Browsing by Author "Wang, Di"

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    A global synthesis of transpiration rate and evapotranspiration partitioning in the shrub ecosystems
    (Elsevier, 2022-03) Gao, Guangyao; Wang, Di; Zha, Tianshan; Wang, Lixin; Fu, Bojie; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
    Transpiration (T) is a fundamental process in understanding the ecophysiology of plants, and it is the dominant component of evapotranspiration (ET) in the terrestrial water cycle. Although previous studies have examined T characteristics of shrub ecosystems in some regions, global-scale synthesis that integrates the spatial variations of T, ET and ratio of T to ET (T/ET) and the associated influences of bio-/abiotic factors in the shrub ecosystems is currently lacking. In this study, we synthesized and analyzed T rate, ET rate and T/ET of the shrub ecosystems from the peer-reviewed articles using field observations around the world. These studies were mainly distributed in drylands with aridity index (ratio of precipitation to potential ET) < 0.65, which accounted for 86.4% of the study locations. Globally, the mean daily T and ET rates of shrubs were 1.5 ± 1.0 mm d−1 and 2.4 ± 0.8 mm d−1, with coefficient of variation of 63.2% and 36.2% among the study locations, respectively. Mean T/ET of the shrubs over the growing season was 0.54 ± 0.14, which was generally lower compared with forest, grassland and cropland ecosystems. The T rate of shrubs was positively related to shrub age, shrub height, leaf area index, and vegetation coverage (p < 0.05), and the effects of biotic factors on T rate were stronger compared with abiotic factors. The ET rate of shrubs was positively related to aridity index, long-term annual mean precipitation, mean soil water content, as well as shrub height and vegetation coverage (p < 0.05). By contrast, the effects of biotic factors on variations of shrub T/ET were weaker than those of abiotic factors, and the T/ET of shrubs was negatively related to aridity index, long-term annual mean precipitation and mean soil water content, but positively related to latitude (p < 0.05). This study is an important supplement of our knowledge gap in terrestrial water cycle, and the findings suggest that T accounted for about half of the water into atmosphere from shrub ecosystems, and the variations of T rate of shrubs were mainly controlled by biotic factors, whereas ET rate and T/ET was mainly affected by abiotic factors.
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    Acupuncture improves the symptoms, intestinal microbiota, and inflammation of patients with mild to moderate Crohn's disease: A randomized controlled trial
    (Elsevier, 2022-02-12) Bao, Chunhui; Wu, Luyi; Wang, Di; Chen, Liming; Jin, Xiaoming; Shi, Yin; Li, Guona; Zhang, Jingzhi; Zeng, Xiaoqing; Chen, Jianhua; Liu, Huirong; Wu, Huangan; Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, School of Medicine
    Background: The efficacy and mechanisms of acupuncture for Crohn's disease (CD) are not well understood. We investigated its effects on symptoms, intestinal microbiota, and circulating inflammatory markers in CD patients. Methods: This 48-week, randomized, sham controlled, parallel-group clinical trial was performed at a tertiary outpatient clinic in China. From April 2015 to November 2019, 66 patients (mean age 40·4, 62·1% were male, all were Han Chinese) with mild to moderate active CD and unresponsive to drug treatment were enrolled and randomly assigned equally to an acupuncture group or a sham group. The treatment group received 3 sessions of acupuncture plus moxibustion per week for 12 weeks and a follow-up of 36 weeks. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02559037. Findings: At week 12, the clinical remission rate (the primary outcome) and clinical response rate of acupuncture group were significantly higher than that of sham group, with a difference of 42·4% (95% CI: 20·1%-64·0%) and 45·5% (95% CI: 24·0%-66·9%), respectively, both of which maintained at week 48. The acupuncture group had significantly lower CD activity index and C-reactive protein level at week 12, which maintained at 36-week follow-up. The CD endoscopic index of severity, histopathological score, and recurrence rate at week 48 were significantly lower in acupuncture group. The number of operational taxonomic unit of intestinal microbiota and relative abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Roseburia faecis were increased. Plasma diamine oxidase, lipopolysaccharide, and Th1/Th17 related cytokines were decreased in 12-week after acupuncture. Interpretation: Acupuncture was effective in inducing and maintaining remission in patients with active CD, which was associated with increased abundance of intestinal anti-inflammatory bacteria, enhanced intestinal barrier, and regulation of circulating Th1/Th17-related cytokines.
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    Difference in regional neural fluctuations and functional connectivity in Crohn’s disease: a resting-state functional MRI study
    (Springer, 2018) Bao, Chunhui; Liu, Peng; Liu, Huirong; Jin, Xiaoming; Shi, Yin; Wu, Luyi; Zeng, Xiaoqing; Zhang, Jianye; Wang, Di; Calhoun, Vince D.; Tian, Jie; Wu, Huangan; Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine
    Patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) are shown to have abnormal changes in brain structures. This study aimed to further investigate whether these patients have abnormal brain activities and network connectivity. Sixty patients with CD and 40 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) were used to assess differences in spontaneous regional brain activity and functional connectivity. Compared to the HCs, patients with CD showed significantly higher ALFF values in hippocampus and parahippocampus (HIPP/paraHIPP), anterior cingulate cortex, insula, superior frontal cortex and precuneus. The ALFF values were significantly lower in secondary somatosensory cortex (S2), precentral gyrus, and medial prefrontal cortex. Functional connectivities between left HIPP and left inferior temporal cortex, and right middle cingulate cortex, HIPP, and fusiform area were significantly lower. The functional connectivities between right HIPP and right inferior orbitofrontal cortex and left HIPP were also significantly lower. Patients with CD showed higher or lower spontaneous activity in multiple brain regions. Altered activities in these brain regions may collectively reflect abnormal function and regulation of visceral pain and sensation, external environmental monitoring, and cognitive processing in these patients. Lower functional connectivity of the hippocampus-limbic system was observed in these patients. These findings may provide more information to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms of the disease.
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    Differences in brain gray matter volume in patients with Crohn’s disease with and without abdominal pain
    (Impact Journals, 2017-09-22) Bao, Chunhui; Liu, Peng; Shi, Yin; Wu, Luyi; Jin, Xiaoming; Zeng, Xiaoqing; Zhang, Jianye; Wang, Di; Liu, Huirong; Wu, Huangan; Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine
    Increasing evidence indicates that abnormal pain processing is present in the central nervous system of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). The purposes of this study were to assess changes in gray matter (GM) volumes in CD patients in remission and to correlate structural changes in the brain with abdominal pain. We used a 3.0 T magnetic resonance scanner to examine the GM structures in 21 CD patients with abdominal pain, 26 CD patients without abdominal pain, and 30 healthy control subjects (HCs). Voxel-based morphometric analyses were used to assess the brain GM volumes. Patients with abdominal pain exhibited higher CD activity index and lower inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire scores than those of the patients without abdominal pain. Compare to HCs and to patients without abdominal pain, patients with abdominal pain exhibited lower GM volumes in the insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); whereas compare to HCs and to patients with abdominal pain, the patients without abdominal pain exhibited higher GM volumes in the hippocampal and parahippocampal cortex. The GM volumes in the insula and ACC were significantly negatively correlated with daily pain scores. These results suggest that differences exist in the brain GM volume between CD patients in remission with and without abdominal pain. The negative correlation between the GM volumes in the insula and ACC and the presence and severity of abdominal pain in CD suggests these structures are closely related to visceral pain processing.
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    Effect of Electro-Acupuncture and Moxibustion on Brain Connectivity in Patients with Crohn’s Disease: A Resting-State fMRI Study
    (Frontiers Media, 2017-11-17) Bao, Chunhui; Wang, Di; Liu, Peng; Shi, Yin; Jin, Xiaoming; Wu, Luyi; Zeng, Xiaoqing; Zhang, Jianye; Liu, Huirong; Wu, Huangan; Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine
    Acupuncture and moxibustion have been shown to be effective in treating Crohn’s disease (CD), but their therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Here we compared brain responses to either electro-acupuncture or moxibustion treatment in CD patients experiencing remission. A total of 65 patients were randomly divided into an electro-acupuncture group (n = 32) or a moxibustion group (n = 33), and treated for 12 weeks. Eighteen patients in the electro-acupuncture group and 20 patients in the moxibustion group underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and after treatment. Seed-based analysis was used to compare the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between bilateral hippocampus and other brain regions before and after the treatments, as well as between the two groups. The CD activity index (CDAI) and inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (IBDQ) were used to evaluate disease severity and patient quality of life. Electro-acupuncture and moxibustion both significantly reduced CDAI values and increased IBDQ scores. In the electro-acupuncture group, the rsFC values between bilateral hippocampus and anterior middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and insula were significantly increased, and the changes were negatively correlated with the CDAI scores. In the moxibustion group, the rsFC values between bilateral hippocampus and precuneus as well as inferior parietal lobe (IPC) were significantly elevated, and the changes were negatively correlated with the CDAI scores. We conclude that the therapeutic effects of electro-acupuncture and moxibustion on CD may involve the differently modulating brain homeostatic afferent processing network and default mode network (DMN), respectively.
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    Effect of mild moxibustion on intestinal microbiota and NLRP6 inflammasome signaling in rats with post-inflammatory irritable bowel syndrome
    (Baishideng Publishing Group, 2019-08-28) Bao, Chun-Hui; Wang, Chun-Ye; Li, Guo-Na; Yan, Yi-Lu; Wang, Di; Jin, Xiao-Ming; Wu, Lu-Yi; Liu, Hui-Rong; Wang, Xiao-Mei; Shi, Zheng; Wu, Huan-Gan; Neurology, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: About one-third of refractory irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) cases are caused by gastrointestinal (GI) infection/inflammation, known as post-infectious/post-inflammatory IBS (PI-IBS). Although it is known that intestinal microbiota and host NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 6 (NLRP6) inflammsome signaling are closely related to PI-IBS and moxibustion has a therapeutic effect on PI-IBS, whether moxibustion regulates the intestinal flora and host NLRP6 events in PI-IBS remains unclear. AIM: To examine the regulatory effect of moxibustion on intestinal microbiota and host NLRP6 inflammatory signaling in PI-IBS. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a normal control group, a model control group, a mild moxibustion group, and a sham mild moxibustion group. PI-IBS rats in the mild moxibustion group were treated with moxibusiton at bilateral Tianshu (ST 25) and Zusanli (ST36) for 7 consecutive days for 10 min each time. The sham group rats were given the same treatment as the mild moxibustion group except the moxa stick was not ignited. Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) score was measured to assess the visceral sensitivity, and colon histopathology and ultrastructure, colonic myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level were measured to evaluate low-grade colonic inflammation in rats. The relative abundance of selected intestinal bacteria in rat feces was detected by 16S rDNA PCR and the NLRP6 inflammsome signaling in the colon was detected by immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and Western blot. RESULTS: The AWR score was significantly decreased and the low-grade intestinal inflammation reflected by serum CRP and colonic MPO levels was inhibited in the mild moxibustion group compared with the sham group. Mild moxibustion remarkably increased the relative DNA abundances of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii but decreased that of Escherichia coli in the gut of PI-IBS rats. Additionally, mild moxibustion induced mRNA and protein expression of intestine lectin 1 but inhibited the expression of IL-1β, IL-18, and resistance-like molecule β by promoting the NLRP6 and reducing the mRNA and protein expression of apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing CARD (ASC) and cysteinyl-aspartate-specific proteinase 1 (Caspase-1). The relative DNA abundances of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and Escherichia coli in each group were correlated with the mRNA and protein expression of NLRP6, ASC, and Caspase-1 in the colon. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that mild moxibustion can relieve low-grade GI inflammation and alleviate visceral hypersensitivity in PI-IBS by regulating intestinal microbes and controlling NLRP6 inflammasome signaling.
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    Single-cell transcriptome and antigen-immunoglobin analysis reveals the diversity of B cells in non-small cell lung cancer
    (BMC, 2020-06-24) Chen, Jian; Tan, Yun; Sun, Fenghuan; Hou, Likun; Zhang, Chi; Ge, Tao; Yu, Huansha; Wu, Chunxiao; Zhu, Yuming; Duan, Liang; Wu, Liang; Song, Nan; Zhang, Liping; Zhang, Wei; Wang, Di; Chen, Chang; Wu, Chunyan; Jiang, Gening; Zhang, Peng; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background Malignant transformation and progression of cancer are driven by the co-evolution of cancer cells and their dysregulated tumor microenvironment (TME). Recent studies on immunotherapy demonstrate the efficacy in reverting the anti-tumoral function of T cells, highlighting the therapeutic potential in targeting certain cell types in TME. However, the functions of other immune cell types remain largely unexplored. Results We conduct a single-cell RNA-seq analysis of cells isolated from tumor tissue samples of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, and identify subtypes of tumor-infiltrated B cells and their diverse functions in the progression of NSCLC. Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry experiments on two independent cohorts confirm the co-existence of the two major subtypes of B cells, namely the naïve-like and plasma-like B cells. The naïve-like B cells are decreased in advanced NSCLC, and their lower level is associated with poor prognosis. Co-culture of isolated naïve-like B cells from NSCLC patients with two lung cancer cell lines demonstrate that the naïve-like B cells suppress the growth of lung cancer cells by secreting four factors negatively regulating the cell growth. We also demonstrate that the plasma-like B cells inhibit cancer cell growth in the early stage of NSCLC, but promote cell growth in the advanced stage of NSCLC. The roles of the plasma-like B cell produced immunoglobulins, and their interacting proteins in the progression of NSCLC are further validated by proteomics data. Conclusion Our analysis reveals versatile functions of tumor-infiltrating B cells and their potential clinical implications in NSCLC.
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    Spontaneous activities in baroreflex afferent pathway contribute dominant role in parasympathetic neurocontrol of blood pressure regulation
    (Wiley, 2018-12) Xu, Wen-Xiao; Yu, Jin-Ling; Feng, Yan; Yan, Qiu-Xin; Li, Xin-yu; Li, Ying; Liu, Zhuo; Wang, Di; Sun, Xun; Li, Ke-Xin; Wang, Lu-Qi; Qiao, Guo-Fen; Li, Bai-Yan; Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    Aim To study the dominant role of parasympathetic inputs at cellular level of baroreflex afferent pathway and underlying mechanism in neurocontrol of blood pressure regulation. Methods Whole‐cell patch‐clamp and animal study were conducted. Results For the first time, we demonstrated the spontaneous activities from resting membrane potential in myelinated A‐ and Ah‐type baroreceptor neurons (BRNs, the 1st‐order), but not in unmyelinated C‐types, using vagus‐nodose slice of adult female rats. These data were further supported by the notion that the spontaneous synaptic currents could only be seen in the pharmacologically and electrophysiologically defined myelinated A‐ and Ah‐type baroreceptive neurons (the 2nd‐order) of NTS using brainstem slice of adult female rats. The greater frequency and the larger amplitude of the spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) compared with the inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were only observed in Ah‐types. The ratio of EPSCs:IPSCs was estimated at 3:1 and higher. These results confirmed that the afferent‐specific spontaneous activities were generated from baroreflex afferent pathway in female‐specific subpopulation of myelinated Ah‐type BRNs in nodose and baroreceptive neurons in NTS, which provided a novel insight into the dominant role of sex‐specific baroreflex‐evoked parasympathetic drives in retaining a stable and lower blood pressure status in healthy subjects, particularly in females. Conclusion The data from current investigations establish a new concept for the role of Ah‐type baroreceptor/baroreceptive neurons in controlling blood pressure stability and provide a new pathway for pharmacological intervention for hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.