Background::Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and diameter, stiffness, and wave reflections, are independent and important clinical biomarkers and risk predictors for cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of the present study was to establish nationwide reference values of carotid properties for healthy Chinese adults and to explore potential clinical determinants.Methods::A total of 3053 healthy Han Chinese adults (1922 women) aged 18-79 years were enrolled at 28 collaborating tertiary centers throughout China between April 2021 and July 2022. The real-time tracking of common carotid artery walls was achieved by the radio frequency (RF) ultrasound system. The IMT, diameter, compliance coefficient, β stiffness, local pulse wave velocity (PWV), local systolic blood pressure, augmented pressure (AP), and augmentation index (AIx) were then automatically measured and reported. Data were stratified by age groups and sex. The relationships between age and carotid property parameters were analyzed by Jonckheere-Terpstra test and simple linear regressions. The major clinical determinants of carotid properties were identified by Pearson’s correlation, multiple linear regression, and analyses of covariance.Results::All the parameters of carotid properties demonstrated significantly age-related trajectories. Women showed thinner IMT, smaller carotid diameter, larger AP, and AIx than men. The β stiffness and PWV were significantly higher in men than women before forties, but the differences reversed after that. The increase rate of carotid IMT (5.5 μm/year in women and 5.8 μm/year in men) and diameter (0.03 mm/year in both men and women) were similar between men and women. For the stiffness and wave reflections, women showed significantly larger age-related variations than men as demonstrated by steeper regression slopes (all P for age by sex interaction <0.05). The blood pressures, body mass index (BMI), and triglyceride levels were identified as major clinical determinants of carotid properties with adjustment of age and sex. Conclusions::The age- and sex-specific reference values of carotid properties measured by RF ultrasound for healthy Chinese adults were established. The blood pressures, BMI, and triglyceride levels should be considered for clinical application of corresponding reference values.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major metabolic disease endangering global health, with diabetic nephropathy (DN) as a primary complication lacking curative therapy. Sporoderm-broken spores of Ganoderma lucidum (GLP), an herbal medicine, has been used for the treatment of metabolic disorders. In this study, DN was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats using streptozotocin (STZ) and a high-fat diet (HFD), and the protective mechanisms of GLP were investigated through transcriptomic, metabolomic, and network pharmacology (NP) analyses. Our results demonstrated that GLP intervention ameliorated renal damage and inflammation levels in DN rats. Integrative metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis revealed that GLP treatment modulated glucose and cellular energy metabolisms by regulating relevant genes. GLP significantly suppressed the inflammations by impacting glucose and energy metabolism-related gene expression (Igfbp1 and Angptl4) and enhanced metabolic biomarkers of 4-Aminocatechol. In addition, NP analysis further indicated that GLP may efficiently alleviate DN via immune-related pathways. In conclusion, this study provides supportive evidence of the anti-inflammatory effects of GLP supplements, highlighting their potential for promising clinical applications in treating DN.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and safety of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-supported percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in chronic coronary total occlusion (CTO) patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Methods: The CTO patients with LVEF≤35% and undergoing CTO-PCI assisted by ECMO in the General Hospital of Northern Theater Command from December 2018 to March 2022 were enrolled in this study. The post-procedure complications, changes of LVEF from pre-procedure to post-procedure during hospitalization, and the incidence of all-cause mortality and changes of LVEF after discharge were assessed. Results: A total of 17 patients aged (59.4±11.8) years were included. There were 14 males. The pre-procedure LVEF of these patients were (29.00±4.08)%. Coronary angiography results showed that there were 29 CTO lesions in these 17 patients. There was 1 in left main coronary artery, 7 in left anterior descending artery, 11 in left circumflex artery, and 10 in right coronary artery. ECMO was implanted in all patients before procedure. Among 25 CTO lesions attempted to cross, 24 CTO were successfully implanted with stents. All patients underwent successful PCI for at least one CTO lesion. The number of drug-eluting stents implantation per patient were 4.6±1.3. After procedure, there were 8 patients with hemoglobin decreased>20 g/L, and 1 patient with ECMO-access-site related bleeding. The LVEF value at a median duration of 2.5 (2.0-5.5) days after procedure significantly increased to (38.73±7.01)% (P<0.001 vs. baseline). There were no in-hospital deaths. Patients were followed up for 360 (120, 394) days after discharge, 3 patients died (3/17). The LVEF value was (41.80±7.32)% at 155 (100, 308) days after discharge, which was significantly higher than the baseline value (P<0.001). Conclusion: The results of present study demonstrate that it is feasible, efficient and safe to perform ECMO)-supported CTO-PCI in CTO patients with reduced LVEF.
Male ; Humans ; Stroke Volume ; Ventricular Function, Left ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Heart ; Vascular Diseases

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and safety of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-supported percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in chronic coronary total occlusion (CTO) patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Methods: The CTO patients with LVEF≤35% and undergoing CTO-PCI assisted by ECMO in the General Hospital of Northern Theater Command from December 2018 to March 2022 were enrolled in this study. The post-procedure complications, changes of LVEF from pre-procedure to post-procedure during hospitalization, and the incidence of all-cause mortality and changes of LVEF after discharge were assessed. Results: A total of 17 patients aged (59.4±11.8) years were included. There were 14 males. The pre-procedure LVEF of these patients were (29.00±4.08)%. Coronary angiography results showed that there were 29 CTO lesions in these 17 patients. There was 1 in left main coronary artery, 7 in left anterior descending artery, 11 in left circumflex artery, and 10 in right coronary artery. ECMO was implanted in all patients before procedure. Among 25 CTO lesions attempted to cross, 24 CTO were successfully implanted with stents. All patients underwent successful PCI for at least one CTO lesion. The number of drug-eluting stents implantation per patient were 4.6±1.3. After procedure, there were 8 patients with hemoglobin decreased>20 g/L, and 1 patient with ECMO-access-site related bleeding. The LVEF value at a median duration of 2.5 (2.0-5.5) days after procedure significantly increased to (38.73±7.01)% (P<0.001 vs. baseline). There were no in-hospital deaths. Patients were followed up for 360 (120, 394) days after discharge, 3 patients died (3/17). The LVEF value was (41.80±7.32)% at 155 (100, 308) days after discharge, which was significantly higher than the baseline value (P<0.001). Conclusion: The results of present study demonstrate that it is feasible, efficient and safe to perform ECMO)-supported CTO-PCI in CTO patients with reduced LVEF.
Male ; Humans ; Stroke Volume ; Ventricular Function, Left ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Heart ; Vascular Diseases

The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of circRNA-0028171 on the apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells induced by arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃). Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with 0-15 μmol/L As₂O₃ for 24 h. Then, cellular viability was measured by MTT assay. The expression levels of circRNA-0028171, Bcl-2 and Bax mRNA were detected by real-time quantitative PCR. Bcl-2/Bax protein ratio was detected by Western blot. Whether circRNA-0028171 was involved in the regulation of HUVECs by As₂O₃ was investigated by transfection with overexpression plasmid of circRNA-0028171 and siRNA. The results showed that compared with the control group, As₂O₃ group showed decreased cellular viability, reduced Bcl-2/Bax mRNA and protein ratios, and significantly lower expression of circRNA-0028171. Overexpression of circRNA-0028171 inhibited apoptosis of HUVECs induced by As₂O₃. Knockdown of circRNA-0028171 by siRNA promoted As₂O₃-induced apoptosis in HUVECs. These results suggest that circRNA-0028171 is involved in the vascular endothelial cell apoptosis induced by As₂O₃.
Humans ; Arsenic Trioxide/pharmacology* ; RNA, Circular ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolism* ; RNA, Small Interfering/metabolism* ; Apoptosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism* ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism* ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism*

Objective: To explore the impact of environmental temperature exposure on eczema visits. Methods: Eczema clinic data from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019 were collected from the Huizhou Dermatology Hospital, and data on meteorological factors (average daily temperature and relative humidity) for the same period were derived from 86 meteorological stations of the Guangdong Provincial Climate Center. A distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was used to assess the lagged effect of environmental temperature exposure on eczema, and a natural smooth spline function was used to control the nonlinear confounding of humidity. Results: There were 254 053 eczema outpatient visits at the Huizhou Dermatology Hospital within four years, with an average of 173.89 visits per day. The relationship between daily average temperature and the number of visits was non-linear (U shape). The risk of eczema increased by 2.20% (1.19%-3.21%) for every 1 ℃ decrease for the low temperature, and increased by 2.35% (1.24%-3.5%) for every 1 ℃ increase for the high temperature. The effect of high temperature was greater than that of low temperature. In all cases, 1.60% (0.44%-2.68%) of eczema outpatient visits were attributed to low temperature and the attributable number was 4 065 (1 128-6 798), while 6.33% (1.40%-10.87%) of eczema outpatient visits were due to high temperature and the attributable number was 16 082 (3 557-27 616). Conclusion: Both high temperature and low temperature are associated with increased risk of eczema.
Humans ; Air Pollution/adverse effects* ; Temperature ; Outpatients ; Cities ; Eczema/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Air Pollutants/analysis*

Objective: To explore the heterogeneity and correlation of clinical phenotypes and genotypes in children with disorders of sex development (DSD). Methods: A retrospective study of 1 235 patients with clinically proposed DSD in 36 pediatric medical institutions across the country from January 2017 to May 2021. After capturing 277 DSD-related candidate genes, second-generation sequencing was performed to analyzed the heterogeneity and correlation combined with clinical phenotypes. Results: Among 1 235 children with clinically proposed DSD, 980 were males and 255 were females of social gender at the time of initial diagnosis with the age ranged from 1 day of age to 17.92 years. A total of 443 children with pathogenic variants were detected through molecular genetic studies, with a positive detection rate of 35.9%. The most common clinical phenotypes were micropenis (455 cases), hypospadias (321 cases), and cryptorchidism (172 cases) and common mutations detected were in SRD5A2 gene (80 cases), AR gene (53 cases) and CYP21A2 gene (44 cases). Among them, the SRD5A2 mutation is the most common in children with simple micropenis and simple hypospadias, while the AMH mutation is the most common in children with simple cryptorchidism. Conclusions: The SRD5A2 mutation is the most common genetic variant in Chinese children with DSD, and micropenis, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias are the most common clinical phenotypes. Molecular diagnosis can provide clues about the biological basis of DSD, and can also guide clinicians to perform specific clinical examinations. Target sequence capture probes and next-generation sequencing technology can provide effective and economical genetic diagnosis for children with DSD.
3-Oxo-5-alpha-Steroid 4-Dehydrogenase/genetics* ; Child ; China/epidemiology* ; Cryptorchidism/genetics* ; Disorders of Sex Development/genetics* ; Female ; Genital Diseases, Male ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypospadias/genetics* ; Male ; Membrane Proteins/genetics* ; Penis/abnormalities* ; Phenotype ; Retrospective Studies ; Steroid 21-Hydroxylase/genetics*

Objective:To investigate the pathogenesis, selection of endovascular treatment (EVT) strategies, and efficacies of acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion (AVBAO) of different lesion sites.Methods:One hundred and five patients with AVBAO, admitted to and accepted EVT in our hospital from February 2017 to September 2019, were chosen in our study. The data of disease onset, imaging findings, EVT status, perioperative complications, and prognoses of these patients were collected. According to DSA results, the involved lesions were divided into 4 sites: the upper segment of basilar artery (BA), the middle segment of BA, the lower segment of BA, and the intracranial segment of vertebral artery (V4 segment), and patients with tandem lesions would be recorded as distal lesions. The risk factors, EVT strategies, and prognoses 90 d after follow-up (modified Rankin scale [mRS] scores≤3: good prognosis) were compared in patients with 4 different lesion sites.Results:There were significant differences in etiological classifications and percentage of patients combined with atrial fibrillation among patients with 4 different lesion sites ( P<0.05). There was significant difference in proportion of patients accepted emergency stent implantation among patients with 4 different lesion sites ( P<0.05): those with lesions at the V4 segment had the highest proportion of patients accepted emergency stent implantation (79.55%), followed by those with lesions at the lower segment of BA (50.00%). There was significant difference in EVT time (the time from arterial puncture to successful recanalization of occluded vessels) among patients with 4 different lesion sites ( P<0.05): the EVT time in patients with lesions at the middle segment of BA was the shortest (87.5 [58.5, 130.8] min), and the EVT time in patients with lesions at the lower segment of BA was the longest (115.0 [81.0, 163.0] min). There was no statistical difference among patients with different lesion sites in good prognosis rate 90 d after follow-up ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The pathogenesis of patients with different AVBAO lesion sites is different, so different EVT strategies should be adopted.

Aim To investigate the effect of circRNA- 32011 on myocardial apoptosis induced by arsenic triox- ide (ATO).Methods Primary cardioniyocytes of suckling neonate mouse were treated with ATO ( final concentration 10 (xniol • L_1 ) for 24 h.Then cell via¬bility was measured by M IT assay.The mKNA expres¬sion levels of Bel-2/ Bax and circRNA-3201 I were de¬tected by KT-PCK.Bcl-2/Bax protein expression lev¬els were detected by Western blot.Overexpression and knock down circHNA-32011 respectively by plasmid and siHNA were used to verify its function in ATO-in- duced cardiomyocyte apoptosis.Results Myocardial cell viability decreased, Bel-2 expression significantly decreased while Bax expression increased in ATO group compared with the control group.CircKNA- 32011 was down-regulated in ATO ineuhated cardio¬niyocytes.Ovcrex press ion of circRNA-32011 in ATO- incubated cardioniyocytes increased myocardial cell vi¬ability and Bel-2 expression and decreased the expres¬sion of Bax.Knockdown of circRNA-32011 could fur¬ther reduce cardiomyoevte activity and Bel-2 expression and increase the experssion of Bax induced by ATO.Conclusions CircRNA-32011 protects cardiac myo¬cytes from apoptosis induced by arsenic trioxide, which may provide a new potential therapeutic strategy for ATO-induced myocardial injury.

Objective:This study aims to observe the effect of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on the growth of human hair follicles, and explore its mechanism of promoting hair growth.Methods:Hair follicles were isolated from the normal scalp tissue discarded by 4 rhytidectomy patients in the Plastic Surgery Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and the isolated single hair follicles were cultured in vitro. Normal culture condition was used as the control group, and HGF with a concentration of 10 ng/ml was added to the culture medium as the experimental group. The growth length of hair follicles in different culture days was measured under a microscope. The effect of HGF on the growth cycle of hair follicles was evaluated by observing the morphology of hair matrix and dermal papilla of hair follicle. Hair follicle epithelial cells (HFECs) were identified by flow cytometry. The normal cultured HFECs were used as the control groups, while the HFECs treated with 10 ng/ml HGF for 48h as the experimental groups. HFECs were collected to extract RNA and transcriptome sequencing was applied to detect the effects of HGF on gene expression of HFECs. Real-time PCR was used to verify the sequencing results. All quantitative data were displayed as Mean ± SD deviation, the independent sample t test was applied for the comparison between the two groups and the difference was statistically significant when P<0.05. Results:With the extension of culture time in vitro, hair follicle growth tends to stop. HGF promoted the growth of cultured hair follicles, and the growth length (unit 0.1 mm) of hair follicles were statistically different between the experimental and control group at 7 d (16.700 ± 5.143 vs. 12.210 ± 4.191, t=2.353, P<0.05 ), 10 d (18.800 ± 4.917 vs. 13.710 ± 3.518, t=2.962, P<0.01) and 14 d (23.000 ± 7.196 vs. 14.000 ± 4.057, t=3.910, P<0.01). HFECs we cultured displayed cuboidal morphology and highly expressed epithelial cell surface marker CD49f. RNA-seq showed HFECs highly expressed epithelial cell marker genes including KRT14, KRT5, KRT6A, CDH1, SOX9 and CD49f, the FPKM of which were 6 012 ± 2 141, 4 072 ± 1 369, 3 896 ± 1 991, 95.06 ± 21.48, 101.30± 38.52, 162.00 ± 47.83 respectively. HFECs did not or hardly express mesenchymal markers as THY1, DPP4, CDH2 (N-cadherin), ACTA2, PDGFRA, COL1A1and COL3A1, the FPKM of which were 0.740 ± 0.825, 0.632 ± 0.765, 0.000 ± 0.034, 1.674 ± 1.235, 0.000 ± 0.014, 2.526 ± 3.531, 0.000 ± 0.015, respectively. GO analysis showed the differential expressed genes between HGF treated and normal cultured HFECs were enriched in cell cycle-related biological processes such as nuclear division and chromosome separation. Real-Time PCR further verified that the expression of CENPA、CDC20、UBE2C、CDK1、AURKB、NDC80 in HGF treated HFECs were significantly downregulated to 0.689 ± 0.053( t=10.17, P<0.001)、0.676 ± 0.121 ( t=4.652, P<0.01)、0.761 ± 0.148( t=2.785, P<0.05)、0.599 ± 0.153( t=4.530, P<0.05)、0.706 ± 0.113( t=4.507, P<0.05)、0.579 ± 0.092 ( t=7.931, P<0.01) of the control group, respectively. Conclusions:HGF can effectively promote the growth of cultured human hair follicles in vitro, but downregulate the cell cycle-related genes of hair follicle epithelial cells.