Objective:To evaluate the levels and source of cadmium exposure by dietary pathway among middle-aged and elderly people ≥40 in cadmium-contaminated areas of China.Methods:A total of 7 193 people aged 40-89 years from four typical cadmium-contaminated areas in China were selected as the study subjects. Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), Total Diet Study (TDS) and a 3-day-24-hour dietary recall survey were conducted. Dietary cadmium intake and food sources through dietary pathways were assessed based on cadmium content in foods, consumption amounts and intake frequencies.Results:The mean age of the participants was 63.39±12.21 years, with 50.05% being males. The average monthly dietary cadmium intake was 7.39 μg/(kg·BW). Staple foods and vegetables were the primary sources of dietary cadmium intake, accounting for 57.51% and 32.48%, respectively. The monthly dietary cadmium intake in all surveyed regions did not exceed the Provisional Tolerable Monthly Intake (PTMI) recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).Conclusion:The monthly dietary cadmium intake among middle-aged and elderly people in cadmium-contaminated areas of China is relatively low, with the risk remaining at an acceptable level. Staple foods and vegetables are the most significant contributors to dietary cadmium intake.

Objective:To evaluate the levels and source of cadmium exposure by dietary pathway among middle-aged and elderly people ≥40 in cadmium-contaminated areas of China.Methods:A total of 7 193 people aged 40-89 years from four typical cadmium-contaminated areas in China were selected as the study subjects. Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), Total Diet Study (TDS) and a 3-day-24-hour dietary recall survey were conducted. Dietary cadmium intake and food sources through dietary pathways were assessed based on cadmium content in foods, consumption amounts and intake frequencies.Results:The mean age of the participants was 63.39±12.21 years, with 50.05% being males. The average monthly dietary cadmium intake was 7.39 μg/(kg·BW). Staple foods and vegetables were the primary sources of dietary cadmium intake, accounting for 57.51% and 32.48%, respectively. The monthly dietary cadmium intake in all surveyed regions did not exceed the Provisional Tolerable Monthly Intake (PTMI) recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).Conclusion:The monthly dietary cadmium intake among middle-aged and elderly people in cadmium-contaminated areas of China is relatively low, with the risk remaining at an acceptable level. Staple foods and vegetables are the most significant contributors to dietary cadmium intake.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for bronchopulmonary dysplasia(BPD)in twin preterm infants with a gestational age of<34 weeks,and to provide a basis for early identification of BPD in twin preterm infants in clinical practice.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the twin preterm infants with a gestational age of<34 weeks who were admitted to 22 hospitals nationwide from January 2018 to December 2020.According to their conditions,they were divided into group A(both twins had BPD),group B(only one twin had BPD),and group C(neither twin had BPD).The risk factors for BPD in twin preterm infants were analyzed.Further analysis was conducted on group B to investigate the postnatal risk factors for BPD within twins.Results A total of 904 pairs of twins with a gestational age of<34 weeks were included in this study.The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that compared with group C,birth weight discordance of>25%between the twins was an independent risk factor for BPD in one of the twins(OR=3.370,95%CI:1.500-7.568,P<0.05),and high gestational age at birth was a protective factor against BPD(P<0.05).The conditional logistic regression analysis of group B showed that small-for-gestational-age(SGA)birth was an independent risk factor for BPD in individual twins(OR=5.017,95%CI:1.040-24.190,P<0.05).Conclusions The development of BPD in twin preterm infants is associated with gestational age,birth weight discordance between the twins,and SGA birth.

Background/Aims: Cholestatic liver diseases including primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) are associated with active hepatic fibrogenesis, which ultimately progresses to cirrhosis. Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the main fibrogenic effectors in response to cholangiocyte damage. JCAD regulates cell proliferation and malignant transformation in nonalcoholic steatoheaptitis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (NASH-HCC). However, its participation in cholestatic fibrosis has not been explored yet. Methods: Serial sections of liver tissue of PBC patients were stained with immunofluorescence. Hepatic fibrosis was induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in wild-type (WT), global JCAD knockout mice (JCAD-KO) and HSC-specific JCAD knockout mice (HSC-JCAD-KO), and evaluated by histopathology and biochemical tests. In situ-activated HSCs isolated from BDL mice were used to determine effects of JCAD on HSC activation. Results: In consistence with staining of liver sections from PBC patients, immunofluorescent staining revealed that JCAD expression was identified in smooth muscle α-actin (α-SMA)-positive fibroblast-like cells and was significantly up-regulated in WT mice with BDL. JCAD deficiency remarkably ameliorated BDL-induced hepatic injury and fibrosis, as documented by liver hydroxyproline content, when compared to WT mice with BDL. Histopathologically, collagen deposition was dramatically reduced in both JCAD-KO and HSC-JCAD-KO mice compared to WT mice, as visualized by Trichrome staining and semi-quantitative scores. Moreover, JCAD deprivation significantly attenuated in situ HSC activation and reduced expression of fibrotic genes after BDL. Conclusions JCAD deficiency effectively suppressed hepatic fibrosis induced by BDL in mice, and the underlying mechanisms are largely through suppressed Hippo-YAP signaling activity in HSCs.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the polysomnographic differences between males and females with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS).METHODS Adults visited to Beijing Tongren Hospital for sleep snoring from January 2023 to August 2023 who completed overnight polysomnography(PSG)and whose apnea hypopnea index(AHI)≥5 times/h were diagnosed as OSAS patients in this study.The general information,respiratory events and sleep structure were compared between male and female OSAS patients.RESULTS A total of 380 patients were included in this study with 293 males(77.1%)and 87 females(22.9%).Mean age was(44.4±11.5)years,and the mean body mass index was(26.5±3.9)kg/m2;AHI ranged between 5.0 and 115.8 times/h with a mean of(34.9±24.8)times/h;lowest oxygen saturation(LSpO2)ranged between 43%-97%with a mean of(80.7±11.6)%.Between male and female OSAS patients,the AHI in males was higher than females[(37.9±24.8)times/h vs.(24.5±21.7)times/h,P=0.000],and the AHI in REM was higher in males than females[(36.7±23.2)times/h vs.(30.9±22.8)times/h,P=0.040].LSpO2 was lower in males than females[(79.2±12.0)%vs.(85.7±8.3)%,P=0.000].There were significant differences for arousal index,sleep efficiency,N1 sleep percent and N3 sleep percent between two groups.Between male and female OSAS patients over 50 years old,AHI was still higher in males than in females[(39.3±21.4)times/h vs.(30.5±23.0)times/h,P=0.029],and there was no significant difference in AHIREM and LSpO2.The difference in sleep structure between male and female OSAS patients over 50 years old was consistent with that of participants.CONCLUSION The AHI and LSpO2 of male OSAS patients were more serious than those of female OSAS patients,and the reduction of slow wave sleep was more obvious.OSAS became worse after menopause,which was highlighted by the increase of respiratory events in REM and the more serious decline of LSpO2.The protective effect of female hormones on OSAS is mainly to alleviate REM respiratory events and hypoxia damage,rather than improving sleep structure.

In this study,nine hybridoma cells secreting monoclonal antibodies against deltamethrin were prepared,and the monoclonal antibody 4D4E11 with best sensitivity was selected to develop indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) and gold nanoparticle-based lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for detection of deltamethrin. The optimal working buffer for ic-ELISA was 0.01 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) containing 0.2 mol/L NaCl and 20％ methanol,while 0.01 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) containing 1 mol/L NaCl,5‰Tween-20 and 10％methanol for LFIA. Under the optimal conditions,the half inhibition concentration (IC50) and limit of detection (IC10) of ic-ELISA were 10.60 ng/mL and 1.43 ng/mL respectively,and the limit of detection of the developed LFIA was 0.5μg/mL. The developed ic-ELISA and LFIA showed no cross-reactivities (CRs) with eight kinds of analogues of deltamethrin,which indicated the excellent specificity of proposed immunoassays. The average recoveries of the ic-ELISA in spiked tomato,cabbage and lettuce samples were 79.8％-92.6％with relative standard deviations of 0.8％-5.5％. The detection results of LFIA were consistent with the spiked concentrations in the range of 1-5 mg/kg. Meanwhile,the results of ic-ELISA and LFIA showed close correlation with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the test of blind lettuce samples. The experimental results demonstrated that the two immunoassays proposed here were suitable for rapid detection of deltamethrin with high sensitivity and high accuracy.

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Shenxiong glucose injection （SGI） in inhibiting hydrogen peroxide （H₂O₂）-induced oxidative damage in H9c2 cells by tandem mass tags （TMT）-labeled quantitative proteomics. MethodH9c2 cells cultured in vitro were exposed to H₂O₂ for inducing oxidative damage. The cell viability was measured by cell proliferation and cytotoxicity assay （MTS）， followed by peptide fractionation by high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） and protein expression detection in H9c2 cells by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. MaxQuant （v1.5.2.8） was utilized for data retrieval， and the high-resolution mass spectrometry was conducted to screen out differentially expressed proteins， which were then subjected to gene ontology （GO） and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes （KEGG） enrichment analysis. The protein expression levels of perilipin 2 （Plin2） and tropomyosin 1 （Tpm1） in cells were measured by Western blot. ResultThe spectral analysis yielded 48 608 specific peptide fragments and 5 903 quantifiable proteins. Compared with the model group，the SGI group exhibited 82 differentially expressed proteins，of which 22 were up-regulated and 60 were down-regulated. GO analysis results showed that the differentially expressed proteins were mainly involved in biological processes such as programmed cell death regulation，regulation of cell proliferation，cardiovascular system development， and cell migration. As revealed by KEGG analysis， these proteins were mainly related to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor （PPAR），focal adhesion，phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B（PI3K/Akt），and Ras-related protein 1 （Rap1） pathways. Western blot results demonstrated that compared with the model group，SGI significantly increased the Plin2 protein expression and decreased the Tpm1 protein expression （P<0.01），consistent with the proteomics results. ConclusionSGI may inhibit cell apoptosis and antagonize H₂O₂-induced cell oxidative damage by regulating PPAR，focal adhesion，PI3K/Akt and Rap1 pathways，which should be further verified by subsequent experiments.

Increased neuronal apoptosis is an important pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Bcl-2-interacting mediator of cell death (Bim) mediates amyloid-beta (Aβ)-induced neuronal apoptosis. Naturally-occurring antibodies against Bim (NAbs-Bim) exist in human blood, with their levels and functions unknown in AD. In this study, we found that circulating NAbs-Bim were decreased in AD patients. Plasma levels of NAbs-Bim were negatively associated with brain amyloid burden and positively associated with cognitive functions. Furthermore, NAbs-Bim purified from intravenous immunoglobulin rescued the behavioral deficits and ameliorated Aβ deposition, tau hyperphosphorylation, microgliosis, and neuronal apoptosis in APP/PS1 mice. In vitro investigations demonstrated that NAbs-Bim were neuroprotective against AD through neutralizing Bim-directed neuronal apoptosis and the amyloidogenic processing of amyloid precursor protein. These findings indicate that the decrease of NAbs-Bim might contribute to the pathogenesis of AD and immunotherapies targeting Bim hold promise for the treatment of AD.
Alzheimer Disease/pathology* ; Amyloid beta-Peptides/metabolism* ; Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/metabolism* ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Transgenic

Solid dispersion, a dispersion system in which drug molecules are highly dispersed in carrier materials, has been commonly used to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs. The miscibility between drug and carrier is crucial to improve the dissolution performance and stability of solid dispersion. Therefore, the selection of carrier types and the optimization of drug loading are very important. In the current study, the solubility parameter method and Flory-Huggins theory were used to predict the miscibility between olaparib (OLP) and different carriers (VA64, Soluplus, Plasdone S630 and Kollidon K29/32). Besides, the carrier material with good miscibility was experimentally screened by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The optimum of drug-carrier ratio was further performed based on the miscibility phase diagram of drug and carrier. Theoretical calculation and experimental evaluation showed that the miscibility of OLP and VA64 was the best, and the drug loading of 30% could meet the requirements of large drug loading and physical stability. Polarizing light microscope, X-ray powder diffraction, DSC and laser confocal Raman spectroscopy exhibited that OLP was amorphous form in the solid dispersion system. Powder dissolution test demonstrated that the solid dispersion showed significantly enhanced dissolution rate in comparison to crystalline OLP. In this study, theoretical calculation and experimental evaluation were used to screen the types of carriers and optimize the drug loading, which provides an efficient strategy for the selection of carrier and the amount used in solid dispersion.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic effect between Tiaoshen acupuncture combined with psychotherapy and simple psychotherapy on anxiety after methamphetamine withdrawal. METHODS: A total of 78 patients were randomized into an observation group (39 cases, 2 cases dropped off) and a control group (39 cases, 1 case dropped off). Psychotherapy was given in the control group. On the basis of the treatment in the control group, Tiaoshen acupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV 20), Shenting (GV 24), Benshen (GB 13), Neiguan (PC 6) and Shenmen (HT 7) in the observation group. The treatment was given once a day, 6 days were as one course and totally 4 courses were required in both groups. The scores of Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA), quality of life for drug addicts (QOL-DA) and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) before and after treatment were observed in both groups. RESULTS: After treatment, the various scores and the total scores of HAMA, QOL-DA and PSQI were decreased compared before treatment in both groups (P<0.05), and the scores of somatic anxiety factor, the psychic anxiety factor and the total score of HAMA, each various score and the total score of QOL-DA as well as the scores of sleep quality, time to fall asleep, sleep time, daytime dysfunction and the total score of PSQI in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Tiaoshen acupuncture combined with psychotherapy can relieve the anxiety in patients with anxiety after methamphetamine withdrawal, improve the quality of life and sleep, the therapeutic effect is superior to the simple psychotherapy.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Anxiety/therapy* ; Humans ; Methamphetamine/adverse effects* ; Quality of Life