Background Previous studies have shown that bisphenol A exposure is associated with the risk of hypertension; however, most of them are cross-sectional and the conclusions are not consistent. Objective To evaluate the association between bisphenol A exposure and the incident risk of hypertension. Methods Based on a nested case-control design involving 1990 subjects derived from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort, a total of 1080 subjects were included in this study after excluding 887 hypertensive cases at baseline and 23 subjects with missing blood pressure data in follow-up visits. Epidemiological information was collected through questionnaire survey, and serum bisphenol A concentration was detected by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the potential association between serum bisphenol A level and the risk of hypertension incidence, and linear regression model was used to analyze the association between serum bisphenol A level and blood pressure changes between baseline and follow-up. Results The average age of the 1 080 participants was (62.03±7.45) years, of which 41.1% were male. During the follow-up period, a total of 477 (44.2%) developed hypertension. The median serum concentration of bisphenol A in the total population was 3.15 μg·L⁻¹, and the baseline bisphenol A concentration in the new case group (3.24 μg·L⁻¹) was higher than that in the control group (2.98 μg·L⁻¹) (P<0.05). After adjustment for selected covariates, the risk of hypertension increased by 12% (OR=1.12, 95%CI: 1.02, 1.22) for each unit increase in naturally log-transformed bisphenol A; the systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure increased by 1.88 (95%CI: 1.08, 2.69) mmHg and 1.14 (95%CI: 0.68, 1.61) mmHg, respectively. Compared with the low bisphenol A tertile group, the risk of hypertension in the middle tertile and high tertile groups increased by 39% (OR=1.39, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.91) and 40% (OR=1.40, 95%CI: 1.02, 1.93) respectively; the systolic blood pressure increased by 5.91 (95%CI: 3.06, 8.76) mmHg and 5.71 (95%CI: 2.82, 8.59) mmHg, and the diastolic blood pressure increased by 3.09 (95%CI: 3.06, 8.59) mmHg and 2.89 (95%CI: 1.22, 4.57) mmHg, respectively (P_trend<0.001). A positive association between serum bisphenol A level and hypertension was found among those who were female, never/former smokers, never/former drinkers, without family history of hypertension, with physical exercise, and with prehypertension at baseline (P_trend<0.05). There was no interaction between selected stratified variables and bisphenol A levels on hypertension (P_interaction>0.05). Conclusion Bisphenol A exposure is positively associated with the risk of hypertension.

miR-135 is a highly conserved miRNA in mammals and includes miR-135a and miR-135b.Recent studies have shown that miR-135b is a key regulatory factor in cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.It is involved in regulating the pathological process of myocardial infarction,myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury,cardiac hypertrophy,atrial fibrillation,diabetic cardiomyopathy,atherosclerosis,pulmonary hyperten-sion,cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury,Parkinson's disease,and Alzheimer's disease.Obviously,miR-135b is an emerging player in cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and is expected to be an important target for the treatment of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.However,the crucial role of miR-135b in cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and its underlying mechanism of action has not been reviewed.Therefore,in this review,we aimed to comprehensively summarize the role of miR-135b and the signaling pathway mediated by miR-135b in cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.Drugs targeting miR-135b for the treatment of diseases and related patents,highlighting the importance of this target and its utility as a therapeutic target for cardio-cerebrovascular diseases,have been discussed.

OBJECTIVE to explore the material basis and potential molecular mechanism of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen- Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma in the treatment of insomnia using network pharmacology and molecular docking, and establish insomnia mouse model by p-chlorophenylalanine(PCPA) for verification in vivo.METHODS Firstly, the chemical constituents of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen and Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma were collected through TCMSP database and the potential active constituents were screened. The genes related of insomnia were obtained from GeneCards, OMIM and TTD databases, and the intersection targets of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen-Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma and insomnia diseases were obtained. Then the network map of Chinese medicine-compound-target-disease was constructed in Cytoscape 3.6.1 software. The protein interaction network diagram was established in the STRING database. Functional enrichment analysis of target GO and KEGG pathways were performed using the DAVID database. Then the molecular docking technology was used for preliminary verification. The 60 male ICR mice were randomly divided into normal group, model group, high, medium and low dose groups(8.0, 4.0, 2.0 g·kg-1) and diazepam group(3 mg·kg-1). In addition to the normal group, PCPA(30 mg·mL-1) was intraperitoneally injected on the first and second days to establish the insomnia model. Then the drug was administered continuously for 7 d, and the normal group and the model group were given the same volume of normal saline. The sleep latency and duration of mice induced by the upper threshold dose of pentobarbital sodium(55 mg·kg-1), vertical and horizontal scores in the behavioral open-field experiment, open arm entry(OE%) and open arm time(OT%) of elevated cross maze were determined. HE staining was used to observe the hypothalamic histopathological situation. Serum levels of TNF-α and CASP3 were detected by ELISA. Finally, Western blotting was used to detect the expression of AKT1, p-AKT1 protein in the hypothalamus of the mice in each group. RESULTS The potential active components of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen and Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma were 9 and 5, and the common targets with insomnia were 34. A total of 160 GO items were obtained through GO enrichment analysis. KEGG pathway analysis found that the signaling pathway was mainly related to inflammatory signaling pathway, among which AKT1, CASP3 and TNF were the key targets. The results of molecular docking showed that the selected compounds had high binding activity with the key targets. Animal experiment results showed that the Ziziphi Spinosae Semen-Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma for insomnia could significantly shorten the model mice sleep latency, prolong sleep duration, reduce the vertical and horizontal score, improve the OE% and OT%, restore the hypothalamus pathological tissue damage, significantly reduce the content of TNF-α and CASP3, raise the level of AKT1 protein expression in the tissue of the hypothalamus. CONCLUSION Ziziphi Spinosae Semen-Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma can regulate TNF signaling pathway by acting on TNF-α, CASP3, AKT1, p-AKT1 and other targets to treat insomnia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of rs2910164 G/C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the miR-146a gene on its expression and susceptibility to gastric cancer. METHODS: Fifty three gastric cancer patients and six gastric cancer cell lines were selected for determining the miR-146a expression by Taqman quantitative PCR. A model was constructed to assess the influence of miR-146a overexpression on the growth of AGS gastric cancer cells. A case-control study involving 417 gastric cancer patients and 420 cancer-free individuals was then conducted, and the allelic and genotypic frequencies of the rs2910164 G/C SNP were compared. The genotypes of all subjects were determined by using a Taqman allelic discrimination assay. A Taqman assay was also used to quantify mature and pri-miR-146a transcripts among 65 gastric cancer patients with known genotypes. RESULTS: The expression of miR-146a was down-regulated among the 53 gastric cancer patients and six gastric cancer cell lines. Over-expression of miR-146a has suppressed the growth of gastric cancer by inhibiting the G1/S-phase transition of AGS cells. The case-control study showed that subjects with GC/CC genotypes had significantly lower risk for gastric cancer compared with those with GG genotype. In addition, miR-146a G/C SNP has significantly increased the level of mature miR-146a in those with GC/CC genotype compared with GG genotype. CONCLUSION Down-regulation of miR-146a may play an important role in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. The rs2910164 polymorphism of the miR-146a gene may reduce the risk of gastric cancer by influencing the processing of mature miR-146a.
Case-Control Studies ; Genotype ; Humans ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Stomach Neoplasms/genetics*

Objective:To survey bone age, vitamin A, vitamin D and IGF-1 levels among stunted children, and to explore the clinical values.Methods:The experimental group was composed of 200 stunted children who visited the growth retardation clinic of Jiangning Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University between October 2017 and October 2019.The control group consisted of 200 children of normal height during the same period.The differences of developmental level, the qualified rates of serum vitamin A and vitamin D, and the number of the children whose serum IGF-1 at or above the median and their corresponding measurements were compared between the two groups.Results:Totally, 26% of the experimental group fell behind normal children by two years in their bone ages, as compared with 12% of control group.The differences in developmental levels of bone ages between the two groups were statistically significant( χ2=12.74, t=5.42、7.92, P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the experimental group had obviously lower rates of vitamin A and vitamin D levels( χ2=26.85、13.65, t=8.45、12.47, P<0.01). A total of 88 children (44%) of the experimental group had serum IGF-1 levels at or above the median, as compared with 138 children (69%) of the control group( χ2=25.43, t=32.31, P<0.01). Conclusion:This finding supports the potential use of the bone age, vitamin A and D status and IGF-1 levels in growth retardation screening among children.

HuR (human antigen R), an mRNA-binding protein responsible for poor prognosis in nearly all kinds of malignancies, is a potential anti-tumor target for drug development. While screening HuR inhibitors with a fluorescence polarization (FP) based high-throughput screening (HTS) system, the clinically used drug eltrombopag was identified. Activity of eltrombopag on molecular level was verified with FP, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), simulation docking and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Further, we showed that eltrombopag inhibited cell proliferation of multiple cancer cell lines and macrophages, and the anti-tumor activity was also demonstrated in a 4T1 tumor-bearing mouse model. The data showed that eltrombopag was efficient in reducing microvessels in tumor tissues. We then confirmed the HuR-dependent anti-angiogenesis effect of eltrombopag in 4T1 cells and RAW264.7 macrophages with qRT-PCR, HuR-overexpression and HuR-silencing assays, RNA stability assays, RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase assays. Finally, we analyzed the anti-angiogenesis effect of eltrombopag on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) mediated by macrophages with cell scratch assay and Matrigel angiogenesis assay. With these data, we revealed the HuR-dependent anti-angiogenesis effect of eltrombopag in breast tumor, suggesting that the existing drug eltrombopag may be used as an anti-cancer drug.

This article summarizes the attribute conditions to the combination products designation from 2009 to 2018 in China,analyzes the common problems of combination products attribution definition.It is hoped to be helpful for researchers and manufacturers of combination products.
China ; Equipment and Supplies ; Terminology as Topic

Objective To investigate the molecular regulatory mechanism of glucagon like peptide 1 (GLP-1) on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of human umbilical cord blood endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Methods EPCs were isolated from the umbilical cord blood of healthy pregnant women and cultured in 6-hole cell plate at 2×105 density in vitro, transfected with empty vector plasmid (control group), pcDNA3-GLP-1 plasmid (GLP-1 group), pcDNA3-GLP-1plasmid+AMD3100 (GLP-1+AMD3100 group) and simple AMD3100 (AMD3100 group). The pcDNA3-GLP-1 was transfected into EPCs. The 25μmol/L AMD3100 was used to block the SDF-1/CXCR4 signal pathway of EPCs for 1 h. The cell proliferation was determined by MTT method. The mRNA expressions of differentiation and apoptosis related genes PPARγ, C/EBPα and Caspase-3 were investigated by RT-PCR, and Caspase-3 activity was determined by Caspase-3 activity assay kit. Results Compared to control group, AMD3100 inhibitor showed no effects on cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, while over-expression of GLP-1 in EPCs obviously promoted cell proliferation, and differentiation related genes PPARγand C/EBPαmRNA expression, but down-regulated mRNA expression and the activity of Caspase-3 significantly (P＜0.05), indicating that GLP-1 increased proliferation and differentiation of EPCs while decreased cell apoptosis. When the SDF-1/CXCR4 signaling pathway was blocked by AMD3100, over-expression of GLP-1 induced promotion of cell proliferation, and the differentiation was decreased significantly and the apoptosis was significantly increased (P＜0.05). Conclusion These data confirm that GLP-1 might promote EPCs proliferation and differentiation, and inhibit cell apoptosis through the regulation of the SDF-1/CXCR4 signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the growth inhibition of human osteosareoma cell line(MG-63) intervened by Hydralazine and 5'-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR),and the effect on the mRNA expression of gene WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX).Methods Certain volume of 5 × 104/ml of human osteosarcoma cell line MG-63 in logarithmic growth phase were added into 96-well plate.There were Hydralazine group (drug concentration,0.1,1.0,10 μmol/L),5-Aza-CdR group (drug concentration,5,10,20 μmol/L),Hydralazine combined with 5-Aza-CdR group (drug concentration,0.1 μmo/L + 5 μmol/L,1.0 μmol/L + 10 μmol/L,10 μmol/L + 20 μmol/L) and control group (culture medium).Methyl thiazol tetrazolium(MTT) colorimetric methods were used to test the growth inhibition of MG-63 cells intervened by different concentrations of Hydralazine and 5'-aza -2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR).Flow cytometry AnnexinV-FITC/PI methods were used to assay the effects of Hydralazine and 5-Aza-CdR inducing apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells in vitro.Real-time polymerase chain reaction (Real-Time PCR)methods were used to detect amplification of WWOX mRNA induced by Hydralazine combined with 5-Aza-CdR or alone.Western-blotting methods were used to examine the expression of WWOX in MG-63 cells.Results Hydralazine and 5-Aza-CdR effectively inhibited the growth of MG-63 cells in a concentration and time-dependent manner.Combined effect was more obvious.Further more the expression levels of WWOX mRNA and protein were increased significantly in combined groups as compared with other groups.Conclusion Hydralazine and 5-Aza-CdR could effectively inhibit the proliferation of MG-63 cells and induce apoptosis which is concurrent with the promotion of the expression of WWOX.The mechanism may be that Hydralazine/5-Aza-CdR effectively cause the demethylated of WWOX gene CpG-rich promoter regions,leading to the high expression of WWOX and inhibit the growth of MG-63 cells.The use of hydralazine in the treatment of osteosarcoma is worthy of further investigation.