In this epidemiologic study, 16 S rRNA sequencing was used to investigate the changes of diversity and composition profile of gut microbiota resulting from long-term exposure to multiple metals, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cuprum (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). Due to long-term exposure to various metals, the relative abundances of Lachnospiraceae, Eubacterium eligens, Ruminococcaceae UGG-014, Erysipelotrichaceae UCG-003, Tyzzerella 3, Bacteroides, Slackia, italics, and Roseburia were found to become much higher, whereas the abundance of Prevotella 9 presented an opposite trend. Additionally, differences between males and female groups were found, such as the greater richness and evenness of bacteria for men subjected to long-term metal exposure in polluted areas. The changes of men's microbiomes were more significant as a result of higher daily intake, mining and smelting activity, and living habits. This research presents a new theoretical basis for the correlation between long-term metal exposure and gut health for people living in contaminated areas. Recently, the entire gut microecosystem has begun to be regarded as an essential organ in the human body 1. The intestinal microbiome plays an important role, and the microorganisms contained in the microbiome are vast in number, consisting of populations of up to 100 trillion 2. The intestinal microbiome has been proven to be profoundly responsible for maintaining human health, such as energy metabolism, environmental adaptation, immune adjustment, and even brain functions 3-5. In addition, some related metabolic diseases (obesity, cirrhosis, hypertension, etc.) have been associated with the changed structure of the microbiome 6-8. The daily diet is the most critical factor in maintaining the symbiotic relationship between intestinal flora and the host throughout the host's life 9. An epidemiologic study has confirmed that gut microbiota can respond to various dietary styles. Rural children who consumed low-sugar, high-fiber diets were found to have higher microbial richness and biodiversity compared with European children 10. Healey et al. have also found inter-individual variability in gut microbiota response to dietary interventions 11. Some other influencing factors include age, sex, and exercise, as well as prebiotic and probiotic agents 12-14. 16 S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence analysis has been widely used to identify bacterial species and perform taxonomy, and massively parallel sequencing (MPS) is also commonly utilized 15. There are nine "hypervariable regions" (V1-V9) in the sequence that can show considerable sequence diversity and are regarded as diagnostic assays for different bacteria 16. Dethlefsen et al. 17 determined the pervasive effects of antibiotics on gut microbiota by tag pyrosequencing of the 16 S rRNA V3 region. By pyrosequencing over 40,000 16 S rRNA gene V4 region amplicons per subject, links between health conditions and intestinal microbiota in elderly Irish subjects were reported 18. Additionally, the V3-V4 regions o...

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dyslipidemia and associated influencing factors in young adults in the southeastern coastal area of China. Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional survey and included 7,859 young people who underwent examinations at three hospitals in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. All subjects completed a questionnaire in the form of face-to-face interviews and underwent anthropometric measurements and biochemical tests. The continuous data are presented as the means ± standard deviations and were compared using Student's t-tests. The categorical variables are presented as proportions. The influencing factors associated with dyslipidemia were evaluated through a multivariate logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of dyslipidemia among young adults aged 18-45 years in the southeastern coast of China was high with 7.1, 15.0, 22.9, and 4.0% for high-total cholesterol (TC), high-triglyceride (TG), low-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and high-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Among those with dyslipidemia, a statistically significant difference in sex was observed, and all types of dyslipidemia were associated with smoking and alcohol consumption. However, those with high-TG, high-LDL, and low-HDL levels did not significantly differ in education level or occupation. The presence of dyslipidemia was significantly associated with increased age, the male sex (

In conclusion, the present study identified several hub genes, and cell cycle and metabolism-related pathways that may play critical roles in the tumorigenesis of liver cancer. Future validation laboratory experiments are required to confirm the results.

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Genetically distinct GABAergic interneuron subtypes play diverse roles in cortical circuits. Previous studies revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) are differentially expressed in cortical interneuron subtypes, and are essential for the normal migration, maturation, and survival of medial ganglionic eminence-derived interneuron subtypes. How miRNAs function in vasoactive intestinal peptide expressing (VIP+) interneurons derived from the caudal ganglionic eminence remains elusive. Here, we conditionally removed Dicer in postmitotic VIP+ interneurons to block miRNA biogenesis. We found that the intrinsic and synaptic properties of VIP+ interneurons and pyramidal neurons were concordantly affected prior to a progressive loss of VIP+ interneurons. In vivo recording further revealed elevated cortical local field potential power. Mutant mice had a shorter life span but exhibited better spatial working memory and motor coordination. Our results demonstrate that miRNAs are indispensable for the function and survival of VIP+ interneurons, and highlight a key role of VIP+ interneurons in cortical circuits.