Berberine Inhibits Ferroptosis and Stabilizes Atherosclerotic Plaque through NRF2/SLC7A11/GPX4 Pathway.

Objective: To investigate potential mechanisms of anti-atherosclerosis by berberine (BBR) using ApoE mice.

Methods: Eight 8-week-old C57BL/6J mice were used as a blank control group (normal), and 56 8-week-old AopE mice were fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks, according to a completely random method, and were divided into the model group, BBR low-dose group (50 mg/kg, BBRL), BBR medium-dose group (100 mg/kg, BBRM), BBR high-dose group (150 mg/kg, BBRH), BBR+nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) inhibitor group (100 mg/kg BBR+30 mg/kg ML385, BBRM+ML385), NRF2 inhibitor group (30 mg/kg, ML385), and positive control group (2.5 mg/kg, atorvastatin), 8 in each group.

FOXP3 demethylation as a means of identifying quantitative defects in regulatory T cells in acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: The contribution of regulatory T cells (Tregs) to the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains poorly understood. One core obstacle is the lack of Treg-specific markers. A highly conserved CpG enriched element in forkhead box P3 intron 1 (FOXP3 i l) is unmethylated only in Tregs, and measuring the unmethylation of FOXP3 i l can be used to identify the role of Tregs in clinical diseases.