Background: The Inspiration4 (I4) mission, the first all-civilian orbital flight mission, investigated the physiological effects of short-duration spaceflight through a multi-omic approach. Despite advances, there remains much to learn about human adaptation to spaceflight's unique challenges, including microgravity, immune system perturbations, and radiation exposure.
Methods: To provide a detailed genetics analysis of the mission, we collected dried blood spots pre-, during, and post-flight for DNA extraction. Telomere length was measured by quantitative PCR, while whole genome and cfDNA sequencing provided insight into genomic stability and immune adaptations. A robust bioinformatic pipeline was used for data analysis, including variant calling to assess mutational burden.
Result: Telomere elongation occurred during spaceflight and shortened after return to Earth. Cell-free DNA analysis revealed increased immune cell signatures post-flight. No significant clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) or whole-genome instability was observed. The long-term gene expression changes across immune cells suggested cellular adaptations to the space environment persisting months post-flight.
Conclusion: Our findings provide valuable insights into the physiological consequences of short-duration spaceflight, with telomere dynamics and immune cell gene expression adapting to spaceflight and persisting after return to Earth. CHIP sequencing data will serve as a reference point for studying the early development of CHIP in astronauts, an understudied phenomenon as previous studies have focused on career astronauts. This study will serve as a reference point for future commercial and non-commercial spaceflight, low Earth orbit (LEO) missions, and deep-space exploration.
Background: Myopia is a leading cause of visual impairment in Asia and worldwide. However, accurately predicting the progression of myopia and the high risk of myopia remains a challenge. This study aims to develop a predictive model for the development of myopia.
Methods: We first retrospectively gathered 612 530 medical records from five independent cohorts, encompassing 227 543 patients ranging from infants to young adults. Subsequently, we developed a multivariate linear regression algorithm model to predict the progression of myopia and the risk of high myopia.
Result: The model to predict the progression of myopia achieved an R2 value of 0.964 vs a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.119D [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.119, 1.146] in the internal validation set. It demonstrated strong generalizability, maintaining consistent performance across external validation sets: R2 = 0.950 vs MAE = 0.119D (95% CI: 0.119, 1.136) in validation study 1, R2 = 0.950 vs MAE = 0.121D (95% CI: 0.121, 1.144) in validation study 2, and R2 = 0.806 vs MAE = −0.066D (95% CI: −0.066, 0.569) in the Shanghai Children Myopia Study. In the Beijing Children Eye Study, the model achieved an R2 of 0.749 vs a MAE of 0.178D (95% CI: 0.178, 1.557). The model to predict the risk of high myopia achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.99 in the internal validation set and consistently high area under the curve values of 0.99, 0.99, 0.96 and 0.99 in the respective external validation sets.
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates accurate prediction of myopia progression and risk of high myopia providing valuable insights for tailoring strategies to personalize and optimize the clinical management of myopia in children.
Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), can be treated with traditional Chinese medicine formulas, such as the Gegen Qinlian decoction (GQD). This study elucidates the mechanisms by which gut microbes mediate the anti-diabetic effects of GQD.
Methods: We conducted a double-blind randomized clinical trial involving 120 untreated participants with T2DM. During the 12-week intervention, anthropometric measurements and diabetic traits were recorded every 4 weeks. Fecal microbiota and serum metabolites were measured before and after the intervention using 16S rDNA sequencing, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and Bio-Plex panels.
Results: Anti-diabetic effects were observed in the GQD group in the human trial. Specifically, glycated hemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose, and two-hour postprandial blood glucose levels were significantly lower in the GQD group than in the placebo group. Additionally, Faecalibacterium was significantly enriched in the GQD group, and the short-chain fatty acid levels were higher and the serum inflammation-associated marker levels were lower in the GQD group compared to the placebo group. Moreover, Faecalibacterium abundance negatively correlated with the levels of serum hemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Finally, the diabetes-alleviating effect of Faecalibacterium was confirmed by oral administration of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (DSMZ 17677) in T2DM mouse model.
Conclusions: GQD improved type 2 diabetes primarily by modulating the abundance of Faecalibacterium in the gut microbiota, alleviating metabolic disorders and the inflammatory state.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), with an increasing incidence, pose a significant health burden. Although there have been significant advances in the treatment of IBD, more progress is still needed. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been shown to treat a host of conditions such as carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, and gas gangrene. In the last few years, there has been an increase in research into the use of HBOT as an adjunct to conventional treatment for IBD. Related research has shown that HBOT may exert its therapeutic effects by decreasing oxidative stress, inhibiting mucosal inflammation, promoting ulcer healing, influencing gut microbes, and reducing the incidence of IBD complications. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of experimental and clinical trials exploring HBOT as a supplement to IBD treatment strategies.