Efficacy and safety of combination therapy with vildagliptin and metformin versus metformin up-titration in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: study design and rationale of the vision study.

Background And Aim: Limitations of the currently recommended stepwise treatment pathway for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), especially the failure of monotherapies to maintain good glycemic control, have prompted use of early, more aggressive combination therapies.The VISION study is designed to explore the efficacy and safety of vildagliptin as an add-on to metformin therapy compared with up-titration of metformin monotherapy in Chinese patients with T2DM.

Methods: VISION, a 24-week, phase 4, prospective, randomized, multicenter, open-label, parallel-group study, will include 3312 Chinese T2DM patients aged ≥18 years who are inadequately controlled (6.

Glycemic control among patients in China with type 2 diabetes mellitus receiving oral drugs or injectables.

Background: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing rapidly among Chinese adults, and limited data are available on T2DM management and the status of glycemic control in China. We assessed the efficacy of oral antidiabetes drugs (OADs), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, and insulin for treatment of T2DM across multiple regions in China.

Methods: This was a multicenter, cross-sectional survey of outpatients conducted in 606 hospitals across China.

Efficacy and safety of traditional chinese medicine for diabetes: a double-blind, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Treatment of diabetes mellitus with Traditional Chinese Medicine has a long history. The aim of this study is to establish the safety and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine combined with glibenclamide to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: In a controlled, double blind, multicentre non-inferiority trial, 800 patients with unsatisfactory glycemic control (fasting glucose 7-13 mmol/L and HbA1c 7-11%) were randomly assigned to receive Xiaoke Pill, a compound of Chinese herbs combined with glibenclamide, or Glibenclamide in two study groups - drug naive group, and patients previously treated with metformin monotherapy (metformin group).

The risk factors of mild decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate in a community-based population.

Objectives: The study aimed to analyze the relationship between metabolic variables and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and explore the potential risk factors for a mildly reduced eGFR in a community-based population.

Design And Methods: Cross-sectional study in 643 adults without a history of kidney disease whose eGFR levels were greater than 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) according to the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation (CKD-EPI).

Efficacy and tolerability of febuxostat in hyperuricemic patients with or without gout: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Febuxostat has been approved for the treatment of hyperuricemia in patients with/without gout.

Objectives: This meta-analysis and systematic review assessed the efficacy and tolerability of febuxostat in hyperuricemic patients with/without gout.

Methods: Major electronic databases were searched for articles of all publication years (up to February 2012), as were the Web sites of the American College of Rheumatology, the European League Against Rheumatism, and the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration, and clinicaltrials.

The lipid accumulation product is highly related to serum alanine aminotransferase level in male adults.

Studies confirm that the lipid accumulation product (LAP), which is based on the waist circumference and fasting serum triglycerides, is highly related to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and closely correlated with the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation. Abdominal obesity and dyslipidemia are the important risk factors for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Dysregulation of glucose metabolism even in Chinese PCOS women with normal glucose tolerance.

To clarify the necessity of improving glucose metabolism in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women as early as possible, 111 PCOS women with normal glucose tolerance and 92 healthy age-matched controls were recruited to investigate glucose levels distribution, insulin sensitivity and β cell function. 91 PCOS women and 33 controls underwent hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp to assess their insulin sensitivity, which was expressed as M value. β cell function was estimated by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA)-β index after adjusting insulin sensitivity (HOMA-βad index).

A prospective study to optimize insulin treatment by switching to insulin glargine in type 2 diabetic patients previously uncontrolled on premixed insulin: the optimization study.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, safety and treatment satisfaction of insulin glargine plus oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) in Chinese individuals with Type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with premixed insulin plus OADs.

Methods: In this open-label, single-arm, 16-week, phase IV study, 313 subjects with Type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with premixed insulin plus OADs were switched to insulin glargine plus OADs. Changes in glycaemic control, incidence of hypoglycaemia and treatment satisfaction using the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) were evaluated.

Altered resting-state connectivity during interictal generalized spike-wave discharges in drug-naïve childhood absence epilepsy.

Purpose: To investigate the intrinsic brain connections at the time of interictal generalized spike-wave discharges (GSWDs) to understand their mechanism of effect on brain function in untreated childhood absence epilepsy (CAE).

Methods: The EEG-functional MRI (fMRI) was used to measure the resting state functional connectivity during interictal GSWDs in drug-naïve CAE, and three different brain networks-the default mode network (DMN), cognitive control network (CCN), and affective network (AN)-were investigated.

Results: Cross-correlation functional connectivity analysis with priori seed revealed decreased functional connectivity within each of these three networks in the CAE patients during interictal GSWDS.

[EEG-fMRI studies on the neural networks of the generalized spike and wave discharges: an overview].

This paper generalizes the seizures characterized with paroxysmal generalized spike and wave discharges (GSWDs) in the EEG. Recent studies showed that GSWDs disrupt specific neural networks only rather than the entire brain homogenously. Simultaneous EEG and functional MRI (EEG-fMRDI) provides a high spatiotemporal resolution method for uncovering the regions of the brain showing changes in metabolism and blood flow during epileptic activity.

Insulin resistance but not impaired β-cell function: a key feature in Chinese normal-weight PCOS women with normal glucose regulation.

Objective: To evaluate insulin sensitivity and β-cell function in Chinese polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women while taking into account the confounding variables including body mass index (BMI), blood glucose levels, ethnicity, medication history and a family history of type 2 diabetes.

Study Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Setting: Clinical research center in China.

The relationship between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and ApoB, ApoB/ApoA1 ratio in general population of China.

Inflammatory biomarker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is considered as a major predictor of cardiovascular events. Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) directly reflects the number of plasma atherogenic lipoproteins, and may play a major role in vascular inflammation. We aimed to assess whether an association between ApoB and hsCRP exists and, furthermore, to examine whether ApoB is more predictive of the inflammatory status than other cardiovascular risk factors.

Disrupted functional brain connectivity in partial epilepsy: a resting-state fMRI study.

Examining the spontaneous activity to understand the neural mechanism of brain disorder is a focus in recent resting-state fMRI. In the current study, to investigate the alteration of brain functional connectivity in partial epilepsy in a systematical way, two levels of analyses (functional connectivity analysis within resting state networks (RSNs) and functional network connectivity (FNC) analysis) were carried out on resting-state fMRI data acquired from the 30 participants including 14 healthy controls(HC) and 16 partial epilepsy patients. According to the etiology, all patients are subdivided into temporal lobe epilepsy group (TLE, included 7 patients) and mixed partial epilepsy group (MPE, 9 patients).

White matter impairment in the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit of drug-naïve childhood absence epilepsy.

Purpose: It is unknown whether white matter abnormalities exist in childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), a syndrome of idiopathic epilepsy (IGE). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can noninvasively quantify white matter integrity. This study used DTI to investigate abnormal changes in white matter of untreated CAE patients.

Resting-state fMRI study of treatment-naïve temporal lobe epilepsy patients with depressive symptoms.

Background: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy are at high risk for comorbid depression, and it is hypothesized that these two diseases are share common pathogenic pathways. We aimed to characterize regional brain activation in treatment-naïve temporal lobe epilepsy patients with depressive symptoms and compare the results to epilepsy patients without depressive symptoms and to healthy controls.

Subjects And Methods: We recruited 23 treatment-naïve patients (including anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs) and antidepressants) and 17 matched healthy controls for this study.

A rare cause of goiter: Langerhans cell histiocytosis of the thyroid.

Goiter is a very common clinical problem; however, Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) with thyroid involvement that presents as a goiter is very rare. In this article, we report one case of thyroid LCH. An 18-year-old male patient presented with goiter, polyuria, polydipsia, and lymphadenectasis of the neck, and LCH was confirmed by a lymph node biopsy and pathological investigation.

Inflammatory stress exacerbates ectopic lipid deposition in C57BL/6J mice.

Background: Chronic systemic inflammation and abnormal free fatty acid metabolism are closely related to ectopic lipid deposition. In this study, we investigate if inflammation tissue-specifically disrupts lipogenesis and lipolysis in nonadipose tissues and adipose tissue, resulting in ectopic lipid deposition in C57BL/6J mice.

Methods: We used casein injection in C57BL/6J mice to induce a chronic systemic inflammatory stress in vivo.

Resting state basal ganglia network in idiopathic generalized epilepsy.

The basal ganglia, a brain structure related to motor control, is implicated in the modulation of epileptic discharges generalization in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). Using group independent component analysis (ICA) on resting-state fMRI data, this study identified a resting state functional network that predominantly consisted of the basal ganglia in both healthy controls and patients with IGE. In order to gain a better understanding of the basal ganglia network(BGN) in IGE patients, we compared the BGN functional connectivity of controls with that of epilepsy patients, either with interictal epileptic discharges (with-discharge period, WDP) or without epileptic discharge (nondischarge period, NDP) while scanning.

Diffusion and volumetry abnormalities in subcortical nuclei of patients with absence seizures.

Purpose: The thalamus and basal ganglia play an important role in the propagation and modulation of generalized spike and slow-wave discharges (SWDs) in absence epilepsy. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique sensitive to microstructural abnormalities of cerebral tissue by quantification of diffusion parameter. The purpose of this study is to investigate the diffusion and volume changes in the basal ganglia and thalamus of patients with absence seizures.

Vaccination for preventing postherpetic neuralgia.

Background: Herpes zoster virus vaccine was recommended for the prevention of herpes zoster and its sequelae by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2006. To date the efficacy and safety of vaccination for preventing the most common complication of zoster, postherpetic neuralgia, has not been systematically reviewed.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy and safety of vaccination in preventing postherpetic neuralgia.

The localization of hnRNP A2/B1 in nuclear matrix and the aberrant expression during the RA-induced differentiation of human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells.

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A2/B1 is involved in the synthesis of RNA. Its expression is up-regulated in many tumor cell lines. In this study, we investigated the distribution of hnRNP A2/B1 in the nuclear matrix, including its co-localization with expression products of related genes.

Altered functional connectivity in default mode network in absence epilepsy: a resting-state fMRI study.

Dysfunctional default mode network (DMN) has been observed in various mental disorders, including epilepsy (see review Broyd et al. [2009]: Neurosci Biobehav Rev 33:279–296). Because interictal epileptic discharges may affect DMN, resting-state fMRI was used in this study to determine DMN functional connectivity in 14 healthy controls and 12 absence epilepsy patients.

Serum complement C3 has a stronger association with insulin resistance than high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To compare the association of complement C3 (C3) versus high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) with insulin resistance (IR) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Setting: Clinical research center in China.

Serum pigment epithelium-derived factor is elevated in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and correlates with insulin resistance.

Context: Serum pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is highly expressed in adipose tissue and plays an important role in insulin resistance (IR). However, there are no data on serum PEDF levels and their relationship with IR in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women.

Objective: To quantitate serum PEDF levels and examine their relationship with IR in women with PCOS.

Gut SCP is an immune-relevant molecule involved in the primary immunological memory or pattern recognition in the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri.

To understand the role of calcium-binding proteins of invertebrates in immunological response, amphioxus sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein (SCP) was investigated in the present study. Following gene cloning, recombinant protein expression and purification and antibody preparation, the expression and alteration of SCP in the response to bacterial challenge were detected using Western blotting. SCP was not detected in the branchia, humoral fluid, gonad or in the gut of wounded animals, but it was abundant in muscle and appeared in the gut of healthy animals using Vibrio parahaemolyticus immunization and challenge.