Objective To evaluate the stability of U6 and let-7a as internal reference genes of miRNAs in RTqPCR by using femoral head samples of cartilage tissue from inbred DA rats.Methods Total RNA was extracted from femoral head cartilage tissues of female DA rats at three different time points,i.e.at birth (D0),ablactation (D21) and maturation (D42).The expressions of different miRNAs (miR-1,-25,-26a,-140,-146a,-150,-181a,-195,-223 and-337) were detected by RT-qPCR using U6 or let-7a as the internal reference.The two sets of miR expression were compared with the results from Solexa sequencing in our pioneer work to evaluate the stability of the two internal references.Results The relative values of U6 (P =0.045) and let-7a (P =0.021 5) revealed significant difference in the D42 sample.Both in U6 and let-7a systems,miR-26a,-140,-223,and-337 showed a similar tendency in expression and quantification but miR-1 and-146a did not have significant differences.miR-25,-150,-181a and-195 differed significantly (P＜0.05).Comparison of absolute quantification results between the two generations' sequencing showed that let-7a is more stable than U6.Conclusion Let-7a is more suitable to be used as the internal reference gene in RT-qPCR for miRNAs in cartilage tissue.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of red blood cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio (RPR index) in evaluating the severity of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease and predicting fatty liver-associated cirrhosis. Methods A total of 192 patients with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease and 210 patients with fatty liver-associated cirrhosis who were admitted to Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from January 2019 to June 2020 were enrolled as group A and group B, respectively, and 206 individuals who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period of time were enrolled as control group (group C). All subjects underwent general measurement, blood cell analysis, blood biochemical test, and abdominal CT examination, and related formulas were used to calculate RPR, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data with homogeneity of variance between groups, and the SNK method was used for comparison between two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of continuous data with heterogeneity of variance between groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups; the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the accuracy of the prediction of liver cirrhosis. Results There were significant differences in red blood cell distribution width-standard deviation, albumin, creatinine, body mass index, RPR, and APRI between any two groups (all P < 0.001), and there were significant differences in white blood cell count, platelet count, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, direct bilirubin, blood urea nitrogen, and FIB-4 between group A and group B (all P < 0.05). There were significant differences in waist circumference and fasting blood glucose between groups A and B and between groups A and C (all P < 0.001). There was a significant difference in RPR between any two groups of the mild, moderate, and severe metabolic-associated fatty liver disease groups (all P < 0.05). In terms of diagnostic efficiency, the three noninvasive models RPR, APRI, and FIB-4 had an area under the ROC curve of 0.932, 0.815, and 0.877, respectively, in predicting fatty liver-associated cirrhosis. Conclusion There is a difference in RPR index between different stages of liver disease, and RPR index gradually increases with the aggravation of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease. RPR index has a higher value than APRI and FIB-4 in the warning of fatty liver-associated cirrhosis.

Delayed wound healing in diabetes is a global challenge, and the development of related drugs is a clinical problem to be solved. In this study, purpurolide C (PC), a small-molecule secondary metabolite of the endophytic fungus Penicillium purpurogenum, was found to promote diabetic wound healing. To investigate the key regulation targets of PC, in vitro RNA-seq, molecular docking calculations, TLR4-MD2 dimerization SDS-PAGE detection, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) were performed, indicating that PC inhibited inflammatory macrophage activation by inhibiting both TLR4-MD2 dimerization and MYD88 phosphorylation. Tlr4 knockout in vivo attenuated the promotion effect of PC on wound healing. Furthermore, a delivery system consisting of macrophage liposome and GelMA-based microneedle patches combined with PC (PC@MLIP MN) was developed, which overcame the poor water solubility and weak skin permeability of PC, so that successfully punctured the skin and delivered PC to local tissues, and accurately regulated macrophage polarization in diabetic wound management. Overall, PC is an anti-inflammatory small molecule compound with a well-defined structure and dual-target regulation, and the PC@MLIP MN is a promising novel biomaterial for the management of diabetic wound.

The visual impairment and blindness caused by myopia have become a global burden, and the World Health Organization has included the prevention and control of myopia in the global program for preventing blindness. In China, the development of myopia is showing a trend with higher incidence, younger age, and higher refractive errors. Moving forward the port of prevention and control myopia has become an important strategy to address the current predicament. Premyopia refers to the stage in children where the refractive power is ≤+0.75 D and >-0.50 D, and there are multiple risk factors during this stage that can potentially lead to myopia. Currently, the incidence of premyopia and its transformation into myopia is high, and the key prevention and control measures include building a predictive model for the transformation of premyopia into myopia, emphasizing the reduction of exposure to risk factors, using low-concentration atropine eye drops, red light therapy, and optical defocus intervention. This article provides a comprehensive review of the current situation regarding the incidence of premyopia and its transformation into myopia, as well as the research progress on existing prevention and control measures, with the aim of providing relevant references for the prevention and control of myopia during the premyopia stage.

OBJECTIVETo explore the appropriate waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) cutoffs to identify people at high risk of cardiovascular disease of Uygur population aged 35 years and over in Xinjiang.

METHODSThe cardiovascular risk survey (CRS) in Xinjiang was conducted from October 2007 to March 2010, using 4-stagestratified random sampling method and 14 618 representative participated this survey, and the questionnaire survey, anthropometric data, blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and fasting glucose were measured. A total of 4 657 participants aged 35 years and over with complete anthropometric data were analyzed. The sensitivity, specificity and distance on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of different WHR levels predicting risk factors of cardiovascular disease were calculated. The analysis method of ROC curve was used to determine the optimum cut-off point of WHR predicting risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

RESULTS(1) There were significantly differences in prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, low HDL-C level, and hypertriglyceridemia between WHR < 0.75,0.75 ≤ WHR < 0.80,0.80 ≤ WHR < 0.85,0.85 ≤ WHR < 0.90,0.90 ≤ WHR < 0.95,0.95 ≤ WHR < 1.00, WHR ≥ 1.00 in male participants (P < 0.01 or 0.05), LDL-C level was similar among groups in males (P = 0.139). There were significantly differences in prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia between WHR < 0.75,0.75 ≤ WHR < 0.80,0.80 ≤ WHR < 0.85,0.85 ≤ WHR < 0.90,0.90 ≤ WHR < 0.95,0.95 ≤ WHR < 1.00, WHR ≥ 1.00 in female participants (all P < 0.01), and there were no significantly differences in prevalence of high LDL-C level and low HDL-C level among groups in females (both P > 0.05). (2) ROC analysis for hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and ≥ 2 of these risk factors suggested a WHR cutoff of 0.92 for men and 0.90 for women as the optimal cutoff value for predicting high risk of cardiovascular disease of Uygur population aged 35 years and over in Xinjiang.

CONCLUSIONHigher WHR cutoffs are needed for screening people at high risk of cardiovascular disease among Uygur population aged 35 years and over in Xinjiang.

Adult ; Anthropometry ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; diagnosis ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Dyslipidemias ; Female ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Male ; Prevalence ; ROC Curve ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides ; Waist-Hip Ratio