Age-related hearing loss accelerates the decline in fast speech comprehension and the decompensation of cortical network connections.

Patients with age-related hearing loss face hearing difficulties in daily life. The causes of age-related hearing loss are complex and include changes in peripheral hearing, central processing, and cognitive-related abilities. Furthermore, the factors by which aging relates to hearing loss via changes in auditory processing ability are still unclear.

LIGHT deficiency attenuates acute kidney disease development in an in vivo experimental renal ischemia and reperfusion injury model.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R), a leading risk factor of acute kidney injury (AKI), is associated with high mortality and risk of progression to chronic kidney disease. However, the molecular mechanism of I/R-AKI remains not fully understood, which hinders its efficient clinical treatment. In this study, we observed that LIGHT deficiency remarkably attenuated I/R-AKI, as evidenced by rescued renal function, ameliorated tubular cell apoptosis, and alleviated inflammatory responses.

Knockdown of lncRNA TTTY15 alleviates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury through the miR-374a-5p/FOXO1 axis.

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury greatly contributes to myocardial tissue damage in patients with coronary disease, which eventually leads to heart failure. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have an emerging role in the process of myocardial I/R injury. Our previous work revealed the protective role of miR-374a-5p against myocardial I/R injury.

Effect of puerarin on action potential and sodium channel activation in human hypertrophic cardiomyocytes.

Objective: To study the effect of puerarin on electrophysiology using a hypertrophic cardiomyocyte (HC) model.

Materials And Methods: Human urine epithelial cells were used to generate the HC model (hiPSC-CM). Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was induced by applying 10 nM endothelin-1 (ET-1).

MicroRNA-374a protects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice by targeting the MAPK6 pathway.

Aims: Clinical treatment strategies for patients with myocardial ischemia typically include coronary artery recanalization to restore myocardial blood supply. However, myocardial reperfusion insult often induces oxidative stress and inflammation, which further leads to apoptosis and necrosis of myocardial cells. Increasing evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in the pathological and physiological processes associated with myocardial ischemia reperfusion.

Round Window Niche Drilling with Intratympanic Steroid Is a Salvage Therapy of Sudden Hearing Loss.

Objective: To explore the effectiveness and safety of round window niche drilling combined with intratympanic methylprednisolone injection for the salvage treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and its associated tinnitus after failed primary treatment.

Method: SSNHL patients who showed a less than 10-dB improvement of pure-tone average after receiving standard systemic treatment and intratympanic steroid injection were enrolled. All included patients were randomly divided into two groups (control and study).

Effects of combination of balloon Eustachian tuboplasty with methylprednisolone irrigation on treatment of chronic otitis media with effusion in adults.

Purpose: Adult chronic otitis media with effusion (COME) is characterized by Eustachian tube dysfunction and mucosal inflammation, which management has long been a challenge because of high recurrence. This study was to investigate the pathological changes of Eustachian tube mucosa and optimized treatment.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective study of four groups: I: tympanic paracentesis, II: balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (BET), III: BET plus tympanic paracentesis, IV: BET and tympanic paracentesis with methylprednisolone irrigation.

High-dose PMA with RANKL and MCSF induces THP‑1 cell differentiation into human functional osteoclasts in vitro.

Osteoclasts are large multinuclear cells, which serve role in erosive bone disease. However, it is not possible to separate osteoclasts from cortical bone in order to culture the cells for further experiments. Therefore, a human osteoclast model is required to investigate the underlying mechanism of bone destruction.

[Placental Foxp3 expression in patients with preeclampsia and correlation of Foxp3 gene locus 924 (rs2232365) polymorphism with preeclampsia].

Objective: To detect changes of Foxp3 expression in the decidua in patients with preeclampsia and investigate the correlation of Foxp3-924 (rs2232365) polymorphisms with preeclampsia.

Methods: From October 2011 to December 2012, 252 normal pregnant women and 156 preeclampsia patients of Han nationality from the same geographic region were tested for Foxp3-924 genotypes by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP). Sixty-eight of the patients with preeclampsia (33 with mild and 35 with severe preeclampsia) and 30 of the normal pregnant women were also examined for Foxp3 expression in the decidua using immunohistochemical method.

Regulation of expression of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase during cold shock in Arthrobacter strain A3.

Trehalose is a chemical chaperone known to protect a variety of organisms against cold stress. Members of the genus Arthrobacter, which belongs to the Actinomycetales group, exhibit strong resistance to stress conditions, but exactly how trehalose synthesis is regulated in conditions of cold stress is still unknown. Here, we report that Arthrobacter strain A3, which was isolated from the alpine permafrost, has only two trehalose synthesis pathways (OtsA/B and TreS), while other Arthrobacter spp.

The catalytic efficiency of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase is effected by the N-loop at low temperatures.

The enzyme OtsA (trehalose-6-phosphate synthase) is ubiquitous in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, where it plays a critical role in stress resistance and glucose metabolism. Here, we cloned the otsA gene from Arthrobacter sp. Cjts, and expressed and then purified the recombinant proteins.

[Changes of IFN-gamma, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-10 in the patient with cardiac surgery under combined acupuncture anesthesia].

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on cytokines in the cardiac surgical patient and to evaluate the application of combined acupuncture anesthesia to cardiac surgery.

Methods: Thirty patients with atrial septal defect were divided into 3 groups, general anesthesia group (A), acupuncture anesthesia group (B) and combined general anesthesia and EA group (C). Peripheral blood samples were collected before anesthesia, before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), 30 min after CPB and 24 h after operation to determine the levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6 and IL-10.