Impact of influenza virus infection on lung microbiome in adults with severe pneumonia.

Background: Bacterial and viral infections are commonly implicated in the development of pneumonia. We aimed to compare the diversity and composition of lung bacteria among severe pneumonia patients who were influenza virus positive (IFVP) and influenza virus negative (IFVN).

Methods: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens were procured from patients diagnosed with severe pneumonia to investigate the microbiome utilizing 16S-rDNA sequencing.

Interaction Testing and Polygenic Risk Scoring to Estimate the Association of Common Genetic Variants With Treatment Resistance in Schizophrenia.

Importance: About 20% to 30% of people with schizophrenia have psychotic symptoms that do not respond adequately to first-line antipsychotic treatment. This clinical presentation, chronic and highly disabling, is known as treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). The causes of treatment resistance and their relationships with causes underlying schizophrenia are largely unknown.

A Chromosome-Scale Assembly of the Wheat Leaf Rust Pathogen Provides Insights Into Structural Variations and Genetic Relationships With Haplotype Resolution.

Despite the global economic importance of the wheat leaf rust pathogen (), genomic resources for are limited and chromosome-level assemblies of are lacking. Here, we present a complete haplotype-resolved genome assembly at a chromosome-scale for using the Australian pathotype 64-(6),(7),(10),11 (Pt64; North American race LBBQB) built upon the newly developed technologies of PacBio and Hi-C sequencing. PacBio reads with ∼200-fold coverage (29.

Sex-Dependent Shared and Nonshared Genetic Architecture Across Mood and Psychotic Disorders.

Background: Sex differences in incidence and/or presentation of schizophrenia (SCZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder (BIP) are pervasive. Previous evidence for shared genetic risk and sex differences in brain abnormalities across disorders suggest possible shared sex-dependent genetic risk.

Methods: We conducted the largest to date genome-wide genotype-by-sex (G×S) interaction of risk for these disorders using 85,735 cases (33,403 SCZ, 19,924 BIP, and 32,408 MDD) and 109,946 controls from the PGC (Psychiatric Genomics Consortium) and iPSYCH.

Integrated Analysis of Gene Expression, SNP, InDel, and CNV Identifies Candidate Avirulence Genes in Australian Isolates of the Wheat Leaf Rust Pathogen .

The leaf rust pathogen, (), threatens global wheat production. The deployment of leaf rust () resistance (R) genes in wheat varieties is often followed by the development of matching virulence in due to presumed changes in avirulence (Avr) genes in . Identifying such Avr genes is a crucial step to understand the mechanisms of wheat-rust interactions.

Long-Read-Based Genome Assembly and Comparative Genomics of the Wheat Leaf Rust Pathogen Identifies Candidates for Three Avirulence Genes.

Leaf rust, caused by (), is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat, affecting production in nearly all wheat-growing regions worldwide. Despite its economic importance, genomic resources for are very limited. In the present study, we have used long-read sequencing (LRS) and the pipeline of FALCON and FALCON-Unzip (v4.

Elevated triglyceride levels are associated with cognitive impairments among patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Cognitive deficits have been identified as one of core clinical symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD). Accumulating evidence indicated that triglycerides (TG) might be associated with MDD and cognitive decline.

Objective: This study examined whether patients with MDD had poorer cognitive functions than healthy controls, and further investigate whether TG levels were involved in MDD, and its cognitive impairments in a Han Chinese population.

Comparative Genomics Integrated with Association Analysis Identifies Candidate Effector Genes Corresponding to in Phenotype-Paired Isolates from Australia.

Leaf rust is one of the most common and damaging diseases of wheat, and is caused by an obligate biotrophic basidiomycete, (). In the present study, 20 isolates from Australia, comprising 10 phenotype-matched pairs with contrasting pathogenicity for , were analyzed using whole genome sequencing. Compared to the reference genome of the American isolate 1-1 BBBD Race 1, an average of 404,690 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) per isolate was found and the proportion of heterozygous SNPs was above 87% in the majority of the isolates, demonstrating a high level of polymorphism and a high rate of heterozygosity.

Contribution of copy number variants to schizophrenia from a genome-wide study of 41,321 subjects.

Copy number variants (CNVs) have been strongly implicated in the genetic etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ). However, genome-wide investigation of the contribution of CNV to risk has been hampered by limited sample sizes. We sought to address this obstacle by applying a centralized analysis pipeline to a SCZ cohort of 21,094 cases and 20,227 controls.

Cognitive impairments in first-episode drug-naive and chronic medicated schizophrenia: MATRICS consensus cognitive battery in a Chinese Han population.

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia and we examined the cognitive profile of first-episode and chronic schizophrenia in a Chinese Han population using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). We recruited 79 first-episode drug-naïve (FEDN) schizophrenia, 132 chronic medicated schizophrenia inpatients and 124 healthy controls. We assessed patient psychopathology using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

Evidence for Genetic Overlap Between Schizophrenia and Age at First Birth in Women.

Importance: A recently published study of national data by McGrath et al in 2014 showed increased risk of schizophrenia (SCZ) in offspring associated with both early and delayed parental age, consistent with a U-shaped relationship. However, it remains unclear if the risk to the child is due to psychosocial factors associated with parental age or if those at higher risk for SCZ tend to have children at an earlier or later age.

Objective: To determine if there is a genetic association between SCZ and age at first birth (AFB) using genetically informative but independently ascertained data sets.

Altered interleukin-18 levels are associated with cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia.

The pathophysiology of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia may involve the neuroinflammation mediated by cytokines. This study examined the IL-18 levels, the cognitive function, and their association in schizophrenia. We recruited 70 chronic patients and 75 normal controls and examined the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and IL-18 levels.

Altered neural signaling and immune pathways in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of schizophrenia patients with cognitive impairment: A transcriptome analysis.

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of schizophrenia and contribute significantly to functional disability. We investigated the molecular pathways associated with schizophrenia (SZ; n=47) cases representing both 'cognitive deficit' (CD; n=22) and 'cognitively spared' (CS; n=25) subtypes of schizophrenia (based on latent class analysis of 9 cognitive performance indicators), compared with 49 healthy controls displaying 'normal' cognition. This was accomplished using gene-set analysis of transcriptome data derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

TCF4 gene polymorphism is associated with cognition in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Background: Cognitive deficits have been identified as an important core feature of schizophrenia. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) gene have been reported to be involved in the susceptibility to schizophrenia and be significantly related to cognitive deficits of schizophrenia and controls. This study examines whether the TCF4 rs2958182 polymorphism influences cognitive functions in chronic schizophrenia and controls.

Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism with schizophrenia and depressive symptom severity in a Chinese population.

Background: Depressive symptoms are frequently observed in schizophrenia patients. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), a key enzyme of renin-angiotensin system, can catalyze the degradation of neuropeptides and modulate dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Previous studies have revealed the association of the ACE gene insertion/deletion polymorphism with depressive disorder and its treatment response but not with the depressive symptoms in schizophrenia.

Differential regulation of cytotoxicity pathway discriminating between HIV, HCV mono- and co-infection identified by transcriptome profiling of PBMCs.

Background: Despite the easy accessibility and diagnostic utility of PBMCs and their potential to show distinct expression patterns associated with the accelerated disease progression in HIV/HCV co-infection, there has not been a systematic study focusing on the global dysregulations of the biological pathways in PBMCs from HIV, HCV mono- and co-infected individuals. This study aimed at identifying the transcriptome distinctions of PBMCs between these patient groups.

Methods: Genome-wide transcriptomes of PBMCs from 10 HIV/HCV co-infected patients, 7 HIV+ patients, 5 HCV+ patients, and 5 HIV/HCV sero-negative healthy controls were analyzed using Illumina microarray.

Altered IL-2, IL-6 and IL-8 serum levels in schizophrenia patients with tardive dyskinesia.

Immune deregulation has been postulated to be one of the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of tardive dyskinesia (TD). We hypothesized that interleukins would have a link with TD in schizophrenia patients. In this study, the serum IL-2, IL-6 and IL-8 levels were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in schizophrenia patients with TD (n=48) and without TD (n=45), and healthy controls (n=44).

Mn-superoxide dismutase activity is associated with orofacial involuntary movements in schizophrenia patients with tardive dyskinesia.

Background: Oxidative stress-induced damage may be involved in tardive dyskinesia (TD) development. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), the key antioxidant enzyme, was found abnormal in TD.

Objective: We examined the role of oxidative stress in relation to TD and TD subtypes in schizophrenia using manganese SOD (MnSOD) as the biomarker.

Association of altered CuZn superoxide dismutase and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia patients with tardive dyskinesia.

Free radical-mediated abnormalities may contribute to the development of tardive dyskinesia (TD) and specific aspects of schizophrenia symptomatology such as cognitive deficits. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), a critical enzyme in the detoxification of superoxide radicals, was found to be abnormal in TD. While most of previous studies focused on the manganese isoform located in mitochondria, this study investigated the activities of isoform CuZnSOD present in the plasma.

Altered BDNF is correlated to cognition impairment in schizophrenia patients with tardive dyskinesia.

Background: Long-term antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia is often associated with the emergence of tardive dyskinesia (TD), which is linked to greater cognitive impairment. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a critical role in cognitive function, and schizophrenia patients with TD have lower BDNF levels than those without TD.

Objective: This study examines the BDNF levels, the cognitive function, and the association of BDNF with cognitive function in schizophrenia patients with or without TD.

Association between the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion polymorphism and first-episode patients with schizophrenia in a Chinese Han population.

Background: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), a key enzyme of the renin-angiotensin system, can modulate dopamine turnover in the midbrain. Previous studies have revealed an association between ACE gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and chronic schizophrenia, yet results are conflicting.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to examine whether the ACE gene I/D polymorphism is associated with first-episode patients with schizophrenia (FEP) in a Chinese Han population.