Associations between blue space exposure and rheumatoid arthritis: The modifying effect of genetic susceptibility and air pollutants.

Studies on the interaction among genetic susceptibility, blue space exposure, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk have been lacking. Therefore, we examined the association between blue space exposure and RA incidence and assess the modifying effect of genetic susceptibility and air pollutants. Form the UK Biobank, 322,783 participants without RA were enrolled in this study.

SQSTM1 improves acute lung injury via inhibiting airway epithelium ferroptosis in a vitamin D receptor/autophagy-mediated manner.

Emerging evidence has reported that acute lung injury (ALI), characterized by inflammation and oxidative stress in airway epithelium, is regulated by programmed cell death. Ferroptosis, a regulated form of cell death spurred by uncontrolled lipid peroxidation, has been proven to implicate various diseases. Inhibiting ferroptosis represents a feasible strategy for ALI through the suppression of lipid peroxidation, while the mechanism remains to be further elucidated.

Mendelian Randomization Analysis of Circulating Cytokines and Risk of Autoimmune Neuroinflammatory Diseases.

Background: Cytokines act a vital role in autoimmune neuroinflammatory diseases (ANDs) with undetermined causal relationships. Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed to estimate the causal effects of circulating levels of cytokines on the risk of ANDs.

Methods: The causal relationship between 34 circulating cytokines and 4 kinds of ANDs, including multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica (NOM), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and myasthenia gravis (MG) were explored using four methods of MR analysis.

Two Decades of Publications in Journals Dedicated to Autoimmunity: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Autoimmunity Field from 2004 to 2023.

To carry out an in-depth analysis of the scientific research on autoimmunity, we performed the first bibliometric analysis focusing on publications in journals dedicated to autoimmunity (JDTA) indexed by science citation index during the period 2004-2023. Using bibliometric analysis, we quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed the country, institution, author, reference and keywords information of publications in JDTA, so as to understand the quantity, publication pattern and publication characteristics of these publications. The co-occurrence networks, clustering map and timeline map were created by CiteSpace and VOSviewer software to visualize the results.

Association of gene polymorphisms and the decreased expression of long non-coding RNA LOC553103 with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in many key bioprocesses, including the occurrence and development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We aimed to analyze the association of genetic variants of long non-coding RNA LOC553103 and its peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) expression with RA.

Methods: We enrolled 457 RA patients and 551 healthy controls and conducted a case-control study to analyze the relationship between LOC553103 gene rs272879 and the susceptibility of RA by TaqMan single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping.

Paracrine signaling of ferroptotic airway epithelium in crystalline silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis augments local fibroblast activation through glycolysis reprogramming.

Chronic exposure to crystalline silica (CS) contributes to pulmonary fibrosis. Airway epithelium dysfunction and fibroblast activation have both been recognized as pivotal players, alongside disturbances in ferroptosis and glycolysis reprogramming. However, the mechanisms involved remain unclear.

Increased serum visfatin level is associated with fat deposition of the lumbar spine in ankylosing spondylitis patients.

Objectives: To assess the serum visfatin levels in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), as well as its correlation with fat deposition of the lumbar spine.

Methods: Serum visfatin levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 50 AS patients and 75 sex-and age-matched healthy controls. The clinical and laboratory indexes of AS patients were recorded, and the lumbar spine magnetic resonance scan was performed to evaluate the lumbar spine fat deposition in AS patients.

Impact of short-term exposure to ambient air pollution on osteoarthritis: a multi-city time-series analysis in Central-Eastern China.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a threat to public health issue with high morbidity and disability worldwide. However, unequivocal evidence on the link between air pollution and OA remains little, especially in multi-study sites. This study aimed to explore the relationship between short-term exposure to main air pollutants and the risk of OA outpatient visits in multi-study sites.

Climate change and daily outpatient visits for dermatomyositis in Hefei, China: a time-series study.

With the deepening of research on the correlation between meteorological factors and autoimmune diseases, the relationship between climate change and dermatomyositis (DM) has come to our attention. This study aimed to explore the short-term correlation between meteorological factors and DM outpatient visits. Daily records of hospital outpatient visits for DM, air pollutants, and meteorological factor data in Hefei from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021 were obtained.

No genetic causal association between systemic lupus erythematosus and COVID-19.

Objective: Emerging evidence suggests an increased prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the prototype of autoimmune disease, compared to the general population. However, the conclusions were inconsistent, and the causal relationship between COVID-19 and SLE remains unknown.

Methods: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the bidirectional causal relationship between COVID-19 and SLE using bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, including MR-Egger, weighted median, weighted mode, and the inverse variance weighting (IVW) method.

m6A eraser FTO modulates autophagy by targeting SQSTM1/P62 in the prevention of canagliflozin against renal fibrosis.

The dysregulation of autophagy contributes to renal fibrosis. N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification is a critical mediator of autophagy. Our previous studies have reported that the disorder of the PPARα/fatty acid oxidation (FAO) axis in renal tubular cells is suppressed by STAT6, which is involved in the regulation of renal fibrotic processes.

Causal effect of polyunsaturated fatty acids on bone mineral density and fracture.

Background: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are closely related to osteoporosis. To test their causal relationship, we conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.

Methods: We analyzed the causal relationship between four PUFAs measures, n-3 PUFAs (n-3), n-6 PUFAs (n-6), the ratio of n-3 PUFAs to total fatty acids (n-3 pct), and the ratio of n-6 PUFAs to n-3 PUFAs (n-6 to n-3), and five measures of osteoporosis, including estimated bone mineral density (eBMD), forearm (FA) BMD, femoral neck (FN) BMD, lumbar spine (LS) BMD, and fracture, using two-sample MR analysis.

Glycemic control and its influencing factors in type 2 diabetes patients in Anhui, China.

Objective: To investigate the status of glycemic control and analyze its influencing factors in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Anhui, China.

Methods: 1,715 T2D patients aged 18-75 years old were selected from 4 counties or districts in Anhui Province in 2018, using a convenience sampling method. All patients have undergone a questionnaire survey, physical examination, and a glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) test.

Dickkopf-1 as a promising therapeutic target for autoimmune diseases.

Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is mostly known as a mature inhibitor of classic Wnt signaling pathways, which plays a critically role in regulating bone formation and bone metastasis. In recent years, the roles of DKK-1 played in bone resorption, bone formation, immune homeostasis and inflammation have been investigated. The role of DKK-1 in the pathogenesis and treatment of autoimmune diseases (ADs), including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), etc, has attracted widespread attention.

Association between depressive symptoms in the postpartum period and COVID-19: A meta-analysis.

Background: With the pandemic of COVID, the public are faced with tremendous threatens both physically and mentally. Postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the most serious complications of childbearing, bringing severe impact on a woman's mental state and mood after birth. Research has shown that maternal mental state is closely correlated with PPD, those undergo the emergency or significant life changes during the postpartum period are more likely to suffer from PPD.

The detection rate and influencing factors of high-risk groups of cardiovascular disease in Anhui, China: A cross-sectional study of 99,821 residents.

Objective: To investigate the detection rate and influencing factors of high-risk population of cardiovascular disease in Anhui province.

Methods: From March 2017 to August 2019, the residents aged 35-75 years old were selected using the multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method in 8 counties and districts of Anhui Province, and questionnaire survey, anthropometric measurement, and collection of biological samples were carried out among them.

Results: A total of 99,821 residents in Anhui Province were finally investigated, and among them 21,426 residents were detected to be high-risk groups of cardiovascular disease.

Vitamin D protects silica particles induced lung injury by promoting macrophage polarization in a KLF4-STAT6 manner.

Silicosis is one of the severest occupational diseases worldwide, manifesting as infiltration of inflammatory cells, excessive secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators and pulmonary diffuse fibrosis. Macrophages polarization to M2 is one of the major strategies that attenuates inflammatory response. Our previous study found that vitamin D could protect against silica-induced lung injury by damping the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Heterogeneous-Interface-Enhanced Adsorption of Organic and Hydroxyl for Biomass Electrooxidation.

Electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) provides an efficient way to obtain high-value-added biomass-derived chemicals. Compared with other transition metal oxides, CuO exhibits poor oxygen evolution reaction performance, leading to high Faraday efficiency for HMF oxidation. However, the weak adsorption and activation ability of CuO to OH species restricts its further development.

COVID-19 and inflammatory bowel disease crosstalk: From emerging association to clinical proposal.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an acute respiratory inflammation that has emerged worldwide since December 2019, and it quickly became a global epidemic. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic nonspecific intestinal inflammatory diseases whose etiology has not been elucidated. The two have many overlapping symptoms in clinical presentation, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, pneumonia, etc.

Melatonin protects against nonylphenol caused pancreatic β-cells damage through MDM2-P53-P21 axis.

Nonylphenol (NP) is an endocrine disrupting chemical, which widely exists in environment and can result in multiple system dysfunction. Pancreas as one of the most important organs is sensitive to NP, while the detail toxic effect is still less studied. Previously, we unveiled nonylphenol causes pancreatic damage in rats, herein, we further explore the potential mechanism and seek protection strategy in vitro.

STAT6 inhibits ferroptosis and alleviates acute lung injury via regulating P53/SLC7A11 pathway.

Compelling evidences have revealed the emerging role of ferroptosis in the pathophysiological process of acute lung injury (ALI), but its modulation is not clear. Here, we identified that STAT6 acted as a critical regulator of epithelium ferroptosis during ALI. Firstly, STAT6 expression and activity were increased in the ALI mice models caused by crystalline silica (CS), LPS and X-ray exposure.