The regulation of lncRNAs and miRNAs in SARS-CoV-2 infection

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a global endemic that continues to cause a large number of severe illnesses and fatalities. There is increasing evidence that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are crucial regulators of viral infection and antiviral immune response and the role of non-coding RNAs in SARS-CoV-2 infection has now become the focus of scholarly inquiry. After SARS-CoV-2 infection, some ncRNAs' expression levels are regulated to indirectly control the expression of antiviral genes and viral gene replication. However, some other ncRNAs are hijacked by SARS-CoV-2 in order to help the virus evade the immune system by suppressing the expression of type I interferon (IFN-1) and controlling cytokine levels. In this review, we summarize the recent findings of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) among non-coding RNAs in SARS-CoV-2 infection and antiviral response, discuss the potential mechanisms of actions, and prospects for the detection, treatment, prevention and future directions of SARS-CoV-2 infection research.

[Application of mixture analysis methods in association between metals mixture exposure and DNA oxidative damage]

Objectives: To study the association between metals mixture exposure and DNA oxidative damage using mixture analysis methods, and to explore the most significant exposure factors that cause DNA oxidative damage. Methods: Workers from steel enterprises were recruited in Shandong Province. Urinary metals were measured by using the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method. The level of urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was determined by using the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR), elastic net regression and quantile g-computation regression were used to analyze the association between urinary metals and urinary 8-OHdG. Results: A total of 768 subjects aged (36.15±7.40) years old were included in the study. BKMR, elastic net regression and quantile g-computation all revealed an overall positive association between the mixture concentration and increased urinary 8-OHdG. The quantile g-computation results showed that with a 25% increase in metal mixtures, the urinary 8-OHdG level increased by 77.60%. The elastic net regression showed that with a 25% increase in exposure risk score, the urinary 8-OHdG level increased by 26%. The BKMR summarized the contribution of individual exposures to the response, and selenium, zinc, and nickel were significant contributors to the urinary 8-OHdG elevation. Conclusion: Exposure to mixed metals causes elevated levels of DNA oxidative damage, and selenium, zinc, and nickel are significant exposure factors.

[Analysis of the clinical characteristics of 25 cases with parenchymal neuro-Behcet's disease]

Objective: To retrospectively investigate the clinical data, radiological characteristics, treatment, and outcome of patients with parenchymal neuro-Behcet's disease (P-NBD) with particular emphasis on dizziness. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of clinical data from 25 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of P-NBD who were admitted to the Department of Neurology of the First Medical Center of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital between 2010 and 2022. The median age of the population was 37 years (range: 17-85 years). Clinical data were retrospectively analyzed, including gender, age of onset, disease duration, clinical manifestations, serum immune indicators, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) routine biochemical and cytokine levels, cranial and spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, treatment, and outcome. Results: The majority of patients were male (16 cases; 64.0%), the mean age of onset was (28±14) (range: 4-58 years), and the disease course was acute or subacute. Fever was the most common clinical presentation, and the complaint of dizziness was not uncommon (8/25 patients). Analysis of serum immune indices, including complement (C3 and C4), erythrocyte sedimentation rate, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrotic factor-alpha were abnormal in 80.0% of patients (20/25). Most of the 16/25 patients who underwent lumbar puncture tests had normal intracranial pressure and increased CSF white cell count and protein [median values were 44 (15-380) ×10⁶/L and 0.73 (0.49-2.81) g/L, respectively]. Of the five patients who underwent CSF cytokine tests, four patients had abnormal results; of these, an elevated level of IL-6 was most common, followed by IL-1 and IL-8. The most common site of involvement in cranial MRI was the brainstem and basal ganglia (60.0% respectively), followed by white matter (48.0%) and the cortex (44.0%). Nine cases (36.0%) showed lesions with enhancement and six cases (24.0%) showed mass-like lesions. Three patients (12.0%) patients had lesions in the spinal cord, most frequently in the thoracic cord. All patients received immunological intervention therapy; during follow up, the majority had a favorable outcome. Conclusions: P-NBD is an autoimmune disease with multiple system involvement and diverse clinical manifestations. The symptom of dizziness is not uncommon and can be easily ignored. Early treatment with immunotherapy is important and can improve the outcome of these patients.

Three neutralizing mAbs induced by MPXV A29L protein recognizing different epitopes act synergistically against orthopoxvirus

AbstractThe worldwide outbreak of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) has become a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (PHEIC). Severe monkeypox virus infection can be fatal, however, effective therapeutic methods are yet to be developed. Mice were immunized with A35R protein and A29L protein of MPXV, and the binding and neutralizing activities of the immune sera against poxvirus-associated antigens and viruses were identified. A29L protein and A35R protein-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were generated and their antiviral activities of these mAbs were characterized in vitro and in vivo. Immunization with the MPXV A29L protein and A35R protein induced neutralizing antibodies against the orthopoxvirus in mice. None of the mAbs screened in this study against A35R could effectively neutralize the vaccinia virus (VACV), while three mAbs against A29L protein, 9F8, 3A1 and 2D1 were confirmed to have strong broad binding and neutralizing activities against orthopoxvirus, among which 9F8 showed the best neutralizing activity. 9F8, 3A1, and 2D1 recognized different epitopes on MPXV A29L protein, showing synergistic antiviral activity in vitro against the VACV Tian Tan and WR strains; the best activity was observed when the three antibodies were combined. In the vivo antiviral prophylactic and therapeutic experiments, 9F8 showed complete protective activity, whereas 3A1 and 2D1 showed partial protective activity. Similarly, the three antibodies showed synergistic antiviral protective activity against the two VACVs. In conclusion, three mAbs recognized different epitopes on MPXV A29L protein were developed and showed synergistic effects against orthopoxvirus.

[Comparison of pingyangmycin fibrin glue composite and pingyangmycin dexamethasone composite in the treatment of pharyngolaryngeal venous malformation]

Objective: To analyze and compare the efficacy and safety of pingyangmycin fibrin glue composite (PFG) and pingyangmycin dexamethasone composite (PD) in the treatment of pharyngolaryngeal venous malformation (VM). Methods: The clinical data of 98 patients with pharyngolaryngeal VM who underwent sclerotherapy with pingyangmycin composite in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from June 2013 to November 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. According to their treatment, patients were divided into PFG group (n=34) and PD group (n=64), among those patients there were 54 males and 44 females, aged 1-77(37.06±18.86)years. The lesion size, total treatment times and adverse events were recorded before and after treatment. And the efficacy was divided into three grades: recovery, effective and invalid. According to the length of VM, all patients were divided into three subgroups, to compare the differences in efficacy and treatment times between each two groups.And finally the adverse events and their treatments were analyzed. SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: The efficacy of PFG group was 94.11%(32/34), the recovery rate was 85.29%(29/34).And the efficacy of PD group was 93.75%(60/64), the recovery rate was 64.06%(41/64). No serious adverse eventst occurred in subgroup comparison, there was no statistical difference between the two groups in efficacy and the times of treatments when the length was≤3 cm (Z_efficacy=1.04, t_{treatment times}=2.18, P>0.05); when the length was 3-5 cm, there was no significant efficacy difference between the two groups(Z_efficacy=1.17, P>0.05), but the treatment times of PFG were less (t_{treatment times}=4.87, P<0.01); when the length≥5 cm, efficacy of PFG was significantly better than PD (Z_efficacy=2.94, P<0.01), and had fewer treatments times (t_{treatment times}=2.16, P<0.01). There were no serious adverse events in either group during treatment and follow-up. Conclusion: Both PFG and PD are safe and effective composite sclerotherapy agent for the treatment of laryngeal VM, but PFG has a higher cure rate and fewer treatment times for massive lesions.

Evaluation of the Abel inversion integral in O-mode plasma reflectometry using Chebyshev-Gauss quadrature

The Abel transform is often used to reconstruct plasma density profiles from O-Mode polarized reflectometry diagnostics. However, standard numerical trapezoidal evaluation of the Abel inversion integral can be computationally expensive for a large number of evaluation points, and an endpoint singularity exists on the upper-bound of the integral, which can result in an increased error. In this work, Chebyshev-Gauss quadrature is introduced as a new method to evaluate the Abel inversion integral for the problem of O-Mode plasma reflectometry. The method does not require numerical evaluation of an integral singularity and is shown to have similar accuracy compared to existing methods while being computationally efficient.

A deep learning algorithm-based visual strategy intervention study for children with autism spectrum disorders - extraction and detection of children's behavioral features

OBJECTIVE

Autism spectrum disorder is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders. The disease's etiology is unclear, and there is no specific drug treatment for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disease. The study aims to explore effective intervention methods for children with autism spectrum disorders.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This paper proposes a visual strategy intervention method for children with autism spectrum disorders. This method combines feature extraction and abnormal behavior detection and can use a visual cue strategy to integrate children into social groups. Firstly, the spatial-temporal feature fusion structure is added to extract behavioral features from children, and the spatial information contained in MotionNet is fused with temporal features. Optical Flow Feature (OFF) subnetwork is added to the optical flow extraction feature network. Each layer feature is input to the OFF subnet to extract the time feature further. Then, a behavior detection method based on the sequential pool is proposed. This method combines attention mechanism and clustering pool to effectively describe human behavior dynamics in the long, redundant video under complex background. Finally, feature extraction and behavior detection experiments are carried out on SDUFall, Weizmann, and HMDB51 data sets.

RESULTS

The model's accuracy is still slightly higher than others in that only the video Red-Green-Blue (RGB) frame is used as input. Compared with OFF, SDUFall can reach 88.64%, and HMDB51 can only reach 63.81%. In contrast, the proposed model can reach 72.09%, higher than others. The descriptor obtained the best result of 92.57%, which is 3.64%, 2.58%, and 1.73% higher than the other three comparison descriptors. The data show that the method presented here is effective and has advantages in detecting children's abnormal behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

This method and visual intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders can help them to overcome social barriers.

Therapeutic effect of micropump intravenous infusion of ambroxol hydrochloride on respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants

OBJECTIVE

This work aimed to explore the therapeutic effect of micropump intravenous infusion of ambroxol hydrochloride (AH) on respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature infants.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

56 premature infants from 28 to 34 weeks were recruited for analysis in this work. According to the treatment methods, they were randomly divided into two groups, with 28 patients in each group. Patients in the experimental group were given intravenous AH by micropump, while those in the control group inhaled atomized AH. The therapeutic effects were evaluated by comparing the data after treatment.

RESULTS

The results showed that the serum 8-iso-PGP2α level in the experimental group was 166.32 ± 49.52, which was substantially inferior to that in the control group (183.32 ± 52.54), p < 0.05. In the experimental group, PaO2, SaO2, and PaO2/FiO2 were 95.88 ± 12.82 mmHg, 95.86 ± 2.27%, and 346.81 ± 51.93 mmHg, respectively, after 7 days of treatment. Compared with the control group (88.21 ± 12.82 mmHg, 93.18 ± 3.13%, and 266.83 ± 48.09 mmHg), the difference was statistically significant, p < 0.05. The oxygen duration, respiratory distress relief time, and length of stay were 95.12 ± 12.53 h, 4.4 ± 0.6 d, and 19.84 ± 2.8 d, respectively, in the experimental group, while they were 145.92 ± 13.85 h, 6.9 ± 0.9 d, and 28.42 ± 3.7 d, respectively, in the control group, showing great differences (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Micropump infusion of AH in the treatment of premature RDS patients was more conducive to efficacy. It can alleviate the clinical symptoms of children with RDS, improve their blood gas indicators, relieve and repair the damage to alveolar epithelial cell lipids in children with RDS, and ultimately improve the therapeutic effect, which can be used for the clinical treatment of premature RDS.

circSnd1 promotes atherosclerosis progression through the miR-485-3p/Olr1 signaling pathway

Background

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) participate in the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Identifying and verifying the key competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network related to atherosclerosis (AS) is significant for understanding the development of AS. The aim of this study was to investigate the circRNA-miRNA‒mRNA network, identify a key circRNA and explore its role in the development of atherosclerosis.

Methods

Differentially expressed mRNAs (DEMs) and circRNAs (DECs) in the AS model were obtained from datasets in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. R software and Cytoscape software were used to construct and visualize the ceRNA network. The dual-luciferase reporter experiment and the RNA pull-down experiment were used to verify the selected ceRNA axis. siRNA targeting circRNA, miRNA mimic, miRNA inhibitor, or gene overexpression plasmid was used for in vitro functional studies. ELISA and western blotting were used to detect inflammation and lipid transport-related proteins. Furthermore, an AS mouse model was established and treated with recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors to further verify the influence of the selected ceRNA axis on the occurrence and/or development of AS.

Results

A total of 497 DEMs were enriched in 25 pathways, based on which the circ_0082139 (circSnd1)/miR-485-3p/Olr1 axis was selected. In vitro, the interaction among the three molecules of this axis was validated and it was found to affect inflammation and lipid transport, which were characterized by the significant change of inflammatory factors (Il-6, Il-8, Tnf-α, Mcp-1, Vcam-1, and Icam-1), and lipid transport-related genes, including Abca1, Abcg1, Ldlr, Hdlbp, Lp-pla2, and Srebp-1c. Through animal experiments, we further verified that the circSnd1/miR-485-3p/Olr1 axis regulated these molecules and participated in the formation and/or development of AS in vivo.

Conclusions

The circSnd1/miR-485-3p/Olr1 axis participates in the formation and development of atherosclerosis by regulating inflammation and lipid transport.

[Femtosecond laser-assisted minimally invasive lamellar keratoplasty for advanced keratoconus]

Objective: To evaluate the initial safety and efficacy of femtosecond laser-assisted minimally invasive lamellar keratoplasty (FL-MILK) for advanced keratoconus. Methods: It was a case series study. Patients with advanced keratoconus who underwent FL-MILK between August 2017 and April 2020 at Shandong Eye Hospital were prospectively included. The femtosecond laser was used to create an intrastromal pocket in the recipient cornea and a lamellar cornea in the donor. The lamellar cornea was then gently inserted into the intrastromal pocket through the incision and flattened. Clinical measurements included best-corrected visual acuity, 3-mm anterior corneal mean keratometry, anterior and posterior central corneal elevation, central corneal thickness, corneal biomechanics, and endothelial cell density. The follow-up was conducted at 1 month, 12 months, and 24 months after the operation. Results: There were 33 patients (35 eyes) in the study. Twenty-six patients were male and 7 patients were female. The mean age was (20.34±5.24) years old. All patients completed 12 months of follow-up, and 25 patients (27 eyes) completed 24 months of follow-up. No epithelial ingrowth, infection, or allogeneic rejection was observed. Compared with the preoperative data, the anterior central corneal elevation significantly decreased (P<0.001), the mean keratometry significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the central corneal thickness significantly increased (P<0.001). The corneal biomechanical strength was significantly improved, with the deformation amplitude ratio at 2.0 mm decreasing from 1.39±0.14 preoperatively to 1.21±0.10 at 24 months postoperatively (P<0.001) and the stiffness parameter at the first applanation increasing from 41.49±11.47 preoperatively to 88.41±18.17 at 24 months postoperatively (P<0.001). There were no significant changes in the mean best-corrected visual acuity, posterior corneal elevation, mean spherical equivalent, and endothelial cell density (all P>0.05). Conclusions: FL-MILK may be a feasible option for advanced keratoconus. This procedure may provide a new resolution for keratoconus.

Effective Management of Citrus Melanose Based on Combination of Ecofriendly Chemicals

Citrus melanose, caused by the ascomycete fungus Diaporthe citri, is one of the most important diseases in China that affects not only the production but also the quality of citrus. In China, mancozeb is recommended to control melanose disease at the dose of 1.34 g/liter. However, it is widely applied in practice at the dose of 2.66 g/liter or even 4 g/liter, because reduced efficacy of the recommended dose was observed in regions severely damaged by melanose. In this study, some ecofriendly chemicals for melanose management were evaluated. First, the sensitivity to fungicides was screened in the laboratory based on the inhibition of mycelial growth and conidial germination of D. citri. Results showed that both quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) fungicides kresoxim-methyl and trifloxystrobin inhibited conidial germination of D. citri up to 100% at 0.1 μg/ml. The in vivo control efficacy on detached fruit indicated that treatments with elastic nanocopolymer film at 2 g/liter, mancozeb at 1 g/liter, and kresoxim-methyl at 0.1 g/liter significantly inhibited the infection process compared with the control treatment of mineral oil alone. In field trials, the efficacy of kresoxim-methyl at 0.1 g/liter and elastic nanocopolymer film at 2 g/liter mixed with mancozeb at 1 g/liter was equal to that of mancozeb at 2.66 g/liter. The use of mancozeb could be reduced greatly, and the newly developed fungicide combinations are more environmentally friendly due to the low toxicity of both QoI fungicides and elastic nanocopolymer film. The newly developed method with ecofriendly chemicals should play an important role in the management of citrus melanose in the future.

Influence of recombinant human B-type natriuretic peptide on improving ventricular function in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of recombinant human B-type natriuretic peptide (rhBNP) on improving ventricular function in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In this retrospective study, 96 patients with STEMI admitted to Cangzhou Central Hospital from June 2017 to June 2019 were recruited and randomized to either a control group or an experimental group, with 48 patients in each group. Patients in both groups were given conventional pharmacological therapy, and an emergency coronary intervention was performed within 12 hours. Patients in the experimental group received rhBNP intravenously postoperatively, whereas patients in the control group received an equal amount of 0.9% NaCl solution through an intravenous drip. Postoperative recovery indicators were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

Patients treated with rhBNP showed better postoperative respiratory frequency, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, pleural effusion, acute left heart remodeling after surgery and central venous pressure at 1-3 days after surgery than those without (p<0.05). Early diastolic blood flow velocity/early diastolic motion velocity (E/Em) and wall-motion score indices (WMSI) of patients in the experimental group were markedly lower compared to the control group one week after surgery (p<0.05). Patients receiving rhBNP had better left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and WMSI six months after surgery and higher left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV) and LVEF one week after surgery than the controls (p<0.05). Administration of rhBNP for patients with STMI provided a higher treatment safety by significantly reducing the incidence of left ventricular remodeling and complication than conventional medication (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Intervention with rhBNP in STEMI patients could effectively inhibit ventricular remodeling, alleviate symptoms, reduce adverse complications and improve ventricular function.

Determination of standardised ileal digestibility of amino acids in high-fibre feedstuffs and additivity of apparent and standardised ileal amino acids digestibility of diets containing mixtures of maize, sorghum, and soybean meal

1. Two experiments were conducted to determine the coefficients of standardised ileal amino acid digestibility for selected high-fibre feedstuffs (Expt.1) and to assess the additivity of coefficients of apparent (cAIAAD) and standardised (cSIAAD) ileal amino acid digestibility for diets containing combinations of sorghum, maize and soybean meal.2. In Expt. 1, broiler chickens (324) were allocated to 54 metabolism cages (nine diets with six replicates). In Expt. 2, broiler chickens (315) were allocated to 63 metabolism cages (seven diets with nine replicates). The diets in Expt. 1 were a nitrogen-free diet plus eight semi-purified diets in which soybean meal (SBM), low-protein SBM (LPSBM), soybean hull, wheat bran, maize bran, rice bran, dried sugarbeet pulp or maize gluten feed were the only sources of protein in the respective diets. In Expt. 2, the seven diets were a nitrogen-free diet, and six semi-purified diets consisting of individual feedstuffs (SBM, maize, or sorghum) or combinations (maize and SBM; sorghum and SBM; or maize, sorghum, and SBM) as the only sources of protein.3. In both experiments, all the broiler chickens received the same maize-SBM diet formulated to meet nutrient requirements according to the breeder's recommendations from d 0 to 16. Allocated experimental diets were provided on d 16, and ileal digesta were collected on d 21.4. In Expt. 1, SBM and LPSBM had greater (P < 0.01) cSIAAD for indispensable and dispensable amino acids than the other feedstuffs. The rice bran had greater (P<0.01) cSIAAD values than wheat bran and maize bran, except for Leu, Cys, and Pro.5. In Expt. 2, predicted cAIAAD values for maize-SBM and maize-sorghum-SBM were generally lower (P<0.01) than actual values. The actual and predicted cSIAAD values for maize-SBM, sorghum-SBM and maize-sorghum-SBM combinations were not significantly different.6. It was concluded that the standardised amino acid digestibility of sorghum, when combined with other feedstuffs, was additive and that approximately three-quarters of total amino acids in the assayed high-fibre feedstuffs, except for dried sugarbeet pulp and maize gluten feed, were digestible.

[Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with intra-glandular contrast injection can improve the diagnostic accuracy of central compartment lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the value of lymphatic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (LCEUS) with intra-glandular injection of contrast agent for diagnosis of central compartment lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer.

METHODS

From November, 2020 to May, 2022, the patients suspected of having thyroid cancer and scheduled for biopsy at our center received both conventional ultrasound and LCEUS examinations of the central compartment lymph nodes before surgery. All the patients underwent surgical dissection of the lymph nodes. The perfusion features in LCEUS were classified as homogeneous enhancement, heterogeneous enhancement, regular/irregular ring, and non-enhancement. With pathological results as the gold standard, we compared the diagnostic ability of conventional ultrasound and LCEUS for identifying metastasis in the central compartment lymph nodes.

RESULTS

Forty-nine patients with 60 lymph nodes were included in the final analysis. Pathological examination reported metastasis in 34 of the lymph nodes, and 26 were benign lymph nodes. With ultrasound findings of heterogeneous enhancement, irregular ring and non-enhancement as the criteria for malignant lesions, LCEUS had a diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 97.06%, 92.31% and 95% for diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes, respectively, demonstrating its better performance than conventional ultrasound (P < 0.001). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that LCEUS had a significantly greater area under the curve than conventional ultrasound for diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes (94.7% [0.856-0.988] vs 78.2% [0.656-0.878], P=0.003).

CONCLUSION

LCEUS can enhance the display and improve the diagnostic accuracy of the central compartment lymph nodes to provide important clinical evidence for making clinical decisions on treatment of thyroid cancer.

Development and validation of risk prediction models for stroke and mortality among patients with type 2 diabetes in northern China

BACKGROUND

Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Risk models have been developed for predicting stroke and stroke-associated mortality among patients with T2DM. Here, we evaluated risk factors of stroke for individualized prevention measures in patients with T2DM in northern China.

METHODS

In the community-based Tianjin Chronic Disease Cohort study, 58,042 patients were enrolled between January 2014 and December 2019. We used multiple imputation (MI) to impute missing variables and univariate and multivariate Cox's proportional hazard regression to screen risk factors of stroke. Furthermore, we established and validated first-ever prediction models for stroke (Model 1 and Model 2) and death from stroke (Model 3) and evaluated their performance.

RESULTS

In the derivation and validation groups, the area under the curves (AUCs) of Models 1-3 was better at 5 years than at 8 years. The Harrell's C-index for all models was above 0.7. All models had good calibration, discrimination, and clinical net benefit. Sensitivity analysis using the MI dataset indicated that all models had good and stable prediction performance.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we developed and validated first-ever risk prediction models for stroke and death from stroke in patients with T2DM, with good discrimination and calibration observed in all models. Based on lifestyle, demographic characteristics, and laboratory examination, these models could provide multidimensional management and individualized risk assessment. However, the models developed here may only be applicable to Han Chinese.

IL-37 alleviates intervertebral disc degeneration via the IL-1R8/NF-κB pathway

OBJECTIVE

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) has been reported to be a major cause of low back pain (LBP). Interleukin (IL)-37 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine of the interleukin-1 family, which exerts salutary physiological effects. In this study, we assessed the protective effect of IL-37 on IDD progression and its underlying mechanisms.

METHODS

Immunofluorescence (IF) was conducted to measure IL-37 expression in nucleus pulposus tissues. CCK-8 assay and Edu staining were used to examine the vitality of IL-37-treated nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs). Western blot, qPCR, ELISA as well as immunohistochemistry were used to assess senescence associated secreted phenotype (SASP) factors expression; and NF-κB pathway was evaluated by western blot and IF; while IL-1R8 knock-down by siRNAs was performed to ascertain its significance in the senescence phenotype modulated by IL-37. The therapeutic effect of IL-37 on IDD were evaluated in puncture-induced rat model using X-ray, Hematoxylin-Eosin, Safranin O-Fast Green (SO), and alcian blue staining.

RESULTS

We found IL-37 expression decreased in the IDD process. In vitro, IL-37 suppressed SASP factors level and senescence phenotype in IL-1β treated NPCs. In vivo, IL-37 alleviated the IDD progression in the puncture-induced rat model. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that IL-37 inhibited IDD progression by downregulating NF-κB pathway activation in NPCs by activating IL-1R8.

CONCLUSION

The present study suggests that IL-37 delays the IDD development through the IL-1R8/NF-κB pathway, which suggests IL-37 as a promising novel target for IDD therapy.

[Multiple pulmonary masses with diffuse cystic lesions]

A 50-year-old female patient, presenting with a past history of Reynaud's syndrome, xerostomia and xerophthalmia, was admitted to Fujian Provincial Hospital because of coughing for 10 days and left anterior chest pain for 1 day. Chest imaging showed multiple nodules and masses, and diffuse cystic lesions in both lungs. Based on the differential diagnosis of multiple pulmonary masses and diffuse cystic lesions respectively, autoantibodies, radionuclide dynamic imaging of the parotid, positron emission tomography-CT, CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy, and other examinations were performed. The diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma stage ⅣA (lung, parotid gland) and Sjögren's syndrome was confirmed. By analyzing the imaging features and pathogenesis in detail, the diffuse cystic lesions of both lungs were considered to be related to lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia caused by Sjögren's syndrome. The pulmonary space-occupying lesions in the lungs were significantly absorbed after RCHOP regimen for lymphoma.

Effects of Curcumin C3 Complex® on Physical Function in Moderately Functioning Older Adults with Low-Grade Inflammation - A Pilot Trial

BACKGROUND

Natural dietary compounds that can modulate the inflammation process have the potential to improve physical function through a number of biological pathways, and thus may represent an alternative approach to avert functional decline compared to more time-burdening lifestyle interventions. In this pilot trial, we tested the feasibility and explored the effect of a nutritional compound, Curcumin C3 Complex® for improving physical function and muscle strength in moderately functioning older adults with low-grade inflammation.

METHODS

Moderately functioning (short physical performance battery, SPPB <10) and sedentary older adults (>65 years) with low-grade systemic inflammation (c-reactive protein >1mg/dL) were randomized to receive Curcumin C3 Complex® (n=9) (1000mg/day) or placebo (n=8) groups for 12 weeks. All participants (age range: 66-94 years, 8 females and 9 males) underwent functional testing (SPPB and walking speed by the 400-meter walk test) and lower-limb strength (knee flexion and extension peak torque by the Biodex test) at baseline and 12 weeks. Venous blood was collected at baseline, 4, 8 and 12 weeks for safety blood chemistry analyses and biomarkers of inflammation.

RESULTS

A total of 17 participants were randomized and completed the study. Adherence was high (> 90%) and there were no adverse events reported or abnormal blood chemistries reported. Based on effect sizes, participants in the Curcumin C3 Complex® group demonstrated large effect sizes in the SPPB (Cohen's effect size d=0.75) and measures of knee extension (d=0.69) and flexion peak torque (d=0.82). Effect sizes for galectin-3 (d=-0.31) (larger decrease) and interleukin-6 (d=0.38) (smaller increase) were small in the Curcumin C3 Complex® group compared to placebo.

CONCLUSION

This pilot trial suggests that there were no difficulties with recruitment, adherence and safety specific to the study protocol. Preliminary findings warrant a Phase IIb clinical trial to test the effect of Curcumin C3 Complex® on physical function and muscle strength in older adults at risk for mobility disability.