Angiogenic and Antiangiogenic mechanisms of high density lipoprotein from healthy subjects and coronary artery diseases patients.

Normal high-density lipoprotein (nHDL) in normal, healthy subjects is able to promote angiogenesis, but the mechanism remains incompletely understood. HDL from patients with coronary artery disease may undergo a variety of oxidative modifications, rendering it dysfunctional; whether the angiogenic effect is mitigated by such dysfunctional HDL (dHDL) is unknown. We hypothesized that dHDL compromises angiogenesis.

Correction: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment Reduces Mortality in Elderly Patients with Moderate to Severe Obstructive Severe Sleep Apnea: A Cohort Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Modeling the Pathogenesis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A Using Patient-Specific iPSCs.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A), one of the most frequent inherited peripheral neuropathies, is associated with PMP22 gene duplication. Previous studies of CMT1A mainly relied on rodent models, and it is not yet clear how PMP22 overexpression leads to the phenotype in patients. Here, we generated the human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines from two CMT1A patients as an in vitro cell model.

A non-invasive risk score for predicting incident diabetes among rural Chinese people: A village-based cohort study.

Objective: To develop a new non-invasive risk score for predicting incident diabetes in a rural Chinese population.

Methods: Data from the Handan Eye Study conducted from 2006-2013 were utilized as part of this analysis. The present study utilized data generated from 4132 participants who were ≥30 years of age.

Characterization of the constitutive behavior of municipal solid waste considering particle compressibility.

This paper presents a characterization of the mechanical behavior of municipal solid waste (MSW) under consolidated drained and undrained triaxial conditions. The constitutive model was established based on a deviatoric hardening plasticity model. A power form function and incremental hyperbolic form function were proposed to describe the shear strength and the hardening role of MSW.

Alterations in AQP4 expression and polarization in the course of motor neuron degeneration in SOD1G93A mice.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons. The disease progression is associated with the astrocytic environment. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channels are the most abundant AQPs expressed in astrocytes, exerting important influences on central nervous system homeostasis.

High expression levels of the D686N Parkinson's disease mutation in VPS35 induces α-synuclein-dependent toxicity in yeast.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder that affects ~2% of the human population aged >65. α‑synuclein serves a role in the pathogenesis of PD as it is a primary component of Lewy bodies, a pathological feature of PD. Endosomal‑lysosomal dysfunction may be a key factor involved in the pathophysiology of PD, and may cause PD‑associated neurodegeneration via α‑synuclein‑dependent and ‑independent mechanisms.

Injected Amyloid Beta in the Olfactory Bulb Transfers to Other Brain Regions via Neural Connections in Mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive neuronal degeneration and pathological accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain. It has been proposed that the prion-like spreading of amyloid beta (Aβ) protein could contribute to the progression of the disease. Olfactory bulb (OB) is one of the earliest brain regions affected in AD and olfaction is easily impaired prior to cognitive symptoms.

Xyloketal-derived small molecules show protective effect by decreasing mutant Huntingtin protein aggregates in Caenorhabditis elegans model of Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder, with chorea as the most prominent manifestation. The disease is caused by abnormal expansion of CAG codon repeats in the IT15 gene, which leads to the expression of a glutamine-rich protein named mutant Huntingtin (Htt). Because of its devastating disease burden and lack of valid treatment, development of more effective therapeutics for Huntington's disease is urgently required.

Melatonin attenuates hLRRK2-induced sleep disturbances and synaptic dysfunction in a Drosophila model of Parkinson's disease.

Sleep problems are the most common non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), and are more difficult to treat than the motor symptoms. In the current study, the role of human leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (hLRRK2), the most common genetic cause of PD, was investigated with regards to sleep problems, and the therapeutic potential of melatonin in hLRRK2‑associated sleep problems was explored in Drosophila. hLRRK2 was selectively expressed in the mushroom bodies (MBs) in Drosophila and sleep patterns were measured using the Drosophila Activity Monitoring System.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment Reduces Mortality in Elderly Patients with Moderate to Severe Obstructive Severe Sleep Apnea: A Cohort Study.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is much more prevalent in older people than in middle-aged or young populations, and has been associated with cardiovascular disease. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-line therapy for OSA, but its long-term clinical benefit in the elderly is unclear. Here, we carried out a prospective cohort study to explore the survival rate and incidence of cardiovascular events in elderly patients with moderate to severe OSA who did or did not receive CPAP treatment.

Comparisons of different metabolic syndrome definitions and associations with coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease in a rural Chinese population.

Objectives: We estimated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and compared associations of different MetS definitions with coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in a rural Chinese population.

Methods: Among 4,748 residents (2,145 men and 2,603 women) aged 30+ years in rural China from 2006 to 2007, the prevalence of MetS was estimated by using five different definitions: modified World Health Organization (WHO), Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS), the updated National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) for Asian-Americans, International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and Joint Interim Statement (JIS). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were implemented to estimate the association between MetS and the prevalence of CHD, stroke and PAD, respectively.

Paeonolum protects against MPP(+)-induced neurotoxicity in zebrafish and PC12 cells.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting 2% of the population aged over 65 years old. Mitochondrial defects and oxidative stress actively participate in degeneration of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in PD. Paeonolum, a main component isolated from Moutan cortex, has potent antioxidant ability.

Identification of marine neuroactive molecules in behaviour-based screens in the larval zebrafish.

High-throughput behavior-based screen in zebrafish is a powerful approach for the discovery of novel neuroactive small molecules for treatment of nervous system diseases such as epilepsy. To identify neuroactive small molecules, we first screened 36 compounds (1-36) derived from marine natural products xyloketals and marine isoprenyl phenyl ether obtained from the mangrove fungus. Compound 1 demonstrated the most potent inhibition on the locomotor activity in larval zebrafish.

Protective effects of puerarin against Aß40-induced vascular dysfunction in zebrafish and human endothelial cells.

Aß40-induced vascular dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer׳s disease (AD). In the present study, we investigated the possible protective effects of puerarin against Aß40-induced vascular damage and impairment to angiogenesis in transgenic TG (fli1:EGFP) zebrafish and human endothelial cells. Aß40 peptides at 5μM caused an obvious reduction of vessel branches in the subintestinal vein basket, induced NADPH oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species and impaired vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-dependent angiogenesis.

Absence of mutations in exon 6 of the TARDBP gene in 207 Chinese patients with sporadic amyotrohic lateral sclerosis.

Mutations in the TARDBP gene, which encodes the Tar DNA binding protein, have been shown to causes of both familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) and sporadic ALS (SALS). Recently, several novel TARDBP exon 6 mutants have been reported in patients with ALS in Europe and America but not in Asia. To further examine the spectrum and frequency of TARDBP exon 6 mutations, we investigated their frequency in ethnic Chinese patients with sporadic ALS.

Motoneuron differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells from SOD1G93A mice.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder mainly affecting motor neurons. Mutations in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1) account for about 20% of familial ALS patients. A robust supply of motoneurons carrying the mutated gene would help understand the causes of motoneuron death and develop new therapeutics for the disease.

Xyloketal B exhibits its antioxidant activity through induction of HO-1 in vascular endothelial cells and zebrafish.

We previously reported that a novel marine compound, xyloketal B, has strong antioxidative actions in different models of cardiovascular diseases. Induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an important endogenous antioxidant enzyme, has been considered as a potential therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular diseases. We here investigated whether xyloketal B exhibits its antioxidant activity through induction of HO-1.

dl-3n-Butylphthalide promotes angiogenesis via the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt-endothelial nitric oxide synthase signaling pathways.

We have previously demonstrated that dl-3n-butylphthalide (NBP) has a potential angiogenic activity. In this study, we investigated the angiogenic effect of NBP and the molecular mechanisms underlying NBP-mediated angiogenesis. Zebrafish embryos and human umbilical vein endothelial cells were treated with various doses of NBP and several signaling pathway inhibitors.

[Protective effects of Lycium barbarum extract against MPP(+) -induced neurotoxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans and PC12 cells].

Objective: To investigate the neuroprotective effects of Lycium barbarum extract against MPP(+) -induced neurotoxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans and PC12 cells and its mechanism.

Methods: Pretreated MPP(+) -induced nearotoxicity in C. elegans and PC12 cells with Lycium barbarum at different dosages.

Melatonin protects against rotenone-induced cell injury via inhibition of Omi and Bax-mediated autophagy in Hela cells.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, and environmental toxins such as rotenone play an important role in causing degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Melatonin, a major secretory product of pineal, is recently reported to protect against rotenone-induced cell death in animal models. Yet, the mechanism involved in this protection needs to be elucidated.

Neuronal differentiation potential of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been generated from somatic cells by ectopic expression of defined transcription factors. The important issues for clinical applications of iPS cells are the defined methods for somatic cell differentiation and how to effectively enrich desired cell population. Here we used humanized renilla green fluorescent protein under the control of Tα1 α-tubulin promoter as lineage selection marker for neuronal differentiation of iPS cells.

Protective effects of xyloketal B against MPP+-induced neurotoxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans and PC12 cells.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting 2% of the population over age 65years. Mitochondrial defect and oxidative stress actively participate in the dopaminergic (DA) neuron degeneration in PD. Xyloketal B is a novel marine compound with unique chemical structure isolated from mangrove fungus Xylaria sp.

[Impact of organized stroke ward on the therapeutic effect in stroke patients].

Objective: To study the impact of organized stroke ward on the therapeutic effect in stroke patients.

Methods: A total of 2637 patients with acute stroke were randomly assigned to organized stroke ward or the general ward for treatment, and the rates of mortality, nonrecovery, improvement, and recovery were compared between the two groups.

Results: The rates of mortality, nonrecovery, improvement, and recovery in 5 years were 2.