NLRP3 inflammasome in expressed prostatic secretions as a potential biomarker of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Background: Pyroptosis has been implicated in the progression of chronic prostatitis (CP)/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS).

Objectives: The present study was performed to explore the diagnostic value of the levels of the pyroptosis-related protein nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in the expressed prostatic secretions (EPS) of patients with CP.

Material And Methods: A total of 167 CP patients, including 85 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-IIIA CP patients and 82 NIH-IIIB CP patients, as well as 80 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients and 80 healthy controls, were enrolled.

The awareness rate of knowledge of chronic diseases and influencing factors among 4790 adults in anhui province: An online survey using WeChat.

Objective: To investigate public awareness about core information regarding chronic diseases and identify factors influencing that awareness among Anhui Province residents, provide a scientific basis for policy-making, and formulate corresponding intervention measures.

Methods: From March to April 2021, 12 provincial-level representative counties and districts of Anhui province in the China Adult Chronic Disease and Nutrition Surveillance were selected as survey sites, and 4790 residents were recruited for the survey using stratified multi-stage cluster random sampling. Basic details about the study participants were collected and their awareness of core information about major chronic diseases was measured through an online survey using WeChat.

Salt reduction behavior of adults in Anhui province in 2019: a cross-sectional survey of 3,378 participants.

Objective: A high-sodium diet is an important risk factor for hypertension in the Chinese population, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Although a large number of related studies have been carried out in Anhui province, clear, effective salt reduction interventions and policies that can be widely promoted have not yet been formed. This study sought to understand the prevalence and precise measures of salt reduction behavior, the variables affecting salt reduction behavior, and the reasons why salt reduction behavior was not practiced in Anhui Province, China.

[Efficacy analysis of autologous facet joint bone block in lumbar interbody fusion of osteoporosis patients].

Objective: To compare and analyze the feasibility of autologous facet joint bone block as an alternative to polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cage in lumbar intervertebral fusion surgery for patients with osteoporosis.

Methods: From December 2018 to June 2021, the case data of patients with osteoporosis (T value ≤ -2.5 on dual energy X-ray bone density) who underwent posterior lumbar interbody fusion in the Fourth Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital were retrospectively reviewed.

Glycemic control and its influencing factors in type 2 diabetes patients in Anhui, China.

Objective: To investigate the status of glycemic control and analyze its influencing factors in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Anhui, China.

Methods: 1,715 T2D patients aged 18-75 years old were selected from 4 counties or districts in Anhui Province in 2018, using a convenience sampling method. All patients have undergone a questionnaire survey, physical examination, and a glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) test.

The detection rate and influencing factors of high-risk groups of cardiovascular disease in Anhui, China: A cross-sectional study of 99,821 residents.

Objective: To investigate the detection rate and influencing factors of high-risk population of cardiovascular disease in Anhui province.

Methods: From March 2017 to August 2019, the residents aged 35-75 years old were selected using the multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method in 8 counties and districts of Anhui Province, and questionnaire survey, anthropometric measurement, and collection of biological samples were carried out among them.

Results: A total of 99,821 residents in Anhui Province were finally investigated, and among them 21,426 residents were detected to be high-risk groups of cardiovascular disease.

Anatomical Evidence for the Neural Connection from the Emotional Brain to Autonomic Innervation in the Anterior Chamber Structures of the Eye.

Objective: Previous studies have shown that the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which can be affected by emotions, is important in the occurrence or progression of glaucoma. The autonomic innervation distributed in the anterior chamber (AC) structures might play an efferent role in the neural regulation of intraocular pressure (IOP). This study aimed to investigate the anatomic neural connection from the emotional brain to autonomic innervation in the AC.

Neuropeptide S Attenuates the Alarm Pheromone-Evoked Defensive and Risk Assessment Behaviors Through Activation of Cognate Receptor-Expressing Neurons in the Posterior Medial Amygdala.

Neuropeptide S (NPS) acts by activating its cognate receptor (NPSR). High level expression of NPSR in the posterior medial amygdala suggests that NPS-NPSR system should be involved in regulation of social behaviors induced by social pheromones. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of central administration of NPS or with NPSR antagonist on the alarm pheromone (AP)-evoked defensive and risk assessment behaviors in mice.

CircRNA hsa_circ_0014130 function as a miR-132-3p sponge for playing oncogenic roles in bladder cancer via upregulating KCNJ12 expression.

The modern categories of endogenous non-coding RNAs, namely circular RNAs (circRNAs), involved within the carcinogenesis and progression of various human cancers. The fundamental aim of the current investigation was the evaluation of the hsa_circ_0014130 expressions, their biological functions, and potential regulatory network in bladder cancer. The level of expression for hsa_circ_0014130 was evaluated by qRT-PCR, and its relationships to clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of cases experiencing cancer of the bladder were scrutinized.

LSD1 inhibition yields functional insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells.

Background: Human embryonic stem cells represent a potentially unlimited source of insulin-producing cells for diabetes therapy. While tremendous progress has been made in directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into IPCs in vitro, the mechanisms controlling its differentiation and function are not fully understood. Previous studies revealed that lysine-specific demethylase 1(LSD1) balanced the self-renewal and differentiation in human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells.

USP8 ameliorates cognitive and motor impairments via microglial inhibition in a mouse model of sepsis-associated encephalopathy.

Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is a common and serious complication of sepsis, which is thought to be caused by neuroinflammation. In our previous study, ubiquitin-specific protease 8 (USP8), was reported to regulate inflammation in vitro. In the current study, we investigated whether increased USP8 expression would ameliorate the cognitive and motor impairments induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in mice, a model of SAE.

Phenylephrine Attenuated Sepsis-Induced Cardiac Inflammation and Mitochondrial Injury Through an Effect on the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway.

Objective: To investigate whether phenylephrine (PE) inhibits sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction, cardiac inflammation, and mitochondrial injury through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Methods: A rat model of sepsis was established by cecal ligation and puncture. PE and/or wortmannin (a PI3K inhibitor) were administered to investigate the role of PI3K/Akt signaling in mediating the effects of PE on inhibiting sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction, cardiac inflammation, and mitochondrial injury.

Ulinastatin Ameliorates Pulmonary Capillary Endothelial Permeability Induced by Sepsis Through Protection of Tight Junctions via Inhibition of TNF-α and Related Pathways.

Increased permeability of pulmonary capillary is a common consequence of sepsis that leads to acute lung injury. In this connection, ulinastatin, a urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI), is used clinically to mitigate pulmonary edema caused by sepsis. However, the underlying mechanism of UTI in alleviating sepsis-associated pulmonary edema remains to be fully elucidated.

Ornithine decarboxylase is involved in methyl jasmonate-regulated postharvest quality retention in button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus).

Background: In the present study, we investigated the role of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in the methyl jasmonate (MeJA)-regulated postharvest quality maintenance of Agaricus bisporus (J. E. Kange) Imbach button mushrooms by pretreating mushrooms with a specific irreversible inhibitor called α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) before exposure to MeJA vapor.

Effects of Senegenin against hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced injury in PC12 cells.

Objective: To investigate the effect and the potential mechanism of Senegenin (Sen) against injury induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) in highly differentiated PC12 cells.

Methods: The cultured PC12 cells were treated with H/R in the presence or absence of Sen (60 μmol/L). Four groups were included in the experiment: control group, H/R group, H/R+Sen group and Sen group.

[Case-control study on accuracy and safety of patient-specific drill-guide templates used in scoliosis cases].

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy and safety of pedicle screw insertion with the aid of novel patient-specific drill-guide templates in scoliosis cases.

Methods: Ten patients with scoliosis were selected to participate in the research (the observation group) from December 2013 to December 2014. The data was obtained from CT scanning, and put into the computer to perform reconstruction of spine, simulation of pedicle screw insertion, and design of patient-specific drill-guide templates with software.

[Effects of Different Terrain Farmland on Codonopsis pilosula Growth in Loess Plateau Dry Areas].

Objective: To study the effects of different terrain farmland on Codonopsis pilosula growth in arid regions, and then to provide basis for choosing appropriate terrain for Codonopsis pilosula cultivation in the northwest region.

Methods: Based on the observation of field production,plot cultivation experiment was designed to observe and record the effects of different terrain farmland on Codonopsis pilosula growth period and yeild, and to analyze the terrain effects on Codonopsis pilosula production comprehensively.

Results: There were no significant differences between field production and plot cultivation experiment.

Ginsenoside Rg1 relieves tert-Butyl hydroperoxide-induced cell impairment in mouse microglial BV2 cells.

Microglial activation plays an important role in neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress. tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP), an analog of hydroperoxide, mimics the oxidative damage to microglial cells. It has been reported that ginsenoside Rg1 (G-Rg1), an active ingredient of Panax ginseng, has anti-stress and anti-inflammatory properties.

[Preliminary curative effect of interspinous blocking injection guiding by X-ray for the diagnosis and treatment of lumbar Baastrup's disease].

Objective: To evaluate the preliminary curative effect of interspinous injections for the diagnosis and treatment of back pain caused by lumbar kissing spine (Baastrup's disease) under fluoroscopically guiding.

Methods: From November 2011 to March 2013,17 patients with back pain caused by Baastrup's disease were treated with fluoroscopically-guided interspinous injections, including 7 males and 10 females with an average age of 49.6 years old ranging from 40 to 71 years old; the duration of the disease ranged from 2 to 5 years with a mean of 3.

Treatment with resveratrol attenuates sublesional bone loss in spinal cord-injured rats.

Background And Purpose: Sublesional osteoporosis predisposes individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) to an increased risk of low-trauma fracture. The aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of treatment with resveratrol (RES) on sublesional bone loss in spinal cord-injured rats.

Experimental Approach: Complete SCI was generated by surgical transaction of the cord at the T10-12 level.

[Laminectomy and extraction of nucleus pulposus for treatment of lumbar disc herniation: effect evaluation of over 10-year-followed-up].

Objective: To investigate retrospectively the clinical effects and recurrence rate of 143 cases who underwent one level discectomy and followed up more than 10 years. To evaluate the outcome of patients in groups of different operating age and extents of disc herniation, and analyse whether difference exists in each group.

Methods: There were 143 patients (operation time from January 1996 to December 2000) including 80 males and 63 females, aged from 18 to 66 years old with an average of 37.

[Surgical treatment of thoracolumbar single compression fracture by using in situ rod rotation reduction].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and clinical outcome of the treatment of thoracolumbar single compression fracture by using in situ rod rotation reduction and short segment pedicle screw at the fracture level.

Methods: From December 2008 to May 2010,12 cases of traumatic thoracolumbar single compression fracture (T11-L2) were treated, including 9 males and 3 females, with an average age of 35.8 years old (ranging from 24 to 52).

Hydrogen water consumption prevents osteopenia in ovariectomized rats.

Background And Purpose: Accumulating evidence indicates an important role of oxidative stress in the progression of osteoporosis. Recently, it was demonstrated that hydrogen gas, as a novel antioxidant, could selectively reduce hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite anion to exert potent therapeutic antioxidant activity. The aim of the present work was to investigate the effect of hydrogen water (HW) consumption on ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis.

Sirt1 overexpression protects murine osteoblasts against TNF-α-induced injury in vitro by suppressing the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Aim: Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) is the class III histone/protein deacetylase that interferes with the NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby has anti-inflammatory function. This study was undertaken to investigate whether Sirt1 could protect osteoblasts against TNF-α-induced injury in vitro.

Methods: Murine osteoblastic cell line, MC3T3-E1, was used.