Residual Risk of Coronary Atherosclerotic Heart Disease and Severity of Coronary Atherosclerosis Assessed by ApoB and LDL-C in Participants With Statin Treatment: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is the primary target of lipid-lowering therapy on the management of hypercholesterolemia in the United States and European guidelines, while apolipoprotein B (apoB) is the secondary target. The objective was to determine if elevated levels of apoB is superior to LDL-C in assessing residual risk of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in participants with statin treatment.

Methods: This study included 131 participants with statin treatment.

In vitro Measurement and In vivo Prediction of Time-Dependent Inhibitory Effects of Three Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors on CYP3A Activity.

Background: Imatinib, sunitinib, and gefitinib are the three most common tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, their quantitative drug-drug interaction potentials In vivo and the relationship between their structure and inhibitory activity remain unknown.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the potential drug-drug interaction risk of three TKIs based on CYP3A.

Analyzing the role of soil and rice cadmium pollution on human renal dysfunction by correlation and path analysis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of soil and rice pollution on human renal dysfunction. The participants were 97 inhabitants (46 men and 51 women) who are aged 50 to 60 years old and have been living in Xiaogan (Hubei, China) from birth. We collected samples of soil, rice, and urinary correspondingly.

Risk factors for cardiac events in patients with Brugada syndrome: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis and systematic review.

Introduction: Inconsistent results have been reported about the risk stratification of patients with Brugada syndrome. We have summarized the evidence regarding the strength of association between 6 risk factors (family history of sudden cardiac death [SCD] or syncope, inducible ventricular arrhythmias on electrophysiology study [EPS], spontaneous type 1 Brugada electrocardiogram [ECG], male sex, family history of SCD, and sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 5 [SCN5A] gene mutation) and subsequent cardiac events in Brugada syndrome patients.

Methods: Pubmed, Ovid, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies published between January 1992 and March 2016.

Plasmids enriched with CpG motifs activate human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro and enhance th-1 immune responses to hepatitis B surface antigen in mice.

T helper-1 (Th-1)-type immune responses play an important role in viral clearance during infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Unmethylated CpG motifs present in bacterial DNA can activate toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) signals and act as potent adjuvants to induce Th-1-type immune responses. Here, a mini-plasmid with 812 base pairs in length was constructed and used as a vector to prepare a series of plasmids containing 3-21 copies of D-type CpG motifs.

Increased granulysin expression in peripheral blood cells of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and its clinical implications.

Introduction: Granulysin is a cytotoxic molecule involved in cellular immune reactions.

Materials And Methods: The levels of granulysin mRNA in the peripheral blood and serum granulysin of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The expression of granulysin mRNA and serum protein in PBC was increased compared to the controls.

[Comparison of immune responses induced by recombinant attenuated Salmonella typhi carrying eukaryotic expression plasmid or prokaryotic expression plasmid of HCV core protein].

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein is considered to be an attractive candidate for development of protective HCV vaccines. However, this protein may attenuate the induction of systemic immune responses due to its immunomodulatory properties. In this study, we constructed a HCV core gene-containing eukaryotic expression plamid pCI-C, and an in vivo-inducible prokaryotic expression plasmid pZW-C, and transformed the recombinant plasmids into an attenuated Salmonella typhimurium aroA strain SL7207.

[Enhancement of cellular immune response to DNA vaccine encoding hepatitis C virus core and envelope 2 fusion antigen by murine Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand].

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important human pathogen that causes chronic liver disease worldwide. It is desirable to develop vaccines to prevent HCV infection, or at least to prevent progression to chronicity. We once constructed an optimized hepatitis C virus core and envelope 2 fusion antigen DNA vaccine, which could induce humoral and cellular immune responses against HCV core and E2 protein in BALB/c mice efficiently.

Small interfering RNA inhibits SARS-CoV nucleocapsid gene expression in cultured cells and mouse muscles.

SARS-CoV is a newly identified coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Currently, there is no effective method available for prophylaxis and treatment of SARS-CoV infections. In the present study, the influence of small interfering RNA (siRNA) on SARS-CoV nucleocapsid (N) protein expression was detected in cultured cells and mouse muscles.

Hepatitis C virus E2 protein promotes human hepatoma cell proliferation through the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway via cellular receptors.

Dysregulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways by various viruses has been shown to be responsible for viral pathogenicity. The molecular mechanism by which hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection caused human liver diseases has been investigated on the basis of abnormal intracellular signal events. Current data are very limited involved in transmembrane signal transduction triggered by HCV E2 protein.

Immune responses against SARS-coronavirus nucleocapsid protein induced by DNA vaccine.

The nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is the key protein for the formation of the helical nucleocapsid during virion assembly. This protein is believed to be more conserved than other proteins of the virus, such as spike and membrane glycoprotein. In this study, the N protein of SARS-CoV was expressed in Escherichia coli DH5alpha and identified with pooled sera from patients in the convalescence phase of SARS.

DNA vaccine of SARS-Cov S gene induces antibody response in mice.

The spike (S) protein, a main surface antigen of SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV), is one of the most important antigen candidates for vaccine design. In the present study, three fragments of the truncated S protein were expressed in E.coli, and analyzed with pooled sera of convalescence phase of SARS patients.

Molecular characterization of a heteromeric ATP-citrate lyase that generates cytosolic acetyl-coenzyme A in Arabidopsis.

Acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) is used in the cytosol of plant cells for the synthesis of a diverse set of phytochemicals including waxes, isoprenoids, stilbenes, and flavonoids. The source of cytosolic acetyl-CoA is unclear. We identified two Arabidopsis cDNAs that encode proteins similar to the amino and carboxy portions of human ATP-citrate lyase (ACL).