Associations among temporal and large artery abnormalities on vascular ultrasound in giant cell arteritis

Objectives: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) can manifest in cranial and/or extracranial arteries. We investigated the distribution of affected arteries on vascular ultrasound (VUS) among patients with new-onset or prior-onset GCA.Method: We retrospectively studied patients with either new-onset or prior-onset GCA and an abnormal VUS, from 2013 to 2017. Trained vascular technologists imaged the bilateral temporal arteries and carotid, axillary, and subclavian arteries. Vascular medicine physicians interpreted the images. Vasculitis-related abnormalities in individual vessels and their distribution (temporal artery, large artery, or both) were evaluated. Phi coefficients (φ) and Fisher's exact test were used to assess correlations among individual abnormal arteries.Results: Among 66 GCA patients, 28.8% had prior-onset GCA (median duration 17.8 months). Acute arteritis on VUS was observed in the majority of patients with both new-onset (72.3%) and prior-onset GCA (68.4%); the remainder had hyperechoic wall thickening without acute arteritis. Involvement of the temporal arteries only (45.5%) or large arteries only (34.8%) was more common than involvement of both (19.7%); this finding was similar in new-onset and prior-onset GCA. There were moderate positive correlations among temporal artery branches (φ = 0.51-0.58, p < 0.003) and among axillary and subclavian arteries (φ = 0.51-0.77, p < 0.003), and moderate negative correlations between abnormalities in the temporal and large arteries (φ = -0.46 to -0.58, p < 0.003).Conclusion: On VUS, vasculitis-related abnormalities in the temporal arteries only or large arteries only were more common than concurrent temporal and large artery abnormalities in patients with both new-onset GCA and prior-onset GCA.

Regulatory mechanism of lncRNA NORAD on proliferation and invasion of ovarian cancer cells through miR-199a-3p

OBJECTIVE

To explore the regulatory mechanism of lncRNA NORAD on proliferation and invasion of ovarian cancer cells through miR-199a-3p.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Eighty-six ovarian cancer tissues and 86 tissues adjacent to cancer, human ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3, HO-8910, A2780, OVCAR-3, and human normal ovarian epithelial cell line IOSE80 were collected. MiR-199a-3p-mimics, miR-199a-3p-inhibitor, miR-NC, si-NORAD, Sh-NORAD, and NC were transfected into HO-8910 and A2780 cells, the expression levels of lncRNA NORAD and miR-199a-3p in ovarian cancer tissues and cells were detected by qRT-PCR, and the expression levels of N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and vimentin in cells were detected by WB. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell, and cell scratch tests were used to detect proliferation, invasion, and migration of cells, and the relationship between lncRNA NORAD and miR-199a-3p was confirmed by the Dual-Luciferase reporter assay.

RESULTS

LncRNA NORAD was highly expressed and miR-199a-3p was lowly expressed in ovarian cancer, and the expression levels of LNCRNARAD and miR-199a-3p were negatively correlated. Cell experiments showed that inhibiting the expression of lncRNA NORAD or up-regulating the expression of miR-199a-3p could inhibit the proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT of ovarian cancer cells, while up-regulating the expression of lncRNA NORAD or inhibiting the expression of miR-199a-3p could promote their proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT. Dual-Luciferase reporter assay confirmed that there was a regulatory relationship between lncRNA NORAD and miR-199a-3p.

CONCLUSIONS

LncRNA NORAD was highly expressed in ovarian cancer tissues, while silencing lncRNA NORAD expression could inhibit the proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT of ovarian cancer cells by regulating miR-199a-3p, which might be a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer.

Serum metabolic markers and metabolic pathways in rats with metabolomic cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis

The aim of this study was to explore the dynamic changes in characteristic serum metabolic markers and pathways during early sepsis in rats. By using cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), we made rat models of sepsis, which were randomly divided into 5 groups with 10 rats in each group: group A, group B, group C, group D, and group E. We collected 2 mL of arterial blood at 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours from rats in group A-E respectively and isolated serum via centrifugation. Next, adopting metabolomics analysis methods, we screened for metabolites from the animal serum with statistically and biologically significant abundance changes, and used the KEGG database to analyze the respective metabolic pathways. In all, our findings reveal that D-glucosamine 6-phosphate, D-glucosamine phosphate, α-D-glucosamine 1-phosphate, D-glucosamine 1-phosphate, and 5-hydroxy isocyanate decline continuously from 12 hours, while L-phenylalanine, (S) -α-amino-β-phenylpropionic acid, 5-methoxy indole acetic acid salt, 5-methoxy indole acetic acid, goose deoxyglycolic acid salt, goose deoxyglycolic acid, and Chen's deoxygenated sugar alcohol started to decrease from 6 hours. Additionally, 3.2,3-Bis-O-(geranyl geranyl)-sn-glycerol- 1-phosphoric acid-L-serine levels rose continuously from 12 hours. We found 13 differentially regulated ions, primarily ones involved in pathways responsible for the metabolism of sugar, amino acids, and lipids, which are related to the disorder of energy metabolism. Our findings mark serum-derived D-glucosamine and its phosphorous derivatives as characteristic metabolic markers of sepsis in rats.

Subclinical ketosis risk prediction in dairy cows based on prepartum metabolic indices

ABSTRACT Ketosis can seriously impair cow performance. This study detected changes in prepartum blood metabolic parameters for predicting postpartum ketosis occurrence in dairy cows. Body condition score (BCS) was assessed before and after delivery. Blood samples of 63 cows were collected from 10 days before calving to 10 days after calving to measure metabolic parameters including β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA), non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), glucose (GLU), total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL), indirect bilirubin (IBIL), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), globulin (GLO), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). There was a postpartum subclinical ketosis incidence of 42.25%. Compared with prepartum, plasma, levels of BHBA, AST, and NEFA significantly increased postpartum, and prepartum AST (R=0.57) and NEFA (R=0.45) showed a significant positive correlation with ketosis postpartum. Plasma GLU level significantly decreased postpartum and was significantly negatively correlated with ketosis (R=-0.21). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed prepartum BSC < 2.88, and prepartum plasma AST > 68.0 U/L, GLU < 3.97mmol/L, NEFA > 0.27mmol/L, and BHBA > 0.43mmol/L, indicating a high risk of subclinical ketosis postpartum. These levels can be used as risk indicators to predict the occurrence of subclinical ketosis in postpartum cows.

Recent catalytic routes for the preparation and the upgrading of biomass derived furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

Furans represent one of the most important classes of intermediates in the conversion of non-edible lignocellulosic biomass into bio-based chemicals and fuels. At present, bio-furan derivatives are generally obtained from cellulose and hemicellulose fractions of biomass via the acid-catalyzed dehydration of their relative C6-C5 sugars and then converted into a wide range of products. Furfural (FUR) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) are surely the most used furan-based feedstocks since their chemical structure allows the preparation of various high-value-added chemicals. Among several well-established catalytic approaches, hydrogenation and oxygenation processes have been efficiently adopted for upgrading furans; however, harsh reaction conditions are generally required. In this review, we aim to discuss the conversion of biomass derived FUR and HMF through unconventional (transfer hydrogenation, photocatalytic and electrocatalytic) catalytic processes promoted by heterogeneous catalytic systems. The reaction conditions adopted, the chemical nature and the physico-chemical properties of the most employed heterogeneous systems in enhancing the catalytic activity and in driving the selectivity to desired products are presented and compared. At the same time, the latest results in the production of FUR and HMF through novel environmental friendly processes starting from lignocellulose as well as from wastes and by-products obtained in the processing of biomass are also overviewed.

Effects of blood pathological changes before TAI on pregnancy of dairy cows with anestrus and estrus

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of plasma pathological changes before timed artificial insemination (TAI) on pregnancy of cows. The contents of estrogen (E2), progesterone (P4), glucose (Glu), selenium (Se), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and histamine (HIS) in plasma of 48 Holstein cows were measured before TAI. According to the estrus detection, the cows were divided into estrus (E) and anestrus (A) groups. After pregnancy testing at 28 d after TAI, two groups of E and A were divided into positive pregnancy of E group (EP+), negative pregnancy of E group (EP-), positive pregnancy of A group (AP+), and negative pregnancy of A group (AP-). The contents of E2, P4, Glu, Se, BDNF and hIS significantly differed among the four groups (P<0.01). The ROC analysis was used to determine the risk of negative pregnancy test (-) after TAI was increased when plasma E2 was less than 46.45 pmol/L in cows before TAI. The changes in E2, P4,hIS, Glu, and BDNF in the blood of natural estrus and natural anestrus cows affected the pregnancy after TAI. the level of E2 in plasma may be used to assess the risk of negative pregnancy after TAI.

[Correlation between thyroid function and glucolipid metabolism in type 1 diabetic adults]

To assess the correlation between thyroid function and glucolipid metabolism in type 1 diabetic adults. A retrospective analysis was conducted in 230 type 1 diabetic adults who were hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology of Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University from January 2008 to January 2020. It showed that thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH) was significantly positively correlated with total cholesterol (TC) (r=0.239), triglycerides (TG) (r=0.166) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (r=0.249), respectively (all P<0.05). Free triiodothyronine (FT₃) was significantly negatively correlated with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (r=-0.272), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (r=-0.240), TC (r=-0.197) and LDL-C (r=-0.220), respectively (all P<0.05). Free thyroxine (FT₄) was negatively correlated with TC (r=-0.171) and LDL-C (r=-0.170), respectively (all P<0.05). TC was an independent predictor of TSH, FT₃ and FT₄, FT₃ and FT₄ were independent predictors of HbA1c. TSH was an independent predictor of TC, TG and LDL-C. Thyroid function is closely related to glucolipid metabolism in type 1 diabetic adults.