Probiotic bacteria have been associated with various health benefits and included in overwhelming number of foods. Today, probiotic supplements are consumed with increasing regularity and record a rapidly growing economic value. With billions of heterogeneous populations of probiotics per serving, probiotic supplements contain the largest quantity of probiotics across all functional foods. They often carry antibioticresistant determinants that can be transferred to and accumulate in resident bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract and risk their acquisitions by opportunistic pathogens. While the health benefits of probiotics have been widely publicized, this health risk, however, is underrepresented in both scientific studies and public awareness. On the other hand, the human gut presents conditions that are unfavorable for bacteria, including probiotics. It remains uncertain if probiotics from supplements can tolerate acids and bile salts that may undermine their effectiveness in conferring health benefits. Here, we put into perspective the perceived health benefits and the long-term safety of consuming probiotic supplements, specifically bringing intolerance to acids and bile salts, and the long-standing issue of antibiotic-resistant gene transfer into sharp focus. We report that probiotics from supplements examined in this study have poor tolerance to acids and bile salts while also displaying resistance to multiple antibiotics. They could also adapt and gain resistance to streptomycin in vitro. In an environment where consuming supplements is considered a norm, our results and that of others will put in perspective the persisting concerns surrounding probiotic supplements so that the current hype does not overpower the hope.

Background: The prediction of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance and cardiovascular complications are critically clinical issues in Kawasaki disease (KD). This prospective study firstly aimed to determine the predictive ability of the systemic immune inflammation index (SII) for IVIG resistance and cardiovascular complications and compare the prognostic accuracy of SII with that of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR).Methods: Patients with KD were divided into different groups according to the presence of IVIG resistance or cardiovascular complications (coronary artery lesions, valve regurgitation, myocarditis, pericardial effusion, and Kawasaki disease shock syndrome [KDSS]). The clinical and laboratory parameters were compared. Further analysis stratified by platelet level was performed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors for IVIG resistance and cardiovascular complications. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to assess and compare the ability of SII, NLR, and PLR for predicting IVIG resistance and cardiovascular complications.Results: SII was significantly higher in KD patients with IVIG-resistance, myocarditis, valve regurgitation, and KDSS. It was identified as an independent risk factor for IVIG resistance, myocarditis, and valve regurgitation. For KD patients with thrombocytopenia, there were no significant differences in SII between KD patients with IVIG resistance/cardiovascular complications and those without. The best cutoff values of SII for IVIG resistance, myocarditis, valve regurgitation, and KDSS prediction in the whole cohort were 1331.4 × 109, 1368.6 × 109, 1002.4 × 109, and 1485.4 × 109, with a corresponding sensitivity of 0.525, 0.614, 0.754, and 0.670, a specificity of 0.711, 0.723, 0.584, and 0.730, respectively. The predictive value of SII for both IVIG resistance and cardiovascular complications were not superior to that of NLR.Conclusion: Although the parameter of SII may predict IVIG resistance, myocarditis, valve regurgitation, and KDSS in KD as a single parameter, its predictive ability was not good enough and not superior to NLR. SII might not be applicable in patients with KD having thrombocytopenia.

Accumulating evidence has suggested a link between maternal di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) exposure and various developmental abnormalities. However, the evidence regarding the effect of maternal DEHP exposure on fetal cardiac development is scarce. The present study aimed to determine the effect of maternal DEHP exposure on fetal cardiac development in mice and explore the possible involved mechanism preliminarily. The C57BL mice were randomly divided into four groups: the vehicle group (corn oil, n = 10), 250 mg kg DEHP group (n = 15), 500 mg kg DEHP group (n = 20) and 1 g kg DEHP group (n = 20). Pregnant dams in different group received respective intervention by gavage once daily from embryonic day (E)6.5 to E14.5. Maternal weights were monitored every day and samples were collected at E15.5. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to examine fetal cardiac malformations. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot were applied to detect peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)α/PPARγ/Nkx2.5/Gata4/Tbx5/Mef2c/Chf1 mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Maternal DEHP exposure significantly decreased maternal body weight, fetal weight and placental weight, and remarkably elevated fetal cardiac malformations rate. The phenotypes of cardiac anomalies mainly include septal defects, ventricular myocardium noncompaction and cardiac hypoplasia. Higher doses DEHP (500 mg kg and 1 g kg ) could significantly decreased fetal cardiac Gata4/Mef2c/Chf1 expression, while PPARγ expression was upregulated. Maternal exposure to higher doses of DEHP could result in fetal cardiac development malformations in mice and it might have resulted from the inhibition of cardiac GATA4/Mef2c/Chf1 expression via PPARγ activation.

Context Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance and coronary artery lesions (CALs) prediction are pivotal topic of interests in Kawasaki disease (KD). However, data on the predictive value of lipid profile for both IVIG resistance and CALs are limited. Purpose To investigate the predictive validity of lipid profile for IVIG resistance and CALs in KD. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting West China Second University Hospital. Patients 363 KD patients were divided into the initial IVIG-resistant group and initial IVIG-responsive group; repeated IVIG-resistant group and repeated IVIG-responsive group; CAL+ group and CAL- group. Main Outcome Measures Validity of lipid profile in predicting IVIG resistance and CALs. Results TG was significantly higher whereas TC, HDL-C, LDL-C as well as Apo A were significantly lower in initial IVIG-resistant subjects, with cut-off values of 1.625 mmol/L, 3.255 mmol/L, 0.475 mmol/L, and 1.965 mmol/L and 0.665 g/L, yielding sensitivities of 52%, 70%, 52%, 61%, 50%, and specificities of 68%, 53%, 78%, 71%, 81%, respectively. TC, LDL-C, and Apo A levels were significantly lower in repeated IVIG-resistant subjects, with cut-off values of 3.20 mmol/L, 1.78 mmol/L, 0.605 g/L, producing sensitivities of 91%, 70%, 57% and specificities of 55%, 67%, 70%, respectively. Apo-A level was significantly lower in the CAL group, with cut-off value of 0.805g/L, yielding sensitivity of 66% and specificity of 54%. Conclusions Lipid profiles were significantly dysregulated in KD patients suffering IVIG resistance and CALs. Some of them, such as LDL-c and Apo-A, could serve as complementary laboratory markers for predicting both IVIG resistance and CALs.

Background: Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance prediction remains substantial in Kawasaki disease (KD), with limited data on the predictive value of coagulation profile for IVIG resistance, particularly for repeated IVIG resistance. Therefore, the aim of our study was to testify the predictive validity of coagulation profile for both initial IVIG resistance and repeated IVIG resistance in KD.Methods: A total of 385 KD patients were prospectively recruited between April 2015 and May 2019. Coagulation and other profiles were evaluated between the IVIG-responsive and IVIG-resistant groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the association between coagulation profiles and IVIG resistance. ROC curves analysis was further performed to assess the validity of coagulation profiles in predicting both initial IVIG resistance and repeated IVIG resistance.Results: Prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), international normalized ratio (INR), fibrinogen degradation products (FDPs), and D-dimer were significantly increased in the initial IVIG-resistant group with antithrombin IIIThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.

<b><i>Purpose:</i></b> The aim of this study was to explore the diagnostic value of different fluorine-18 (¹⁸F)-labeled tracers for lymph node/bone metastasis and biochemical recurrence detection in advanced prostate cancer (PCa). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane databases, and the WHO International Clinical Trial Center were searched. The inclusion criteria were determined based on the Preferred Report Items of the Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Guidelines. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 was used to assess the quality assessment of the included studies. The quantitative analysis of the included literature was performed on the patient and lesion basis, and the equivocal findings were considered negative or positive results, respectively. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Thirty-seven articles were included. On the patient basis, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of [¹⁸F]-labeled tracers were 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.78–0.83) and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.87–0.90) when equivocal results were considered to be positive and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.77–0.82) and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.85–0.89) when equivocal results were considered to be negative. On the lesion basis, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of [¹⁸F]-labeled tracers were 0.82 (95% CI: 0.80–0.83) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.90–0.92) when equivocal lesions were regarded as positive and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.80–0.82) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.90–0.92) when equivocal lesions were considered to be negative. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> [¹⁸F]-labeled tracers have high diagnostic efficacy for lymph node/bone metastasis and biochemical recurrence in advanced PCa.