Objective To investigate the relationship between atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk factors in the elderly,thus to provide new method for detection of atherosclerosis in the elderly.Methods From November 2010 to October 2011,348 elderly who addmitted to or had physical examination in our hospital were recruited in the study.All participants were interviewed through questionnaire,and medical history was recorded,Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured.Simultaneously,height,body weight,waist circumferrence,triglyceride ( TG ),total cholesterol ( TC ),high density lipoprotein-cholesterol ( HDL-C ),low density lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C) were measured.The association between baPWV and cardiovascular and atherosclerosis was investigated.Results The incidence of higher baPWV was increasing as the number of risk factors of cardio vascular disease adding.Logistic regression analysis show that:Age ( OR =5.223,95％ CI 3.606 -7.564),LDL-C( OR =4.554,95％ CI 2.413 - 8.593 ),Smoking ( OR =6.007,95％ CI 3.775 - 9.560),Obesity( OR =3.019,95 ％ CI 2.363 - 3.857 ),Hypertension ( OR =6.938,95％ CI 3.591 - 13.404 ),High-salt diet( OR =2.555,95％ CI 2.108 -3.096)were independent risk factors of baPWV increase (P ＜0.05); Exercise and good sleep were the protective factors for baPWV increasing.BaPWV levels were significantly lower in the exercise group (exercise time ＞ 1 h/d)than in the few exercise group (exercise time ＜ 1h/d) (t =2.719,P =0.012 ),and lower in good sleep group participants than in insomnia participants (t =2.561,P =0.017 ) (P ＜ 0.05 ).BaPWV levels were significantly higherin the group with essential hypertension ( 1852.0 ± 46.7 cm/s),with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus ( 1693.0 ± 38.2 cm/s),with coronary heart disease ( 1729.0 ± 40.4 cm/s) than in the healthy group ( 1356.0 ± 3 1.3 cm/s) ( P ＜ 0.05 ).There was no statistical difference between the essential hypertension group and the hypertension complicated with cerebral infarction group,as well as between the coronary heart disease group and the myocardial infarction group.Conclusion Age,LDL-C increasing,smoking,obesity,hypertension and high-salt diet were independent risk factors of baPWV increase;Exercise and good sleep were protective factors.BaPWV could be one of the methods for early detection of atherosclerosis.

Objective To observe the effect of Cardamonin(CDN)on pulmonary fibrosis in mice,and explore the effect of CDN on transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1)/Smad signaling pathway.Methods The mice were grouped into:Sham group,Bleomycin(BLM)group,low dose of Cardamonin(CDN-L)group,medium dose of Cardamonin(CDN-M)group,high dose of Cardamonin(CDN-H)group and Dexamethasone(DXM)group.Injectioning of BLM induce pulmonary fibrosis in mice,the lung index was measured.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit measured serum tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)levels,the hydroxyproline(HYP)content in lung tissue was detectioned by kits.Pathological changes were observed by Htoxylin Eosin and Masson staining,and the level of genes related to TGF-β1/smad signaling pathway was detected by RT-PCR.Results Compared with the Sham group,the lung index,Szapiel score and Ashcroft score of the BLM group were significantly increased(P<0.05),and the degree of pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis was more severe.The levels of TNF-α in serum and HYP in lung tissue were increased(P<0.05),lung tissue TGF-β1[(1.02±0.21)vs.(3.25±0.14)],smad2[(1.00±0.05)vs.(1.59±0.20)],smad3[(1.00±0.06)vs.(1.59±0.20)],α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)[(1.00±0.10)vs.(2.15±0.10)and E-Cadherin[(1.01±0.16)vs.(0.57±0.09)]mRNA level decreased(P<0.05).The intervention of CDN-M and CDN-H could decrease the lung index,alleviate the inflammation and Pulmonary fibrosis,and decrease the levels of TNF-α and HYP(P<0.05).The expression of TGF-β1,smad2,smad3 and α-SMA in lung tissue of mice with pulmonary fibrosis was down-regulate.CDN-L had no significant effect,while CDN-H had similar effects to DXM.Conclusion Cardamonin may play an anti-fibrotic role by mediating epithelial-mesenchymal transition through the TGF-β1/Smad pathway.

The potential medicinal value of Ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus), one of the most popular and economically important bamboo species in China, has been underestimated. In the present study, we found that D. latiflorus leaf extract (DLE) reduced fasting blood glucose levels, body weight, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol with low liver toxicity in db/db mice. In addition, gene expression profiling was performed and pathway enrichment analysis showed that DLE affected metabolic pathways. Importantly, DLE activated the AKT signaling pathway and reduced glucose production by downregulating glucose-6-phosphatase (G6PC) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1) expression. Moreover, network pharmacology analysis identified rutin as an active component in DLE through targeting insulin growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R), an upstream signaling transducer of AKT. Due to its hypoglycemic effects and low toxicity, DLE may be considered an adjuvant treatment option for type 2 diabetes patients.