Objective:To explore the effects of hyperoxic environments on renal metabolites to understand the potential mechanisms that contribute to pathologic retinal vascular neovascularization and renal injury through metabolomic studies in a mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model.Methods:Sixteen C57/B6J mice pups born to day 7 (P7) were randomly and equally divided into an OIR model group and a normal control group using a randomized numerical table of mother mice.Mice were reared standardly from birth until day 7 (P7), then mice and their mother mice in the OIR group were placed in a hyperoxic (75±2)% chamber until day 12 (P12) and then reared normally.Mice in the normal control group were reared normally throughout.Mice in two groups were killed by carbon dioxide euthanasia on postnatal day 17 (P17). The mice retinal wholemount from the two groups were made and stained with isolectin B4 (IB4) to observe the morphology of retinal vessels, central non-perfusion area and pathological neovascularization.The kidney tissue of P17 mice was analyzed by liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer.After anticoagulant treatment, the whole blood of mice was centrifuged and precipitated, and the obtained plasma without cellular components was analyzed by targeted metabonomics.Mass spectral information was interpreted using metabolomics data processing software Progenesis QI v2.3.Overall differences in metabolic profiles were distinguished by unsupervised principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares analysis (OPLS-DA). The fold change and P values of metabolites were compared between the two groups.The variable importance of projection value>1 and P value<0.05 was used to screen out differential metabolites.Metabolic pathway enrichment analysis of differential metabolites was performed based on the KEGG database.The feeding and use of animals were strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Ethics Committee of Jinan University, and the research protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Jinan University (No.20200401-54). Results:The IB4 staining of retinal wholemounts showed that the retinal blood vessels were evenly distributed in the P17 mice from control group.The peripheral retinal vessels were tortuous and disordered with a large non-perfusion area in central region in P17 mice from OIR group, and a large number of neovascularization clusters were formed at the junction of the nonperfusion area and the vascular area of the retina, showing strong fluorescent staining.The relative area of retinal nonperfusion area in OIR group was (25.16±3.50)%, which was significantly larger than (0.63±0.30)% in normal control group ( t=12.07, P<0.001). The OPLS-DA parameter R2X cum (0.578), interpretation rate R2Y cum (0.978) and prediction rate Q2 cum (0.857) values were all greater than 0.5, indicating that the OPLS-DA model had a good predictive ability.A total of 26 main differential metabolites were found, among which 17 were up-regulated and 9 were down-regulated, including glycerophospholipids (PC 20∶4(5Z, 8Z, 11Z, 14Z)/0∶0, PC 22∶6(4Z, 7Z, 10Z, 13Z, 16Z, 19Z)/0∶0, PC 14∶1(9Z)/20∶2(11Z, 14Z), PE P-18∶0/20∶4(6E, 8Z, 11Z, 14Z)(5OH[S]), amino acid metabolites (arginine, ornithine, pipecolic acid, and hydroxylysine), purines (guanine, hypoxanthine, hydroxypurinol), and fatty acids (methyl 15-palmitate, 2, 6, 8, 12-tetramethyl-2, 4-tridecadien-1-ol), and so on.Differential metabolites were mainly enriched in ABC transporters (L-arginine, taurine, inositol, adenosine, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, L-glutamine), aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis (L-isoleucine, L-proline, L-arginine, L-histidine, L-glutamine), arginine biosynthesis (L-arginine, L-ornithine, L-glutamine) metabolic pathways.The plasma targeted metabonomics showed that the differential amino acid metabolites were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways such as aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, arginine biosynthesis and metabolism, and ABC transporters. Conclusions:ABC transporter, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, and arginine biosynthesis metabolic pathways in OIR mice may participate in the pathological changes of renal injury and neovascularization in retinopathy of prematurity.

Chemotherapy-induced complications, particularly lethal cardiovascular diseases, pose significant challenges for cancer survivors. The intertwined adverse effects, brought by cancer and its complication, further complicate anticancer therapy and lead to diminished clinical outcomes. Simple supplementation of cardioprotective agents falls short in addressing these challenges. Developing bi-functional co-therapy agents provided another potential solution to consolidate the chemotherapy and reduce cardiac events simultaneously. Drug repurposing was naturally endowed with co-therapeutic potential of two indications, implying a unique chance in the development of bi-functional agents. Herein, we further proposed a novel "trilogy of drug repurposing" strategy that comprises function-based, target-focused, and scaffold-driven repurposing approaches, aiming to systematically elucidate the advantages of repurposed drugs in rationally developing bi-functional agent. Through function-based repurposing, a cardioprotective agent, carvedilol (CAR), was identified as a potential neddylation inhibitor to suppress lung cancer growth. Employing target-focused SAR studies and scaffold-driven drug design, we synthesized 44 CAR derivatives to achieve a balance between anticancer and cardioprotection. Remarkably, optimal derivative 43 displayed promising bi-functional effects, especially in various self-established heart failure mice models with and without tumor-bearing. Collectively, the present study validated the practicability of the "trilogy of drug repurposing" strategy in the development of bi-functional co-therapy agents.

Background::Studies that comprehensively address the characteristics of centenarian deaths are rare. The present study aimed to depict the characteristics of centenarian deaths in China and their changing trends.Methods::Data on centenarian deaths between 2013 and 2020 were obtained from the national mortality surveillance system of China, including date, place of death (PoD), and underlying cause of death (CoD). Descriptive analyses were performed to understand the epidemiological characteristics, and a joinpoint regression model was adopted to examine the changing trends in the proportions of different PoDs, CoDs among centenarians, and centenarian deaths accounting for all deaths and deaths among people aged 65 years and older.Results::There were 46,938 registered centenarian deaths between 2013 and 2020 that included 34,311 females (73.10%) and 12,627 males (26.90%). January (12.05%), February (9.99%), and December (9.74%) were the top three months with the highest number of deaths. The proportions of deaths that occurred in homes, hospitals, and nursing homes were 81.71%, 13.63%, and 2.68%, respectively. The proportion of deaths in nursing homes increased by 9.60% (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 6.4-12.9%) from 2014 to 2020. Heart disease (35.72%) was the leading cause of death, followed by respiratory diseases (17.63%), cerebrovascular disease (15.60%), and old age (11.22%). The proportion of respiratory diseases decreased by 4.8% (95% CI, -8.8 to -0.7%), and the proportion of deaths from old age decreased by 2.3 % (95% CI, -4.4 to -0.1%) per year. Shanghai had the highest proportions of deaths in hospitals (39.38%) and nursing homes (14.68%). Sichuan had the highest proportion of deaths attributed to respiratory diseases (32.30%), while Jiangsu (26.58%) and Zhejiang (23.61%) had the highest proportions of deaths from old age.Conclusion::Unlike other countries, centenarian deaths in China are characterized by a higher proportion of home and heart disease deaths, and this death pattern differs across provinces.

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.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value and clinical significance of hypersensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP),procalcitonin(PCT)combined with interleukin-6(IL-6)in children with severe hand-foot-mouth disease.Methods A total of 62 children hospitalized in our hospital from January 2022 to December 2022 were collected as research objects.According to the severity of infection,they were divided into observation group(severe infection group)with 29 cases and control group(mild infection group)with 33 cases.The differences of general data,total leukocyte count,neutrophil count,lymphocyte count,platelet count,hs-CRP,PCT,IL-6 and creatine kinase isoenzyme(CK-MB)between the two groups and their clinical applications were analyzed and compared.Results The total white blood cell count,neutrophil count,lymphocyte count,hs-CRP,PCT and IL-6 in the observation group were higher than those in the control group,and the difference has statistically significant.Receiver operator characteristic(ROC)curve analysis of hs-CRP predicted the sensitivity and specificity of severe infection of hand-foot-mouth disease were 79.3%and 93.9%(95%CI:0.852-10.985,P<0.05);The sensitivity and specificity of PCT were 93.1%and 84.8%(95%CI:0.907-1,P<0.05);The sensitivity and specificity of IL-6 were 96.6%and 87.9%(95%CI:0.945-1,P<0.05).Conclusions In hand-foot-mouth classification,PCT and IL-6 are highly sensitive.Although hs-CRP is less sensitive than the former,its specificity is higher than the former.Therefore,the combination of hs-CRP,PCT and IL-6 has higher value for hand-foot-mouth classification.

Objective To analyze the effect of death under-reporting on the regional longevity-related deaths proportion and provide some evidence for its application in the regional longevity level evaluation.Methods National deaths registration data in 2019 were obtained from the National mortality surveillance system and the crude mortality of each county were calculated.According to different crude mortality criteria(≥4.5‰,≥5.0‰,≥6.0‰,≥7.0‰,respectively),a total of 9 indicators of death proportion of the national level were computed based on the corresponding number of counties included.Standard deviation and coefficient of variation were adopted to evaluate the stability of each indicator.At the provincial level and prefecture level,Bland-Altman plot was adopted to evaluated the consistence of the 9 indicators of death proportion in two different conditions,namely all the monitored counties included and only those counties with the crude mortality greater than 6.0‰ included,respectively.Results At the national level,the proportions of centenary death had the smallest standard deviation(0.01～0.02)followed by the proportions of longevity death(0.13～0.18),while the proportions of deaths aged 80 years and older had the largest standard deviation(0.20～0.33).Those indicators named as 80+/60+and 100+/90+had the smallest coefficient of variation(0.43～0.44),while 100+/all and 90+/all had the largest(1.69～1.80).At the provincial and prefecture scale,the 95%limits of agreement(LoA)of all the 9 proportions were beyond the corresponding professional acceptable variation,which means that those indicators in the two conditions cannot be replaced with each other.Conclusion Death under-reporting has little effect on the proportion of longevity-related deaths at the national level but has a great impact on provincial level or prefecture level.Counties or districts with high death data completeness(crude mortality greater than 6.0‰)can only be included to obtain the longevity-related deaths proportion at provincial or prefecture level to ensure their accuracy.

Objective:To explore the protective effects of liraglutide on acute lung injury in septic mice and its mechanisms.Methods:Thirty-six male FVB/NJ mice were randomly(random number) divided into three groups: control group (Control, n=12), acute lung injury group (ALI, n=12)and liraglutide intervention group (ALI+LIRA, n=12). Mice model of acute lung injury were prepared by intratracheal instillation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa suspension, while the control group were given intratracheal instillation of equal volume of physiological saline; the mice in ALI+LIRA group were received subcutaneous injection of liraglutide (2 mg/kg) 30 minutes post-induction, while both the mice in control group and ALI group were received subcutaneous injection of equal volume physiological saline. After 24 hours, the mice were euthanized, the lung tissues and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected, the lung pathological damage changes were evaluated by hematoxylin eosin staining, the expression of surfactant associated protein D (SP-D)in lung tissue were detected by immunofluorescence assay; total protein concentration in BALF were detected by BCA method, and the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α)levels in BALF were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA), the protein expression of SP-D in BALF and lung tissue were determined by Western blot. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS software, and continuous variables were compared with one-way analysis of variance among the groups. Results:Compared with the control group, the mice in ALI group had higher lung histopathology injury score, higher total protein concentration, higher IL-6 and TNF-α levels in BALF, and had less SP-D positive cells in lung tissue; and also had lower expression of SP-D in both BALF and lung tissue, with statistical significance (all P<0.05). Compared with ALI group, the mice in ALI+LIRA group had lower lung histopathology injury score, lower total protein concentration, lower IL-6 and TNF- α levels in BALF, and had more SP-D positive cells in lung tissue; and also had higher expression of SP-D in both BALF and lung tissue, with statistical significance (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Liraglutide attenuates the severity of acute lung injury in septic mice, and its protective mechanism may be associated with the promotion of SP-D secretion.

Idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane (iERM) is a kind of fundus disease caused by fibrocellular proliferation over the internal limiting membrane (ILM) followed by deformation and wrinkling of the macula due to traction of the fibrous membranes, leading to vision loss and visual distortion in the affected eye.Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has been widely used in the diagnosis of macular diseases including iERM by virtue of non-invasive, high resolution and stratified display of superficial and deep retinal vessels and quantification of retinal vessel density and non-perfusion area.OCTA can provide information of retinal microvascular structure and blood perfusion under disease conditions, revealing the pulling effect of iERM on the microvascular structure, and it can also be used to evaluate changes in blood flow during the course of disease follow-up.After surgery, OCTA can also be used for follow-up monitoring of microvascular structure and blood flow to further predict vision.Although OCTA cannot completely replace fundus angiography, it has provided richer information about the pathogenesis, disease progression and prognostic factors of iERM.This article reviews the progress of research on the application of OCTA in iERM to provide more insight into the application of OCTA in iERM.

Objective:To observe the change of retinal artery angle in eyes with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) and to analyze the relationship between retinal artery angle, ERM classification based on optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual acuity.Methods:A retrospective cross-sectional clinical study. A total of 187 eyes in 187 patients diagnosed with monocular idiopathic ERM (IERM group) in Department of Ophthalmology of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital and the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University at Hangzhou from November 2018 to January 2023 were included in the study. The contralateral healthy eyes were included as the control group. All patients underwent best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus photography, spectral-domain OCT, OCT angiography (OCTA) and axial length (AL) measurement. BCVA examination was performed using the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, which was converted to the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity. The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area was measured by OCTA. The central macular thickness (CMT) was measured by spectral domain OCTaccording to the grading criteria of ectopic inner foveal layer (EIFL) was divided into stages 1 to 4 with 42, 45, 62, and 38 eyes, and the IERM group was subdivided into stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, and stage 4 groups accordingly. Image J was used to measure the retinal artery angle and the 1/2 retinal artery angle on fundus images. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between BCVA and artery angle, 1/2 artery Angle, CMT, FAZ area and AL.Results:Compared with the control group, eyes in IERM group had worse BCVA ( t=9.727), thicker CMT ( t=12.452), smaller FAZ area ( t=-14.329), smaller artery angle ( t=-9.165) and smaller 1/2 artery angle ( t=-9.549). The differences were statistically significant ( P<0.001). With the increase of IERM stage, the artery angle and 1/2 artery angle decreased significantly ( F=21.763, 12.515; P<0.001). There was no significant difference in artery angle and 1/2 artery angle between stage 1 group and stage 2 group, and 1/2 arterial angle between stage 2 group and stage 3 group ( P>0.05). There were significant differences in artery angle and 1/2 artery angle between the other groups ( P<0.05). There were significant differences in CMT and logMAR BCVA among different classification subgroups in IERM groups ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in FAZ area between grade 3 group and grade 4 group ( P>0.05). There were significant differences in FAZ area between the other groups ( P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that decreased artery angle ( P=0.013) and increased CMT ( P<0.001) were associated with decreased BCVA. Conclusions:Compared with healthy eyes, the artery angle decreases significantly with the increase of ERM stage. Decreased retinal artery angle is associated with decreased visual acuity in IERM eyes.

BACKGROUND: The formation of an inhibitory inflammatory microenvironment after spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a great challenge for nerve regeneration. The poor local microenvironment exacerbates nerve cell death; therefore, the reconstruction of a favorable microenvironment through small-molecule drugs is a promising strategy for promoting nerve regeneration. METHODS: In the present study, we synthesized curcumin-loaded micelle nanoparticles (Cur-NPs) to increase curcumin bioavailability and analyzed the physical and chemical properties of Cur-NPs by characterization experiments. We established an in vivo SCI model in rats and examined the ability of hind limb motor recovery using Basso–Beattie– Bresnahan scoring and hind limb trajectory assays. We also analyzed neural regeneration after SCI using immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: The nanoparticles achieved the intelligent responsive release of curcumin while improving curcumin bioavailability. Most importantly, the released curcumin attenuated local inflammation by modulating the polarization of macrophages from an M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype to an M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype. M2-type macrophages can promote cell differentiation, proliferation, matrix secretion, and reorganization by secreting or expressing pro-repair cytokines to reduce the inflammatory response. The enhanced inflammatory microenvironment supported neuronal regeneration, nerve remyelination, and reduced scar formation. These effects facilitated functional repair in rats, mainly in the form of improved hindlimb movements. CONCLUSION Here, we synthesized pH/temperature dual-sensitive Cur-NPs. While improving the bioavailability of the drug, they were also able to achieve a smart responsive release in the inflammatory microenvironment that develops after SCI. The Cur-NPs promoted the regeneration and functional recovery of nerves after SCI through anti-inflammatory effects, providing a promising strategy for the repair of SCIs.