Recent studies have identified a missense mutation in the β1-receptor (ADRB1-A187V) that exerts a pronounced impact on human sleep, with a noted decrease in protein abundance in vivo. The administration of β-blockers is frequently associated with sleep disturbances in clinical settings. In this study, we assessed the influence of various β-blockers on sleep within mouse models. Our findings indicated that β-blockers could induce varying degrees of arousal, sleep disruption, and a decrease in REMS (rapid eye movement sleep). We examined the dose-dependent effects of metoprolol and nebivolol on both sleep and cardiac functionality in both wild-type and Adrb1-A187V mutant mice. Our data suggested that, in contrast to cardiac effects, higher doses of metoprolol are required to have noted impact on sleep. No genotype effect was observed with metoprolol in terms of sleep or cardiac function. In contrast, the mutant mice demonstrated increased sensitivity to nebivolol, which exacerbated sleep fragmentation and impeded the onset of REMS. This study is expected to provide some reference for minimizing the occurrence of sleep disorders and reducing the adverse reactions of drugs to the greatest extent.

Abdominal obesity represents the predominant obesity phenotype in China.Compared to peripheral obesity,individuals with abdominal obesity are more prone to metabolic disorders,cardiovascular diseases,and higher mortality rates.Catgut embedding therapy at acupoints has demonstrated significant clinical efficacy in preventing and treating abdominal obesity.However,standardized clinical guidelines for its application in abdominal obesity management have not yet been established.This review comprehensively summarizes the clinical applications of catgut embedding therapy for simple abdominal obesity and abdominal obesity with various complications,aiming to provide clinical evidence and theoretical guidance for its use in preventing and treating abdominal obesity.

BACKGROUND:It is confirmed that the absence of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) accelerates the degenerative process in the intervertebral discs, and microRNAs have an important role in degeneration of the intervertebral discs.
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the changes of microRNAs in the intervertebral discs of HIF-1α-deficient (HIF-1α-/-) mice which may mediate the signaling pathway of HIF-1α in the intervertebral discs.
METHODS: As previously reported, HIF-1α-/- mice were established. HIF-1α-/- mice and HIF-1αflox/flox mice (control mice) aged 4 weeks were used. MRI and histological staining were used to evaluate the degeneration of the intervertebral discs. Total RNAs were extracted from the intervertebral discs tissues by Trizol, and the differential expression profile of microRNAs was harvested by significance analysis of microarrays and Cluster, based on microarray screening. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR was applied to verify the reliability of microRNA array results.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The number of nucleus pulposus cels in the intervertebral discs of HIF-1α-/- mice was decreased, the cels presented with smal size and the color deepened in the cytoplasm. Finaly, differential expression profile of microRNAs (n=10) was obtained, seven of which were upregulated and three were downregulated. In conclusion, the loss of HIF-1α may cause the imbalance of some important miRNAs, which may result in a large amount of dead nuclear pulposus cels and mediate disc degeneration in HIF-1α-/- mice.

With the continuous development of the cancer stem cell theory,biomarkers for CSCs (Cancer stem cells) have gradually become the hot issues in tumor research.As the most commonly used CSCs biomarker,CD44 gains lots of attentions.This paper will review recent research about CD44 molecule and its powerful role in regulating tumor progenesis and progression.