visceral fat ratio was measured at week 12. Blood glucose and serum lipid level were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer. The gut microbiota of mice was examined using 16 s rRNA sequencing method. LF treatment significantly reduced the levels of visceral adipose ratio, blood glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in high-fat diet mice (p < 0.05). It can be seen that drinking water with 2% LF had a significant impact on metabolic disorders. At the same time, the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio(F/B) of LF treated mice was decreased. The abundance of Deferribacteres, Oscillibacter, Butyricicoccus, Acinetobacter and Mucispirillum in LF treatment group were significantly decreased, and the abundance of Dubosiella was significantly increased (p < 0.05). In the LF-treated group, the expression levels of glucose metabolism genes in gut microbiota were increased, and the expression levels of pyruvate metabolism genes were decreased. It can be seen that metabolic disorders were related to intestinal flora. In conclusion, LF regulates metabolic disorders by regulating intestinal flora.

This study aimed to describe a Bacillus subtilis expression system based on genetically modified B. subtilis. Abaecin, an antimicrobial peptide obtained from Apis mellifera, can enhance the effect of pore-forming peptides from other species on the inhibition of bacterial growth. For the exogenous expression, the abaecin gene was fused with a tobacco etch virus protease cleavage site, a promoter Pglv, and a mature beta-glucanase signal peptide. Also, a B. subtilis expression system was constructed. The recombinant abaecin gene was expressed and purified as a recombinant protein in the culture supernatant. The purified abaecin did not inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli strain K88. Cecropin A and hymenoptaecin exhibited potent bactericidal activities at concentrations of 1 and 1.5 μM. Combinatorial assays revealed that cecropin A and hymenoptaecin had sublethal concentrations of 0.3 and 0.5 μM. This potentiating functional interaction represents a promising therapeutic strategy. It provides an opportunity to address the rising threat of multidrug-resistant pathogens that are recalcitrant to conventional antibiotics.

During 2017–2018, nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) from 627 hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory infection at Luohe Center Hospital were tested by RT-PCR for human parainfluenza virus 4 (HPIV-4). Fourteen (2.2%) of the 627 samples were positive for HPIV-4. The complete HN gene was amplified from nine positive samples and sequenced. Sequence comparisons showed that the HPIV-4 strains circulating in the city of Luohe are closely related to HPIV-4A strains. Our study indicated that there were multiple lineages of HPIV-4 circulating in Henan Province in China during the study period. This will improve our understanding of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of HPIV-4.

Introduction: Insulin resistance (IR) underlies metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Statins are lipid-lowering drugs that have also been studied to improve insulin resistance, but the mechanism is not well understood. Metagenomics and metabolomics were used to analyze the main species and metabolic pathways involved in intestinal microbes while improving insulin resistance in mice with rosuvastatin in this study.Methods: C57BL/6J male mice fed a high-fat diet were used to establish the insulin resistance (IR) mouse model. Rosuvastatin (RSV) was then administered for 8 weeks. Metagenomics and metabolomics were utilized to analyze the microbial composition and short chain fatty acid metabolites in intestinal feces of mice.Results: It was observed that insulin-resistant mice showed significant improvement in insulin resistance following treatment with RSV. In comparison to the HFD group, specific bacterial strains were significantly increased, and the levels of butyric acid, caproic acid, and isovaleric acid among the short-chain fatty acids were notably elevated in the RSV group. Through KEGG enrichment analysis, 19 dominant strains and 15 key enzymes involved in butyric acid metabolism were identified.Conclusions: The results suggested that IR mice might enhance insulin sensitivity by promoting butyric acid synthesis via intestinal microbes following RSV treatment.

Background: Rubella virus (RV) is the causative agent of rubella or German measles. Although most infections cause only mild self-limited measles-like illness, the infection in pregnant women can cause severe foetal malformation or even miscarriage, especially in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to establish a simple and sensitive RV detection method. Methods: The partial epitopes of the E1 and E2 proteins from Rubella Virus were selected as the target sites, the sequence of the selected antigenic sites of the E1 and E2 were linked by a linker. The expression plasmid P6T was constructed by inserting the gene into PET-32A + with a histidine Tag. The P6 protein was induced and expressed in Escherichia coli L21 (DE3) and purified by nickel column affinity. The protein P6 antigen was identified by Western blotting analysis, and an anti-P6 antibody ELISA was established to test known serum samples to evaluate the capability of this method. Results: After purification, the concentration and purity of the protein P6 were 0.283 mg/mL and more than 80%, respectively. Western blotting analysis showed that the protein P6 could react with rubella virus positive serum. By ELISA, 36 negative sera and 58 positive sera were detected. The coincidence rate, specificity and sensitivity of the ELISA were 86.2%, 88.89% and 84.48%, respectively. The P6 ELISA with a kappa coefficient of 0.715, P < 0.05, indicated excellent consistency. Conclusions: The protein P6 with excellent antigenicity obtained from prokaryotic expression followed by chromatography purification could prove useful for early diagnosis of RV infection.

Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) is endemic worldwide, causing varicella in children and zoster upon reactivation in adults. This study concerned a metagenomic analysis of a throat swab sample collected in China, on a young patient suffering from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and diagnosed with varicella. The complete genome sequence of a VZV strain of clade 2 has been generated. Clade 2 strains are the most prevalent in Asian countries. A comparison of 223 VZV genomes identified 77 clade specific markers, 20 of them specific to clade 2. The metagenomic analysis also identified sequences covering most of the genome of the bacteria Schaalia odontolytica also known as Actinomyces odontolyticus. VZV infection and bacterial infection in the context of SLE is further discussed. Even though the patient presented only mild symptoms, this study is a reminder that vaccination against VZV is critical to avoid severe complications like bacterial superinfection or even death in the case of immunodeficiency.