Cholesterol is considered to play a critical role in cellular activities .However , high level of peripheral cholesterol is a risk factor for atherosclerosis .ABCG1 is a new member of ABCG1 transporter family, which is involved in cholesterol reverse transport . ABCG1 plays a crucial role in maintaining intracellular sterol homeostasis , but its exact function in atherosclerosis is still unclear .Eluci-dation of the mechanisms of ABCG 1 in intracellular sterol flux will provide important information that may link ABCG 1 to diseases of dys-regulated tissue lipid homeostasis .This review focuses on recent advances of ABCG 1 and its roles in cholesterol transport .

Objective:To investigate the relationship between pulp chamber height and dentine thickness of mandibular first molar on long axis with age in a Chinese Han population by cone-beam computed tomography(CBCT).Methods:CBCT images of 420 Chinese Han subjects(210 males and 210 females) were divided into 6 age groups as follows:15-24,25-34,35-44,45-54,55-64 and 65-74 years(n=70,35 males and 35 females).The height of pulp chamber and dentine thickness of the chamber root and floor of mandibular first permanent molar on long axis was measured by Galileo software of CBCT in vertical direction and then statistical analysis was carried out.Results:On long axis,the height of pulp chamber was (0.85±0.54) mm in males and (0.79±0.51) mm in females(P>0.05);dentine thickness of the pulp chamber roof was (3.60±0.49) mm in males and (3.50±0.49) mm in females(P>0.05);and dentine thickness of the pulp chamber floor was (2.57±0.52) mm in males and (2.49±0.5) mm in females(P>0.05).With aging,the height of pulp chamber was decreased(P<0.05) and dentine thickness of mandibular first permanent molar on long axis was increased(P<0.05).Conclusion:In Chinese Han population,the of pulp chamber height of mandibular first permanent molar on long axis is related to age,The dentine thickness increased with ages,the increase of dentine thickness of pulp chamber floor is more significant than that of the roof.

Objective To investigate serum complement 1q (C1q) levels in the patients with coronary artery disease (CAD),and evaluate its clinical values in predicting and discriminating acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and stable coronary artery disease (SCAD).Methods A total of 52 ACS patients,66 SCAD patients and 54 healthy controls were enrolled in this study.Their serum C1q and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) levels were detected by an immune turbidimetric method and an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay,respectively.Their serum total cholesterol,triglyceride,high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were also determined.Then,the Gensini scores in CAD patients were calculated,and the clinical values of Clq in predicting and discriminating ACS and SCAD were evaluated by stepwise multiple linear regression analysis and Logistic regression analysis.Results Serum C1q and ox-LDL levels in ACS (C1q:t =4.405,P＜0.001;ox-LDL:Z=5.941,P＜0.001) and SCAD (C1q:t =2.320,P=0.022;ox-LDL:Z =4.119,P ＜0.001) patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls.Moreover,serum C1q (t =2.344,P =0.021) and ox-LDL (Z =2.166,P =0.030) levels in ACS patients were significantly higher than that in SCAD patients.Serum C1 q levels were positively correlated with serum ox-LDL (r =0.246,P =0.028) and TG (r =0.232,P =0.002) levels and Gensini scores (r =0.341,P =0.020) in ACS patients.The stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that serum ox-LDL levels were still independently correlated with serum C1 q levels in ACS patients (β =0.676,P =0.045,adjusted R2 =0.380) after adjusting for age,gender and other biochemical markers.The Logistic regression analysis showed that the increased serum C1q and ox-LDL levels were closely related to the occurrence of ACS (C1q:OR =1.05,95％ CI =1.03-1.08,P ＜ 0.001;ox-LDL:OR =1.18,95％ CI =1.08-1.29,P ＜0.001) and SCAD (C1q:OR =1.04,95％CI=1.01-1.06,P=0.003;ox-LDL:OR=I.11,95％CI=1.03-1.18,P=0.004),and that they could discriminate ACS and SCAD (C 1 q:OR =1.01,95 ％ CI =1.00-1.03,P =0.022;ox-LDL:OR =1.06,95 ％ CI =1.01-1.12,P =0.023).Conclusion Serum C1q levels increase significantly in CAD patients,and that of ACS patients is significantly higher than SCAD patients.In ACS patients,serum C1q levels are independently correlated with ox-LDL levels.Serum C1q levels may be served as a novel biomarker for the prediction and discrimination of ACS and SCAD.

Objective To investigate the value of electrocardiographic parameters in assessing severe coronary artery lesions in patients with coronary artery disease.Methods A total of 364 patients with coronary heart disease admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital,Zhengzhou University from January 2022 to September 2023 were selected as the subjects.The patients were divided into severe lesion group(n=123)and non-severe lesion group(n=241)based on the Gensini score.The two groups were compared in terms of baseline data and electrocardiographic parameters.Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors affecting severe lesions and the efficacy of ECG parameters assessment.A column-line plot of ECG parameters to assess severe lesions was created.The joint incremental value of ECG parameters and the area under the ROC curve for assessing severe lesions were calculated.Results The patients in the severe lesion group were elder in age and they showed significantly higher rates in creatine kinase isoenzyme,amino-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor,QRS time frame,frontal QRS-T pinch angle,smoking,hypertension,diabetes mellitus,pathologic Q waves,left ventricular hyper voltage,fragmented QRS waves,and significantly lower rates in low HDL cholesterol and ejection fraction,as compared to the non-severe lesion group(all P<0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that pathological Q waves(OR=3.71,95%CI:1.93～7.15,P<0.001),left ventricular hyper voltage(OR=5.05,95%CI:1.66～15.41,P=0.004),fragmented QRS waves(OR=2.17,95%CI:1.14～4.11,P=0.018),and frontal QRS-T pinch angle(OR=1.01,95%CI:1.00～1.02,P=0.023)were the factors for assessing severe lesions.The incremental value of combined ECG parameters for severe lesions:C-statistic 0.09(95%CI:0.02～0.16,P=0.009),NRI 0.37(95%CI:0.20～0.55,P<0.001),and IDI 0.12(95%CI:0.08～0.17,P<0.001).The ROC curves showed an AUC of 0.79(95%CI:0.74～0.84,P<0.001),a sensitivity of 63.41%,and a specificity of 85.89%for the combined assessment of severe lesions by ECG parameters.Conclusion The combined observations of electrocardiographic parameters such as pathologic Q waves,left ventricular hyper voltage,fragmented QRS waves,and frontal QRS-T pinch angle have an affirmativeclinical value in the assessment of severe lesions.

Background: Intestinal flora disorder plays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic constipation. Either microbial agents or fecal microbiota transplantation has therapeutic effect on chronic constipation by regulating the intestinal flora. Aims: To study the characteristics of intestinal flora structure in elderly chronic constipation patients. Methods: Thirty elderly patients with chronic constipation from January 2019 to December 2019 at Nanjing Central Hospital were enrolled, and 30 elderly healthy subjects were served as controls. Stool was collected, and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing method was used to analyze the structure of intestinal flora. Results: Alpha diversity analysis showed that there were no significant differences in Ace, Chao, Shannon and Simpson indices between chronic constipation group and healthy control group. Twenty dominant genera accounting for more than 80% of all genera were identified in the two groups, Bacteroides was the most abundant genus. Beta diversity analysis showed that the species composition between the two groups was different, the characteristics of the two groups were not similar (R=0.098, P=0.001). Relative abundances of Prevotella, Faecalibacterium and Lachnospira were higher in the healthy control group, while Ruminococcus, Shigella, Parabacteroides and Alistipes were higher in chronic constipation group. Numbers of species with significantly different relative abundance in healthy control group and chronic constipation group were 25 and 2, respectively. Compared with healthy control group, the abundance of Alistipes, Oscillospira, Ruminococcus and Parabacteroides were higher in chronic constipation group (P< 0.05), while Megasphaera was lower (P< 0.05). Conclusions: There is no difference in the diversity of intestinal flora between elderly chronic constipation patients and elderly healthy controls, however, significant difference is detected in species composition. Therefore, targeting at modifying intestinal flora may be a promising therapeutic strategy for chronic constipation.

Objective:To evaluate the reliability of cardiac late iodine enhancement dual-energy CT (LIE-DECT) multiparameter post-processing technique for evaluating the presence, location, and extent of cardiac scars in patients with heart failure (HF), using cardiac MR (CMR) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) as a reference standard.Methods:Thirty-nine HF patients who underwent cardiac LIE-DECT and LGE-CMR examinations in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from November 2019 to November 2021 were prospectively collected, all enrolled HF patients underwent LIE-DECT post-processing to reconstruct monoenergetic plus (Mono+) map (40 keV), iodine map and Rho/Z map, to evaluate the enhancement degree, location and extent of left ventricular myocardial LIE on the left ventricular short-axis map, respectively, and compared with LGE-CMR. Cohen′s Kappa test was used to assess the intra-and inter-observer consistency of LIE by DECT multiparameter technique and the consistency of LIE presence and location by DECT multiparameter technique and by CMR. The diagnostic efficacy of DECT multiparameter technique in diagnosing myocardial scar was calculated.Results:Of the 39 patients included, 32 patients were detected by CMR with LGE in 147 segments, including 37 subendocardial patterns, 19 transmural patterns, 74 mid-wall patterns, and 17 epicardial patterns. The intra-observer consistency Kappa values of 40 keV Mono+map, iodine map and Rho/Z map were 0.878, 0.930 and 0.835 ( P all<0.001), respectively. The inter-observer consistency Kappa values were 0.838, 0.892 and 0.808 ( P all<0.001), respectively. The LIE of 40 keV Mono+map, iodine map and Rho/Z map were in good agreement with CMR, Kappa values were 0.903, 0.883 and 0.810 ( P all<0.001), respectively. For the per-patient analysis, the accuracies of 40 keV Mono+map, iodine map and Rho/Z map were 92.3% (36/39), 92.3% (36/39) and 82.1% (32/39), respectively. For the segment-based analysis, the accuracies of 40 keV Mono+map, iodine map and Rho/Z map accuracy were 96.1% (492/512), 95.3% (488/512) and 92.6% (474/512), respectively. In Bland-Altman analysis, the consistency bias between scar extent measured by 40 keV Mono+map, iodine map, Rho/Z map and that measured by LGE-CMR were -2.03%, -2.21%, -2.65%, and the 95% limit of agreement were -12.20%-8.14%, -12.69%-8.28% and -14.85%-9.58%, respectively. Conclusion:LIE-DECT multiparameter technique can detect myocardial scar in HF patients well, which is consistent with LGE-CMR.