Background Various studies demonstrated that the apoptosis of lens epithelial cells(LECs) is associated with the overexpression of the c-myc gene in LECs induced by galactose.Inhibiting the abnormal expression of the c-myc gene in LECs is an effective approach to mitigate the pathogenesis and development of cataract.Objective The goal of this study is to investigate the inhibitory effects of c-myc antisense oligodeoxynucleotide(c-myc ASODN) on the apoptosis of LECs in the eye with galactose-induced cataract.Methods Galactose-induced cataract models were established by the retrobulbar injection of 0.2 mL of 20% galactose once per day.Lipo-antisense oligodeoxynucleotide(Lipo-ASODN,0.2 mL) was retrobulbarly injected 4 hours after the injection of galactose at one-day intervals.The animals were sacrificed and lenses were obtained to evaluate the apoptosis of LECs and the effect of c-myc ASODN on LECs apoptosis induced by galactose was examined by TUNEL assay after 7,14 and 24 days.The ultrastructural changes of LECs were examined under the transmission electron microscopy(TEM).Results A significant difference in the apoptotic rate of LECs was found among the 7 day,14 day and 24 day groups(F_(7 days)=3 418.495,P＜0.01;F_(14 days)=1137.555,P＜0.01;F_(24 days)=2198.871,P＜0.01).The apoptotic rate of LECs in the galactose group was markedly higher than that in the normal saline solution group 7 days,14 days and 24 days after the experiment(P＜0.01).The apoptotic rate of LECs in the galactose+lipo+ ASODN group significantly declined in comparison to the galactose group after 7 days,14 days and 24 days(P＜0.05).TUNEL assay showed the condensation,breakage and irregularity of the nuclei of apoptotic cells in the galactose group.The destruction of the ultrastructure of the cells and organelles were observed under the transmission electron microscope.Conclusion Galactose induces apoptosis of LECs in cataractogenesis.C-myc ASODN inhibits apoptosis of LECs induced by galactose.

Objective:To investigate the effect of Shengxian decoction combined with irbesartan and atorvastatin on tranditonal Chinese medicine (TCM) efficacy, blood lipid levels and blood pressure variability in patients with hypertension.Methods:This study prospectively selected 80 cases of hypertension patients in Chuzhou First People's Hospital from March 2016 to March 2019 as the objects, and were randomly divided into observation group and control group with 40 cases in each group. The control group was treated with irbesartan and atorvastatin, and the observation group was treated with Shengxian decoction on the basis of the treatment. After the treatment, the TCM efficacy , related blood lipids and improvement of blood pressure variability of the two groups were compared.Results:The total effective rate of TCM syndrome in the observation group (92.5%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (70.0%), with statistically significant difference ( P<0.05); compared with before treatment, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) in both groups was significantly decreased ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between the two groups before and after treatment ( P>0.05); there was no significant difference in SBP and DBP between the two groups after treatment ( P<0.05). Compared with that before treatment, 24 h standard deviation of systolic blood pressure (24 h SSD), day standard deviation of systolic blood pressure (dSSD) and night standard deviation of systolic blood pressure (nSSD) in the two groups were significantly decreased ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in 24 h standard deviation of diastolic blood pressure (24 h DSD), day standard deviation of diastolic blood pressure (dDSD) and night standard deviation of diastolic blood pressure (nDSD) between the two groups ( P>0.05). Compared with the control group, the levels of 24 h SSD, dSSD and nSSD in the observation group were significantly lower ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in 24 h DSD, dDSD, nDSD between the two groups ( P>0.05); after treatment, the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the two groups were significantly decreased ( P<0.05), and the observation group was significantly lower than the control group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Shengxian decoction is effective in treating blood stasis type hypertension, which can effectively improve blood pressure variability and blood lipid levels.

Objective:To investigate the clusters of COVID-19 associated with a market (market Y) in Haidian District, Beijing, and analyze the chain of transmission and provide reference for effective prevention and control of COVID-19.Methods:The investigation of field epidemiology and cluster epidemic was used to describe the distributions of all COVID-19 cases. The time sequence diagram of the cases, disease onset was drawn and transmission chains were analyzed. Real-time RT-PCR assay was conducted for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test by using the respiratory samples of the cases.Results:The COVID-19 epidemic, originated from a wholesale farm produce market (market X) in Fengtai District, Beijing, was introduced by a marketer in the market Y who had exposed to market X, causing 8 clusters of 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one asymptomatic case, including 8 men and 13 women, in market Y, surrounding communities, food plaza, companies,families and other places. The incidence peaked during June 10-14, 2020; the median age of the cases was 45 years, ranging from 5 years to 87 years. The initial symptoms of the cases included fever (10/20) and pharynx discomfort (7/20). The median of incubation period was 5 days ( IQR:3-8). The median of serial interval between primary case and secondary cases was 5 days with a secondary attack rate of 3.7%(20/538), and the secondary attack rate in household close-contacts was 14.0% (7/50). Conclusions:The clusters of COVID-19 associated with market Y were caused by several modes of transmission, including human-to-human, contaminated material-to-human, etc. The combined public-health response measures were effective to control the COVID-19 epidemic in Haidian district of Beijing.

MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are trans-acting small regulatory RNAs that work coordinately with transcription factors(TFs)to shape the repertoire of cellular mRNAs available for translation.Despite our growing knowledge of individual plant miRNAs,their global roles in gene regulatory networks remain mostly unassessed.Based on interactions obtained from public databases and curated from the literature,we reconstructed an integrated miRNA network in Arabidopsis that includes 66 core TFs,318 miRNAs,and 1712 downstream genes.We found that miRNAs occupy distinct niches and enrich miRNA-containing feed-forward loops(FFLs),particularly those with miRNAs as intermediate nodes.Further analyses revealed that miRNA-containing FFLs coordi-nate TFs located in different hierarchical layers and that intertwined miRNA-containing FFLs are associated with party and date miRNA hubs.Using the date hub MIR858A as an example,we performed detailed molecular and genetic analyses of three interconnected miRNA-containing FFLs.These analyses revealed individual functions of the selected miRNA-containing FFLs and elucidated how the date hub miRNA fulfills multiple regulatory roles.Collectively,our findings highlight the prevalence and importance of miRNA-containing FFLs,and provide new insights into the design principles and control logics of miRNA regulatory networks governing gene expression programs in plants.