Decreased serum levels of SETD1A protein in patients with schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE

SET domain-containing protein 1A (SETD1A) histone lysine N-methyltransferase may serve as a biomarker for the auxiliary diagnosis and treatment assessment of schizophrenia (SCZ). The aim of this study was to compare serum levels of SETD1A protein between patients with SCZ and health controls.

METHODS

Patients with SCZ and health controls were recruited from the Sixth Hospital of Changchun and the 'Survey on Chronic Diseases and Risk Factors among Adults in Jilin Province', respectively. The quantifications of lysine N-methyltransferase in peripheral serum were conducted by the ELISA method, and data was analyzed using the R software.

RESULTS

Forty patients with SCZ (mean age: 33.97 ± 5.99 years) and forty healthy controls (mean age: 39.07 ± 4.62 years) were included. There was significantly lower concentration of SETD1A protein in the SCZ group compared with the control group (P < 0.001). This significant difference still exists after stratification by sex (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrates that decreased levels of serum SETD1A protein may be utilized as a possible peripheral biomarker for schizophrenia.

Characteristics of hospitalized elderly patients with CKD: a comparison between elderly and non-elderly CKD based on a multicenter cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

We undertook a multicenter epidemiological survey among hospitalized patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), aiming to reveal the characteristics of elderly CKD by comparing it with non-elderly CKD.

METHODS

Medical records were obtained from 18 military hospitals across China from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011. The characteristics of chronic kidney disease in the elderly were analyzed through comparing with those in younger patients with chronic kidney disease.

RESULTS

A total of 380,461 hospitalized patients were included in the database, with 25,826 (6.8%) diagnosed with CKD. Unlike non-elderly, the top-three causes of chronic kidney disease among elderly patients were diabetic nephropathy (24.1%), hypertension-related renal impairment (20.9%), and primary glomerular disease (11.1%). 71.6% of the elderly patients with CKD had more than one comorbidities and the number of morbidities increased with age. In-hospital mortality of the elderly was significantly higher than those of younger patients (3.3% vs. 1.0%). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age, CKD 5 stage, acidosis, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, infection disease, neoplasm, and dementia were independent risk factors for death from CKD in the elderly. The median length of stay (LOS) was similar between elderly and younger CKD patients. The median cost was higher for elderly CKD patients than for younger CKD patients. Among elderly individuals with CKD, LOS, and hospitalization costs also increased with an increase in the number of coexisting diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetic nephropathy,  and hypertension-related kidney injury were the leading causes of chronic kidney disease in elderly patients, which is different from the non-elderly. Elderly patients with chronic kidney disease were more likely to have a higher burden of comorbidities, which were associated with worse in-hospital outcomes.

Survey of the Prosthogonimus spp. metacercariae infection in the second intermediate host dragonfly in Heilongjiang Province, China

Prosthogonimiasis poses a threat to the reproductive system of poultry and wild birds, which are the definitive hosts of the parasite causing this disease. However, the parasite infection of the second intermediate host (dragonfly), the primary vector of this pathogen, is rarely reported. In this study, the prevalence of Prosthogonimus infection in dragonflies was investigated from June 2019 to October 2022 in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China. The species of metacercariae isolated from dragonfly were identified by morphological characteristics, molecular biology techniques, and animal infection experiments. The results showed that 11 species of dragonflies and one damselfly were identified and among six of the dragonflies infected by Prosthogonimus metacercariae, Sympetrum depressiusculum (28.53%) had the highest infection rate among all positive dragonflies, followed by Sympetrum vulgatum (27.86%) and Sympetrum frequens (20.99%), which are preferred hosts, and the total prevalence was 20.39% (2061/10,110) in Heilongjiang Province. Three species of Prosthogoniumus metacercariae were isolated, including Prosthogonimus cuneatus, Prosthogonimus pullucidus, and Prosthogonimus sp., among which P. cuneatus was the dominant species in dragonflies in Heilongjiang Province. This is the first report on the prevalence of Prosthogonimus in dragonflies in China, which provides baseline data for the control of prosthogonimiasis in Heilongjiang Province and a reference for the prevention of prosthogonimiasis in other areas of China.

[Investigate of the etiology and prevention status of liver cirrhosis]

Objective: To investigate the etiology, prevention and treatment status, and their corresponding regional differences of the patients with liver cirrhosis in China, in order to provide scientific basis for the development of diagnosis and control strategies in China. Methods: Clinical data of patients diagnosed with liver cirrhosis for the first time through January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020 from 50 hospitals in seven different regions of China were collected and analyzed retrospectively, and the difference of etiology, treatment, and their differences in various regions were analyzed. Results: A total of 11 861 cases with liver cirrhosis were included in the study. Thereinto, 5 093 cases (42.94%) were diagnosed as compensated cirrhosis, and 6 768 cases (57.06%) had decompensated cirrhosis. Notably, 8 439 cases (71.15%) were determined as chronic hepatitis B-caused cirrhosis, 1 337 cases (11.27%) were alcoholic liver disease, 963 cases (8.12%) were chronic hepatitis C, 698 cases (5.88%) were autoimmune liver disease, 367 cases (3.09%) were schistosomiasis, 177 cases (1.49%) were nonalcoholic fatty liver, and 743 cases (6.26%) of other types of liver disease. There were significant differences in the incidence of chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease, fatty liver, schistosomiasis liver disease, and autoimmune liver disease among the seven regions (P<0.001). Only 1 139 cases (9.60%) underwent endoscopic therapy, thereinto, 718 cases (6.05%) underwent surgical therapy, and 456 cases (3.84%) underwent interventional therapy treatment. In patients with compensated liver cirrhosis, 60 cases (0.51%) underwent non-selective β receptor blockers(NSBB), including 59 cases (0.50%) underwent propranolol and 1 case (0.01%) underwent carvedilol treatment. In patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis, 310 cases (2.61%) underwent NSBB treatment, including 303 cases (2.55%) underwent propranolol treatment and 7 cases (0.06%) underwent carvedilol treatment. Interestingly, there were significant differences in receiving endoscopic therapy, interventional therapy, NSBB therapy, splenectomy and other surgical treatments among the seven regions (P<0.001). Conclusion: Currently, chronic hepatitis B is the main cause (71.15%) of liver cirrhosis in several regions of China, and alcoholic liver disease has become the second cause (11.27%) of liver cirrhosis in China. The three-level prevention and control of cirrhosis in China should be further strengthened.

Evaluating Efficacy and Safety of Tacrolimus Treatment in Membranous Nephropathy: Results of a Retrospective Study of 182 Patients

Purpose

Tacrolimus is recommended by KDIGO Clinical Practice Guidelines as an initial therapy for the treatment of membranous nephropathy (MN). However, little is known about the factors that influence response and recurrence of the disease after tacrolimus therapy, and there are limited data regarding the duration of tacrolimus treatment. Here, we present a real-world retrospective cohort study of 182 MN patients treated with tacrolimus, aiming to assess the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus in the treatment of MN.

Patients and Methods

The clinical data of 182 patients with MN treated with tacrolimus and followed up for at least one year were analyzed retrospectively for the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus.

Results

The mean follow-up period was 27.3 (19.3-41.6) months. A total of 154 patients (84.6%) achieved complete or partial remission, and 28 patients (15.4%) did not. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that male and higher baseline BMI were independently associated with lower, while higher serum albumin was associated with higher probability of remission. Among the responders, 56 patients (36.4%) relapsed. After adjustments for age and sex, Cox regression analysis revealed that the longer period of full-dose tacrolimus was administered, the lower the incidence of relapse. However, high levels of serum creatinine and proteinuria at the onset of tacrolimus discontinuation were risk factors for relapse. During the treatment of tacrolimus, a decline in renal function (≥50% increase in serum creatinine after the onset of tacrolimus treatment) was the most common adverse reaction, observed in 20 (11.0%) patients, followed by elevated blood glucose and infection, but the latter two occurred mostly during treatment with tacrolimus plus corticosteroids.

Conclusion

Tacrolimus is effective in the treatment of MN, but the relapse rate is high. Clinical studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further explore the use of tacrolimus in the treatment of membranous nephropathy.

Electrochemical Determination of Levodopa Using Zinc Sulfide Nanospheres-Reduced Graphene Oxide

Zinc sulfide nanospheres (ZnS NSs) were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis and graphene oxide (GO) was prepared by the Hummer's method. ZnS NSs-rGO/ITO electrode was synthesized by heat treatment at a certain temperature, which was used for the detailed electrochemical determination of levodopa (LD). Finally, they were annealed to form the ZnS NSs-rGO/ITO electrode for detecting levodopa (LD). The results reveal that the ZnS NSs with the diameter of ~1 μm are covered by rGO. The ZnS NSs-rGO/ITO electrode has a good sensitivity of 1.43 μA μM ^-1 for the determination of LD in the concentration range of 1-40 μM. Moreover, it also shows a good selectivity, reproducibility and stability. In order to verify the practicability, we also use the electrode to detect LD in human serum. The detection results also prove that the electrode can be used in real life.

Absence of SH2B3 mutation in nonobese diabetic mice

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic progressive autoimmune disease characterized by mononuclear cell infiltration, with subsequent destruction of insulin-producing β-cells. Studies have identified strong associations between type 1 diabetes and several chromosome regions, including 12q24. Association between type 1 diabetes and 12q24 arises from SNP rs3184504; rs3184504 is a nonsynonymous SNP in exon 3 of SH2B3 (also known as LNK). Nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice recapitulate many aspects of the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes in humans and are therefore frequently used in studies addressing the cellular and molecular mechanisms of this disease. It is of interest to know whether there is a similar mutation of SH2B3 in NOD mice. We found that the SH2B3 mutation is absent in NOD mice. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the sequence and the protein levels of SH2B3 in NOD mice.

Birth weight and subsequent risk of obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This report describes the association between birth weight (BW) and obesity. Screening of 478 citations from five electronic databases resulted in the inclusion of 33 studies, most of medium quality. The meta-analysis included 20 of these published studies. The 13 remaining articles did not provide sufficient dichotomous data and were systematically reviewed, revealing results consistent with the meta-analysis. Our results revealed that high BW (>4000 g) was associated with increased risk of obesity (odds ratio [OR], 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.91-2.24) compared with subjects with BW ≤ 4000 g. Low BW (<2500 g) was associated with decreased risk of obesity (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.46-0.80) compared with subjects with BW ≥ 2500 g. However, when two studies exhibited selection bias were removed, the results indicated no significant association between low BW and obesity (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.58-1.04). Sensitivity analyses showed that differences in the study design, sample size and quality grade of the study had an effect on the low BW/obesity association, which low BW was not associated with the risk of obesity in cohort studies, studies with large sample sizes and studies with high quality grades. Pooled results were similar when normal birth weight (2500-4000 g) was used as the reference category. Subgroup analyses based on different growth and developmental stages (pre-school children, school children and adolescents) also revealed that high BW was associated with increased risk of obesity from childhood to early adulthood. No significant evidence of publication bias was present. These results suggest that high BW is associated with increased risk of obesity and may serve as a mediator between prenatal influences and later disease risk.

Over-expression of NYGGF4 (PID1) inhibits glucose transport in skeletal myotubes by blocking the IRS1/PI3K/AKT insulin pathway

INTRODUCTION

Defects in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in muscle are the important early events in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. NYGGF4 (also named PID1) is a recently discovered gene which is suggested to be associated with obesity-associated insulin resistance. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of NYGGF4 on glucose uptake and insulin signaling in rat skeletal muscle cells.

METHODS

Rat L6 myoblasts were transfected with either an empty vector or an NYGGF4-expressing vector and induced to differentiate into mature L6 skeletal myotubes. Glucose uptake was determined by measuring uptake of 2-deoxy-d-[(3)H] glucose. Immunoblotting was performed to detect the translocation of insulin-sensitive glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4). Immunoblotting was also used to measure phosphorylation and total protein levels of the insulin signaling proteins including insulin receptor (IR), insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1), Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), p38, and c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK).

RESULTS

NYGGF4 over-expression in L6 skeletal myotubes reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and impaired insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. It also diminished insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS1 and serine phosphorylation of Akt without affecting the phosphorylation of IR, ERK1/2, p38, or JNK.

CONCLUSIONS

Over-expression of NYGGF4 inhibits glucose transport in skeletal myotubes by blocking the IRS1/PI3K/AKT insulin pathway. These observations highlight the potential role of NYGGF4 in glucose homeostasis and the development of insulin resistance in obesity.

Intelligence in relation to obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

We performed a systematic review describing obesity/intelligent quotient (IQ) association, particularly childhood IQ in relation to adulthood obesity. After screening 883 citations from five electronic databases, we included 26 studies, most of medium quality. The weighted mean difference (WMD) of the full IQ (FIQ)/obesity association in the pre-school children was -15.1 (P > 0.05). Compared with controls, the WMD of FIQ and performance IQ of obese children were -2.8 and -10.0, respectively (P < 0.05), and the WMD of verbal IQ was -7.01 (P > 0.05). With increasing obesity, the FIQ in pre-school children declined, with a significant difference for severely obese children and FIQ. In pubertal children, a slightly different effect of FIQ and obesity emerged. Two studies reported an inverse FIQ/obesity association in adults, but it was non-significant after adjusting for educational attainment. Four papers found that childhood FIQ was inversely associated with adult body mass index, but after adjusting for education, became null. Overall there was an inverse FIQ/obesity association, except in pre-school children. However, after adjusting for educational attainment, FIQ/obesity association was not significantly different. A lower FIQ in childhood was associated with obesity in later adulthood perhaps with educational level mediating the persistence of obesity in later life.

Multiresolution wavelet analysis of evoked potentials

Neurological injury, such as from cerebral hypoxia, appears to cause complex changes in the shape of evoked potential (EP) signals. To characterize such changes we analyze EP signals with the aid of scaling functions called wavelets. In particular, we consider multiresolution wavelets that are a family of orthonormal functions. In the time domain, the multiresolution wavelets analyze EP signals at coarse or successively greater levels of temporal detail. In the frequency domain, the multiresolution wavelets resolve the EP signal into independent spectral bands. In an experimental demonstration of the method, somatosensory EP signals recorded during cerebral hypoxia in anesthetized cats are analyzed. Results obtained by multiresolution wavelet analysis are compared with conventional time-domain analysis and Fourier series expansions of the same signals. Multiresolution wavelet analysis appears to be a different, sensitive way to analyze EP signal features and to follow the EP signal trends in neurologic injury. Two characteristics appear to be of diagnostic value: the detail component of the MRW displays an early and a more rapid decline in response to hypoxic injury while the coarse component displays an earlier recovery upon reoxygenation.

[Condition of the serum antioxidation in normal pregnant women]

In order to investigate the condition of antioxidation in normal pregnancy, the serum levels of antioxidant activity (AOA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, uric acid and vitamin C were measured in 30 cases of normal pregnant women. The results showed that the serum levels of AOA and SOD activity (nitrite unit per mg serum protein) were significantly higher than that of non-pregnant women (P < 0.01 and P < 0.005), and indicated that the serum condition of antioxidation was improved during the normal pregnancy. Besides, serum vitamin C level decreased and uric acid level remained unchanged. The SOD activity unit were also discussed.

Orthonormal (Fourier and Walsh) models of time-varying evoked potentials in neurological injury

Estimation of time-varying changes in evoked potentials (EP's) has important applications, such as monitoring high-risk neurosurgical procedures. We test the hypothesis that injury related changes in EP signals may be modeled by orthonormal basis functions. We evaluate two models of time-varying EP signals: the Fourier series model (FSM) and the Walsh function model (WFM). We estimate the Fourier and Walsh coefficients with the aid of an adaptive least-mean-squares technique. Results from computer simulations illustrate how selection of model order and of the adaptation rate of the estimator affect the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The FSM results in a somewhat higher steady-state SNR than does the WFM; however, the WFM is less computationally complex than is the FSM. We apply these two orthonormal functions to evaluate transient response to hypoxic hypoxia in anesthetized cats. Trends of the first five frequencies (Fourier) and sequencies (Walsh) show that the lower frequencies and sequencies may be sensitive indicators of hypoxic neurological injury.

[Clinical features and prognosis of retinal lattice degeneration]

110 cases (110 eyes) of retinal lattice degeneration were clinically observed and followed up for 3-8 years. Most lesions were located in the superotemporal quadrant, band-shaped, and parallel to the ora serrata. 80.9% of the lesions presented various degrees of pigmentation, 67.1% yellowish white spots, and 83.6% white lines. 32.9% of the eyes developed retinal holes. Most lattice degenerations were accompanied by vitreous degeneration and vitreoretinal traction. The disease progressed only slowly, though in a few cases it tended to expand.