Objective To investigate the correlation between serum levels of homocystein (Hcy),Cystatin C (Cys C)and cognitive impairment in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).Methods 78 patients with CKD from January 2016 to May 2017 in Hanzhong People's Hospital in Shaanxi were enrolled for the study and divided into stage 3 groups (n 27),stage 4 group (n=28) and stage 5 group (n =23) according to stage of CKD.Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MoCA) was performed to evaluate the cognitive level of patients,and they were divided into cognitive impairment group and normal group.Serum levels of Hcy,Cys C,creatinine (SCr) and urea nitrogen (BUN) were compared among groups,and the correlation between them and cognitive level was analyzed.Results ①Serum levels of Hcy,Cys C,SCr and BUN in stage 3 group were significantly lower than that in stage 4 and 5 group,and these indexes in stage 4 group were significantly lower than that in stage 5 group (F=19.221～66.539,all P＜0.05).The score of MoCA in stage 3 group was significantly lower than that in stage 5 group,and the incidence of cognitive impairment was significantly higher than that in stage 5 group (F/x2 =3.993～6.358,all P＜0.05).②The serum levels of Hcy,Cys C,SCr and BUN in cognitive impairment group were significantly higher than in normal group (t =2.198 ～ 3.835,all P＜ 0.05).③ Pearson analysis result showed that MoCA score was negatively correlated with serum Hcy,Cys C and SCr (r=-0.370,-0.392,-0.253,P＜0.05),but there was no sig nificant correlation between score and BUN (r=-0.211,P＞0.05).④For prediction of cognitive impairment,area under the receiver operating curve of serum levels of Hcy,Cys C,SCr and BUN were 0.818,0853,0.751 and 0.709 (P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum levels of Hcy,Cys C were significantly negatively correlated with cognitive function in patients with CKD,whose predictive value were higher than that ot traditional renal function indexes such as SCr and BUN.

Objective To described the prevalence of school physical violence behaviors and to explore its associated factors among middle school students in Beijing. Methods In 2009, a randomly selected cross- sectional survey was conducted among 5718 students in grades 7 to 12 in Beijing. A self-report anonymous questionnaire involving physical violence at school and sociodemographic variables, such as sex, grades, family economic status and family structure, peer relationships, and communication with their parents etc. were completed by students themselves.Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between physical violence and sociodemographic variables. Results Among the students, 14.3% reported that they had had physical violence behavior in school during the past 12 months. Male students had been more likely to have physical violence behaviors than female students (Male 25.2%, Female 5.1% ). For both male and female students, poor school cohesion were the risk factors of physical violence behaviors (Male OR=1.060, Female OR=1.065). For male students, factors as father' s lower education level (OR=1.653 ), remarried/single-parent families ( OR = 1.834 ), low-grade ( grade 7 OR = 5.291; grade 11 OR =1.526) , poor school performance (OR=1.470) etc were the risk factors of physical violence behaviors; while better-off family economic status (OR=0.546), good peer relationships (OR=0.618) , and easy to communicate with the father (OR=0.756) were the protective factors of physical violence behaviors. For female students, easy to communicate with her mother (OR = 0.358)were the protective factors of physical violence behaviors. Conclusion For male and female students, the prevalence of school physical violence and its related factors were different. Actions on prevention against physical violence behaviors should be fully considered, including factors as gender, personal characteristics, family, school and peers etc.

Objective To analyze the relationship between prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and behavior habits such as smoking,alcohol intake,physical activity,sleeping hours.Methods A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was conducted in 31 provinces,autonomous regions,and municipalities in China according to the program of National Nutrition and Health Survey.Questionnaire survey,interview,physical examination,measurement of biochemical indices,and dietary investigation were done.In total,4937 men aged 18 to 45 years old were selected.Results The MS prevalence was 6.9%(329/4937).The rate of drinking was 49.4% and smoking rate was 54.4%.The percentage of sleeping was hours from 7 to 8 was 70.5%.The percentage of spending time on physical activity over 420 minutes/week was as high as 41.9%.Data from single logistic regression showed volume of smoking more than 600 packs and alcohol intake were associated with high risk of MS and no significantly associations were found between MS and the duration of physical activity and the sleeping time.Multivariate logistic regression showed that the risk of MS in smokers with the volume more than 600 packs age increased significantly as compared to nonsmokers with the odds ratio as 1.443 (95%CI:1.044-1.993 ) and 1.765 (95%CI:1.150-2.708) in smokers with volume from 600 to 899 packs age,and more than 900 packs age respectively.Compared to the nondrinkers,the odds ratios were 1.525 (95%CI:1.135-2.048),2.322(95%CI:1.671-3.255) and 2.033 (95%CI:1.478-2.796) in subjects volume of alcohol dranking as 1 to 2 times per week,3 to 4 times per week and more than 5 times per week respectively.Conclusion Tobacco and alcohol were associated with high risks of MS.

Coronaviruses (CoVs), a family of enveloped positive-sense RNA viruses, are characterized by club-like spikes that project from their surface, unusually large RNA genome, and unique replication capability. CoVs are known to cause various potentially lethal human respiratory infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the very recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Unfortunately, neither drug nor vaccine has yet been approved to date to prevent and treat these diseases caused by CoVs. Therefore, effective prevention and treatment medications against human coronavirus are in urgent need. In the past decades, many natural compounds have been reported to possess multiple biological activities, including antiviral properties. In this article, we provided a comprehensive review on the natural compounds that interfere with the life cycles of SARS and MERS, and discussed their potential use for the treatment of COVID-19.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of veratridine (VER) on persistent sodium current (I(Na.P)), Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange current (I(NCX)), calcium transients and the action potential (AP) in rabbit ventricular myocytes, and to explore the mechanism in intracellular calcium overload and myocardial contraction enhancement by using whole-cell patch clamp recording technique, visual motion edge detection system, intracellular calcium measurement system and multi-channel physiological signal acquisition and processing system. The results showed that I(Na.P) and reverse I(NCX) in ventricular myocytes were obviously increased after giving 10, 20 μmol/L VER, with the current density of I(Na.P) increasing from (-0.22 ± 0.12) to (-0.61 ± 0.13) and (-2.15 ± 0.14) pA/pF (P < 0.01, n = 10) at -20 mV, and that of reverse I(NCX) increasing from (1.62 ± 0.12) to (2.19 ± 0.09) and (2.58 ± 0.11) pA/pF (P < 0.05, n = 10) at +50 mV. After adding 4 μmol/L tetrodotoxin (TTX), current density of I(Na.P) and reverse I(NCX) returned to (-0.07 ± 0.14) and (1.69 ± 0.15) pA/pF (P < 0.05, n = 10). Another specific blocker of I(Na.P), ranolazine (RAN), could obviously inhibit VER-increased I(Na.P) and reverse I(NCX). After giving 2.5 μmol/L VER, the maximal contraction rate of ventricular myocytes increased from (-0.91 ± 0.29) to (-1.53 ± 0.29) μm/s (P < 0.01, n = 7), the amplitude of contraction increased from (0.10 ± 0.04) to (0.16 ± 0.04) μm (P < 0.05, n = 7), and the baseline of calcium transients (diastolic calcium concentration) increased from (1.21 ± 0.08) to (1.37 ± 0.12) (P < 0.05, n = 7). After adding 2 μmol/L TTX, the maximal contraction rate and amplitude of ventricular myocytes decreased to (-0.86 ± 0.24) μm/s and (0.09 ± 0.03) μm (P < 0.01, n = 7) respectively. And the baseline of calcium transients reduced to (1.17 ± 0.09) (P < 0.05, n = 7). VER (20 μmol/L) could extend action potential duration at 50% repolarization (APD(50)) and at 90% repolarization (APD(90)) in ventricular myocytes from (123.18 ± 23.70) to (271.90 ± 32.81) and from (146.94 ± 24.15) to (429.79 ± 32.04) ms (P < 0.01, n = 6) respectively. Early afterdepolarizations (EADs) appeared in 3 out of the 6 cases. After adding 4 μmol/L TTX, APD(50) and APD(90) were reduced to (99.07 ± 22.81) and (163.84 ± 26.06) ms (P < 0.01, n = 6) respectively, and EADs disappeared accordingly in 3 cases. It could be suggested that: (1) As a specific agonist of the I(Na.P), VER could result in I(Na.P) increase and intracellular Na(+) overload, and subsequently intracellular Ca(2+) overload with the increase of reverse I(NCX). (2) The VER-increased I(Na.P) could further extend the action potential duration (APD) and induce EADs. (3) TTX could restrain the abnormal VER-induced changes of the above-mentioned indexes, indicating that these abnormal changes were caused by the increase of I(Na.P). Based on this study, it is concluded that as the I(Na.P) agonist, VER can enhance reverse I(NCX) by increasing I(Na.P), leading to intracellular Ca(2+) overload and APD abnormal extension.
Acetanilides ; pharmacology ; Action Potentials ; Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Myocardial Contraction ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Piperazines ; pharmacology ; Rabbits ; Ranolazine ; Sodium-Calcium Exchanger ; metabolism ; Tetrodotoxin ; pharmacology ; Veratridine ; pharmacology

The aim of this study was to find platelet specific autoantibodies against glycoproteins in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and to explore its role in pathogenesis of MDS. The plasma autoantibodies against GP IIb/IIIa and GP Ib/IX were measured by using a modified monoclonal antibody specific immobolization platelet antigens assay (MAIPA). Absorbance greater than mean value plus tripled standard deviation recorded from the normal controls were regarded as positive. The results indicated that the total positive rate in patients with MDS was 16.67% (5/30), the total positive rate in patients with ITP was 46.67% (14/30), the difference between MDS group and ITP group was significant (P < 0.05). It is concluded that partial patients with MDS have plasma specific autoantibodies against platelet GP II b/III a and GP Ib/IX, indicating correlation of thrombocytopenia of patients with immune factors and the autoantibody-mediated platelet destruction may be involved in the pathogenesis of MDS. It provides a new basis for immunosuppression therapy for MDS.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antibodies ; immunology ; Antigens, Human Platelet ; immunology ; Autoantibodies ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; complications ; immunology ; Platelet Glycoprotein GPIIb-IIIa Complex ; immunology ; Platelet Glycoprotein GPIb-IX Complex ; immunology ; Thrombocytopenia ; etiology ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the quantitative and qualitative changes of TCRVα24(+)Vβ11(+) natural killer T (NKT) cells from bone marrow (BM) of aplastic anemia (AA) after in vitro stimulation of α-galactosylceramide (α-Galcer).

METHODSNKT cells in the bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) from either AA patients or healthy controls were enumerated with flow cytometry. BMMNCs were cultured in RPMI1640 medium supplemented with either α-Galcer and rhIL-2 or α-Galcer, rhIL-2 and rhG-CSF. The proliferative capacity of NKT cells was determined by NKT cell numbers before and after in vitro culture. Expression of intracellular IFNγ and IL-4 in activated NKT cells was analyzed with flow cytometry.

RESULTSIn AA group, the percentage of NKT cells in BMMNCs was (0.19 ± 0.09)%. Addition of rhG-CSF into the α-Galcer/rhIL-2 culture medium resulted in significantly reduced expansion of NKT cells (67.45 ± 29.42-fold vs 79.91 ± 40.56 fold, P < 0.05). Meanwhile, addition of rhG-CSF reduced IFNγ positive NKT cells \[(37.45 ± 7.89)% vs (62.31 ± 14.67)%, P < 0.01\] and increased IL-4 positive NKT cells \[(55.11 ± 12.13)% vs (27.03 ± 9.88)%, P < 0.01\]. In healthy control group, the percentage of NKT cells in BMMNCs was (0.25 ± 0.12)%. Addition of rhG-CSF into the α-Galcer/rhIL-2 culture medium also significantly reduced expansion of NKT cells (97.91 ± 53.22-fold vs 119.58 ± 60.49-fold, P < 0.05), reduced IFNγ positive NKT cells \[(28.65 ± 10.63)% vs (50.87 ± 12.66)%, P < 0.01\], and increased IL-4 positive NKT cells \[(66.53 ± 14.96)% vs (31.11 ± 10.07)%, P < 0.01\].

CONCLUSIONCompared to those from healthy controls, BMMNCs from AA patiants have a reduced fraction of NKT cells, which possesses a decreased potential to expand in vitro in response to α-Galcer stimulation, and produce more IFNγ(+) NKT1 cells. rhG-CSF, in combination with α-Galcer, confers polarization of NKT cells towards IL-4(+) NKT2 subpopulation.

Anemia, Aplastic ; metabolism ; Bone Marrow ; metabolism ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; metabolism ; Killer Cells, Natural ; cytology ; Natural Killer T-Cells

OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between low to moderate physical activity and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS).

METHODSA multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was conducted in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in the interior of China according to the program of the National Nutrition and Health Survey in 2002. Questionnaire survey, interview, physical examination, measurement of biochemical indices and dietary investigation were done. In total, the physical activity of 26 477 persons aged 18 or above were investigated. The duration of low to moderate physical activity was divided into five grades: 0-min/week, 90-min/week, 151-min/week, 301-min/week, over 420 min/week, and the MS prevalence were investigated respectively. The relationship between MS and age (including four age groups 18-, 35-, 45-, 60 or above) or the duration of physical time were investigated.

RESULTSThe MS prevalence among persons aged 18 or above was 9.4% (2490/26 477). And the prevalence was 10.3% (1191/11 516) in man and 8.7%(1299/14 961) in women, respectively (χ(2) = 21.035, P = 0.000). The MS prevalence was 2.1% (127/6070) in 18-years old group and 15.0% (1012/6734) in over 60 years old group. The MS prevalence increased with increasing age (χ(2) = 776.768, P = 0.000). 81.2% (21 499/26 477) of subjects engaged in low to moderate intensity physical activity. The percentage of spending time on physical activity over 420 min/week was dominant and as high as 43.7% (11 561/26 477). The MS prevalence was 13.8% (166/1203) for 0-min grade, 13.2% (64/485) for 90-min grade, 11.8% (153/1298) for 151-min grade, 10.1% (124/1225) for 301-min grade and 12.5% (512/4090) for over 420 min grade (χ(2) = 9.58, P = 0.047). Logistic regression analysis results showed, the MS risk of subjects spending 301-min per week on low to moderate intensity physical activity was significantly low than the MS prevalence among subjects of 90-min grade, OR = 0.844 (95%CI: 0.675 - 0.968), and no statistical difference was found in people spending over 420 min per week OR = 0.936(95%CI: 0.769 - 1.136).

CONCLUSIONMost of people aged 18 or above engaged in low to moderate intensity physical activity. MS prevalence may be decreased by low to moderate intensity physical activity for 301-min per week, but the decrease was not significant while the duration of time was longer than 420 min per week.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; China ; epidemiology ; Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome ; epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore dysfunction mechanism of rat alveolar type II (AT-II) injured by bleomycin (BLM).

METHODSSD rats were injected with a single intratracheal dose of bleomycin or control saline. On day 7, 14, and 28 following intratracheal bleomycin or saline instillation, animals were killed under overdose of 1.5% sodium pentobarbital (0.25 ml/100 g, i.p.) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from the lung was tested for the activity of pulmonary surfactant (PS) by the Whihelmy Film Balance. Several concentrations of bleomycin stimulated the culture of rat AT-II cells, and surfactant protein (SP) A, B, and aquaporin-1 (AQP) mRNA were analyzed by fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR).

RESULTSThe activity of PS and hypoxemia significantly decreased on day 7 and improved on day 14 and completely recovered to normal status on day 28. SP-A, B, and AQP-1 mRNA expression in BLM-stimulated group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONBLM-injured AT-II cells decrease the levels of SP-A, B, and AQP-1 mRNA and cause PS dysfunction, resulting in hypoxemia and pneumonedema.

Animals ; Aquaporin 1 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Bleomycin ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Hypoxia ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Pulmonary Alveoli ; cytology ; drug effects ; Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein B ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Time Factors

Objective To observe the effects of Shenqi Xingnao Prescription on learning and memory ability, contents of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholine esterase (AChE) in brain tissue in mice models with scopolamine-induced Alzheimer disease (AD); To investigate its mechanism for prevention and treatment for AD. Methods Totally 110 ICR mice were randomly divided into control group, control+Shenqi Xingnao Prescription high-dose group,model group,donepezil group,model+Shenqi Xingnao Prescription high-,medium-,and low-dose groups. The control and model group were given distilled water for gavage, and the other groups were given the corresponding medicine for gavage, once a day, for 14 days. On the 15th day, Morris water maze test and object recognition test were used to evaluate the learning and memory ability of each group. The model mice of memory impairment induced by intraperitoneal injection of scopolamine was established 20 minutes before the behavioral test. The expressions of ChAT and AChE in cortex and hippocampus were detected by Western blot. Results The results of Morris water maze test showed that compared with the control group, the model group had significant longer escape latency(P<0.05);Compared with the model group,Shenqi Xingnao Prescription medium-and high-dose groups could shorten the escape latency (P<0.05). The results of the object recognition test showed that compared with the control group, the ability of the model group to explore new things decreased and the discrimination index (DI) decreased (P<0.001);Compared with the model group,Shenqi Xingnao Prescription groups could increase the DI of model mice (P<0.05, P<0.01, P<0.001). The results of Western blot showed that the expression of AChE protein in the cortex and hippocampus of the model group was significantly higher than the control group (P<0.01); Compared with the model group, Shenqi Xingnao Prescription low- and medium-dose groups could decrease the expression of AChE in the cortex in different degrees(P<0.01);Shenqi Xingnao Prescription groups could decreaed the expression of AChE in the hippocampus (P<0.001); There was no significant statistical significance in the expression of ChAT in the cortex and hippocampus in each group.Conclusion Shenqi Xingnao Prescription can significantly improve the learning and memory ability of AD model mice induced by scopolamine, which may be related to the descent expression of AChE protein in the cortex and hippocampus of the model mice.