ObjectiveBola-like short peptides exhibit novel self-assembly properties due to the formation of peptide dimers via hydrogen bonding interactions between their C-terminals. In this configuration, hydrophilic amino acids are distributed at both terminals, making these peptides behave similarly to Bola peptides. The electrostatic repulsive interactions arising from the hydrophilic amino acids at each terminal can be neutralized, thereby greatly promoting the lateral association of β-sheets. Consequently, assemblies with significantly larger widths are typically the dominant nanostructures for Bola-like peptides. To investigate the effect of hydrophilic amino acids on the self-assembly behavior of Bola-like peptides, the peptides Ac-RI₃-CONH₂ and Ac-HI₃-CONH₂ were designed and synthesized using the Bola-like peptide Ac-KI₃-CONH₂ as a template. Their self-assembly behavior was systematically examined. MethodsAtomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the morphology and size of the assemblies. The secondary structures of the assemblies were analyzed using circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was used to obtain detailed structural information at a short-length scale. Based on these experimental results, the effects of hydrophilic amino acids on the self-assembly behavior of Bola-like short peptides were systematically analyzed, and the underlying formation mechanism was explored. ResultsThe aggregation process primarily involved three steps. First, peptide dimers were formed through hydrogen bonding interactions between their C-terminals. Within these dimers, the hydrophilic amino acids K, R, and H were positioned at both terminals, enabling the peptides to self-assemble in a manner similar to Bola peptides. Next, β-sheets were formed via hydrogen bonding interactions along the peptide backbone. Finally, self-assemblies were generated through the lateral association of β-sheets. The results demonstrated that both Ac-KI₃-CONH₂ and Ac-RI₃-CONH₂ could self-assemble into double-layer nanotubes with diameters of approximately 200 nm. These nanotubes were formed by the edge fusion of helical ribbons, which initially emerged from twisted ribbons. Notably, the primary assemblies of these peptides exhibited opposite chirality: nanofibers formed by Ac-KI₃-CONH₂ displayed left-handed chirality, whereas those formed by Ac-RI₃-CONH₂ exhibited right-handed chirality. This reversal in torsional direction was primarily attributed to the different abilities of K and R to form hydrogen bonds with water. In contrast, Ac-HI₃-CONH₂ formed narrower twisted ribbons with a significantly reduced width of approximately 30 nm, which was attributed to the strong steric hindrance caused by the imidazole rings. The multilayer height of these ribbons was mainly due to the unique structure of the imidazole rings, which can function as both hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, thereby promoting aggregate growth in the vertical direction. ConclusionThe final morphology of the self-assemblies resulted from a delicate balance of various non-covalent interactions. By altering the types of hydrophilic amino acid residues in Bola-like short peptides, the relative strength of non-covalent interactions that drive assembly formation can be effectively regulated, allowing precise control over the morphology and chirality of the assemblies. This study provides a simple and effective approach for constructing diverse self-assemblies and lays a theoretical foundation for the development of functional biomaterials.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate a new noninvasive diagnostic model for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) based on features of tongue images. METHODS: Healthy controls and volunteers confirmed to have NAFLD by liver ultrasound were recruited from China-Japan Friendship Hospital between September 2018 and May 2019, then the anthropometric indexes and sampled tongue images were measured. The tongue images were labeled by features, based on a brief protocol, without knowing any other clinical data, after a series of corrections and data cleaning. The algorithm was trained on images using labels and several anthropometric indexes for inputs, utilizing machine learning technology. Finally, a logistic regression algorithm and a decision tree model were constructed as 2 diagnostic models for NAFLD. RESULTS: A total of 720 subjects were enrolled in this study, including 432 patients with NAFLD and 288 healthy volunteers. Of them, 482 were randomly allocated into the training set and 238 into the validation set. The diagnostic model based on logistic regression exhibited excellent performance: in validation set, it achieved an accuracy of 86.98%, sensitivity of 91.43%, and specificity of 80.61%; with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.93 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68-0.98]. The decision tree model achieved an accuracy of 81.09%, sensitivity of 91.43%, and specificity of 66.33%; with an AUC of 0.89 (95% CI 0.66-0.92) in validation set. CONCLUSIONS The features of tongue images were associated with NAFLD. Both the 2 diagnostic models, which would be convenient, noninvasive, lightweight, rapid, and inexpensive technical references for early screening, can accurately distinguish NAFLD and are worth further study.
Humans ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/diagnostic imaging* ; Ultrasonography ; Anthropometry ; Algorithms ; China

As a serious cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis (AS) causes chronic inflammation and oxidative stress in the body and poses a threat to human health. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a member of the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) family, and its elevated levels have been shown to contribute to AS. Lp-PLA2 is closely related to a variety of lipoproteins, and its role in promoting inflammatory responses and oxidative stress in AS is mainly achieved by hydrolyzing oxidized phosphatidylcholine (oxPC) to produce lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC). Moreover, macrophage apoptosis within plaque is promoted by localized Lp-PLA2 which also promotes plaque instability. This paper reviews those researches of Chinese medicine in treating AS via reducing Lp-PLA2 levels to guide future experimental studies and clinical applications related to AS.
Humans ; 1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Atherosclerosis/drug therapy* ; Lipoproteins ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; Biomarkers

Aim To study the effect of menthol on hypobaric hypoxia-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension and explore the underlying mechanism in mice. Methods 10 to 12 weeks old wild type (WT) mice and TRPM8 gene knockout (TRPM8

Sesquiterpenes are natural terpenoids with 15 carbon atoms in the basic skeleton, which mainly exist in plant volatile oil and have important physiological and medicinal value. Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) is a kind of monooxygenase encoded by supergene family, which is one of the largest gene families in plants. It is involved in the synthesis and metabolism of terpenoids, alkaloids and other secondary metabolites. In the process of terpene biosynthesis, CYP450 participates in the post-modification stage of terpenes by introducing functional groups such as hydroxyl, carboxyl and carbonyl, which plays an important role in enriching the diversity of terpenes. The CYP450 enzymes involved in sesquiterpene synthesis and their substrate catalytic specificity mechanisms have been partially investigated. In this paper, the biosynthetic pathway of plant sesquiterpenes, the structure and classification of CYP450 enzymes were briefly introduced, and the CYP450 enzymes involved in sesquiterpene biosynthesis were summarized, in order to provide a reference for intensive study of the role of CYP450 enzymes in the synthesis of sesquiterpenoids.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the improvement effects of azithromycin on bronchopulmonary dysplasia （BPD） in neonatal rats based on hypoxia-inducible factor-1α（HIF-1α）/HIF-2α/vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） pathway. METHODS Sixty newborn SD rats were randomly divided into negative control group （NC）， BPD group， azithromycin group and budesonide group （positive control）， with 15 rats in each group. Rats in NC group were given normal breathing air， while rats in other three groups were exposed to high-concentration oxygen for 14 days to establish BPD rat models. After successful modeling， rats in azithromycin group were intraperitoneally injected with azithromycin 200 mg/kg， and rats in budesonide group were atomized with budesonide 1.5 mg/kg once a day for 14 consecutive days， while rats in BPD group and NC group were not treated. Pathological changes of lung tissue， radial alveolar count and mean alveolar intercept of rats were observed in each group. The white blood cell count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid （BALF） and the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， IL-1β， superoxide dismutase （SOD）， catalase （CAT） and malondialdehyde （MDA） were detected； mRNA and protein expressions of VEGF， HIF-1α， HIF-2α were also detected. RESULTS Compared with NC group， the lung tissue in BPD group was obviously damaged； the white blood cell count， average alveolar intercept and the levels of TNF-α， IL-6， IL-1β and MDA were significantly increased； the radial alveolar count， SOD and CAT levels， the relative expressions of VEGF， HIF-1α， HIF-2α mRNA and protein were significantly decreased （P＜0.05）. Compared with BPD group， the changes of the above indexes in azithromycin group and budesonide group were significantly reversed （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Azithromycin can obviously improve the symptoms of BPD in rats， reduce inflammation and oxidative stress， and exert lung protection， the mechanism of which may be realized by activating HIF-1α/HIF-2α/VEGF pathway.

Objective To investigate the infection status and changing trend of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection in hospitalized patients in medical institutions,and provide reference for formulating HCV infection prevention and control strategies.Methods HCV infection surveillance results from cross-sectional survey data reported to China Healthcare-associated Infection(HAI)Surveillance System in 2020 were summarized and analyzed,HCV positive was serum anti-HCV positive or HCV RNA positive,survey result was compared with the survey results from 2003.Results In 2020,1 071 368 inpatients in 1 573 hospitals were surveyed,738 535 of whom underwent HCV test,4 014 patients were infected with HCV,with a detection rate of 68.93％and a HCV positive rate of 0.54％.The positive rate of HCV in male and female patients were 0.60％and 0.48％,respectively,with a statistically sig-nificant difference(x2=47.18,P＜0.001).The HCV positive rate in the 50-＜60 age group was the highest(0.76％),followed by the 40-＜50 age group(0.71％).Difference among all age groups was statistically signifi-cant(x2=696.74,P＜0.001).In 2003,91 113 inpatients were surveyed.35 145 of whom underwent HCV test,resulting in a detection rate of 38.57％;775 patients were infected with HCV,with a positive rate of 2.21％.In 2020,HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales were 0.46％-0.63％,with the highest in hospital with bed numbers ranging 600-899.Patients'HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales was statistically signifi-cant(X2=35.34,P＜0.001).In 2020,12 provinces/municipalities had over 10 000 patients underwent HCV-rela-ted test,and HCV positive rates ranged 0.19％-0.81％,with the highest rate from Hainan Province.HCV posi-tive rates in different departments were 0.06％-0.82％,with the lowest positive rate in the department of pedia-trics and the highest in the department of internal medicine.In 2003 and 2020,HCV positive rates in the depart-ment of infectious diseases were the highest,being 7.95％and 3.48％,respectively.Followed by departments of orthopedics(7.72％),gastroenterology(3.77％),nephrology(3.57％)and general intensive care unit(ICU,3.10％)in 2003,as well as departments of gastroenterology(1.35％),nephrology(1.18％),endocrinology(0.91％),and general intensive care unit(ICU,0.79％)in 2020.Conclusion Compared with 2003,HCV positive rate decreased significantly in 2020.HCV infected patients were mainly from the department of infectious diseases,followed by departments of gastroenterology,nephrology and general ICU.HCV infection positive rate varies with gender,age,and region.

Objective To investigate the attributable risk(AR)of Acinetobacter baumannii(AB)infection in criti-cally ill patients.Methods A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted among adult patients in inten-sive care unit(ICU).Patients with AB isolated from sterile body fluid and confirmed with AB infection in each cen-ter were selected as the infected group.According to the matching criteria that patients should be from the same pe-riod,in the same ICU,as well as with similar APACHE Ⅱ score(±5 points)and primary diagnosis,patients who did not infect with AB were selected as the non-infected group in a 1:2 ratio.The AR was calculated.Results The in-hospital mortality of patients with AB infection in sterile body fluid was 33.3％,and that of non-infected group was 23.1％,with no statistically significant difference between the two groups(P=0.069).The AR was 10.2％(95％CI:-2.3％-22.8％).There is no statistically significant difference in mortality between non-infected pa-tients and infected patients from whose blood,cerebrospinal fluid and other specimen sources AB were isolated(P＞0.05).After infected with AB,critically ill patients with the major diagnosis of pulmonary infection had the high-est AR.There was no statistically significant difference in mortality between patients in the infected and non-infec-ted groups(P＞0.05),or between other diagnostic classifications.Conclusion The prognosis of AB infection in critically ill patients is highly overestimated,but active healthcare-associated infection control for AB in the ICU should still be carried out.

Objective:To evaluate the predictive value of combined serum levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and trimethyllysine (TML) for poor prognosis in patients with heart failure.Methods:This single-center prospective cohort study included hospitalized patients with heart failure and complete baseline data from the Department of Cardiology at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from June 2017 to December 2020. Patients were categorized into four groups based on median serum levels of TMAO and TML after admission: TMAO low level TML low level group (TMAO<9.7 μmol/L, TML<0.73 μmol/L), TMAO low level TML high level group (TMAO<9.7 μmol/L, TML≥0.73 μmol/L), TMAO high level TML low level group (TMAO≥9.7 μmol/L, TML<0.73 μmol/L) and TMAO high level TML high level group (TMAO≥9.7 μmol/L, TML≥0.73 μmol/L). The primary endpoint was a composite endpoint of cardiovascular death and readmission for heart failure. Multiple factor Cox regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the correlation between serum TMAO and TML levels and poor prognosis in patients with heart failure.Results:A total of 471 patients with heart failure were included, with an mean age of (62.5±12.0) years and a median follow-up time of 1.61 (1.06, 2.90) years. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age, gender, and traditional risk factors, the TMAO high level TML high level group had a higher incidence of primary endpoint events compared to the TMAO low level TML low level group ( HR=1.71, 95% CI 1.05-2.77, P=0.03). Conclusion:Elevated serum levels of both TMAO and TML can effectively predict the occurrence of long-term adverse events in patients with heart failure.

Objective:To assess the prevalence of dentinal hypersensitivity (DH) and related factors in urban adults in China.Methods:The study was designed as an observational, cross-sectional epidemiological study carried out in adults aged 18-69 years old in seven cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xi′an, Guangzhou, and Harbin) of China. The study was conducted from March 2021 to May 2023. Patients were required to complete a questionnaire regarding the subjects′ socio-economic factors, dietary behavior, oral health behavior and personal antecedent factors. DH was clinically diagnosed by judging whether the tooth cold air stimulation provoked DH or not, and recorded by investigator pain rating Schiff score. Compare the findings of six cities (Harbin excluded) with a similar study conducted in 2008.Results:In total, 11 622 subjects from seven cities in China participated the study. Fifty two point two percent (6 072/11 622) of subjects reported DH in questionnaire, 36.7% (4 266/11 622) of subjects reported experiencing DH in response to cold air stimulation for at least one study tooth. Risk factors including age, sex, city, toothbrush method and acid reflux showed marked associations with DH ( P<0.05). The prevalence of DH of urban residents in six cities (Harbin excluded) was 33.7% (3 335/9 882), higher than that in 2008 [29.7%(2 354/7 939)]. Conclusions:Overall, DH was common among urban adults in China and the prevalence increased in recent years. Better understanding of DH and its associated factors should be considered in its prevention and management by dental professionals.