BACKGROUND: Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory airway disease and intermittent hypoxia is increasingly recognized as a factor that may impact disease progression. The present study investigated whether intermittent hypoxia (IH) could aggravate asthma by promoting hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)/nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3)/interleukin (IL)-1β-dependent pyroptosis and the inflammatory response and further elucidated the underlying molecular mechanisms involved. METHODS: A total of 49 patients diagnosed with severe bronchial asthma and diagnosed by polysomnography were enrolled at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, between January 2022 and December 2022, and their general data and induced sputum were collected. BEAS-2B cells were treated with IL-13 and subjected to IH. An ovalbumin (OVA)-treated mouse model was also used to assess the effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) on asthma. Pyroptosis, the inflammatory response, and related signalling pathways were assessed in vivo and in vitro . RESULTS: In this study, as the apnoea and hypopnea index (AHI) increased, the proportion of patients with uncontrolled asthma increased. The proportions of neutrophils and the levels of IL-6, IL-8, HIF-1α and NLRP3 in induced sputum were related to the AHI. NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis, which could be mediated by the HIF-1α signalling pathway, was activated in IL-13 plus IH-treated BEAS-2B cells and in the lungs of OVA/CIH mice. HIF-1α downregulation significantly reduced lung pyroptosis and ameliorated neutrophil inflammation by modulating the NLRP3/IL-1β pathway both in vitro and in vivo . Similarly, pretreatment with LW6, an inhibitor of HIF-1α, effectively blocked the generation of inflammatory cytokines in neutrophils. In addition, administration of the NLRP3 activator nigericin obviously increased lung neutrophil inflammation. CONCLUSIONS Obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a risk factor for asthma exacerbation. IH aggravates neutrophil inflammation in asthma via NLRP3/IL-1β-dependent pyroptosis mediated by the HIF-1α signalling pathway, which should be considered a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of asthma with OSAHS.
NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Humans ; Asthma/metabolism* ; Animals ; Pyroptosis/physiology* ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/metabolism* ; Mice ; Signal Transduction/physiology* ; Male ; Hypoxia/metabolism* ; Female ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism* ; Adult ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Middle Aged ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

Objective To assess the effect of platycodin D(PD)for alleviating pulmonary fibrosis in mice and explore the underlying mechanism.Methods C57BL/6J mouse models of pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin injection into the airway were treated with daily intragastric administration of 10 mg/kg PD for 28 days.The changes of pulmonary fibrosis and the expression and distribution of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily C member 6(TRPC6)were evaluated with immunohistochemistry,HE staining and Sirius Red staining.Western blotting was used to detect α-SMA expression in the lung tissues of the mice.Primary cultures of mouse lung fibroblasts were pretreated with PD(2.5,5.0,and 10 μmol/L)or larixyl acetate(LA;10 μmol/L)before exposure to 10 ng/mL transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1),and the changes in cell survival rate,expressions of collagen I,α-SMA and TRPC6,reactive oxygen species(ROS)production,mitochondrial membrane potential,and cell proliferation capacity were assessed.Network pharmacology analysis was performed to explore the mechanism by which PD alleviated pulmonary fibrosis.Results PD treatment significantly alleviated pulmonary fibrosis and reduced α-SMA expression in BLM-induced mouse models(P<0.05).In TGF-β1-induced primary mouse lung fibroblasts,PD effectively inhibited the cell proliferation,reduced ROS production(P<0.0001),rescued the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential(P<0.001),and inhibited the expressions of α-SMA and collagenⅠ(P<0.05).Network pharmacology analysis suggested that TRPC6 mediated the effect of PD for alleviating pulmonary fibrosis.Immunohistochemistry showed that PD significantly reduced TRPC6 expression in the lung tissues of BLM-induced mice.In primary mouse lung fibroblasts,PD significantly inhibited TGF-β1-induced TRPC6 expression(P<0.05),and LA treatment obviously lowered the expression levels of TRPC6,α-SMA and collagenⅠ(P<0.05).Conclusion PD alleviated pulmonary fibrosis in mice possibly by down-regulating TRPC6 and reducing ROS production.

Objective To assess the effect of platycodin D(PD)for alleviating pulmonary fibrosis in mice and explore the underlying mechanism.Methods C57BL/6J mouse models of pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin injection into the airway were treated with daily intragastric administration of 10 mg/kg PD for 28 days.The changes of pulmonary fibrosis and the expression and distribution of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily C member 6(TRPC6)were evaluated with immunohistochemistry,HE staining and Sirius Red staining.Western blotting was used to detect α-SMA expression in the lung tissues of the mice.Primary cultures of mouse lung fibroblasts were pretreated with PD(2.5,5.0,and 10 μmol/L)or larixyl acetate(LA;10 μmol/L)before exposure to 10 ng/mL transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1),and the changes in cell survival rate,expressions of collagen I,α-SMA and TRPC6,reactive oxygen species(ROS)production,mitochondrial membrane potential,and cell proliferation capacity were assessed.Network pharmacology analysis was performed to explore the mechanism by which PD alleviated pulmonary fibrosis.Results PD treatment significantly alleviated pulmonary fibrosis and reduced α-SMA expression in BLM-induced mouse models(P<0.05).In TGF-β1-induced primary mouse lung fibroblasts,PD effectively inhibited the cell proliferation,reduced ROS production(P<0.0001),rescued the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential(P<0.001),and inhibited the expressions of α-SMA and collagenⅠ(P<0.05).Network pharmacology analysis suggested that TRPC6 mediated the effect of PD for alleviating pulmonary fibrosis.Immunohistochemistry showed that PD significantly reduced TRPC6 expression in the lung tissues of BLM-induced mice.In primary mouse lung fibroblasts,PD significantly inhibited TGF-β1-induced TRPC6 expression(P<0.05),and LA treatment obviously lowered the expression levels of TRPC6,α-SMA and collagenⅠ(P<0.05).Conclusion PD alleviated pulmonary fibrosis in mice possibly by down-regulating TRPC6 and reducing ROS production.

Objective To evaluate the application value of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutri-tion(GLIM)criteria in the patients with gastric cancer radical surgery,and to explore the relationship be-tween the malnutrition defined by GLIM criteria and the prognosis of the patients with gastric cancer radical surgery.Methods A total of 150 gastric cancer patients receiving radical surgical resection in Zhejiang Provin-cial Tongde Hospital from January 2014 to December 2017 were selected as the study subjects.All the study subjects were diagnosed as malnutrition and graded by the severity of malnutrition.The effect of malnutrition defined by GLIM criteria on the prognosis of the patients with gastric cancer radical surgery was evaluated by the Kaplan Meier survival curve and Cox regression analysis.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of GLIM criteria on the postoperative survival rate of the pa-tients with gastric cancer radical surgery,and the corresponding area under the curve(AUC)was calculated,and the predictive value of inflammatory indicator C-reactive protein(CRP)addition on GLIM criteria in pre-dicting the prognosis of the patients with gastric cancer radical surgery was evaluated.Results Malnutrition diagnosed by GLIM criteria was an independent risk factor affecting the postoperative survival rate of the pa-tients with gastric cancer radical surgery.The results of survival trend analysis of various indicators in GLIM criteria showed that involuntary weight reduction(moderate malnutrition HR=14.13,95％CI:1.70-117.39,severe malnutrition HR=12.50,95％CI:1.40-111.89)and CRP＞10 mg/L(HR=9.70,95％CI:2.31-40.67)were the most important factors affecting the survival rate of the patients with gastric cancer radical surgery.In addition,the addition of inflammatory marker CRP could increase the sensitivity and speci-ficity of the GLIM model in predicting the postoperative survival rate of the patients with gastric cancer radical sur-gery.Conclusion The GLIM criteria can not only reflect the nutritional status of the patients with gastric cancer radi-cal surgery,but also serve as an effective predictive tool for predicting the survival rate after radical surgery.The addition of inflammatory marker CRP increases the sensitivity and specificity of GLIM criteria in predicting postoperative survival rate.

Objective:This study aims to evaluate the performance of digital PCR (dPCR) detecting multiple and single copies genes of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) for nucleic acid quantification and explore their applicability in clinical settings.Methods:Compared the sensitivity, specificity, precision, lower limit of detection (LoD), and linearity for multicopy BamHI-W dPCR and single-copy EBNA1 dPCR systems. Linear regression analysis using the least squares method was employed to evaluate the linearity. Additionally, we analyzed plasma samples from 182 patients with suspected EBV-related diseases between January and July 2022 at the Southern Medical University Southern Hospital, using both dPCR and quantitative PCR (qPCR) for EBV DNA quantification. Linear regression analysis using the least squares method was conducted to assess their quantitative correlation.Results:The dPCR systems for both multicopy and single-copy genes showed excellent linearity ( R 2 values of 0.992 and 0.997, respectively, both P<0.001). The LoD were 188 IU/ml for BamHI-W gene and 358 IU/ml for EBNA1 gene dPCR systems. The logarithmic coefficient of variation ( CV) values for high-concentration samples (1 000 000 IU/ml) were 0.34% and 0.21% for the BamHI-W gene and EBNA1 gene dPCR assays, respectively, while for low-concentration samples (5 000 IU/ml) were 0.98% and 0.64%, respectively. In the detection of seven common clinical infectious pathogens and EBV positive samples, only EBV-positive samples yielded positive signals in the dPCR detection system, with no cross-reaction with other pathogens. In 182 samples, the positive detection rates were 47.80% (87/182) for BamHI-W gene and 35.16% (64/182) for EBNA1 gene dPCR, compared to 43.41% (79/182) for qPCR. Linear correlation analysis with qPCR showed R2 values of 0.837 for BamHI-W gene and 0.763 for EBNA1 gene dPCR (both P<0.001). The BamHI-W gene copy number ranged from 3 to 18 copies per clinical sample, with patient-specific variations. There was a high consistency in viral load trends between the multicopy BamHI-W gene and single-copy EBNA1 gene dPCR systems within individual patients. Conclusions:The dPCR methods detecting EBV multiple and single copies genes showed high sensitivity, specificity, precision, and quantitative accuracy, suitable for clinical sample analysis. The multicopy BamHI-W gene dPCR method notably enhances detection sensitivity and can be used as a supplement to current EBV DNA load detection methods, especially in low-concentration samples. For within-patient EBV DNA monitoring, the multicopy gene method proves more effective, while inter-patient comparisons might necessitate single-copy gene methods or normalize them using the same standard.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of umbilical moxibustion on chronic heart failure with yang deficiency and blood stasis and water retention syndrome.Methods 80 patients with chronic heart failure who were hospitalized in the Department of Cardiology,Shenzhen Hospital(Longgang),Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from January 1,2021 to December 31,2022 were selected as research samples and randomly divided into control group(40 cases,40 cases completed)and observation group(40 cases,40 cases completed).The control group received standard drug treatment,while the observation group received umbilical moxibustion treatment on the basis of drug treatment.Ten days after treatment,NT-proBNP,NYHA cardiac function classification,cardiac color Doppler indexes(including LVEF,LVEDD,LVSD),Minnesota quality of life score,6-minute walking distance and TCM syndrome score were compared between the two groups before and after treatment,and the occurrence of adverse reactions was monitored and recorded.Results The total effective rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group(χ2=3.865,P=0.049).NYHA cardiac function classification,NT-proBNP,LVEF,LVEDD,LVESD and 6-minute walking distance in both groups were significantly improved compared with those before treatment,and the improvement of the above indexes in the observation group was more significant(P<0.05).The Minnesota quality of life score and TCM syndrome score of the two groups decreased compared with those before treatment,and the decline of the patients in the observation group exceeded that of the control group(P<0.05).During the treatment,the two groups had adverse reactions(such as gastrointestinal reaction,hypotension,skin allergy,etc.),and there was no difference between the two groups(P>0.05).Conclusion On the basis of drug therapy,umbilical moxibustion is better than simple drug therapy in treating chronic heart failure with yang deficiency,blood stasis and water stagnation,which can improve the cardiac function and quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure.

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of chronic apical periodontitis(CAP)on atherosclerosis in apoE-/-mice fed high-fat diet(HFD).This investigation focused on the gut microbiota,metabolites,and intestinal barrier function to uncover potential links between oral health and cardiovascular disease(CVD).In this study,CAP was shown to exacerbate atherosclerosis in HFD-fed apoE-/-mice,as evidenced by the increase in plaque size and volume in the aortic walls observed via Oil Red O staining.16S rRNA sequencing revealed significant alterations in the gut microbiota,with harmful bacterial species thriving while beneficial species declining.Metabolomic profiling indicated disruptions in lipid metabolism and primary bile acid synthesis,leading to elevated levels of taurochenodeoxycholic acid(TCDCA),taurocholic acid(TCA),and tauroursodeoxycholic acid(TDCA).These metabolic shifts may contribute to atherosclerosis development.Furthermore,impaired intestinal barrier function,characterized by reduced mucin expression and disrupted tight junction proteins,was observed.The increased intestinal permeability observed was positively correlated with the severity of atherosclerotic lesions,highlighting the importance of the intestinal barrier in cardiovascular health.In conclusion,this research underscores the intricate interplay among oral health,gut microbiota composition,metabolite profiles,and CVD incidence.These findings emphasize the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene as a potential preventive measure against cardiovascular issues,as well as the need for further investigations into the intricate mechanisms linking oral health,gut microbiota,and metabolic pathways in CVD development.

ObjectiveTo analyze the correlation between 11 small molecule active components and 1 protein component of characteristic processed products with porcine cardiac blood and other products of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma（SMRR） from Menghe medical school and anti-cerebral ischemic oxidative damage， and to identify its key component markers of characteristic processed products with porcine cardiac blood for anti-cerebral ischemic oxidative damage. MethodHigh performance liquid chromatography（HPLC） was established to simultaneously determine the contents of 11 active ingredients in SMRR and its processed products［processed with porcine cardiac blood， porcine blood， wine and transferrin（Tf） in porcine cardiac blood］， and the content of Tf in different processed products of SMRR was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. Furthermore， A zebrafish ischemic stroke model was constructed to evaluate the effects of different processed products of SMRR on the behavioral trajectory of cerebral ischemic zebrafish， the neuronal damage of transgenic zebrafish Tg（elavl3：eGFP） brain， as well as the levels of malondialdehyde（MDA） and superoxide dismutase（SOD） in the brain tissues. The hippocampal neurons oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation（OGD/R）-induced ischemia-hypoxia model was constructed to evaluate the effects of different processed products of SMRR on oxidative damage of neuronal cells by taking lactate dehydrogenase（LDH）， reactive oxygen species（ROS）， MDA and SOD as indexes. Finally， principal component analysis（PCA）， partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA） and Spearman correlation analysis were used to analyze the 11 small molecule active components and 1 protein component with efficacy indicators， in order to screen the key components of the characteristic processed products with porcine cardiac blood for cerebral ischemic oxidative damage. ResultCompared with the raw products， the contents of water-soluble and fat-soluble components in processed products of SMRR increased to different degrees， while the content of salvianolic acid A decreased. Compared with the wine-processed products， the contents of salvianolic acid B， danshensu， rosmarinic acid and other components in the porcine cardiac blood-processed products， porcine blood-processed products， Tf-processed products were increased， while the content of salvianolic acid A was decreased. ELISA results showed that there was no significant difference in Tf content between the porcine cardiac blood-processed products， porcine blood-processed products， Tf-processed products. Pharmacological results showed that different processed products of SMRR could improve the behavioral deficits， brain neuronal injury and oxidative stress after ischemic stroke in zebrafish， and the effect of the porcine cardiac blood-processed products was most pronounced. PCA results showed that salvianolic acid B， salvianolic acid A， rosmarinic acid， lithospermic acid， danshensu， tanshinone Ⅱ_A， caffeic acid， cryptotanshinone and tanshinone Ⅰ were the main contributing components of SMRR and its processed products. And the results of correlation analysis showed that the contents of cryptotanshinone， rosmarinic acid， caffeic acid， dihydrotanshinone Ⅰ， salvianolic acid B， tanshinone Ⅱ_A and tanshinone Ⅰ were negatively correlated with MDA level in zebrafish brain tissue， while the contents of lithospermic acid， protocatechuic aldehyde， rosmarinic acid， dihydrotanshinone Ⅰ， salvianolic acid B and Tf were positively correlated with SOD level， and the contents of rosmarinic acid， caffeic acid， dihydrotanshinone Ⅰ， salvianolic acid B， tanshinone Ⅱ_A， tanshinone Ⅰ， danshensu， Tf were positively correlated with neuronal fluorescence intensity in the zebrafish brain. And the contents of lithospermic acid， protocatechuic aldehyde， rosmarinic acid， dihydrotanshinone Ⅰ， salvianolic acid B， tanshinone Ⅱ_A and Tf were negatively correlated with LDH， ROS and MDA levels and positively correlated with SOD level. ConclusionThere are differences in the anti-ischemic oxidative damage effects of SMRR and its different processed products， among which the porcine cardiac blood-processed products has the strongest effect on improving oxidative damage， which may be related to the content changes of salvianolic acid B， danshensu， rosmarinic acid and other components. This study can provide a basis for clarifying the quality markers of SMRR processed with porcine cardiac blood for cerebral ischemia and elucidating its processing mechanism.

The emerging of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused COVID-19 pandemic. The first case of COVID-19 was reported at early December in 2019 in Wuhan City, China. To examine specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in biological samples before December 2019 would give clues when the epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 might start to circulate in populations. We obtained all 88,517 plasmas from 76,844 blood donors in Wuhan between 1 September and 31 December 2019. We first evaluated the pan-immunoglobin (pan-Ig) against SARS-CoV-2 in 43,850 samples from 32,484 blood donors with suitable sample quality and enough volume. Two hundred and sixty-four samples from 213 donors were pan-Ig reactive, then further tested IgG and IgM, and validated by neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Two hundred and thirteen samples (from 175 donors) were only pan-Ig reactive, 8 (from 4 donors) were pan-Ig and IgG reactive, and 43 (from 34 donors) were pan-Ig and IgM reactive. Microneutralization assay showed all negative results. In addition, 213 screened reactive donors were analyzed and did not show obviously temporal or regional tendency, but the distribution of age showed a difference compared with all tested donors. Then we reviewed SARS-CoV-2 antibody results from these donors who donated several times from September 2019 to June 2020, partly tested in a previous published study, no one was found a significant increase in S/CO of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Our findings showed no SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies existing among blood donors in Wuhan, China before 2020, indicating no evidence of transmission of COVID-19 before December 2019 in Wuhan, China.
Humans ; Antibodies, Viral ; Blood Donors ; China/epidemiology* ; COVID-19/immunology* ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Pandemics ; SARS-CoV-2