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Ji Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Ji Chen.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2026

A genetic signal at 8q12.3 modulates GGT levels via the Runx1-CYP7B1 axis in female ethnic minorities from Guizhou.

Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) regarded as a biomarker of liver dysfunction or excessive alcohol consumption; however, existing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been conducted predominantly in European populations and East Asian populations from Japan and the Taiwan region, with limited investigation in ethnic minorities from Guizhou Province. Previous genetic studies have demonstrated that Guizhou ethnic minorities share an East Asian genetic background while exhibiting specific genetic structures, a pattern that is also confirmed by our principal component analysis (PCA) results. We therefore performed a GWAS in this population and identified a genome-wide significant signal at 8q12.3 in female ethnic minorities from Guizhou. Fine-mapping and functional annotation analyses suggest that a regulatory pathway involving Runt-related transcription factor 1 (Runx1)-Cytochrome P450 family 7 subfamily B member 1 (CYP7B1)-cholesterol-reactive oxygen species (ROS)-glutathione (GSH) may contribute to the regulation of GGT levels. Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses further supported a causal relationship between GGT levels and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). These findings uncover a genetic mechanism underlying GGT variation at 8q12.3 in female ethnic minorities from Guizhou, implicating a pathway linked to cholesterol metabolism and oxidative stress, and providing potential targets and insights for precision prevention and treatment of related diseases.

Female↗
PubMed2025

Environmental Stresses Constrain Soil Microbial Community Functions by Regulating Deterministic Assembly and Niche Width.

Increasing evidence indicates that the loss of soil microbial α-diversity triggered by environmental stress negatively impacts microbial functions; however, the effects of microbial α-diversity on community functions under environmental stress are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the changes in bacterial and fungal α- diversity along gradients of five natural stressors (temperature, precipitation, plant diversity, soil organic C and pH) across 45 grasslands in China and evaluated their connection with microbial functional traits. By quantifying the five environmental stresses into an integrated stress index, we found that the bacterial and fungal α-diversity declined under high environmental stress across three soil layers (0-20 cm, 20-40 cm and 40-60 cm). Metagenomic-based analyses showed that the diversity of functional genes decreased along the stress gradients. High stress enhanced the abundance of genes associated with broad functional categories (e.g., glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, TCA cycle, DNA replication/repair and cell growth/death) but reduced the abundance of genes linked to specialised functional categories (e.g., C, N, S and methane metabolism). Phylogenetic null models and niche analyses indicated that stochastic assembly processes predominated in high-diversity communities, in which bacterial and fungal taxa had a narrow ecological niche. However, in low-diversity communities, deterministic assembly processes were dominant, and taxa had wide niches, correlating with the reduction in gene abundance observed for broad and specialised functional categories. Given the essential role of the microbiome in regulating ecosystem functions, our findings suggest that low-diversity-induced deterministic community assembly processes and a wide niche under high environmental stress may regulate microbial functions. These findings emphasise the ecological mechanisms through which microbial biodiversity regulates terrestrial ecosystem functioning.

Soil Microbiology↗
PubMed2006

A dominant function of IKK/NF-kappaB signaling in global lipopolysaccharide-induced gene expression.

Porphyromonas gingivalis is an etiologic pathogen of periodontitis that is one of the most common inflammatory diseases. Recently, we found that P. gingivalis LPS activated the transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) through the IkappaB kinase complex (IKK). NF-kappaB is a transcription factor that controls inflammation and host responses. In this study, we examined the role of IKK/NF-kappaBin P. gingivalis LPS-induced gene expression on a genome-wide basis using a combination of microarray and biochemical approaches. A total of 88 early response genes were found to be induced by P. gingivalis LPS in a human THP.1 monocytic cell lines. Interestingly, the induction of most of these genes was abolished or attenuated under the inactivation of IKK/NF-kappaB. Among those IKK/NF-kappaB-dependent genes, 20 genes were NF-kappaB-inducible genes reported previously, and 59 genes represented putative novel NF-kappaB target genes. Using transcription factor binding analysis, we found that most of these putative NF-kappaB target genes contained one or multiple NF-kappaB-binding sites. Also, some transcription factor-binding motifs were overrepresented in the promoter of both known and putative NF-kappaB-dependent genes, indicating that these genes may be regulated in a similar fashion. Furthermore, we found that several transcription factors associated with metabolic and inflammatory responses, including nuclear receptors, activator of protein-1, and early growth responses, were induced by P. gingivalis LPS through IKK/NF-kappaB, indicating that IKK/NF-kappaB may utilize these transcription factors to mediate secondary responses. Taken together, our results demonstrate that IKK/NF-kappaB signaling plays a dominant role in P. gingivalis LPS-induced early response gene expression, suggesting that IKK/NF-kappaB is a therapeutic target for periodontitis.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Theoretical analysis and verification of concentration distribution model in the ultrafiltration process.

Based on the assumed flat model, Navier-Stokes equation for two-dimensional laminar flow fluid and the theory for diffusion and mass transfer, we obtained theoretical results with regarding to the concentration distribution in separation process by mass transfer model in the ultrafiltration process. Through theoretical analysis and experimental verification of concentration distribution, it was known that this model could not only preferably describe the concentration distribution of ultrafiltration process but also forecast concentration polarization phenomenon.

Models, Theoretical↗
PubMed2006

Improved quantification in 123I cardiac SPECT imaging with deconvolution of septal penetration.

OBJECTIVES: (123)I is becoming an important radionuclide for cardiac imaging. Multiple, low-abundance, high-energy photons associated with (123)I imaging can cause septal penetration in the collimators and degrade quantification of the (123)I cardiac uptake. This study presents a method for the deconvolution of septal penetration (DSP) for improving quantification in (123)I cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). METHODS: Distance-dependent point spread functions were measured for low-energy high-resolution collimators on a dual-head SPECT system. The measured point spread functions were used in two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) models of the collimator response, respectively. 2-D DSP and 3-D DSP were then developed and implemented using iterative reconstruction. A cardiac torso phantom with an internal calibration source was designed with various heart-to-calibration ratios (HCRs) simulating different levels of a patient's uptake. SPECT acquisitions of the phantom were performed using optimized acquisition and processing parameters for (123)I cardiac SPECT. HCRs were calculated using planar projection and tomographic reconstructions. The paired t-test and regression analysis were used to compare the HCRs given by different calculation methods. RESULTS: SPECT produced more accurate HCRs than planar imaging. The slopes of the regression lines for SPECT using filtered back-projection were statistically significantly higher than those for planar imaging (0.2118 +/- 0.0297 vs. 0.0819 +/- 0.0070, P = 0.0001). 2-D DSP and 3-D DSP yielded similar HCRs that were close to the true HCR. The slopes of the regression lines for 2-D DSP and 3-D DSP were 0.9203 +/- 0.0523 and 0.9101 +/- 0.0304, respectively. The DSP HCRs were significantly more accurate than those calculated without DSP (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: DSP significantly improves quantification in (123)I cardiac SPECT imaging. 2-D DSP with its less computational burden shows promise for implementation in clinical practice so as to allow the use of the widely available low-energy, high-resolution collimators for quantitative I cardiac SPECT imaging.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

[Effect of glucagon-like peptide 2 on the intestinal mucosal immunity and correlative cytokines in mice with gut ischemia/reperfusion injury].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of glucagon- like peptide 2 on intestinal mucosa immunity after ischemia/reperfusion injury and explore the possible mechanisms. METHODS: A total of 70 ICR mice were randomly divided into three groups including normal control group(N), I/R group(C) and GLP-2 treatment group(T) (treated with GLP-2,200 microg/kg). The mice were sacrificed on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day after I/R injury. Liver,spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes samples were collected for bacterial culture. The endotoxin levels in plasma were also measured. Small intestine washing were obtained for IgA and the intestine homogenized were analyzed for Th1/Th2 cytokines. RESULTS: The rate of bacterial translocation and the level of endotoxin in group C were significant higher than those in group T and group N. The IgA level in the lavage of the intestine was significantly decreased on the 1st day after I/R in group C and T compared with that in group N, while there was no difference between group C and T. The IgA level increased on the 3rd day and returned to normal on the 5th day after I/R in group T, while that in group C was still lower than normal. In group C, the levels of Th1-type (IL-2 and IFN-gamma) cytokines increased, the levels of Th2-type (IL-4 and IL-10) decreased significantly on the 1st day and then increased gradually. The change pattern of cytokines levels in group T resembled that in group C, but the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 in group T returned to normal on the 5th day after I/R. CONCLUSIONS: GLP-2 supplementation can partly protect the intestinal mucosal immunity. The mechanism may probably be related to the restitution of the balance of Th1/Th2 cytokines in the intestinal mucosa in mice.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Chinese medicine Angelica sinensis suppresses radiation-induced expression of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 in mice.

Radiotherapy of thoracic cancer often causes pulmonary inflammation leading to pneumonitis and fibrosis. We favor the hypothesis that cytokine-mediated multicellular interactions may result in the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1, which promotes progressive radiation-induced lung injury. The root of Angelica sinensis, known as 'Danggui' in Chinese medicine, is widely used to treat radiation-induced pneumonitis in humans and shows clinical efficacy and low/no toxicity with an unclear mechanism. Using quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods, we investigated radiation-induced lung injury in a mouse model. C57BL/6 mice were assigned to 4 groups: no treatment (NT), Angelica Sinensis treatment only (AS), X-ray irradiation only (XRT, single fraction of 12 Gy irradiation to the thoraces) and AS treatment plus XRT (AS/XRT). Mice in NT and AS groups exhibited low TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 mRNA levels and few positive cell counts for TNF-alpha (8-17 cells per field, x400 magnification) and TGF-beta1 (9-31 cells per field), respectively. In XRT mice, there were increased inflammatory cells positive for TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 in lung tissue compared with NT mice (P<0.01). However, when XRT mice received AS treatment (AS/XRT), the number of inflammatory cells in lung tissue positive for both TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 was decreased compared with XRT-only mice (P<0.01) accompanied by moderately decreased mRNA levels of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1. We conclude that radiation induces expression of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 in the inflammatory cells of irradiated lung tissue during the pneumonic phase. The predominant localization of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 in inflammatory cell infiltrates suggests these cytokines' involvement in the process of radiation-induced pneumonitis. Moreover, effective down-regulation of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 in irradiated lung tissue by Angelica Sinensis is, at least in part, indicative of its clinical efficacy in treating radiation-induced pneumonitis.

Angelica sinensis↗
PubMed2006

[Effects of glucagon-like peptide 2 on the adaptation of residual small bowel in a rat model of short bowel syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) on the morphology and functional adaptation of the residual small bowel in rat model of short bowel syndrome. METHODS: Twenty rats with 75% of the midjejunoileum removed were randomly divided into two groups, and received intra-peritoneal injection of GLP-2(250 micro*gd*kg-1*d-1) or subcutaneous injection saline(0.5 ml, twice one day) after operation. On postoperative day 6, the morphological changes of the residual jejunum and ileum, the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA), and the mRNA expressions of Na-D-glucose cotransporters (SGLT1) and peptide cotransporters (PEPT1) were determined. The intestinal glucose absorption data per unit length as well as per unit weight of ileum were measured by in vivo circulatory perfusion experiment. RESULTS: The morphological parameters of the residual gut such as the thickness of mucosa, height of villus, depth of crypt, and PCNA positive index were significantly higher, while the apoptosis rate per unit of mucosal square was significantly lower in GLP-2 treatment group than those in the control group. The expressions of mRNA SGTLl and PEPT1 in the residual ileum were significantly higher than those in the control group. There was no significant difference in glucose absorption rate per gram of mucosal wet weight between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: GLP-2 could improve morphological and functional adaptation of the residual small bowel by stimulating enterocyte proliferation and decreasing enterocyte apoptosis in short bowel syndrome.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

[Design and implementation of aphasia rehabilitation software based on speech recognition].

A new software therapy instrument is proposed for the rehabilitation of aphasia caused by cerebral disorder, which is different from general drug therapy or physical therapy and is, based on modern speech and biofeedback principles. Aphasia rehabilitation software package on the therapy instrument were designed and implement. The features of the software and its future application were discussed.

Aphasia↗
PubMed2005

Glucocorticoid responsiveness in developing human intestine: possible role in prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a major inflammatory disease of the premature human intestine that can be prevented by glucocorticoids if given prenatally before the 34th wk of gestation. This observation suggests that a finite period of steroid responsiveness exists as has been demonstrated in animal models. Human intestinal xenografts were used to determine whether a glucocorticoid responsive period exists in the developing human intestine. Developmental responsiveness was measured by lactase activity and inflammatory responsiveness by IL-8, IL-6, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) induction after an endogenous (IL-1 beta) or exogenous (LPS) proinflammatory stimulus, respectively. Functional development of ileal xenografts were monitored for 30 wk posttransplantation, and the lactase activity recapitulated that predicted by in utero development. Cortisone acetate accelerated the ontogeny of lactase at 20 wk (immature) but the effect was lost by 30 wk (mature) posttransplant. Concomitant with accelerated maturation, the IL-8 response to both IL-1 beta and LPS was significantly dampened (from 6- to 3-fold) by glucocorticoid pretreatment in the immature but not mature xenografts. The induction of IL-8 was reflected at the level of IL-8 mRNA, suggesting transcriptional regulation. The excessive activation of IL-8 in the immature gut was mediated by a prolonged activation of ERK and p38 kinases and nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B due to low levels of I kappa B. Steroid pretreatment in immature intestine dampens activation of all three signaling pathways in response to proinflammatory stimuli. Therefore, accelerating intestinal maturation by glucocorticoids within the responsive period by accelerating functional and inflammatory maturation may provide an effective preventive therapy for NEC.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Application of polyethylene glycol-based aqueous biphasic reactive extraction to the catalytic oxidation of cyclic olefins.

Glutaric acid and 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) have been synthesized by sodium tungstate catalyzed oxidation of the cyclic olefins: cyclopentene and 1,2,3,6-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride (THPA), using hydrogen peroxide in a polyethylene glycol (PEG)-2000/NaHSO(4) aqueous biphasic system (PEG-ABS). The production of glutaric acid and BTCA was found to increase from the monophasic to the biphasic regimes, and was found to be greatest at short tie-line lengths (TLLs), close to the system's critical point, yielding glutaric acid and BTCA in 73.1 and 82.5% yield, respectively. The results imply that mutual mixing or contact of the components is important, because the product dicarboxylic acids were found to increase from the monophasic side to the critical point and decrease from the critical point to more divergent regimes. The two reactions were compared with adipic acid synthesis from cyclohexene in terms of the cyclic olefin structure, and the partitioning of the dicarboxylic acid product in the ABS.

Alkenes↗
PubMed2004

[Advanced methods of preparing pachytene bivalents and high resolution multiple bands of zebrafish (Danio rerio)].

The pachytene bivalents with high-resolution multiple G bands of zebrafish were obtained after the treatment with alkaline hypotonic solution and high concentration of chloroform fixative solution. When comparing six group chromosomes from different pachytene specimens, the characteristic and the number of bands were well matched. In order to systematize this technique and get stable result, we summarize the preparation procedure of the zebrafish bivalents. The 6-month-old to one-year-old zebrafish whose spermary appears ivory-white and opaque, is good material. The whole testis should be treated with hypotonic solution for 1.5 approximately 2 h at room temperature. Then, the testes were fixed for 20 min in high chloroform fixative solution (chloroform: methanol: acetic acid, 3: 6:1), and fixed in Carnoy's solution (methanol: acetic acid, 3:1) for two times. In addition, with the treatment of restriction endonuclease Alu I directed in situ nick translation, we successfully obtained well-resolved restrictive endonuclease banding of zebrafish bivalents, which was considered as G-like band patterns. The aging of the specimen is also important factor, should let them dry at room temperature for one week. The application of these methods in cytogenetics research of zebrafish and other fish can be expected. Construction of the steady technique system to prepare high resolution banding bivalents and idiogram of zebrafish is the basement to found stable and accurate framework for physical map.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

[An interactive volume rendering algorithm for laser scanning confocal microscope data].

OBJECTIVE: To satisfy different observational demands, a real-time interactive volume rendering for laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) image was realized on the PC. METHOD: An interactive transfer function was proposed through analyzing optical properties of LSCM image, so that the users can enroll in exploring the LSCM data set by altering rendering parameters. The texture mapping based on visualization method is adopted to realize real-time 3D reconstruction. RESULT: The algorithm was realized on the common PC. All 3D reconstruction results, which fulfills various demands, was obtained by the above algorithm with LSCM data set sized 256 x 256 x 40 pixels. In the process of reconstruction, the object could be re-rendered at a rate of 10 frames per second when the rendering parameters were adjusted. CONCLUSION: Different from the traditional algorithms, the one we demonstrate here is able to offer a real-time environment on the PC and to get the 3D reconstruction results, thus easily achieve diverse observational mapping.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Optimized acquisition and processing protocols for I-123 cardiac SPECT imaging.

BACKGROUND: Deconvolution of septal penetration (DSP) has been developed to improve quantification so as to allow the use of low-energy high-resolution collimators for iodine 123 cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. The purpose of this study is to optimize its acquisition and processing protocols. METHODS AND RESULTS: Planar images of a 9-compartment phantom loaded with variable radioactive concentrations were acquired to derive optimal scatter compensation scaling factors for 20% and 15% photopeak energy window configurations, respectively. A cardiac phantom, loaded with high and low heart-to-calibration ratios (HCRs), respectively, was imaged with both configurations. Repeated acquisitions were done for medium-energy all-purpose collimators for comparison. Critical frequencies for Butterworth filtering were optimized by use of defect contrast and normal short-axis uniformity as selection indices. HCRs were calculated with planar projection and different reconstruction methods, respectively, and then compared with the true HCRs. SPECT produced more accurate HCRs than planar imaging. With the optimized parameters for scatter compensation and filtering, the 2 energy window configurations yielded similar results. Iterative reconstructions with DSP yielded more accurate HCRs than other reconstructions without DSP. CONCLUSION: The optimized protocols based on DSP show promise that quantification of I-123 cardiac SPECT imaging can be achieved with the widely available low-energy high-resolution collimators.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Transmission scan truncation with small-field-of-view dedicated cardiac SPECT systems: impact and automated quality control.

BACKGROUND: Small-field-of-view (FOV) dedicated cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) systems will frequently exhibit severe transmission scan truncation that may degrade attenuation correction (AC). This study evaluated the impact of transmission scan truncation on AC and developed automated transmission scan truncation quality control (ATSTQC) for small-FOV systems. METHODS AND RESULTS: Small-FOV data were simulated from the data of 10 patients acquired by a full-FOV Philips Vertex system. AC images of the full- and small-FOV data were compared by mean and maximum absolute differences of myocardial counts, and differences in stress and rest severity scores were calculated by use of the Emory Cardiac Toolbox.small-FOV systems. ATSTQC was developed to identify critical truncation that significantly increased these indices and then tested with 18 independent patients. Left-side truncation resulted in significant distortion of the quantitative indices. ATSTQC, developed on the condition that left-side truncation is critical, showed high concordance with the qualitative assessment in identification of critical truncation. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of left-side truncation as critical truncation is necessary to judge whether accurate AC can be obtained. The developed ATSTQC can accurately detect critical truncation and will help clinicians decide whether to use AC in a particular study.

Artifacts↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Onset of left ventricular mechanical contraction as determined by phase analysis of ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging: development of a diagnostic tool for assessment of cardiac mechanical dyssynchrony.

BACKGROUND: A count-based method using technetium-99m sestamibi electrocardiography-gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography imaging has been developed to extract the left ventricular (LV) regional phase of contraction (onset of mechanical contraction [OMC]) throughout the cardiac cycle. This study was performed to develop OMC normal databases and dynamic OMC displays for assessment of cardiac mechanic dyssynchrony. METHODS AND RESULTS: LV regional phases were extracted from 90 enrolled normal subjects (45 men and 45 women) by use of the Emory Cardiac Toolbox and then submitted to statistical analysis to generate the normal databases. The LV OMC wave was dynamically propagated over the perfusion polar map by blackening either sequential phase bins or all past phases. The developed OMC normal databases consisted of peak phase (134.5 degrees +/- 14.3 degrees for men and 140.2 degrees +/- 14.9 degrees for women), phase SD (14.2 degrees +/- 5.1 degrees for men and 11.8 degrees +/- 5.2 degrees for women), and phase histogram bandwidth (38.7 degrees +/- 11.8 degrees for men and 30.6 degrees +/- 9.6 degrees for women), skewness (4.19 +/- 0.68 for men and 4.60 +/- 0.72 for women), and kurtosis (19.72 +/- 7.68 for men and 23.21 +/- 8.16 for women). Both statistical analysis and dynamic OMC displays were incorporated into a user interface as a diagnostic tool. CONCLUSION: The OMC normal databases and dynamic OMC displays should help clinicians evaluate cardiac mechanic dyssynchrony. Prospective clinical trials are needed to validate whether this tool can be used to select patients with severe heart failure symptoms who might benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Automated quality control of emission-transmission misalignment for attenuation correction in myocardial perfusion imaging with SPECT-CT systems.

BACKGROUND: Emission-transmission misalignment with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-computed tomography (CT) systems can impair attenuation correction (AC) in myocardial perfusion imaging. This study was performed to develop automated quality control (Auto-QC) to detect critical misalignment that can significantly impact AC. METHODS AND RESULTS: Auto-QC was developed to segment myocardium and mediastinum from emission and transmission reconstructions, respectively. Myocardium-mediastinum mismatch was used as the quality-control index (QCI). The QCI threshold for acceptable AC was determined with NCAT (NURBS [nonuniform rational B-spline]-based cardiac torso phantom) simulation and verified with 2 patients with minimal misalignment. Compromised data sets, generated by shifting the attenuation maps by 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 pixels along left-right, up-down, and head-foot directions, respectively, were qualitatively and quantitatively compared with the unshifted data sets. Auto-QC was tested with the 2 verification patients and 41 additional patients. Shifts by more than 1 pixel along any direction compromised AC. Auto-QC with the QCI threshold (3%) had highly concordant results with manual quality control in the detection of critical misalignment (sensitivity of 88% and 90% and specificity of 93% and 95% for the tests by use of the 2 verification patients and 41 additional patients, respectively). CONCLUSION: QCI quantitatively represented the severity of misalignment. Auto-QC can help clinicians be aware of critical misalignment and can assist in realignment of SPECT and CT images.

Algorithms↗