PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19113
Jessica J Vandeleest, Lauren J Wooddell, Amy C Nathman, Brianne Beisner, Brenda McCowan
{"title":"Differential effects of multiplex and uniplex affiliative relationships on biomarkers of inflammation.","authors":"Jessica J Vandeleest, Lauren J Wooddell, Amy C Nathman, Brianne Beisner, Brenda McCowan","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19113","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social relationships profoundly impact health in social species. Much of what we know regarding the impact of affiliative social relationships on health in nonhuman primates (NHPs) has focused on the structure of connections or the quality of relationships. These relationships are often quantified by comparing different types of affiliative behaviors (<i>e.g.</i>, contact sitting, grooming, proximity) or pooling affiliative behaviors into an overall measure of affiliation. However, it is unclear how the breadth of affiliative behaviors (<i>e.g.</i>, how many different types or which ones) a dyad engages in impact health and fitness outcomes. We used a novel social network approach to quantify the breadth of affiliative relationships based on two behaviors: grooming and sitting in contact. Dyadic relationships were filtered into separate networks depending on whether the pair engaged in multiple affiliative behaviors (multiplex networks) or just one (uniplex networks). Typically, in social network analysis, the edges in the network represent the presence of a single behavior (<i>e.g.</i>, grooming) regardless of the presence or absence of other behaviors (<i>e.g.</i>, contact sitting, proximity). Therefore, to validate this method, we first compared the overall structure of the standard network for each affiliative behavior: all grooming interactions regardless of contact sitting, and all contact sitting interactions regardless of grooming. We then similarly compared the structure of our filtered multiplex <i>vs.</i> uniplex networks. Results indicated that multiplex networks were more modular, reciprocal, and kin-based while connections in uniplex networks were more strongly associated with social status. These differences were not replicated when comparing networks based on a single behavior alone (<i>i.e.</i>, all grooming networks <i>vs.</i> all contact sitting networks). Next, we evaluated whether individual network position in multiplex <i>vs</i>. uniplex (novel approach) or grooming <i>vs</i>. contact sitting (traditional approach) networks differentially impact inflammatory biomarkers in a commonly studied non-human primate model system, the rhesus macaque (<i>Macaca mulatta</i>). Being well connected in multiplex networks (networks where individuals both contact sat and groomed) was associated with lower inflammation (IL-6, TNF-alpha). In contrast, being well connected in uniplex grooming networks (dyad engaged only in grooming and not in contact sitting) was associated with greater inflammation. Altogether, these results suggest that multiplex relationships may function as supportive relationships (<i>e.g.</i>, those between kin or strong bonds) that promote health. In contrast, the function of uniplex grooming relationships may be more transactional (<i>e.g.</i>, based on social tolerance or social status) and may incur physiological costs. This complexity is important to consider for understanding the mechanisms underlying the as","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19113"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949109/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143731178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19095
Bradley P Pedro, L Michael Romero
{"title":"Physiological responses of wild birds to artificial grass during introduction to laboratory housing.","authors":"Bradley P Pedro, L Michael Romero","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19095","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19095","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Introduction of wild animals to captivity induces chronic stress often leading to weight loss, increases in baseline corticosterone, and increased DNA damage. To mitigate these effects, providing enrichment to the captive environment has been proposed. Yet, studies investigating the physiological effects of captive environment enrichments are rare in wild birds. Here, we test the potential of a single enrichment factor by monitoring weight, baseline corticosterone, and DNA damage in two groups of house sparrows (<i>Passer domesticus)</i> during introduction to captivity: (1) birds in standard laboratory cages with food dishes and (2) birds in cages where food is spread across artificial grass to simulate a more natural foraging environment. After 3 weeks, all birds switched environments for 3 additional weeks. Weight was monitored bi-weekly while baseline corticosterone and DNA damage were measured weekly. Initially, both groups lost significant weight and weight plateaued by about 2 weeks of captivity. However, after switching housing environments, only initially grass-caged birds continued to lose weight. After one week of captivity, grass-caged birds had lower DNA damage compared to standard-caged birds. Over time, standard-caged birds remained unchanged and initially grass-caged birds increased damage after switching housing environments. There were no significant differences in baseline corticosterone across groups or over time. Our findings provide limited support for artificial grass as a substantial enrichment in mitigating the physiological consequences associated with introduction to captivity. Furthermore, given the challenges to husbandry of using artificial grass, the data are insufficiently strong to recommend the use of artificial grass as a stress-reducing enrichment to laboratory housing.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19095"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949117/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.18894
Moriz Steiner, Falk Huettmann
{"title":"Moving beyond the physical impervious surface impact and urban habitat fragmentation of Alaska: quantitative human footprint inference from the first large scale 30 m high-resolution Landscape metrics big data quantification in R and the cloud.","authors":"Moriz Steiner, Falk Huettmann","doi":"10.7717/peerj.18894","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.18894","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With increased globalization, man-made climate change, and urbanization, the landscape-embedded within the Anthropocene-becomes increasingly fragmented. With wilderness habitats transitioning and getting lost, globally relevant regions considered 'pristine', such as Alaska, are no exception. Alaska holds 60% of the U.S. National Park system's area and is of national and international importance, considering the U.S. is one of the wealthiest nations on earth. These characteristics tie into densities and quantities of human features, <i>e.g</i>., roads, houses, mines, wind parks, agriculture, trails, <i>etc</i>., that can be summarized as 'impervious surfaces.' Those are physical impacts and actively affecting urban-driven landscape fragmentation. Using the remote sensing data of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), here we attempt to create the first quantification of this physical human impact on the Alaskan landscape and its fragmentation. We quantified these impacts using the well-established landscape metrics tool 'Fragstats', implemented as the R package \"landscapemetrics\" in the desktop software and through the interface of a Linux Cloud-computing environment. This workflow allows for the first time to overcome the computational limitations of the conventional Fragstats software within a reasonably quick timeframe. Thereby, we are able to analyze a land area as large as approx. 1,517,733 km<sup>2</sup> (state of Alaska) while maintaining a high assessment resolution of 30 m. Based on this traditional methodology, we found that Alaska has a reported physical human impact of c. 0.067%. We additionally overlaid other features that were not included in the input data to highlight the overall true human impact (<i>e.g</i>., roads, trails, airports, governance boundaries in game management and park units, mines, <i>etc</i>.). We found that using remote sensing (human impact layers), Alaska's human impact is considerably underestimated to a meaningless estimate. The state is more seriously fragmented and affected by humans than commonly assumed. Very few areas are truly untouched and display a high patch density with corresponding low mean patch sizes throughout the study area. Instead, the true human impact is likely close to 100% throughout Alaska for several metrics. With these newly created insights, we provide the first state-wide landscape data and inference that are likely of considerable importance for land management entities in the state of Alaska, and for the U.S. National Park systems overall, especially in the changing climate. Likewise, the methodological framework presented here shows an Open Access workflow and can be used as a reference to be reproduced virtually anywhere else on the planet to assess more realistic large-scale landscape metrics. It can also be used to assess human impacts on the landscape for more sustainable landscape stewardship and mitigation in policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e18894"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949110/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19061
Thais N F Santos, Raquel O Moreira, Jardel D B Rodrigues, Luis A C Rojas, Jackson A M Souza, Janete A Desidério
{"title":"Isolation and <i>in silico</i> analysis of a new subclass of parasporin 4 from <i>Bacillus thuringiensis coreanensis</i>.","authors":"Thais N F Santos, Raquel O Moreira, Jardel D B Rodrigues, Luis A C Rojas, Jackson A M Souza, Janete A Desidério","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19061","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19061","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong><i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i> (Bt) is a Gram-positive bacterium whose strains have been studied mainly for the control of insect pests, due to the insecticidal capacity of its Cry and Vip proteins. However, recent studies indicate the presence of other proteins with no known insecticidal action. These proteins denominated \"parasporins\" (PS) have cytotoxic activity and are divided into six classes, namely PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, and PS6. Among these, parasporins 4 (PS4) has only one described subclass, present in the <i>Bacillus thuringiensis shandongiensis</i> strain. Given the importance and limited knowledge about the actions of PS4 proteins and the existence of only one described subclass, the present work aimed to characterize the <i>Bacillus thuringiensis coreanensis</i> strain as a potential source of PS4 protein.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A preliminary screening to detect the <i>ps4</i> gene was conducted in a bank of standard strains and isolates of <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i> from the Laboratory of Bacterial Genetics and Applied Biotechnology, FCAV/UNESP. The positive strain for this gene had its genomic DNA extracted, the <i>ps4</i> gene was isolated, cloned and <i>in silico</i> analyses of its sequence were performed. Tools such as Bioedit, BLAST, Clustal Omega, Geneious, IQ-Tree, and iTOL were used in these analyses. For the structural analysis of the PS4 detected, in comparison to the database PS4 (BAD22577), the tools Alphafold2, Pymol, and InterPro were used. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gel analyses allowed the visualization of the inactive and active PS4 protein from the positive strain, after solubilization and activation with Proteinase K.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Previous screening of Bt standard strains revealed the presence of a partial <i>ps4</i> gene in <i>Bacillus thuringiensis coreanensis</i> strain. The alignment obtained by the BLAST tool revealed 100% identity between the fragment detected in this work with a hypothetical protein (ANN35810.1) from the genome of that same strain. Considering this, the isolation of the complete gene present in this strain was performed by applying the polymer chain reaction (PCR) technique, using the hypothetical sequence as a basis for the primers elaboration. The <i>in silico</i> analysis of the obtained sequence revealed 92.03% similarity with the <i>ps4</i> sequence presented in the database (AB180980). Protein modeling studies and comparison of their structures revealed that the <i>B. thuringiensis coreanensis</i> has a new subclass of PS4, denominated PS4Ab1, being an important source of parasporin to be explored in biotechnological applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19061"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949118/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19046
Nema A Mohamed, Naeimah M Shouran, Amina E Essawy, Ashraf M Abdel-Moneim, Sherine Abdel Salam
{"title":"Mitigative effect of sodium alginate on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic neuropathy through regulation of redox status and miR-146a in the rat sciatic nerve.","authors":"Nema A Mohamed, Naeimah M Shouran, Amina E Essawy, Ashraf M Abdel-Moneim, Sherine Abdel Salam","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19046","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a significant complication of diabetes with limited effective therapeutic options. Sodium alginate (SA), a natural polysaccharide from brown algae, has demonstrated health benefits, however, whether it can treat streptozotocin (STZ)-induced DPN remains unclear. The present experiment aimed to test the preventive role of SA on STZ-induced DPN in rats and explored the possible mechanisms. The DPN rat model was established in rats by intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of 40 mg/kg b.w. STZ, and SA (200 mg/kg b.w./day) was orally administered for 28 days after type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) induction. The obtained findings revealed that STZ significantly increased serum levels of FBG, HOMA-IR, TC, TG, VLDL-C, and LDL-C, while decreased serum insulin, incretin GLP-1, HDL-C, and lipase activity. In the sciatic nerves, STZ significantly increased proinflammatory cytokine levels (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α), caspase-3 (a pro-apoptotic protein), markers of oxidative stress (MDA and NO), and AGEs. In parallel, STZ induced a significant decline in the activities of enzymatic antioxidants, <i>viz.</i>, SOD, CAT, and GPx, and non-enzymatic GSH. These changes were accompanied by a low expression of miR-146a in the sciatic nerves of DPN rats. Except for HOMA-IR, SA treatment to STZ injected rats significantly improved these parameters and helped to rescue the neurological morphology of the sciatic nerve fibers. In conclusion, SA mitigated experimental DPN, and this might be due to its ability to suppress hyperglycemic-hyperlipidemic effects, counteract the overactivation of inflammatory molecules, increase miR-146a expression, modulate oxidative dysregulation, and reduce cell apoptosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19046"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949120/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19200
Kazuhiro Goto
{"title":"Strain differences between C57Bl/6 and DBA/2 mice (<i>Mus musculus</i>) in delayed matching and nonmatching-to-position tasks: impact of sample responses and delay intervals.","authors":"Kazuhiro Goto","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19200","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19200","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Spatial working memory is commonly assessed in rodents using delayed matching-to-position (DMTP) and delayed nonmatching-to-position (DNMTP) tasks. Although these tasks are widely used to examine memory function, particularly in relation to delay intervals and response requirements, strain differences in task performance remain underexplored. This study investigates spatial working memory in two widely used mouse strains, C57BL/6 and DBA/2, using these tasks.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Mice were trained and tested on the DNMTP task first, followed by the DMTP task. Both tasks were conducted with varying delay intervals and response requirements, allowing for the assessment of spatial working memory across different conditions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both strains acquired the tasks. However, DBA/2 mice exhibited a smaller decline in accuracy with increasing delay intervals in the DNMTP task compared to C57BL/6 mice. DBA/2 mice also demonstrated more stable performance across both tasks, whereas C57BL/6 mice showed a more pronounced accuracy decline in the DNMTP task than in the DMTP task. In addition, enhancing response requirements during sample trials improved performance in DBA/2 mice for both tasks, a trend that was not observed in C57BL/6 mice. These findings suggest that task-specific variables, such as response modality (<i>e.g</i>., lever pressing <i>vs</i>. nose poking) and prior training history, can significantly influence strain performance. Overall, these results emphasize the need for considering strain-specific traits and experimental conditions when interpreting behavioral data, particularly for DBA/2 mice, frequently used as models for hippocampal dysfunction.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19200"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949106/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19125
Atnaf Abate, Marina Santiago, Alfonso Garcia-Bennett, Mark Connor
{"title":"Polyunsaturated fatty acids and their endocannabinoid-related metabolites activity at human TRPV1 and TRPA1 ion channels expressed in HEK-293 cells.","authors":"Atnaf Abate, Marina Santiago, Alfonso Garcia-Bennett, Mark Connor","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19125","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19125","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly Omega-3 (ω-3) and Omega-6 (ω-6) PUFAs, may exert neuroprotective effects via the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and are promoted as brain health supplements. However, despite their potential role in endocannabinoid biosynthesis, the impact of PUFAs on ion channels such as TRPV1 and TRPA1, which are modulated by endocannabinoids, remains incompletely understood. Furthermore, the potential <i>in vitro</i> actions of ω-6 and ω-3 PUFA combined in the ratios available in supplements remains uncertain. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the functional activity of individual PUFAs, their combination in a specific ratio, and their endocannabinoid-related derivatives on TRPV1 and TRPA1 ion channels.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>We employed a fluorescent calcium-sensitive dye in HEK-293 Flp-In T-REx cells expressing human TRPV1, TRPA1, or an empty vector to measure changes in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca]<sub>i</sub>).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Capsaicin and PUFA derivatives such as docosahexaenoyl ethanolamide (DHEA), γ-linolenoyl ethanolamide (γ-LEA) and anandamide (AEA) stimulate TRPV1 activity directly, whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), γ-linolenic acid (γ-LA), and their 9:3:1 ratio triggered TRPV1 response only after prior exposure to phorbol ester. Cinnamaldehyde and PUFA derivatives such as eicosapentaenoyl ethanolamide (EPEA), DHEA, γ-LEA, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), 2-arachidonoylglycerol ether (2-AG ether) and AEA triggered TRPA1 response, with EPA, DHA, γ-LA, and the 9:3:1 ratio showing significant effects at higher concentrations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>PUFAs alone and their combined form in 9:3:1 ratio stimulate TRPA1 activity, whereas their metabolites trigger both TRPV1 and TRPA1 response. These findings suggest new avenues to explore for research into potential mechanisms underlying the neurological benefits of PUFAs and their metabolites.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19125"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949107/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19104
Menglong Jin, Mawusumu Mamute, Hebali Shapaermaimaiti, Hongyu Ji, Zichen Cao, Sifu Luo, Mayire Abudula, Abuduhalike Aigaixi, Zhenyan Fu
{"title":"Serum ferritin associated with atherogenic lipid profiles in a high-altitude living general population.","authors":"Menglong Jin, Mawusumu Mamute, Hebali Shapaermaimaiti, Hongyu Ji, Zichen Cao, Sifu Luo, Mayire Abudula, Abuduhalike Aigaixi, Zhenyan Fu","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19104","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19104","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Serum ferritin (SF) levels are associated with metabolic syndrome and dyslipidemia. However, the association between SF and atherogenic lipid profiles in high-altitude living populations remains unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In 2021, a cross-sectional study was conducted on adult Tajik individuals residing in Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County (average altitude 3,100 meters). Demographic information and anthropometric measurements were collected in local clinics. Fasting blood samples were analyzed using a Beckman AU-680 Automatic Biochemical analyzer at the biochemical laboratory of Fuwai Hospital. Univariate linear regression analyses were used to explore the association between SF and atherogenic lipid levels. Subgroup analysis was used based on gender and different high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) levels. The association between higher SF quartiles and different kinds of dyslipidemia were analyzed by logistic regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There were 1,703 participants in total, among which 866 (50.9%) being men. The mean ages of male and female participants were similar (41.50 <i>vs.</i> 42.38 years; <i>P</i> = 0.224). SF levels were significantly correlated with total cholesterol (TC) (Beta = 0.225, <i>P</i> < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (Beta = 0.197, <i>P</i> < 0.001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (Beta = -0.218, <i>P</i> < 0.001), triglycerides (TG) (Beta = 0.332, <i>P</i> < 0.001), and small dense LDL-C (sdLDL-C) (Beta = 0.316, <i>P</i> < 0.001), with the exception of lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) (Beta = 0.018, <i>P</i> = 0.475). SF was significantly correlated with LDL-C and HDL-C in women, and correlated with TC, TG, and sdLDL-C levels in both men and women in different inflammatory conditions. Elevated SF levels was significantly correlated with high TC (OR: 1.413, 95% CI [1.010-1.978]), high TG (OR: 1.602, 95% CI [1.299-1.976]), and high sdLDL-C (OR: 1.631, 95% CI [1.370-1.942]) in men and high TC (OR: 1.461, 95% CI [1.061-2.014]), high LDL-C (OR: 2.104, 95% CI [1.481-2.990]), low HDL-C (OR: 1.447, 95% CI [1.195-1.752]), high TG (OR: 2.106, 95% CI [1.454-3.050]), and high sdLDL-C (OR: 2.000, 95% CI [1.589-2.516]) in women. After adjusting for potential confounders, elevated SF levels continue to be correlated with high TG in male (OR: 1.382, 95% CI [1.100-1.737]) and female (OR: 1.677, 95% CI [1.070-2.628]) participants. In both young and middle-aged subgroups, the associations between SF and TG, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, and sdLDL-C were still significant.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>SF was closely related to atherogenic lipid profiles, especially with regard to TG in high-altitude populations. This association cannot be attributed to its role as an inflammation marker.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19104"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949108/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19098
Xuemeng Mei, Yi Liu, Li Yue, Mingming Zhang
{"title":"The spatial and temporal evolution of habitat quality and driving factors in nature reserves: a case study of 33 forest ecosystem reserves in Guizhou Province.","authors":"Xuemeng Mei, Yi Liu, Li Yue, Mingming Zhang","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19098","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19098","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Biodiversity plays a crucial role for humanity, serving as a foundation for human survival and development. Habitat quality serves as a critical indicator for assessing biodiversity and holds significant importance in both theoretical and practical domains. The unique natural geographical environment of Guizhou Province has fostered rich biodiversity and facilitated the establishment of numerous nature reserves, predominantly centered on forest ecosystems. Analyzing the habitat quality of nature reserves and its influencing factors is of great significance for maintaining the regional ecosystem stability, promoting sustainable development, and improving the ecological environment.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Therefore, taking the 33 nature reserves of forest ecosystem in Guizhou Province as the study area, we first quantified habitat quality using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to analyze changes in the nature reserve from 2000 to 2020. Then, we explored the effects of natural and social factors on the spatiotemporal evolution of habitat quality using the optimal parameters-based geographical detector (OPGD).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forests were identified as the primary land-use type in the study area. However, the nature reserves saw an increase area in cropland, and impervious land by 5,001.39 ha and 102.15 ha; a significant decrease in forests and grasslands; and a slight decrease in watersheds. Rapid urbanization, therefore, negatively affected the overall habitat quality of the reserve. Although there is a declining trend in the habitat quality of the nature reserve, the magnitude of change from 2010 to 2020 (-0.04) is smaller than that from 2000 to 2010 (-0.17), indicating that the management of the reserve has been somewhat effective. In national-level nature reserves, interactions between natural geographic factors and socio-economic factors were greater than interactions between natural geographic factors. Similarly, in local-level nature reserves, interactions between natural geographic factors and socio-economic factors outweighed interactions among social factors.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The spatiotemporal variability of habitat quality in the study area was shaped by the combined effects of natural and social factors. The habitat quality of local-level protected areas is, furthermore, more significantly affected by human activities, which are the primary cause of their degradation.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19098"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949111/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143730885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PeerJPub Date : 2025-03-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19002
Rasmon Kalayasiri, Chayamon Rattanawijarn
{"title":"Demographics and physical and mental health of clients at a sports center with and without exercise addiction.","authors":"Rasmon Kalayasiri, Chayamon Rattanawijarn","doi":"10.7717/peerj.19002","DOIUrl":"10.7717/peerj.19002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>While exercise is widely recognized for its health benefits, excessive engagement can lead to exercise addiction (EA), a behavioral condition characterized by compulsive and harmful physical activity. Limited research exists on the demographic, physical, and mental health profiles of individuals with EA. This descriptive cross-sectional study examines demographic factors and related health outcomes among clients at a university sports center with and without EA.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 386 participants were randomly recruited through convenience sampling at the Chulalongkorn University Sports Center in Bangkok, Thailand. EA, physical well-being, and mental well-being were assessed using the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI), the Knee and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and the Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being (QEWB), respectively. Demographic and exercise-related variables, psychological well-being, and knee outcomes were compared between participants with and without EA using Chi-square tests. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of EA.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The majority of participants were male (55.2%), with a mean age of 27.5 years (SD = 10.9). Among the 386 participants, 322 (83.4%) exhibited partial symptoms, and 35 (9.1%) exhibited full symptoms of EA. Full symptoms of EA were significantly associated with gender, exercise frequency, smoking status, hours spent walking, hours spent in other sports, cognitive focus on metabolism during exercise, and poor knee outcomes (<i>P</i> < 0.05). Logistic regression revealed that being male was the sole significant predictor of EA (OR = 2.65, <i>P</i> = 0.024).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>EA was prevalent among clients at the sports center and was associated with adverse knee outcomes. Being male was identified as a key predictor of EA. Future research should explore additional factors associated with EA and its effects on physical and mental health.</p>","PeriodicalId":19799,"journal":{"name":"PeerJ","volume":"13 ","pages":"e19002"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11949105/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143731175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}