Research Progress on the Relationship Between Artificial Sweeteners and Breast Cancer.

Artificial sweeteners, as low-calorie sugar substitutes, have attracted much attention in recent years, especially in terms of their potential health effects. Although they add almost no calories, studies have shown that artificial sweeteners may affect metabolism by stimulating insulin secretion and changing the intestinal microbiota, increasing the risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Breast cancer, as the most common cancer in the world, is related to multiple factors such as genetics and hormone levels.

Role and Mechanism of cGAS-STING Pathway in Cardiovascular System.

The cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate (GMP-AMP) synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway is a part of the innate immune system that plays a role in the cardiovascular system. It acts as a surveillance system, detecting and responding to cytosolic DNA, viral DNA, and other intracellular DNA species. Activation of the cGAS-STING pathway leads to the production of inflammatory cytokines and type I interferons, which are involved in the immune response.

Multidisciplinary approaches to combat emerging viruses: diagnostics, therapeutic gene and vaccine delivery, and nanotherapeutics.

Emerging viruses, such as filoviruses (Ebola, Marburg), SARS and MERS coronaviruses, and Zika, pose significant threats to global public health, particularly for individuals with co-morbidities. To address these challenges, this review article explores multidisciplinary strategies for combatting emerging viruses. We emphasize the importance of developing accurate diagnostics, innovative therapeutic gene and vaccine delivery systems, and long-acting nanotherapeutics.

Viral pancreatitis: research advances and mechanisms.

Acute pancreatitis is caused by trypsinogen activation in acinar cells caused by various injury forms (gallstone, high triglycerides, alcohol, etc.). Viral pancreatitis is a clinically rare disease type, which is easily neglected by clinicians and causes serious adverse consequences.

Chemical reagents for the enrichment of modified peptides in MS-based identification.

Chemical reagents with special groups as enrichable handles have empowered the ability to label and enrich modified peptides. Here is an overview of different chemical reagents with affinity tags to isolate labeled peptides and the latest developments of enrichment strategies. Biotin is the most used affinity tag due to its high interaction with avidin.

Structure-based discovery of dual pathway inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 entry.

Since 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved rapidly and gained resistance to multiple therapeutics targeting the virus. Development of host-directed antivirals offers broad-spectrum intervention against different variants of concern. Host proteases, TMPRSS2 and CTSL/CTSB cleave the SARS-CoV-2 spike to play a crucial role in the two alternative pathways of viral entry and are characterized as promising pharmacological targets.

Association between circadian body temperature rhythm during the first 24 hours of ICU stay and 28-day mortality in elderly critically ill patients: A retrospective cohort study.

Disrupted circadian temperature rhythm is commonly observed in elderly patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), but the association between circadian temperature rhythm and mortality in elderly patients is unclear. Adult patients with a relatively complete record of body temperature (BT) during the first 24 hours of ICU stay in the Multi-parameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database were included in this retrospective cohort study. The circadian rhythm of body temperature was blunted as a ratio of the maximum BT between 12:00 and 24:00 divided by the minimum BT between 0:00 and 12:00, and we defined it as BT fluctuation ratio.

Clinical Effect of Electroacupuncture on Acute Pancreatitis: Efficacies and Mechanisms.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common acute abdomen and the number one cause of acute digestive hospitalizations in the United States. Abdominal pain is the main clinical manifestation of abdominal symptoms, so reducing the abdominal symptoms caused by inflammation is very important to alleviate the pain of patients. Electroacupuncture (EA) as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy has significant conditioning effects on various inflammatory diseases including AP.

Potential value of neuroimmunotherapy for COVID-19: efficacies and mechanisms of vagus nerve stimulation, electroacupuncture, and cholinergic drugs.

COVID-19 is an inflammatory disease with multiple organs involved, mainly respiratory symptoms. Although the majority of patients with COVID-19 present with a mild to moderate self-limited course of illness, about 5-10% of patients with inflammatory disorders in severe COVID-19 have life-threatening progression. With the exception of a few drugs that have shown outstanding anti-COVID-19 effects, the efficacy of most drugs remains controversial.

Electroacupuncture in Regulating Gastrointestinal Symptoms of COVID-19: A Mini-review.

Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still no effective treatment. In the meantime, more and more evidence indicate that gastrointestinal symptoms are important manifestations of COVID-19. Therefore, the involvement of multiple system symptoms brings a lot of burden and harm to patients.

Association of demographic and clinical factors with risk of acute pancreatitis: An exposure-wide Mendelian randomization study.

Background: The incidence of acute pancreatitis (AP) is increasing over years, which brings enormous economy and health burden. However, the aetiologies of AP and underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate the associations between all reported possible risk factors and AP using publicly available genome-wide association study summary statistics.

New-onset diabetes secondary to acute pancreatitis: An update.

Diabetes is a condition of persistent hyperglycemia caused by the endocrine disorder of the pancreas. Therefore, all pancreatic diseases have the risk of diabetes. In particular, increasing attention has been paid recently to new-onset diabetes secondary to acute pancreatitis (AP).

GPIHBP1 autoantibody is an independent risk factor for the recurrence of hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis.

Background: GPIHBP1, a glycolipid-anchored protein of capillary endothelial cells, is a crucial partner for lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in plasma triglyceride metabolism. GPIHBP1 autoantibodies block LPL binding to GPIHBP1 and lead to severe hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) and HTG-induced acute pancreatitis (HTG-AP). We sought to define the incidence of GPIHBP1 autoantibodies in patients with HTG-AP.

Dose-response relationship between risk factors and incidence of COVID-19 in 325 hospitalized patients: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Background: The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have been widely reported, but the assessment of dose-response relationships and risk factors for mortality and severe cases and clinical outcomes remain unclear.

Aim: To determine the dose-response relationship between risk factors and incidence of COVID-19.

Methods: In this retrospective, multicenter cohort study, we included patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection who had been discharged or had died by February 6, 2020.

A time-incorporated SOFA score-based machine learning model for predicting mortality in critically ill patients: A multicenter, real-world study.

Background: Organ dysfunction (OD) assessment is essential in intensive care units (ICUs). However, current OD assessment scores merely describe the number and the severity of each OD, without evaluating the duration of organ injury. The objective of this study is to develop and validate a machine learning model based on the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score for the prediction of mortality in critically ill patients.

Nonthyroidal illness syndrome in acute pancreatitis patients: an 8-year cohort study.

Background: Nonthyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) is common in critical illness and is associated with poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to find the prevalence, charateristics, and prognosis of NTIS and its correlation with outcomes in AP patients.

Methods: A retrospective review of AP patients with a diagnosis of NTIS from Jan 2012 to September 2020 was performed.

Serum magnesium level as a predictor of acute kidney injury in patients with acute pancreatitis.

Background: Decreased serum magnesium (Mg) is commonly seen in critically ill patients. Hypomagnesemia is significantly more frequent in patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) is associated with an extremely high mortality.

Predictive value of serum cholinesterase in the mortality of acute pancreatitis: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Severe acute pancreatitis has a high mortality of 20%-40%, but there is a lack of optimal prognostic biomarker for the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP) or mortality. This study is designed to investigate the relationship between serum cholinesterase (ChE) level and poor outcomes of AP.

Methods: A total of 1904 AP patients were screened in the study, and we finally got 692 patients eligible for analysis.

Dynamic Nomogram for Predicting Thrombocytopenia in Adults with Acute Pancreatitis.

Objective: Thrombocytopenia increases the risk of hemorrhage in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP), leading to poor clinical outcomes. Currently, there is no reliable tool for the early assessment of thrombocytopenia in these patients. We aimed to develop a nomogram based on available clinical parameters and validate its efficacy in predicting thrombocytopenia.

Immune Dysfunction is Associated with Readmission in Survivors of Sepsis Following Infected Pancreatic Necrosis.

Objective: Immunosuppression is common in patients with infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) and associated with morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to investigate the impact of immune status on mortality and readmission after hospital discharge in patients with IPN-related sepsis.

Methods: In this prospective observational study, eligible adult patients with IPN-related sepsis requiring ICU admission were included.