AIM:To investigate whether the expression of perilipin 2(PLIN2)in renal tubular cells could predict a decline in renal function in diabetic kidney disease(DKD)patients,and to explore the potential mechanisms in-volved in renal tubular cell injury induced by PLIN2 during the progression of DKD.METHODS:Control individuals(n=12)and DKD patients(n=51)were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study.Demographic and laboratory data were col-lected.A simplified linear mixed-effects model was applied to assess the estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR)slope.The relationship between PLIN2 and renal function decline in DKD patients was predicted by Spearman correlation analysis and a generalized linear model.BKS-db/db diabetic mice and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice were used.Primary renal tubular cells were treated with glucose and transfected with small interfering RNA or plasmid.Western blot-ting and immunofluorescence staining were used to detect PLIN2 expression.Lipid droplets were stained with oil red O.The oxygen consumption rate(OCR)of mitochondria was measured using an extracellular flux analyser.RESULTS:The expression of PLIN2 was markedly higher in the tubules of DKD patients than in those of control subjects.After 24(12,39)months of follow-up,the eGFR slope of DKD patients was-7.42(-19.77,-2.09)mL/(min·1.73 m2·year).An in-crease in the baseline percentage of PLIN2-positive tubules was significantly associated with the eGFR slope during the fol-low-up period[hazard ratio(HR)=1.90,95%confidence interval(CI):1.00～3.58],indicating that tubular PLIN2 could predict a decrease in renal function in DKD patients.Both the accumulation of lipid droplets and the expression of PLIN2 were markedly greater in the tubules of diabetic mice than in those of control mice.Glucose treatment induced lipid droplet accumulation and PLIN2 expression in renal tubular cells.Knockdown of PLIN2 significantly alleviated glucose-in-duced lipid droplet accumulation,whereas PLIN2 overexpression aggravated glucose-induced lipid droplet accumulation.The decrease in mitochondrial OCR in renal tubular cells induced by glucose treatment was alleviated after PLIN2 knock-down.However,overexpression of PLIN2 directly decreased the mitochondrial OCR.CONCLUSION:The PLIN2 ex-pression in tubules predicts a decline in renal function in patients with DKD.The PLIN2 suppresses mitochondrial aerobic respiration and contributes to the accumulation of lipid droplets in renal tubular cells to promote the progression of DKD.

Aim To investigate the effect of theaflavin on oxidized low density lipoprotein(ox-LDL)-induced foam cell formation and oxidative stress in THP-1 macrophages and its mechanism.Methods THP-1 derived macro-phages were pretreated with 50 μmol/L theaflavin and(or)10 μmol/L nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(NRF2)inhibitor ML385,then 100 mg/L ox-LDL was added to the cells for 24 h to establish the foam cell model.The effect of theaflavin on THP-1 macrophages viability was evaluated by CCK-8 assay and LDH release.The expression of inflamma-tory cytokines interleukin-6(IL-6),interleukin-1 β(IL-1β),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)were analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)and Western blot.The release of inflammatory cytokines were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Intracellular lipid accumulation was detected by Oil red O staining,and lipid absorption was observed by DiL-labeled oxidized low density lipoprotein(DiL-ox-LDL)staining.Re-active oxygen species(ROS)level was detected by DCFH-DA probe.The expression of lipid uptake,cholesterol efflux and oxidative stress-related proteins were detected by Western blot and RT-qPCR.Results Treatment with 100 mg/L ox-LDL significantly decreased cell viability and cholesterol efflux-related protein expressions,increased lipid uptake,ac-cumulation and lipid uptake-related protein expressions,and significantly promoted inflammation and ROS level,as well as the expressions of myeloperoxidase(MPO),NADPH oxidase 2(NOX2)in THP-1 macrophages(all P＜0.05).After pretreatment with theaflavin,cell viability was increased,intracellular lipid uptake,accumulation and lipid uptake-related protein expressions were significantly reduced,cholesterol efflux-related protein expressions were significantly increased,the expression and release of IL-6,IL-1β and TNF-α were significantly decreased,ROS level was significantly decreased,and the expression of MPO and NOX2 were decreased(all P＜0.05).Pretreatment with theaflavin effectively alleviated intracellular oxidative stress by altering the expression of NRF2,heme oxygenase-1(HO-1)and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1(KEAP1)in NRF2 signaling pathway,and enhanced the translocation of NRF2 into the nucleus.After pretreat-ment with ML385,the expression levels of NRF2,HO-1,KEAP1 and CD36 were significantly decreased.Conclusion Theaflavin can significantly inhibit ox-LDL-induced foam cell formation,inflammation,and oxidative stress through NRF2/HO-1 signaling pathway in THP-1 macrophages.

Objective:To explore the correlation between socioeconomic status (SES) and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).Methods:A total of 276 T2D patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January to June 2020 were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated according to the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) and the chronic kidney disease epidemiology collaboration equation(CKD-EPI formula) based on serum creatinine. The patients were divided into simple T2D group (184 cases) and DKD group (92 cases). Collect demographic and laboratory examination data, record education, income and occupation, and calculate standardized SES scores. According to SES scores, subjects were divided in three levels: SES≤9, SES≥10-≤12, and SES≥13. Student's t test was used for comparison of measurement data with normal distribution between two groups, and one-way ANOVA was used for comparison between multiple groups. Non-normal distribution was represented by M( Q1, Q3), and rank-sum test was used for comparison between groups. Counting data were expressed as frequency or percentage, and chi-square test was used for comparison between groups. Bofferoni test was further used for pairwise comparison of indicators with statistical significance among multiple groups. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between variables. The risk factors were analyzed by binary Logistic regression. Results:The age of the subjects was (53.37±10.68) years, men accounted for 55.8% (154/276), the duration of diabetes was 60.00 (12.00, 134.00) months, and eGFR was (97.56±21.15) mL/(min·1.73 m 2). In simple T2D group and DKD group, prevalence of hypertension were 39.7% (73/184) and 57.6% (53/92), systolic blood pressure were (129.43±14.92) mmHg and (139.29±17.61) mmHg, diastolic blood pressure were (81.86±10.06) mmHg and (87.74±11.19) mmHg, serum albumin were (45.74±4.15) g/L and (43.99±5.05) g/L, triglycerides were (1.82±1.24) mmol/L and (2.64±2.92) mmol/L, high density lipoprotein cholesterol were (1.17±0.37) mmol/L and (1.07±0.26) mmol/L, serum uric acid were (298.44±90.73) μmol/L and (336.22±94.01) μmol/L, serum creatinine were (62.83±14.45) μmol/L and (87.75±57.37) μmol/L, eGFR were (102.6±14.28) mL/(min·1.73 m 2) and (87.47±28.04) mL/(min·1.73 m 2), UACR were (7.60 (4.63, 13.15)) mg/g and (93.95 (47.25, 310.25)) mg/g. Prevalence of hypertension, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, serum uric acid, serum creatinine, UACR in DKD group were higher than those in simple T2D group. Serum albumin, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and eGFR in DKD group were lower than those in simple T2D group. There was significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=7.95, t values were 4.87, 4.40, 3.04, 3.26, 2.30, 3.22, 5.56, 5.95, Z=13.07, P values were 0.005, <0.001, <0.001, 0.003, 0.001, 0.022, 0.001, <0.001, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively). The number of males in the three groups with SES ≥13 group, SES≥10-≤12 group, SES ≤9 group were 61 (81.3%, 61/75), 55 (59.8%, 55/92), 38 (34.9%, 38/109), respectively. The number of cases with smoking history were 42 (56.0%, 42/75), 41 (44.6%, 41/92), 35 (32.1%, 35/109), respectively. The number of cases with drinking history were 38 (50.7%, 38/75), 32 (34.8%, 32/92), 26 (23.9%, 26/109), respectively. The ages were (47.77±10.76), (52.76±11.22), (57.74±7.96) years old, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) were (26.17±3.87), (24.96±3.93), (24.27±4.89) kg/m 2, respectively. High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) were (1.03±1.03), (1.16±0.41), (1.21±0.32) mmol/L, respectively. Serum uric acid were (336.56±82.05), (293.78±94.78), (307.99±96.53) μmol/L, respectively. EGFR were (105.03±19.72), (99.77±19.44), (90.57±21.49) mL/(min·1.73 m 2),respectively.The difference between groups were statistically significant (χ 2=39.79, 10.55, 14.08, F=22.69, 4.03, 6.20, 4.53, 12.02, P values were <0.001, 0.005, 0.001, <0.001, 0.019, 0.002, 0.012, and <0.001, respectively). Pairwise comparison shows that male and eGFR in SES ≤9 group were lower than those in SES ≥13 group and SES≥10-≤12 group, age in SES ≤9 group was higher than that in SES ≥13 group and SES≥10-≤12 group. The difference was statistically significant (all P<0.05). Smoking history, alcohol history and BMI in SES ≤9 group were lower than those in SES ≥13 group, and the high density lipoprotein cholesterol in SES ≤9 were higher than that in SES ≥13 group. The difference was statistically significant (all P<0.05). Male, alcohol history and serum uric acid in SES≥10-≤12 group were lower than those in SES ≥13 group, and age and high density lipoprotein cholesterol in SES≥10-≤12 group were higher than those in SES ≥13 group. The difference was statistically significant (all P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that SES in T2D was positively correlated with male, smoking history, alcohol history, BMI, serum uric acid and eGFR ( r values were 0.38, 0.20, 0.24, 0.16, 0.13 and 0.31, P values were <0.001, 0.001, <0.001, 0.008, 0.028, and <0.001, respectively), and negatively correlated with age, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and UACR ( r values were -0.35, -0.24 and -0.14, P values were <0.001, <0.001, and 0.017, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that SES (OR=2.71,95% CI:1.10-6.68, P=0.031) was associated with T2DM combined with DKD. The risk of developing DKD increased when the SES was ≤9. Conclusion:The SES in patients with type 2 diabetes is closely related to DKD. Low SES may be a new risk factor for DKD in type 2 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE: To establish a mouse model bearing orthotopic temozolomide (TMZ)-resistant glioma that mimics the development of drug resistance in gliomas METHODS: Seventy-eight adult C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 6 groups ( RESULTS: The mouse models bearing TMZresistant glioma was successfully established. The cells from the high-dose induced group showed a significantly higher colony-forming rate than those from the high-dose control group ( CONCLUSIONS Progressive increase of TMZ doses in mice bearing orthotopic gliomas can effectively induce TMZ resistance of the gliomas.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating/pharmacology* ; Brain Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Glioma/drug therapy* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Temozolomide/therapeutic use*

Objective:To study the effect of low-to-moderate dose glucocorticoid therapy on viral clearance in patients with COVID-19.Methods:A total of 72 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January 19 to February 17, 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were recruited. All patients received oral arbidol and combination of lopinavir/ritonavir or darunavir/cobistitat for antiviral therapy, and symptomatic supportive care. Among them, 51 patients received methylprednisolone (0.75-1.50 mg·kg -1·d -1) (glucocorticoid treatment group), and 21 patients did not use glucocorticoid (control group). The time of virologic negative conversion in sputum and the time of radiologic recovery in lung since onset were compared between the two groups. The Kruskal-Wallis test or Fisher exact test was used to compare the difference between groups. Results:The median ages of the glucocorticoid group and the control group were 52 (45, 62) and 46 (32, 56) years ( χ2=4.365, P<0.05). The clinical conditions at hospital admission were different between the two groups ( P<0.01). The severe cases accounted for 52.0%, while moderate cases in the control group accounted for 71.4%. The median times from the onset to virologic negative conversion in the two groups were 15 (13, 20) and 14 (12, 20) days ( P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery were 13 (11, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days in the two groups ( P>0.05). In moderate cases, the median times from the onset to virologic conversion in sputum were 13 (11, 18) days in the glucocorticoid group and 13 (12, 15) days in the control group ( P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery in lung were 12 (10, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days, respectively ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Low-to-moderate glucocorticoid treatment has no effect on the time of virus clearance in patients with different clinical types of COVID-19, and also no effect on accelerating radiologic recovery in lung, so it is not recommended.

Objective: To study the effect of low-to-moderate dose glucocorticoid therapy on viral clearance time in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A total of 72 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January 19 to February 17, 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University were recruited. All patients received oral abidol and/or combined lopinavir/ritonavir, darunavir antiviral, and symptomatic supportive care. Among them, 51 patients received methylprednisolone (0.75-1.50 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) (glucocorticoid treatment group), and 21 patients who did not use glucocorticoid were the control group. The time of stable virologic conversion insputumand the time of radiologic recovery in lungsince onset were compared between the two groups and among the normal patients.The Kruskal-Wallis test or Fisher exact test was used to compare the difference between groups. Results: The median ages of the glucocorticoid group and the control group were 52 [interquartile range (IQR):45, 62] years and 46 (IQR: 32, 56)years, and the differences were significant (P<0.05). The clinical conditions at hospital admission were different between the two groups (P<0.01). There were 52.0% critical ill patients in the glucocorticoid treatment group, compared to that of 71.4% normal patients in the control group. The median times from the onset tostable virologic conversion to negative in the two groups were 15 (IQR:13,20) days and 14 (IQR:12,20) days (P>0.05), and the difference was no statistically significant. The median times from onset to radiologic recovery were 13 (IQR: 11,15) days and 13 (IQR:12,17) days in the two groups, and there was no difference (P>0.05). In ordinary patients, the median timesfrom the onset tostable virologic conversion insputum were no difference (P>0.05), with 13 (IQR:11,18) days in the glucocorticoid group and 13 (IQR:12,15) days in the control group; The median times from onset to radiologic recovery in lungwere also no difference (P>0.05), with 12 (IQR: 10,15)days in the glucocorticoid group and 13 (IQR: 12,17) days inthe control group. Conclusions Low-to-moderate glucocorticoid treatment has no effect on the time of virus clearance in patients with different clinical types of COVID-19. The glucocorticoid is not recommended since no effectiveness on accelerating the improvement of radiologic recovery in lung has been observed.

On January 22, 2020, China National Center for Bioinformation (CNCB) released the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Resource (2019nCoVR), an open-access information resource for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). 2019nCoVR features a comprehensive integra-tion of sequence and clinical information for all publicly available SARS-CoV-2 isolates, which are manually curated with value-added annotations and quality evaluated by an automated in-house pipeline. Of particular note, 2019nCoVR offers systematic analyses to generate a dynamic landscape of SARS-CoV-2 genomic variations at a global scale. It provides all identified variants and their detailed statistics for each virus isolate, and congregates the quality score, functional annotation,and population frequency for each variant. Spatiotemporal change for each variant can be visualized and historical viral haplotype network maps for the course of the outbreak are also generated based on all complete and high-quality genomes available. Moreover, 2019nCoVR provides a full collection of SARS-CoV-2 relevant literature on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including published papers from PubMed as well as preprints from services such as bioRxiv and medRxiv through Europe PMC. Furthermore, by linking with relevant databases in CNCB, 2019nCoVR offers data submission services for raw sequence reads and assembled genomes, and data sharing with NCBI. Collectively, SARS-CoV-2 is updated daily to collect the latest information on genome sequences, variants, hap-lotypes, and literature for a timely reflection, making 2019nCoVR a valuable resource for the global research community. 2019nCoVR is accessible at https://bigd.big.ac.cn/ncov/.

Objective To investigate the genotype of M.tuberculosis in He'nan Province.Methods A total of 668 M.tuberculosis clinical strains collected in difference regions of He'nan Province during 2015 were genotyped by two standard methods,including classical 24-locus mycobacterium interspersed repetitive unit variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing and spoligotyping.Results The 668 isolates were divided into 11 clusters and 35 patterns by spoligotyping.Among the 558 Beijing strains,546 were typical Beijing strains and the other 12 were atypical Beijing strains.Among the 110 non-Beijing strains,eight were new strains and the remaining 102 non-Beijing strains were divided into 10 families.There were 76 isolates belonging to T family,including 59 of T1 families,7 of T2 families,and 10 of T3 families.The 668 strains were divided into 550 gene patterns by standard 24-locus VNTR,including 508 un-clustered patterns and 160 clustered into 42 clusters.The largest cluster contained 21 strains,the other clusters contained 2-20 strains.Conclusion Beijing strain is still the most prevalent M.tuberculosis in He'nan Province.

Objective To investigate the expression of TAZ in peripheral blood and tumor tissue of the patients with colorectal cancer and to analyze their relationship and clinical significance.Methods Eighty-five cases of pathologically verified colorectal cancer treated by radical operation were selected as the operation group,and 35 cases with postoperative relapse served as the recurrent group.Meanwhile 50 age and sex-matched healthy persons were selected as the control group.The immunohistochemical(SP)technique was adopted to detect the expression of TAZ in tumor tissues and expression of TAZ in peripheral blood was tested with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results The level of preoperative TAZ in peripheral blood of the operation group was significantly higher than that of the control group(P＜0.05).The level of peripheral blood TAZ after operation in the operation group had no significant change compared with the control group (P＞0.05).The level of peripheral blood TAZ in the recurrent group was significantly higher than preoperative level of operation group(P＜0.05).The expression of tumor tissue TAZ was significantly higher than that of normal mucosal tissue(P＜0.05);the expression of tumor tissue TAZ in the recurrent group was higher than that in the operation group(P＜0.05).The tumor tissue TAZ level in the operation group and recurrent group had obvious correlation with peripheral blood TAZ level(P＜0.05).Conclusion Monitoring the TAZ level has obvious reference value for predicting colorectal cancer staging and timely understanding tumor recurrence.

Objective To further intensify the reform of public hospitals,promote talents team building and scientific research management innovation,enhancing the overall capacity of care delivery,as well as the development of science and technology in grass-roots hospitals.Methods A series of measures were adopted to arouse the enthusiasm of personnel to conduct research and finally increase the research outcomes.Concrete measures include talent training program and scientific research man-agement innovation,construction funding assurance,whole-process dynamic management,clarification of the quantitative evaluation index,research rewards,research funding management,as well as performance management.Results After implementation of such measures,the academic atmosphere changed a lot,medical technology improved,the quality of scientific research,project application and research outcomes increased dramatically which has statistical significance compare to previous situations.Conclusions The establishment of the incentive system plays a significant role.It helps in talent agglomeration during a relatively short period of time,exploring the potential capabilities of scientific research,enhancing the core competitiveness of hospital scientific research,which provide strong intellectual support and talent guarantee for hospitals development.