Deficiency of muscle-generated brain-derived neurotrophic factor causes inflammatory myopathy through reactive oxygen species-mediated necroptosis and pyroptosis.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (commonly known as myositis) is a group of immune-related diseases characterized by muscle damage, weakness, and fatigue with unknown causes. Although overactivated innate immunity is a widely believed cause of myositis onset, the mechanism that provokes and maintains a high immune response in myositis patients is still unclear. This study aims to test if brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) deficiency per se is sufficient to cause myositis and determine its underlying mechanism.

Physical Fitness and Body Mass Index Status of Hong Kong Primary Schoolchildren across the COVID-19 Pandemic, before and after School Closure.

Objective: To determine whether health-related physical fitness and body mass index (BMI) status differed before and after school closure from the COVID-19 pandemic in a population-based cohort of Hong Kong primary schoolchildren.

Study Design: We examined the BMI z score, BMI status, and physical fitness z scores including (i) upper limb muscle strength, (ii) 1-minute sit-up test, (iii) sit-and-reach test, and (iv) endurance run tests, among 3 epochs: prepandemic (September 2018-August 2019), before school closure (September 2019-January 2020), and partial school reopening (September 2021-August 2022), using a repeated cross-sectional approach.

Results: A total of 137 752 primary schoolchildren aged 6-12 years were recruited over 3 academic years.

The APPL1-Rab5 axis restricts NLRP3 inflammasome activation through early endosomal-dependent mitophagy in macrophages.

Although mitophagy is known to restrict NLRP3 inflammasome activation, the underlying regulatory mechanism remains poorly characterized. Here we describe a type of early endosome-dependent mitophagy that limits NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Deletion of the endosomal adaptor protein APPL1 impairs mitophagy, leading to accumulation of damaged mitochondria producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized cytosolic mitochondrial DNA, which in turn trigger NLRP3 inflammasome overactivation in macrophages.

Promoting healthy ageing through light volleyball intervention in Hong Kong: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Our pilot study has demonstrated improvements in health outcomes through participation in a new sport, light volleyball (LVB), among older adults. In response to the promising results of the LVB pilot study and the priority of allocating resources to the prevention of age-related fitness degradation by the Hong Kong (HKG) government, the present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a LVB intervention on physical and psychological health attributes among older adults at a larger scale in HKG.

Methods/design: This study will apply both quantitative and qualitative methods with a large sample (approximately 315 participants).

The effects of an activity-based lifestyle intervention on moderate sleep complaints among older adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Moderate sleep complaints are major gerontological issue affecting as many as 80% of older adults. More intriguing findings have indicated that moderate sleep complaints were associated with cognitive decline, functional deterioration, clinical depression, and even morbidity and mortality among older adults. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of an activity-based lifestyle intervention on moderate sleep complaint among community-dwelling older adults.

Muscle mass, structural and functional investigations of senescence-accelerated mouse P8 (SAMP8).

Sarcopenia is an age-related systemic syndrome with progressive deterioration in skeletal muscle functions and loss in mass. Although the senescence-accelerated mouse P8 (SAMP8) was reported valid for muscular ageing research, there was no report on the details such as sarcopenia onset time. Therefore, this study was to investigate the change of muscle mass, structure and functions during the development of sarcopenia.

Current and future molecular diagnostics in non-small-cell lung cancer.

The molecular investigation of lung cancer has opened up an advanced area for the diagnosis and therapeutic management of lung cancer patients. Gene alterations in cancer initiation and progression provide not only information on molecular changes in lung cancer but also opportunities in advanced therapeutic regime by personalized targeted therapy. EGFR mutations and ALK rearrangement are important predictive biomarkers for the efficiency of tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment in lung cancer patients.

DECODE: an integrated differential co-expression and differential expression analysis of gene expression data.

Background: Both differential expression (DE) and differential co-expression (DC) analyses are appreciated as useful tools in understanding gene regulation related to complex diseases. The performance of integrating DE and DC, however, remains unexplored.

Results: In this study, we proposed a novel analytical approach called DECODE (Differential Co-expression and Differential Expression) to integrate DC and DE analyses of gene expression data.

Effects of glycemic index meal and CHO-electrolyte drink on cytokine response and run performance in endurance athletes.

Objective: To examine the effect of the glycemic index (GI) of a pre-exercise (PRE-ex) meal on plasma cytokine responses and endurance performance when carbohydrate-electrolyte (CHO-E) drink was consumed during exercise.

Methods: Eight endurance-trained male runners (age: 28.6+/-2.