The quest to decipher the determinants of human longevity has intensified with the rise in global life expectancy. Long-lived individuals (LLIs), who exceed the average life expectancy while delaying age-related diseases, serve as a unique model for studying human healthy aging and longevity. Longevity is a complex phenotype influenced by both genetic and non-genetic factors. This review paper delves into the genetic, epigenetic, metabolic, immune, and environmental factors underpinning the phenomenon of human longevity, with a particular focus on LLIs, such as centenarians. By integrating findings from human longevity studies, this review highlights a diverse array of factors influencing longevity, ranging from genetic polymorphisms and epigenetic modifications to the impacts of diet and physical activity. As life expectancy grows, understanding these factors is crucial for developing strategies that promote a healthier and longer life.
Humans ; Healthy Aging/physiology* ; Longevity/physiology* ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Life Expectancy ; Exercise ; Aging/genetics* ; Diet ; Aged, 80 and over

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Tongmai Hypoglycemic Capsule (THC) on myocardium injury in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) rats. METHODS: A total of 24 Sprague Dawley rats were fed for 4 weeks with high-fat and high-sugar food and then injected with streptozotocin intraperitoneally for the establishment of the DCM model. In addition, 6 rats with normal diets were used as the control group. After modeling, 24 DCM rats were randomly divided into the model, L-THC, M-THC, and H-THC groups by computer generated random numbers, and 0, 0.16, 0.32, 0.64 g/kg of THC were adopted respectively by gavage, with 6 rats in each group. After 12 weeks of THC administration, echocardiography, histopathological staining, biochemical analysis, and Western blot were used to detect the changes in myocardial structure, oxidative stress (OS), biochemical indexes, protein expressions of myocardial fibrosis, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related faactor 2 (Nrf2) element, respectively. RESULTS: Treatment with THC significantly decreased cardiac markers such as creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase-MB, etc., (P<0.01); enhanced cardiac function indicators including heart rate, ejection fraction, cardiac output, interventricular septal thickness at diastole, and others (P<0.05 or P<0.01); decreased levels of biochemical indicators such as fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, aspartate transaminase, (P<0.05 or P<0.01); and decreased the levels of myocardial fibrosis markers α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and collagen I (Col-1) protein (P<0.01), improved myocardial morphology and the status of myocardial interstitial fibrosis. THC significantly reduced malondialdehyde levels in model rats (P<0.01), increased levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione (P<0.01), and significantly increased the expression of Nrf2, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1, heme oxygenase-1, and superoxide dismutase 2 proteins in the left ventricle of rats (P<0.01). CONCLUSION THC activates the Nrf2 signaling pathway and plays a protective role in reducing OS injury and cardiac fibrosis in DCM rats.
Animals ; Diabetic Cardiomyopathies/physiopathology* ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Myocardium/metabolism* ; Fibrosis ; Male ; Capsules ; Hypoglycemic Agents/therapeutic use* ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/metabolism* ; Rats ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/drug therapy*

Twelve compounds were isolated from the rice fermentation extracts of Penicillium expansum GY618 by silica column chromatography, Sephadex gel column chromatography, ODS column chromatography and semi preparative HPLC methods. They were determined as 11-hydroxyl-penicitrinone F (1), penicitrinone F (2), betulin (3), erythrodiol (4), ergosterol (5), ergost-5α,8α-epidioxy-6,22-dien-3β-ol (6), (5α,8α-epidioxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-6,9(11),22-trien-3β-ol) (7), 5α,8α-epidioxy-(22E,24R)-23-methylergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol (8), 5α,8α-epidioxy- 23,24(R)-dimethylcholesta-6,9(11),22-trien-3β-ol (9), dankasterone A (10), (17R)-4-hydroxy-17-methylincisterol (11) and ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (12), through mass spectrometer, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and comparison with the literature. Compound 1 was a new compound and compounds 2-4, 6-12 were isolated from Penicillium expansum fungus for the first time. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity experiment showed that compounds 1, 3 and 12 showed certain inhibitory activity against tyrosinase with IC₅₀ values of (75 ± 9), (69 ± 8) and (64 ± 2) μmol·L^-1, respectively. The IC₅₀ of other compounds were all greater than 100 μmol·L^-1, while IC₅₀ of the positive control kojic acid was (46 ± 4) μmol·L^-1.

INTRODUCTION: Paediatric sexual assault (SA) victims should be assessed for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to mitigate the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We describe the clinical characteristics of children and young persons (CYPs) presenting with SA at KK Women's and Children's Hospital in Singapore, viral PEP (human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] and hepatitis B virus [HBV]) prescribing practices, and STI evaluation at follow-up. METHOD: Medical records of CYPs ≤16 years who presented with SA between January 2022 and August 2023 were reviewed, including assault and assailant characteristics, baseline and follow-up STI screening, PEP prescription, adherence and follow-up attendance. CYPs with SA in the preceding 72 hours by HIV-positive or HIV-status unknown assailants with high-risk characteris-tics were eligible for HIV PEP. RESULTS: We analysed 278 CYPs who made 292 SA visits. There were 40 (13.7%) CYPs eligible for HIV PEP, of whom 29 (82.9%) received it. Among those tested at baseline, 9% and 34.9% of CYPs tested positive for Chlamydia trachomatis and Gardnerella vaginalis, respectively. None tested positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, HIV, HBV or hepatitis C. Majority of CYPs tested were HBV non-immune (n=167, 67.6%); only 77 (46.1%) received the vaccine. Out of 27 CYPs eligible for HBV PEP with immunoglobulin, only 21 (77.7%) received immunoglobulin. A total of 37 CYPs received HIV PEP, including 8 who were retrospectively deemed ineligible. Only 10 (27%) completed the course. Overall, 153 (57.7%) CYPs attended follow-up, and none seroconverted for HIV or HBV. CONCLUSION We report suboptimal rates of HBV post-exposure vaccination, and low compliance to HIV PEP and follow-up among paediatric SA victims. Factors contri-buting to poor compliance should be examined to optimise care for this vulnerable population.
Humans ; Post-Exposure Prophylaxis/methods* ; Female ; Child ; Adolescent ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; HIV Infections/prevention & control* ; Male ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Hepatitis B/prevention & control* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Child, Preschool ; Sex Offenses/statistics & numerical data* ; Child Abuse, Sexual

Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective measures for preventing and controlling infectious diseases.In recent years, there has been a growing public demand for knowledge about vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases, which has placed higher requirements on the capacity and quality of immunization services. However, "vaccine hesitancy" has become an increasingly prominent issue. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed it as one of the top ten global health threats, and it is gradually becoming a major challenge for immunization programs worldwide. Therefore, current immunization programs need to actively innovate in publicity and communication strategies to enhance public willingness for voluntary vaccination, improve awareness and trust in vaccines, and further reinforce the understanding of their critical role in infectious disease prevention and control. This paper examines the challenges and circumstances faced by vaccination publicity and communication in the new era, and proposes relevant recommendations, aiming to provide reference for developing new models of publicity and communication.

Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective measures for preventing and controlling infectious diseases.In recent years, there has been a growing public demand for knowledge about vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases, which has placed higher requirements on the capacity and quality of immunization services. However, "vaccine hesitancy" has become an increasingly prominent issue. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed it as one of the top ten global health threats, and it is gradually becoming a major challenge for immunization programs worldwide. Therefore, current immunization programs need to actively innovate in publicity and communication strategies to enhance public willingness for voluntary vaccination, improve awareness and trust in vaccines, and further reinforce the understanding of their critical role in infectious disease prevention and control. This paper examines the challenges and circumstances faced by vaccination publicity and communication in the new era, and proposes relevant recommendations, aiming to provide reference for developing new models of publicity and communication.

Objective To analyze the literature on urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy by bibliometric method, and to understand the research status and development trend in this field. Methods The Web of Science core collection database was searched for articles on urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy from January, 1 2013 to March, 25 2023, and the visual analysis of the annual number of publications, countries, institutions, authors, source journals and keywords was performed by VOS viewer and CiteSpace software. Results A total of 1 212 relevant literatures were retrieved, and the annual number of publications was on the rise. The United States ranked the first in the number of publications, followed by Germany and Italy, among which the United States cooperated more with other countries. The institutions ranking top 10 were mostly concentrated in the United States, and the high-contribution institutions were mainly Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and University of California, San Francisco. The author with the largest number of articles was MATTHEW R, and many stable cooperation teams had been formed among the authors. The main journals in this field included Journal of Urology, European Urology, etc. The research hotspots in this field mostly focused on the relationship between influencing factors, evaluation diagnosis, treatment methods and outcome indicators of urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy. Urinary incontinence rehabilitation, biofeedback, local therapy, robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, and patient reported outcomes have been active topics in recent years. Conclusion Urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy has attracted more and more attention from scholars. However, compared with the developed countries such as the United States, the total number of papers published in China is less, and the academic influence and exchanges between scholars are weak. In the future, it is advisable to learn from relevant research results of foreign countries, strengthen international scientific research exchange and cooperation, and promote the development of related research on urinary incontinenceafter radical prostatectomy in China.

Objective To comapre and analyze the differences and commonalities of expression profiles of serum exosomal microRNA between patients with thyroid nodules and healthy persons at different iodine levels,and then provide evidence for screening early diag-nostic markers of thyroid nodules at different iodine levels.Methods The peripheral blood samples from 10 patients with thyroid nod-ules and healthy volunteers at different iodine levels were collected.Their serum iodine levels were measured by the arsenic cerium cat-alytic spectrophotometry.Serum exosomal microRNA were extracted and the expression levels of microRNA were determined by the high-throughput sequencing technology.The differential target genes were predicted and further performed Gene ontology(GO)analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)analysis.Results Compared with healthy volunteers,there were 6 downreg-ulated miRNAs in the patients with thyroid nodules at different iodine levels,namely miR-324-5p,miR-6511b-3p,miR-9903,miR-550a-3p,miR-5001-3p,and miR-3688-3p.Differentially expressed exosomal microRNA could regulate the MAPK signaling path-way,PI3K-AKT signaling pathway,VEGF signaling pathway,and NF-κB signaling pathway.Conclusion Six differentially expressed microRNAs is identified,which may serve as biological markers for the early diagnosis of thyroid nodules at different iodine levels.

Objective To construct a lentiviral vector for overexpression of bone morphogenetic protein 7(BMP7)in mice,and the effect of BMP7 overexpression on the expression of Jagged1 in mouse aortic endothelial cells and the calcification of the co-cultured vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs)were analyzed.Methods According to the target gene information Mouse-BMP7(NM_007557.3)and plasmid information pLVX-zsGreen-C1,gene sequence synthesis was carried out to construct BMP7 overexpression lentivirus.The efficiency of BMP7 overexpression lentivirus infection was detected by qPCR;the expression of Jagged1 protein in aortic endothelial cells from infected mice was detected by Western blot.The endothelial cells with lentivirus overexpressing BMP7 were co-cultured with VSMCs,and the calcification of VSMCs was observed by alizarin red staining.Results BMP7 overexpression lentiviral vector was successfully constructed and transfected into aortic endothelial cells.qPCR test results showed that the expression level of BMP7 mRNA was significantly increased in the BMP7 overexpression group than that in the normal control group(P<0.01),while there was no significant difference in the expression of BMP7 mRNA between the empty vector control group and the normal control group(P>0.05).Western blot results showed that the expression level of Jagged1 protein in endothelial cells of mouse in the BMP7 overexpression group was significantly lower than that in the normal control group(P<0.01),while there was no significant difference in the expression level of Jagged1 protein in endothelial cells between the empty vector control group and the normal control group(P>0.05).The results of alizarin red staining showed that the calcification of VSMCs was significantly increased after co-cultured with endothelial cells infected with BMP7 lentivirus.Conclusion Mouse BMP7 overexpression lentiviral vector was successfully constructed,and overexpression of BMP7 can reduce the expression of Jagged1 in mouse aortic endothelial cells and promote the calcification of co-cultured VSMCs.

Objective:To understand the incidence trend of meningococcal meningitis from 1990 to 2023 and major pathogenic serogroups of Neisseria ( N.) meningitidis from 2006 to 2023 in China and the time trend of the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by main pathogenic serogroups, and provide reference for the prevention and control of meningococcal meningitis. Methods:The study used the data from "National Epidemic Data Compile" from 1990 to 2003 and the data from China Notifiable Infectious Disease Reporting System from 2004 to 2023 to analyze the incidence trend of meningococcal meningitis in China from 1990 to 2023 by Joinpoint regression method. Based on the data of the national meningococcal meningitis surveillance information reporting and management system from 2006 to 2023, the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by different serogroups of N. meningitidis was described and analyzed, and the trend χ2 test was performed to analyze the change of the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis A, B, and C. Results:The overall incidence of meningococcal meningitis in China showed a downward trend from 1990 to 2023 [average annual percent change (AAPC)=-14.80%, P<0.001], with the most obvious decline from 2005 to 2012 [annual percent change (APC)=-31.01%, P<0.001]. The incidence of meningococcal meningitis decreased in both men and women (AAPC=-14.69% and -15.05%, both P<0.001). A total of 1 178 serogroup specific cases of meningococcal meningitis were reported in China from 2006 to 2023, the proportion of serogroup C was highest (32.5%), followed by unclassified (22.3%), B (20.1%), A (18.4%), W (4.5%), Y (2.0%) and X (0.2%). The results of trend χ2 test indicated that the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis A and C showed downward trends (both P<0.001) and the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis B showed an upward trend in general population and young children (0-4 years old group) from 2006 to 2023 (both P<0.05). Conclusion:The incidence of meningococcal meningitis showed a downward trend in China from 1990 to 2023, but it is still necessary to pay more attention to the incidence of meningococcal meningitis caused by N. meningitidis B in age group aged 0-4 years and by multi serogroups at same time in general population.