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

Humans ; Blast Crisis/genetics* ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/genetics* ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/genetics* ; Tretinoin

Objective : To investigate the effects of Lin28 overexpression on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) through mTOR signaling pathway. Methods : After transfecting lentiviral vectors of Lin28 gene in hDPSCs , the relative expression of Lin28 was detected by Real⁃time PCR. CCK⁃8 assay was applied to detect the effect on cell proliferation. qRT⁃PCR was used to research the expression levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) , osteopontin (OPN) and osteocalcin (OCN) . Western blot assay was processed to investigate the effects on the relative expression levels of ALP and OPN proteins. Alizarin red staining was utilized to detect the mineralized nodules. Results : Compared with the control group , the cell proliferation of transfection group was promoted (P < 0. 05) ; The mRNA and protein expression levels of ALP , OPN and OCN in transfection group were significantly lower than those in control group (P < 0. 05) , the expression level of ALP apparently decreased after the addition of mTOR inhibitor rapamycin (P < 0. 05) ; Alizarin red staining showed that the size and number of mineralized nodules formed in transfection group were markedly declined compared with empty carrier group (P < 0. 05) . Conclusion Overexpression of Lin28 can inhibit the osteogenic differentiation of hDP⁃ SCs through suppress mTOR signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVES: The long-term trends of cognitive function and its associations with physical performance remain unclear, particularly in Asian populations. The study objectives were to determine cognitive trajectories in middle-aged and elderly Chinese individuals, as well as to examine differences in physical performance across cognitive trajectory groups. METHODS: Data were extracted from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. A total of 5,701 participants (47.7% male) with a mean age of 57.8 (standard deviation, 8.4) years at enrollment were included. A group-based trajectory model was used to identify cognitive trajectory groups for each sex. Grip strength, repeated chair stand, and standing balance tests were used to evaluate physical performance. An ordered logistic regression model was employed to analyze differences in physical performance across cognitive trajectory groups. RESULTS: Three cognitive trajectory groups were identified for each sex: low, middle, and high. For both sexes, higher cognitive trajectory groups exhibited smaller declines with age. In the fully adjusted model, relative to the low trajectory group, the odds ratios (ORs) of better physical performance in the middle cognitive group were 1.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17 to 1.59; p<0.001) during follow-up and 1.40 (95% CI, 1.20 to 1.64; p<0.001) at the endpoint. The ORs in the high trajectory group were 1.94 (95% CI, 1.61 to 2.32; p<0.001) during follow-up and 2.04 (95% CI, 1.69 to 2.45; p<0.001) at the endpoint. CONCLUSIONS Cognitive function was better preserved in male participants and individuals with higher baseline cognitive function. A higher cognitive trajectory was associated with better physical performance over time.

Surgery is a classic traditional method for the treatment of early-stage esophageal cancer, and it is also recognized as an effective first-choice method in the medical community. With the development of endoscopic technology, esophagus-preserving comprehensive treatment of esophageal cancer has almost the same or even better effects in some aspects in the treatment of early esophageal cancer than surgery. Many clinical guidelines have also recommended it as the first-choice treatment for early esophageal cancer. The room for surgical treatment of esophageal cancer has been further compressed. This article discusses the comprehensive treatment model of esophageal cancer from the perspective of thoracic surgery, aiming to find a new position of thoracic surgery in the treatment of esophageal cancer.

The thioredoxin system plays a role in a variety of physiological functions, including cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, tumorigenesis, and immunity. We previously confirmed that butaselen (BS), a novel thioredoxin reductase inhibitor, can inhibit the growth of various human cancer cell lines, yet the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor effect of BS in vivo through regulating the immune system of KM mice. We found that BS inhibits tumor proliferation by promoting the activation of splenic lymphocytes in mice. BS can elevate the percentage of CD₄^-CD₈⁺ T lymphocytes and the secretion of downstream cytokines in mice via down-regulating the expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on the tumor cells' surface in vivo. Further study in HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells showed that decrease of PD-L1 level after BS treatment was achieved by inhibiting signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation. Taken together, our results suggest that BS has a role in promoting the immune response by reducing PD-L1 expression via the STAT3 pathway, and subsequently suppresses tumorigenesis.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology* ; B7-H1 Antigen/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Benzene Derivatives/therapeutic use* ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/drug effects* ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology* ; Male ; Mice ; Organoselenium Compounds/therapeutic use* ; STAT3 Transcription Factor/physiology* ; Thioredoxin-Disulfide Reductase/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Tumor Burden/drug effects*

Objective To evaluate the association between small,dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL-C)and severity of coronary atherosclerosis disease (CAD).Methods A total of 436 outpatients with suspected coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CAD) and underwent coronary computed tomography (CT) were consecutively enrolled from July 2015 to March 2016 in Fuwai Hospital.Correlations between serum sdLDL-C and the severity of CAD including characteristics of plaque,the number of stenosed coronary vessels,the degree of stenosis were analyzed.Results sdLDL-C was positively correlated with apolipoprotein B (apoB),triglyceride (TG),total cholesterol (TC),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),blood glucose (Glu)with the coefficient correlation 0.644,0.631,0.558,0.434 and 0.145 successively(P ＜ 0.01),and negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (r =-0.241,P ＜ 0.01).sdLDL-C and apoB were the risk factors for severe CAD (triple-vessel disease and severe stenosis),independent of traditional risk factors (age,gender,hypertension,diabetes,smoking,alcohol consumption)and the use of lipidlowering agents.For the patients with triple-vessel disease,odds ratio of LDL-C,sdLDL-C and apoB were 1.936,2.673 and 31.707 respectively.For the patients with severe stenosis,LDL-C was not an independent factor,while sdLDL-C and apoB still had predictive value (odds ratio were 2.000 and 9.457 respectively).Conclusion sdLDL-C should be a predictor of severe CAD independent of traditional risk factors that may be useful for further risk stratification in the patients with CAD.

Disease Management ; Hospitals ; standards ; Humans

Objective To study the tumor inhibitory effects and an in-fluence on immune organs of the water extract from stem of Coix Lachry-ma-jobi L.(WESCLL) in mice with liver cancer H22.Methods The experimental subjects were using mice with liver cancer H 22.The mice are randomly divided into 7 groups and were fed 0.9%sodium chloride , cyclophosphamide (0.02 g? kg -1 ), WESCLL(2,4,6,8,10 g? kg -1 ) by oral gavages.After 9 days′administration, the mice were killed. Their subcutaneous sarcoma ,liver,thymus and spleen were separated and weighted.Then the tumor inhibiting rates and liver , thymus and spleen index were calculated.Results The WESCLL has obvious effects on re-straining the liver cancer H22.There was significant difference compared with model group (P<0.05).The effect of WESCLL is more noticeable on liver index and weigh′s increase of the mice ( P<0.05 ) .There was not significant difference on thymus and spleen indexes compared with model group ( P<0.05 ) .Conclusion WESCLL have distinct effect on anti-tumor.

Objective To systematic evaluate the necessity of vancomy-cin therapeutic drug monitoring in cancer patients .Methods Electronic databases such as PubMed , EMBase, Cochrane library and Chinese data-base (CNKI, WanFang, CBM) were searched from establishment dates of databases to January 2014.The clinical observational studies which in-clude cancer patients using vancomycin intravenously was identified .The studies were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria , the data were extracted , the quality of the included studies was assessed , and Meta -analysis was performed using Rev Man 5.3 software. Results Six cohort studies were identified .Compared with no -cancer patients, infectious treatment failure increases significantly (P<0.05), the target concentration rate of vancomycin decrease significantly (P<0.05).Conclusion As the decrease of target concentration rate and increase of treatment failure , cancer patients need therapeutic drug monitoring ( TDM) to adjust the dose of vancomycin .