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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has recently been considered to be under the influence of the gut microbiota, which might exert toxic effects on the human host after intestinal absorption and delivery to the liver via the portal vein. In this study, the composition of the gut microbiota in NAFLD patients and healthy subjects was determined via 16S ribosomal RNA Illumina next-generation sequencing. Among those taxa displaying greater than 0.1% average abundance in all samples, five genera, including Alistipes and Prevotella, were significantly more abundant in the gut microbiota of healthy subjects compared to NAFLD patients. Alternatively, Escherichia, Anaerobacter, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus were increased in the gut microbiota of NAFLD patients compared to healthy subjects. In addition, decreased numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes and increased levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IFN-γ were detected in the NAFLD group compared to the healthy group. Furthermore, irregularly arranged microvilli and widened tight junctions were observed in the gut mucosa of the NAFLD patients via transmission electron microscopy. We postulate that aside from dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, gut microbiota-mediated inflammation of the intestinal mucosa and the related impairment in mucosal immune function play an important role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD.

, in Wuhan, China. There are over 1,800,000 confirmed cases worldwide. 1 The pathological process of severe COVID-19 pneumonia is an inflammation reaction characterized by the destruction of the deep airway and alveolar. 2 It is currently considered that lung injury is not only associated with the direct virus-induced damage, but also the immune responses triggered by COVID-19 that lead to the activation of immune cells to release a large number of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Histologic examination has shown diffuse alveolar damage and mucinous exudate, which is similar to acute respiratory distress syndrome. 2 Aggravation of symptoms always occurs during 5-7 days after onset in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and severe cases develop rapidly to acute respiratory failure. 3 Therefore, it is important to strengthen the treatment to suppress the proinflammatory response and control the cytokine storm at this stage. Methylprednisolone are the classical immunosuppressive drugs, which are important to stop or delay the progress of the pneumonia, and have been proved to be effective for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In a recent study, Wu et al. 4 found the administration of methylprednisolone appeared to reduce the risk of death in COVID-19 pneumonia patients with ARDS, however, of those who received methylprednisolone treatment, 23 of 50 patients died. This is a rather high mortality rate of~50%; therefore, in terms of the indication, timing, dosage and duration, the application of methylprednisolone warrants further investigation. In another study, Zhou et al. 5 endorsed the potential benefits of low-dose corticosteroids treatment in a subset of critically ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, however, the data was limited to only 15 patients and no control group. Although this is an important issue with regard to the challenges in the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia, the clinical applicability of methylprednisolone needs to be tempered owing to the unanswered questions that remain. To address this issue, we performed a retrospective cohort study comparing the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 pneumonia patients with or without methylprednisolone treatment. We studied 46 severe patients with COVID-19 pneumonia at the

Background: Severe patients with 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia progressed rapidly to acute respiratory failure. We aimed to evaluate the definite efficacy and safety of corticosteroid in the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: Forty-six hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia hospitalized at Wuhan Union Hospital from January 20 to February 25, 2020, were retrospectively reviewed.The patients were divided into two groups based on whether they received corticosteroid treatment. The clinical symptoms and chest computed tomography(CT) results were compared.Results: A total of 26 patients received intravenous administration of methylprednisolone with a dosage of 1-2mg/kg/d for 5-7 days, while the remaining patients not. There was no significant

Intestinal fungi are increasingly believed to greatly influence gut health. However, the effects of fungi on intestinal inflammation and on gut bacterial constitution are not clear. Here, based on pyrosequencing method, we reveal that fungal compositions vary in different intestinal segments (ileum, cecum, and colon), prefer different colonization locations (mucosa and feces), and are remarkably changed during intestinal inflammation in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-colitis mouse models compare to normal controls: Penicillium, Wickerhamomyces, Alternaria, and Candida are increased while Cryptococcus, Phialemonium, Wallemia and an unidentified Saccharomycetales genus are decreased in the guts of DSS-colitis mice. Fungi-depleted mice exhibited aggravated acute DSS-colitis associated with gain of Hallella, Barnesiella, Bacteroides, Alistipes, and Lactobacillus and loss of butyrate-producing Clostridium XIVa, and Anaerostipes compare with normal control. In contrast, bacteria-depleted mice show attenuated acute DSS-colitis. Mice with severely chronic recurrent DSS-colitis show increased plasma (1,3)-β-D-glucan level and fungal translocation into the colonic mucosa, mesenteric lymph nodes and spleen. This work demonstrate the different roles of fungi in acute and chronic recurrent colitis: They are important counterbalance to bacteria in maintaining intestinal micro-ecological homeostasis and health in acutely inflamed intestines, but can harmfully translocate into abnormal sites and could aggravate disease severity in chronic recurrent colitis.

Touchscreen computing devices such as the iPhone are becoming more common. However this technology is largely inaccessible to people with visual impairments. We present the results of a requirements capture study that illustrates the problems with touchscreen accessibility, and the choices visually impaired people make when choosing assistive technology. We investigate ways of overcoming touchscreen accessibility problems by comparing a raised paper overlay touchscreen based MP3 player, with a touchscreen gesture based player. Twelve blindfolded participants, and one visually impaired person, were able to operate both players, though there were problems with short impact related operations in the gesture player. From our results we provide guidelines for future designers, to help them exploit the potential of touchscreen technology for visually impaired people.

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Fructus crataegi (hawthorn) is the common name of all plant species in the genus Crataegus of the Rosaceae family. In the present study, three monomers of (+)-catechin (C), (−)-epicatechin gallate (ECg) and (−)-epigallocatechin (EGC) were isolated from the hawthorn under the guide of antibacterial sensitization activity. The bioactivity of the composite fraction in enhancing the antibacterial effect of oxacillin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was greater than that of the individual monomer of the hawthorn extract in vitro. Two-fold dilution and checkerboard methods were used to analyze antibacterial activity and screen for the combination and proportion of monomers with the best bioactivity. The result showed that C (128 mg/L) combined with ECg (16 mg/L) had the greatest effect and the combination also reduced the bacterial load in blood of septic mice challenged with a sublethal dose of MRSA, increased daunomycin accumulation within MRSA and down-regulated the mRNA expression of norA, norC and abcA, three important efflux pumps of MRSA. In summary, C and ECg enhanced the antibacterial effect of β-lactam antibiotics against MRSA in vitro and in vivo, which might be related to the increased accumulation of antibiotics within MRSA via suppression of important efflux pumps’ gene expression.