Joint effects of diabetic-related genomic loci on the therapeutic efficacy of oral anti-diabetic drugs in Chinese type 2 diabetes patients.

Previous pharmacogenomic studies of oral anti-diabetic drugs have primarily focused on the effect of a single site. This study aimed to examine the joint effects of multiple loci on repaglinide or rosiglitazone efficacy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. A total of 209 newly diagnosed T2DM patients were randomly assigned to treatment with repaglinide or rosiglitazone for 48 weeks.

To Be a Flower or Fruiting Branch: Insights Revealed by mRNA and Small RNA Transcriptomes from Different Cotton Developmental Stages.

The architecture of the cotton plant, including fruit branch formation and flowering pattern, is the most important characteristic that directly influences light exploitation, yield and cost of planting. Nulliplex branch is a useful phenotype to study cotton architecture. We used RNA sequencing to obtain mRNA and miRNA profiles from nulliplex- and normal-branch cotton at three developmental stages.

Atorvastatin prevents advanced glycation end products (AGEs)-induced cardiac fibrosis via activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ).

Background: Previous studies have shown that the activation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) contributed to the cardiac fibrosis in diabetic patients. Although it had been reported that statins have beneficial effects on cardiac fibrosis in hypertension and myocardial ischemia models, their effects on AGEs models have not been studied. We aimed to investigate the effects of atorvastatin (Ator) on the AGEs-induced cardiac fibrosis both in vitro and vivo.

Resveratrol protects PC12 cells against OGD/ R-induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial-mediated signaling pathway.

In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective potential of resveratrol against oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R)-induced apoptotic damages in well-differentiated PC12 cells and the underlying mechanisms. Cells were incubated under normal condition or OGD/R in the presence or absence of 10 μM resveratrol. Cell viability was determined with methyl-thiazolyl-tetrazolium (MTT) assay.

Abscisic Acid as an Internal Integrator of Multiple Physiological Processes Modulates Leaf Senescence Onset in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Many studies have shown that exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) promotes leaf abscission and senescence. However, owing to a lack of genetic evidence, ABA function in plant senescence has not been clearly defined. Here, two-leaf early-senescence mutants (eas) that were screened by chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and named eas1-1 and eas1-2 showed high photosynthetic capacity in the early stage of plant growth compared with the wild type.

Mechanical thrombectomy by Solitaire stent for treating acute ischemic stroke: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a worldwide serious health problem. Intravenous (IV) thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is the standard treatment; however, only a small number of patients benefit from it due to the strict application restrictions. Recently, more and more evidence prove mechanical thrombectomy is an effective and safe therapy of AIS.

Effects of Obesity Related Genetic Variations on Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat Distribution in a Chinese Population.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered numerous variants associated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio. Our study aims to investigate how these variants are linked to fat distribution. We genotyped 56 validated variants of BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio in 2958 subjects from Chinese community-based populations and performed linear regression analyses to determine the association with visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) imaged by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

[A simple and controllable method for reproduction of a model of high oxygen tension induced acute lung injury].

Objective: To explore a simpler, more economic and reproducible method to reproduce a model of high oxygen induced acute lung injury (HALI) in rats.

Methods: An animal feeding box equipped with a controllable high oxygen was designed. 100 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into normal control group and HALI group by random number table method, with 50 rats in each group.

Combining Untargeted and Targeted Proteomic Strategies for Discrimination and Quantification of Cashmere Fibers.

Cashmere is regarded as a specialty and luxury fiber due to its scarcity and high economic value. For fiber quality assessment, it is technically very challenging to distinguish and quantify the cashmere fiber from yak or wool fibers because of their highly similar physical appearance and substantial protein sequence homology. To address this issue, we propose a workflow combining untargeted and targeted proteomics strategies for selecting, verifying and quantifying biomarkers for cashmere textile authentication.

IL-17A Promotes Pulmonary B-1a Cell Differentiation via Induction of Blimp-1 Expression during Influenza Virus Infection.

B-1 cells play a critical role in early protection during influenza infections by producing natural IgM antibodies. However, the underlying mechanisms involved in regulating this process are largely unknown. Here we found that during influenza infection pleural cavity B-1a cells rapidly infiltrated lungs, where they underwent plasmacytic differentiation with enhanced IgM production.

Mixed Lineage Leukemia 5 (MLL5) Protein Stability Is Cooperatively Regulated by O-GlcNac Transferase (OGT) and Ubiquitin Specific Protease 7 (USP7).

Mixed lineage leukemia 5 (MLL5) protein is a trithorax family histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferase that regulates diverse biological processes, including cell cycle progression, hematopoiesis and cancer. The mechanisms by which MLL5 protein stability is regulated have remained unclear to date. Here, we showed that MLL5 protein stability is cooperatively regulated by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7).

Rho-Associated Kinase Inhibitor (Y-27632) Attenuates Doxorubicin-Induced Apoptosis of Human Cardiac Stem Cells.

Background: Recent clinical trials using c-kit+ human cardiac stem cells (CSCs) demonstrated promising results in increasing cardiac function and improving quality of life. However, CSC efficiency is low, likely due to limited cell survival and engraftment after transplantation. The Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, Y-27632, significantly increased cell survival rate, adhesion, and migration in numerous types of cells, including stem cells, suggesting a common feature of the ROCK-mediated apoptotic pathway that may also exist in human CSCs.

Predictors of Outcome and Hemorrhage in Patients Undergoing Endovascular Therapy with Solitaire Stent for Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Endovascular mechanical thrombectomy is emerging as a promising therapeutic approach for acute ischemic stroke and show some advantages. However, the data of predicting clinical outcome after thrombectomy with Solitaire retriever were limited. We attempt to identify prognostic factors of clinical outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing thrombectomy with Solitaire retriever.

Perfluorooctanoic acid enhances colorectal cancer DLD-1 cells invasiveness through activating NF-κB mediated matrix metalloproteinase-2/-9 expression.

Objective: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is widely used in consumer products and detected in human serum. Our study meant to elucidate the uncovered molecular mechanisms underlying the PFOA induced colorectal cancer cell DLD-1 invasion and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) expression.

Methods And Results: Trans-well filter assay appeared that PFOA treatment stimulated DLD-1 cells invasion significantly.

Lipoxygenase 2 functions in exogenous nitric oxide-induced stomatal closure in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Nitric oxide (NO) and lipoxygenase (LOX)-derived oxylipins play important roles in stomatal closure in plants, and LOX-NO crosstalk has been indicated in mesophyll cells. However, whether the crosstalk also exists in guard cells is not clear and the detailed mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we report that exogenous sodium nitroprusside (SNP, a NO donor)-induced stomatal closure was clearly impaired in the AtLOX2 null mutant lox2-1 compared with wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis thaliana (L.

Mercury Vapor Sorption and Amalgamation with a Thin Gold Film.

Understanding the amalgamation mechanisms between mercury and gold is of fundamental interest and importance to many mercury sensing applications. However, there is only limited and piecemeal discussion in the literature of the mechanisms by which Au-Hg amalgams are formed on thin Au films. Here, we present a comprehensive description of a series of morphological changes occurring in a thin polycrystalline Au film during Au-Hg amalgamation investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and atomic force microscopy (AFM).

One-step separation of nine structural analogues from Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf. via tandem high-speed counter-current chromatography.

A novel one-step separation strategy-tandem high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was developed with a six-port valve serving as the switch interface. Nine structural analogues including three isomers were successfully isolated from Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf.

Separation of α-amylase inhibitors from Abelmoschus esculentus (L).Moench by on-line two-dimensional high-speed counter-current chromatography target-guided by ultrafiltration-HPLC.

In this study, an on-line two-dimensional high-speed counter-current chromatography system based on a six-port valve was developed. Target-guided by ultrafiltration with high-performance liquid chromatography, the one-step isolation of three potential α-amylase inhibitors from Abelmoschus esculentus (L).Moench was achieved by employing the developed orthogonal system and extrusion elution mode.

Comparison of Therapeutic Effect of Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator by Treatment Time after Onset of Acute Ischemic Stroke.

We aimed to compare the therapeutic effect of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) administered at different time windows within the first 6 hours after onset of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). A retrospective analysis was performed of data collected from 194 patients who received rt-PA thrombolysis within 4.5 hours after AIS onset and from 29 patients who received rt-PA thrombolysis between 4.

[The molecular mechanism of antiapoptosis of type II alveolar epithelial cell by microRNA-21-5p].

Objective: To study the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in inducing apoptosis of type II alveolar epithelial cell (AECII) after overexpression by adenoviral transfection of micro RNA-21-5p (miR-21-5p), and to explore the mechanism of its anti-apoptosis.

Methods: Subculture AECII were randomly divided into four groups: normal control group (normal saline), H2O2 challenge group (0.5 mmol/L H2O2), miR-21-5p overexpression group (miR-21-5p adenovirus+0.

[Diagnostic value of three evaluation methods of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in detecting bone marrow infiltration in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma].

Objective: To evaluate three methods of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in detecting bone marrow infiltration in patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Methods: Seventy-seven patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma from July 2012 to June 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients received both ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scan and bone marrow biopsy in the region of the posterior iliac crests.

Circulating irisin levels are associated with lipid and uric acid metabolism in a Chinese population.

Irisin is a novel hormone secreted by skeletal muscle after exercise, which may ameliorate insulin resistance. In this study, we aimed to explore the relationship between circulating irisin levels and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as well as related metabolic traits in a Chinese population. A total of 203 subjects were recruited.

[Clinical and cytogenetic characteristics of myeloma patients with overall survival less than 24 months].

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics of multiple myeloma (MM) patients with overall survival (OS) less than 24 months so as to stratify high-risk population.

Methods: A total of 177 newly diagnosed MM inpatients were recruited from July 2008 to July 2012. Clinical parameters at diagnosis of international staging system (ISS), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), serum calcium, extramedullary involvement and amyloidosis were collected and cytogenetic abnormalities were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

A variant of PSMD6 is associated with the therapeutic efficacy of oral antidiabetic drugs in Chinese type 2 diabetes patients.

The PSMD6 variant rs831571 has been identified as a susceptibility locus for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to investigate the association of this variant with therapeutic effects of oral antidiabetic drugs in Chinese T2DM patients. 209 newly diagnosed T2DM patients were randomly assigned to treatment with repaglinide or rosiglitazone for 48 weeks, and the therapeutic effects were compared.