Publications by authors named "Mei-Fang Liu"

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the association between the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (ie, neutrophil count × platelet count/lymphocyte count), the age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (ACCI), and overall survival (OS) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients undergoing first-line platinum-based chemotherapy (PBC), with a particular emphasis on the role of SII in supporting ACCI.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 353 cases treated between July 2013 and November 2020. Mann-Whitney -test and Kruskal-Wallis test were employed to compare parameters between high and low SII groups.

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  • * A study using mice showed that those without testosterone had smaller and less severe infections caused by this germ, suggesting testosterone makes these infections worse.
  • * The research also found that testosterone boosts the germ's ability to harm cells and helps it resist stress, mostly by activating certain genes and a system called AgrC, which is important for how the germ behaves.
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Background: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a chronic interstitial lung disease characterized by fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix formation, causing structural damage and lung failure. Stem cell therapy and mesenchymal stem cells-extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) offer new hope for PF treatment.

Aim: To investigate the therapeutic potential of MSC-EVs in alleviating fibrosis, oxidative stress, and immune inflammation in A549 cells and bleomycin (BLM)-induced mouse model.

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Staphylococcus epidermidis is an opportunistic pathogen commonly implicated in medical device-related infections. Its propensity to form biofilms not only leads to chronic infections but also exacerbates the issue of antibiotic resistance, necessitating high-dose antimicrobial treatments. In this study, we explored the use of diclofenac sodium, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, as an anti-biofilm agent against S.

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Unlabelled: The emerging prevalence of drug-resistant isolates underscores the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies due to the declining effectiveness of traditional antibiotics in clinical settings. MgrA, a key virulence regulator in , orchestrates the expression of numerous virulence factors. Here, we report the discovery of isorhapontigenin, a methoxylated analog of resveratrol, as a potential anti-virulence agent against .

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readily forms biofilms on host tissues and medical devices, enabling its persistence in chronic infections and resistance to antibiotic therapy. The accessory gene regulator (Agr) quorum sensing system plays a key role in regulating biofilm formation. This study reveals the widely used fluoroquinolone antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, strongly stimulates biofilm formation in methicillin-resistant , methicillin-sensitive , and clinical isolates with diverse genetic backgrounds.

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Purpose: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a powerful yet unbiased method to identify pathogens in suspected infections. However, little is known about its clinical effectiveness. The present study aimed to assess the efficacy of mNGS in routine clinical practice.

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Current healthcare is centered on the perception of people's health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-perceived health (physical, psychological, social, and environmental dimensions) and two main clinical symptoms (shoulder pain and restricted shoulder motion) in patients with frozen shoulders. A total of 49 patients diagnosed with frozen shoulders were recruited and divided into high- and low-disability groups according to the severity of their frozen shoulders.

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To investigate the effectiveness of health promotion strategies for nonspecific low back pain in hospital workers, we compared the therapeutic effects of group-based core stability exercises and an educational booklet. Subjects participated in a 60-min core stability exercise on a weekly basis for 8 weeks (N = 24) or consulted an educational booklet for advice (N = 22). The numerical rating scale (NRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and the brief version of the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) were used as outcome measures.

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Background: Scrub typhus is caused by O. tsutsugamushi and spreads through mite larvae biting the skin. Classic symptoms of the disease are eschar and lymphadenopathy.

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Cerebral ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury-induced irreversible brain injury is a major cause of mortality and functional impairment in ageing people. Gastrodin (GAS), derived from the traditional Chinese herbal medicine Tianma, has been reported to inhibit the progression of stroke, but the mechanism whereby GAS modulates the progression of cerebral I/R remains unclear. The middle cerebral artery occlusion method was used as a model of I/R in vivo.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease caused by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. PD is characterized by motor dysfunctions as well as non-motor disorders. Orexin (also known as hypocretin) is a kind of neuropeptide involved in the regulation of motor control, the sleep/wake cycle, learning and memory, gastric motility and respiratory function.

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The amygdala is a complex structure involved in the regulation of emotional behaviors including fear and anxiety. The central amygdala is the main output of the amygdala and plays an important role in emotional processing. Recent studies indicate that orexin, a kind of neuropeptides responsible for maintaining wakefulness, is also associated with emotion-related behaviors, such as depression- and anxiety-like behaviors.

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Context: Subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) is associated with scapular dyskinesis, or imbalanced scapular muscle activity. Evidence has shown that feedback can improve scapular control in patients with SIS. However, it is unknown whether real-time video feedback or electromyography (EMG) biofeedback is optimal for improving scapular kinematics and muscle activity during a functional task.

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Background: The protective effects of gastrodin and rhynchophylline in ischaemic injury have been reported. However, the underlying mechanism and the effect of the combination of these two drugs in ischaemic injury remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to explore the effects of the combination of gastrodin and rhynchophylline on ischaemia-induced inflammasome activation as well as the underlying mechanism.

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Orexin is a peptide neurotransmitter released in the globus pallidus. Morphological evidence reveals that both orexin 1 receptor (OXR) and orexin 2 receptor (OXR) exist in the globus pallidus. Here we showed that bilateral microinjection of both orexin-A and orexin-B into the globus pallidus alleviated motor deficits in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced parkinsonian mice.

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  • - Adipose tissue serves as the body's primary energy reserve, where triglycerides in lipid droplets (LDs) are broken down during energy demands through the action of lipase, releasing free fatty acids.
  • - The study aimed to assess how long-term lipolysis, stimulated by forskolin, affects the shape of LDs and the levels of perilipin proteins in rat adipocytes, revealing that forskolin led to significant changes in LD structure and size over time.
  • - Findings indicated that, while Plin2 levels increased significantly in response to forskolin treatment, other perilipin proteins (Plin1, Plin4, and Plin5) decreased, suggesting distinct roles for perilipin proteins during adip
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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive and selective death of dopaminergic neurons. Orexin-A is involved in many biological effects of the body. It has been reported that orexin-A has protective effects in cellular models of PD.

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Orexin is a member of neuropeptides which is involved in the central motor control. The substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) is an important nucleus participating in motor control under both physiological and pathological conditions. Morphological studies reveal that orexinergic neurons located in lateral hypothalamus innervate the SNc.

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Objective: To observe the correlation between the referred pain regions of stable angina pectoris (SAP) and the acupoints in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and to investigate the rule of regional sensitized point distribution in rats.

Methods: A total of 1 046 CHD patients with SAP from 8 hospitals in China were recruited in the present study. The tenderness was palpated along the left and right chest, back, shoulder, upper limb, etc.

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Aerobic exercise (AE) has been shown to improve cognition in patients with schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear whether these exercise-induced cognitive benefits persist beyond the training period. Accordingly, the present study sought to examine the immediate and maintenance effects of AE on a wide range of cognitive functions in 75 schizophrenia patients randomized to 12 weeks of either moderate-intensity treadmill exercise or stretching and toning exercise that served as a control.

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Targeting of intracerebral functional regions has been limited by the inability to transport drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and by poor accumulation in these regions. To overcome these hurdles, liposomes modified with P-aminophenyl-α-d-mannopyranoside (MAN) were used as a fluorescent dye carrier through the BBB and used the specific distribution of liposomes (LIP) modified with MAN (MAN-LIP) to target various functional regions of the brain. An in vitro BBB model was established to evaluate the transendothelial ability of MAN-LIP, and liposomes uptake by C6 glioma cells was analyzed by flow cytometry and live cell imaging.

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Objective: To explore the oxidative modification effect and its mechanism of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in hyperlipidemia (HL) rats after treating with tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4).

Methods: Fifty four 8-week-old male Wistar rats were used, these 54 rats were randomly divided into control group, high fat diet group (HL group), high fat diet and injected BH4 group (HL + BH4 group), and 18 in each group. The BH4 levels of blood fats and blood serum and its metabolites, the aortic reactive oxygen species, the end product malondialdehyde (MDA) and the LDL oxidation level were all determined by killing 6 experimental rats in each group at the first 8, 16, and 24 weeks of age respectively.

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  • Puerarin can help reduce brain damage from ischemia-reperfusion injury, but it struggles to cross the blood-brain barrier due to its properties.
  • Researchers created puerarin-loaded nanoparticles with the help of HP-β-CD and gelatin to enhance its solubility and entrapment in the brain.
  • The study found that these nanoparticles significantly reduced brain infarction and improved brain function recovery compared to traditional puerarin treatments.
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Cellular lipid droplets are active organelles. Lipid droplet-associated proteins play an important role in lipid droplet metabolism. ADRP is the major lipid-droplet associated protein presents in almost all cells that accumulate lipids.

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