Trajectories network analysis of chronic diseases among middle-aged and older adults: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).

Background: Given the increased risk of chronic diseases and comorbidity among middle-aged and older adults in China, it is pivotal to identify the disease trajectory of developing chronic multimorbidity and address the temporal correlation among chronic diseases.

Method: The data of 15895 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS 2011 - 2018) were analyzed in the current study. Binomial tests and the conditional logistic regression model were conducted to estimate the associations among 14 chronic diseases, and the disease trajectory network analysis was adopted to visualize the relationships.

Hepatitis B virus genotype is an independent prognostic factor of telbivudine and tenofovir treatment in hepatitis B surface antigen-positive pregnant women.

To investigate whether HBV genotype influences the effect of tenofovir and telbivudine on HBV DNA and RNA levels in HBsAg-positive pregnant women. This was a retrospective study of 74 HBsAg-positive pregnant women in Guizhou of China. All patients were treated with telbivudine or tenofovir from 12 weeks of pregnancy and HBV infection to the date of delivery.

The mediating and interacting role of physical activity and sedentary behavior between diabetes and depression in people with obesity in United States.

Aims: Sufficient physical activity (PA) and less sedentary behavior (SB) have antidepressant effects, however the amount of PA varies according to weight status in adults with diabetes. Given that depression is a common complication of diabetes, we aimed to quantify to what extent the effects of diabetes on the risk of depression were explained by SB or insufficient PA in adults with and without obesity.

Methods: Data were collected from the 2007-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which included 22,304 participants aged 20 years or older.

The effects of physical activity and sedentary behavior in the associations between cardiovascular diseases and depression: A four-way decomposition.

Background: Negative effects of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) on depression have been reported, but the relative contribution of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) to such effects remains unclear. Our objective was to precisely quantify the effects modified or mediated by PA and SB using the recently developed four-way effect decomposition.

Methods: Our analysis included 22,117 adults (aged≥20 years) participating in the 2007-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Efficacy and Safety of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Elderly Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Network Meta-Analysis.

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been widely used in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) for antithrombotic prophylaxis, which were shown to have a favorable risk-benefit profile. However, there are no guidelines for the use of DOACs in elderly patients (aged ≥75 years) with AF, which creates uncertainty about the optimal antithrombotic treatment in these patients. After comprehensively searching Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane databases, five phase III randomized controlled trials involving 28,137 elderly participants were included in this study.

Bone morphogenetic protein-7 represses hepatic stellate cell activation and liver fibrosis regulation of TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway.

Background: Liver fibrosis is a refractory disease whose persistence can eventually induce cirrhosis or even liver cancer. Early liver fibrosis is reversible by intervention. As a member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) superfamily, bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) has anti-liver fibrosis functions.

Ferulic acid attenuates liver fibrosis and hepatic stellate cell activation via inhibition of TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway.

Purpose: Liver fibrosis is a worldwide health issue. Development of effective new drugs for treatment of this disease is of great importance. This study investigated the therapeutic effects of ferulic acid on liver fibrosis in vitro and in vivo.

[Eighty three cases of post transfusion HCV infection: a 10-year follow up].

Objective: To find out clinical characteristics and natural history of post transfusion HCV infection.

Methods: 83 subjects who have received the blood from a same blood donor from January 1998 to July 2002 were investigated by the method combining cross-sectional study with retrospective study. HCV-antibody, HCV RNA, liver function, abdomen B-ultrasound and Fibroscan were detected.