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JAAD International Jun 2024Psoriasis is associated with high alcohol consumption, but the causality of this relationship is unclear.
BACKGROUND
Psoriasis is associated with high alcohol consumption, but the causality of this relationship is unclear.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to use a Mendelian randomization approach to investigate the causal effects of alcohol on incident psoriasis.
METHODS
We included 102,655 adults from the prospective Copenhagen studies. All participants filled out a questionnaire on alcohol consumption, were physically examined, and had blood drawn for biochemical and genetic analyses. We created a genetic instrument based on the number of fast-metabolizing alleles in alcohol dehydrogenase 1B and alcohol dehydrogenase 1C, known to be associated with alcohol consumption, to test whether alcohol consumption was causally associated with psoriasis.
RESULTS
Observationally, we found an increased risk of incident psoriasis among individuals with high alcohol consumption compared to those with low alcohol consumption with a hazard ratio of 1.30 (95% confidence interval 1.05-1.60) in the fully adjusted model. Using genetic data to predict alcohol consumption to avoid confounding and reverse causation, we found no association between number of fast-metabolizing alleles and risk of psoriasis.
LIMITATIONS
Alcohol consumption was self-reported and psoriasis was defined using the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision and 8th revision codes.
CONCLUSION
Alcohol consumption is observationally but not causally associated with incident psoriasis.
PubMed: 38707928
DOI: 10.1016/j.jdin.2024.03.003 -
Biotechnology For Biofuels and... May 2024Taurine, a semi-essential micronutrient, could be utilized as a sulfur source for some bacteria; however, little is known about its effect on the accumulation of...
Taurine-mediated gene transcription and cell membrane permeability reinforced co-production of bioethanol and Monascus azaphilone pigments for a newly isolated Monascus purpureus.
BACKGROUND
Taurine, a semi-essential micronutrient, could be utilized as a sulfur source for some bacteria; however, little is known about its effect on the accumulation of fermentation products. Here, it investigated the effect of taurine on co-production of bioethanol and Monascus azaphilone pigments (MonAzPs) for a fungus.
RESULTS
A newly isolated fungus of 98.92% identity with Monascus purpureus co-produced 23.43 g/L bioethanol and 66.12, 78.01 and 62.37 U/mL red, yellow and orange MonAzPs for 3 d in synthetic medium (SM). Taurine enhanced bioethanol titer, ethanol productivity and ethanol yield at the maximum by 1.56, 1.58 and 1.60 times than those of the control in corn stover hydrolysates (CSH), and red, yellow and orange MonAzPs were raised by 1.24, 1.26 and 1.29 times, respectively. Taurine was consumed extremely small quantities for M. purpureus and its promotional effect was not universal for the other two biorefinery fermenting strains. Taurine intensified the gene transcription of glycolysis (glucokinase, phosphoglycerate mutase, enolase and alcohol dehydrogenase) and MonAzPs biosynthesis (serine hydrolases, C-11-ketoreductase, FAD-dependent monooxygenase, 4-O-acyltransferase, deacetylase, NAD(P)H-dependent oxidoredutase, FAD-dependent oxidoredutase, enoyl reductase and fatty acid synthase) through de novo RNA-Seq assays. Furthermore, taurine improved cell membrane permeability through changing cell membrane structure by microscopic imaging assays.
CONCLUSIONS
Taurine reinforced co-production of bioethanol and MonAzPs by increasing gene transcription level and cell membrane permeability for M. purpureus. This work would offer an innovative, efficient and taurine-based co-production system for mass accumulation of the value-added biofuels and biochemicals from lignocellulosic biomass.
PubMed: 38702823
DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02511-7 -
Alcohol Consumption and Progression of Heart Failure in Those at Risk for or With Pre-heart Failure.Journal of Cardiac Failure Apr 2024This study aimed to understand the dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption, progression of left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) and/or symptomatic heart...
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to understand the dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption, progression of left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) and/or symptomatic heart failure (HF) in an older European population at risk for HF (stage A) or with pre-HF (stage B).
METHODS
This longitudinal, observational, secondary analysis of the STOP-HF (St Vincent's Screening TO-Prevent Heart Failure) trial follow-up study excluded former alcohol drinkers and included patients with documented alcohol intake and echocardiography at baseline and follow-up ≥ 18 months. It evaluated the relationship between alcohol intake and progression of LVD/symptomatic (stage C) HF in those at risk for or with pre-HF.
RESULTS
Of 744 patients (mean age 66.5 [SD 9.8] years), 395 (53.1%) were female, and 260 (34.9%) had pre-HF at baseline. Overall, 201 (27.0%) patients reported no alcohol usage, 356 (47.8%) reported ≤70 g/week (low) alcohol intake, and 187 (25.1%) reported > 70g/week (moderate-high). Over a median follow-up of 5.44 (IQR 4.33;6.73) years, 84 (11.3%) patients experienced progression of LVD/symptomatic HF. Alcohol usage of > 70g/week was associated with an adjusted 4.9-fold (95% CI 1.7-15.1; P < 0.01) increased risk of HF progression among those with pre-HF at baseline. The adverse relationship remained significant when adjusting for age, sex, diabetes, hypertension, body mass index, as well as further models with baseline liver function and alcohol dehydrogenase 1B gene variant rs1229984 status. The association remained when excluding those with high (> 140 g) weekly alcohol intake. In patients at risk for HF, there was no association of alcohol usage with progression of LVD/symptomatic HF. No protective associations of low alcohol usage (≤70 g/week) on progression of HF were found.
CONCLUSION
Moderate to high alcohol (> 70 g/week) usage appears to be associated with progression of LVD/symptomatic HF in those with pre-HF, and we did not observe protective benefits of low alcohol usage.
PubMed: 38679412
DOI: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2024.04.003 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2024, also known as Chinese mahogany, is a high-quality and fast-growing wood species with a high economic value. The wood properties of of different provenances vary...
, also known as Chinese mahogany, is a high-quality and fast-growing wood species with a high economic value. The wood properties of of different provenances vary significantly. In this study, we conducted comprehensive transcriptome and metabolome analyses of red and non-red wood cores of different provenances to compare their wood properties and explore the differential metabolites and genes that govern the variation in their wood properties. Through combined analyses, three differential genes and two metabolites were identified that are possibly related to lignin synthesis. The lignin content in wood cores from of different provenances shows significant variation following systematic measurement and comparisons. The gene Tci09G002190, one of the three differential genes, was identified as a member of the (Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase) gene family of , which is associated with lignin synthesis. Our data provide insights into the determinants of the wood properties in , providing a solid foundation for research into the subsequent mechanisms of the formation of wood.
Topics: Wood; Metabolome; Transcriptome; Lignin; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Expression Profiling; Plant Proteins; Alcohol Oxidoreductases
PubMed: 38674126
DOI: 10.3390/ijms25084541 -
Biomolecules Apr 2024Ethyl (S)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyrate ((S)-CHBE) is an important chiral intermediate in the synthesis of the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin. Studying the use of...
Ethyl (S)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyrate ((S)-CHBE) is an important chiral intermediate in the synthesis of the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin. Studying the use of SpyTag/SpyCatcher and SnoopTag/SnoopCatcher systems for the asymmetric reduction reaction and directed coupling coenzyme regeneration is practical for efficiently synthesizing (S)-CHBE. In this study, Spy and Snoop systems were used to construct a double-enzyme directed fixation system of carbonyl reductase (BsCR) and glucose dehydrogenase (BsGDH) for converting 4-chloroacetoacetate (COBE) to (S)-CHBE and achieving coenzyme regeneration. We discussed the enzymatic properties of the immobilized enzyme and the optimal catalytic conditions and reusability of the double-enzyme immobilization system. Compared to the free enzyme, the immobilized enzyme showed an improved optimal pH and temperature, maintaining higher relative activity across a wider range. The double-enzyme immobilization system was applied to catalyze the asymmetric reduction reaction of COBE, and the yield of (S)-CHBE reached 60.1% at 30 °C and pH 8.0. In addition, the double-enzyme immobilization system possessed better operational stability than the free enzyme, and maintained about 50% of the initial yield after six cycles. In summary, we show a simple and effective strategy for self-assembling SpyCatcher/SnoopCatcher and SpyTag/SnoopTag fusion proteins, which inspires building more cascade systems at the interface. It provides a new method for facilitating the rapid construction of in vitro immobilized multi-enzyme complexes from crude cell lysate.
Topics: Glucose 1-Dehydrogenase; Enzymes, Immobilized; Biocatalysis; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Hydroxybutyrates; Temperature; Catalysis; Alcohol Oxidoreductases; Carbonyl Reductase (NADPH)
PubMed: 38672520
DOI: 10.3390/biom14040504 -
Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2024Long-duration mission (LDM) astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) (>180 ISS days) revealed a close-to-normal sarcolemmal nitric oxide synthase type-1...
Long-duration mission (LDM) astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) (>180 ISS days) revealed a close-to-normal sarcolemmal nitric oxide synthase type-1 (NOS1) immunoexpression in myofibers together with biochemical and quantitative qPCR changes in deep calf soleus muscle. Nitro-DIGE analyses identified functional proteins (structural, metabolic, mitochondrial) that were over-nitrosylated post- vs. preflight. In a short-duration mission (SDM) astronaut (9 ISS days), s-nitrosylation of a nodal protein of the glycolytic flux, specific proteins in tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, respiratory chain, and over-nitrosylation of creatine kinase M-types as signs of impaired ATP production and muscle contraction proteins were seen. S-nitrosylation of serotransferrin (TF) or carbonic anhydrase 3 (CA3b and 3c) represented signs of acute response microgravity muscle maladaptation. LDM nitrosoprofiles reflected recovery of mitochondrial activity, contraction proteins, and iron transporter TF as signs of muscle adaptation to microgravity. Nitrosated antioxidant proteins, alcohol dehydrogenase 5/S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (ADH5/GSNOR), and selenoprotein thioredoxin reductase 1 (TXNRD1) levels indicated signs of altered redox homeostasis and reduced protection from nitrosative stress in spaceflight. This work presents a novel spaceflight-generated dataset on s-nitrosylated muscle protein signatures from astronauts that helps both to better understand the structural and molecular networks associated to muscular nitrosative stress and to design countermeasures to dysfunction and impaired performance control in human spaceflight missions.
PubMed: 38671880
DOI: 10.3390/antiox13040432 -
Marine Drugs Apr 2024Three polysaccharides (LJPs) extracted via water extraction (LJP-W), acid extraction (LJP-A), and enzymatic extraction (LJP-E) were used as raw materials to be...
Three polysaccharides (LJPs) extracted via water extraction (LJP-W), acid extraction (LJP-A), and enzymatic extraction (LJP-E) were used as raw materials to be cross-linked with chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol to prepare hydrogels. Compared with conventional hydrogel systems, all three types of LJP-based polysaccharide hydrogels exhibited better swelling properties (14 times their original weight) and the absorption ability of simulated body fluid (first 2 h: 6-10%). They also demonstrated better rigidity and mechanical strength. Young's modulus of LJP-E was 4 times that of the blank. In terms of hemostatic properties, all three polysaccharide hydrogels did not show significant cytotoxic and hemolytic properties. The enzyme- and acid-extracted hydrogels (LJP-Gel-A and LJP-Gel-E) demonstrated better whole-blood coagulant ability compared with the water-extracted hydrogel (LJP-Gel-W), as evidenced by the whole blood coagulation index being half that of LJP-Gel-W. Additionally, the lactate dehydrogenase viabilities of LJP-Gel-A and LJP-Gel-E were significantly higher, at about four and three times those of water extraction, respectively. The above results suggested that LJP-Gel-A and LJP-Gel-E exhibited better blood coagulation capabilities than LJP-Gel-W, due to their enhanced platelet enrichment and adhesion properties. Consequently, these hydrogels are more conducive to promoting coagulation and have good potential for wound hemostasis.
Topics: Hydrogels; Laminaria; Polysaccharides; Blood Coagulation; Hemostatics; Humans; Animals; Chitosan; Polyvinyl Alcohol; Hemostasis; Hemolysis; Edible Seaweeds
PubMed: 38667805
DOI: 10.3390/md22040188 -
Microbial Cell Factories Apr 2024Excessive alcohol consumption has been consistently linked to serious adverse health effects, particularly affecting the liver. One natural defense against the...
BACKGROUND
Excessive alcohol consumption has been consistently linked to serious adverse health effects, particularly affecting the liver. One natural defense against the detrimental impacts of alcohol is provided by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), which detoxify harmful alcohol metabolites. Recent studies have shown that certain probiotic strains, notably Lactobacillus spp., possess alcohol resistance and can produce these critical enzymes. Incorporating these probiotics into alcoholic beverages represents a pioneering approach that can potentially mitigate the negative health effects of alcohol while meeting evolving consumer preferences for functional and health-centric products.
RESULTS
Five lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates were identified: Lactobacillus paracasei Alc1, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus AA, Pediococcus acidilactici Alc3, Lactobacillus paracasei Alc4, and Pediococcus acidilactici Alc5. Assessment of their alcohol tolerance, safety, adhesion ability, and immunomodulatory effects identified L. rhamnosus AA as the most promising alcohol-tolerant probiotic strain. This strain also showed high production of ADH and ALDH. Whole genome sequencing analysis revealed that the L. rhamnosus AA genome contained both the adh (encoding for ADH) and the adhE (encoding for ALDH) genes.
CONCLUSIONS
L. rhamnosus AA, a novel probiotic candidate, showed notable alcohol resistance and the capability to produce enzymes essential for alcohol metabolism. This strain is a highly promising candidate for integration into commercial alcoholic beverages upon completion of comprehensive safety and functionality evaluations.
Topics: Humans; Alcohol Dehydrogenase; Probiotics; Ethanol; Lactobacillus; Lactobacillales; Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus; Aldehyde Oxidoreductases; Pediococcus acidilactici
PubMed: 38659044
DOI: 10.1186/s12934-024-02375-4 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2024Metabolic factors play a critical role in the development of digestive system cancers (DSCs), and East Asia has the highest incidence of malignant tumors in the...
Metabolic factors play a critical role in the development of digestive system cancers (DSCs), and East Asia has the highest incidence of malignant tumors in the digestive system. We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to explore the associations between 19 metabolism-related lifestyle and clinical risk factors and DSCs, including esophageal, gastric, colorectal, hepatocellular, biliary tract, and pancreatic cancer. The causal association was explored for all combinations of each risk factor and each DSC. We gathered information on the instrumental variables (IVs) from various sources and retrieved outcome information from Biobank Japan (BBJ). The data were all from studies of east Asian populations. Finally, 17,572 DSCs cases and 195,745 controls were included. Our analysis found that genetically predicted alcohol drinking was a strong indicator of gastric cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 0.95; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93-0.98) and hepatocellular carcinoma (OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.05-1.18), whereas coffee consumption had a potential protective effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (OR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.53-0.90). Triglyceride was potentially associated with a decreased risk of biliary tract cancer (OR = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.34-0.81), and uric acid was associated with pancreatic cancer risk (OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.37-0.96). Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was associated with esophageal and gastric cancer. Additionally, there was no evidence for a causal association between other risk factors, including body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, educational levels, lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, glycine, creatinine, gout, and Graves' disease, and DSCs. The leave-one-out analysis revealed that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs671 from the ALDH2 gene has a disproportionately high contribution to the causal association between alcohol drinking and gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as the association between coffee consumption and hepatocellular carcinoma. The present study revealed multiple metabolism-related lifestyle and clinical risk factors and a valuable SNP rs671 for DSCs, highlighting the significance of metabolic factors in both the prevention and treatment of DSCs.
Topics: Humans; Male; Alcohol Drinking; Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial; Asia, Eastern; Coffee; Digestive System Neoplasms; East Asian People; Life Style; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Risk Factors
PubMed: 38658636
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60122-6 -
Bioresources and Bioprocessing Dec 2023Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) is a core component for genetic code expansion (GCE), a powerful technique that enables the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids...
Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) is a core component for genetic code expansion (GCE), a powerful technique that enables the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into a protein. The aaRS with polyspecificity can be exploited in incorporating additional ncAAs into a protein without the evolution of new, orthogonal aaRS/tRNA pair, which hence provides a useful tool for probing the enzyme mechanism or expanding protein function. A variant (N346A/C348A) of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase from Methanosarcina mazei (MmPylRS) exhibited a wide substrate scope of accepting over 40 phenylalanine derivatives. However, for most of the substrates, the incorporation efficiency was low. Here, a MbPylRS (N311A/C313A) variant was constructed that showed higher ncAA incorporation efficiency than its homologous MmPylRS (N346A/C348A). Next, N-terminal of MbPylRS (N311A/C313A) was engineered by a greedy combination of single variants identified previously, resulting in an IPE (N311A/C313A/V31I/T56P/A100E) variant with significantly improved activity against various ncAAs. Activity of IPE was then tested toward 43 novel ncAAs, and 16 of them were identified to be accepted by the variant. The variant hence could incorporate nearly 60 ncAAs in total into proteins. With the utility of this variant, eight various ncAAs were then incorporated into a lanthanide-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase PedH. Incorporation of phenyllactic acid improved the catalytic efficiency of PedH toward methanol by 1.8-fold, indicating the role of modifying protein main chain in enzyme engineering. Incorporation of O-tert-Butyl-L-tyrosine modified the enantioselectivity of PedH by influencing the interactions between substrate and protein. Enzymatic characterization and molecular dynamics simulations revealed the mechanism of ncAAs affecting PedH catalysis. This study provides a PylRS variant with high activity and substrate promiscuity, which increases the utility of GCE in enzyme mechanism illustration and engineering.
PubMed: 38647798
DOI: 10.1186/s40643-023-00712-w