Publications by authors named "Xue-Mei Zhao"

Sugarcane molasses is an ideal economical raw material for ethanol production because of its wide availability, low cost and nutrient content. However, benzoic acid compounds with toxic effects on yeast cells are commonly found in sugarcane molasses. At present, the molecular mechanism of the toxic effects of benzoic acid on Saccharomyces cerevisiae has not been elucidated.

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Objective: The aim of this study is to create and validate a nomogram model for predicting complications of esophageal injury post-esophagoscopy in patients with esophageal foreign bodies (EFB).

Methods: We examined 303 patients who underwent esophagoscopy from January 2019 to December 2022 at a leading hospital in Anhui, known for its expertise in otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery. The patients were split into a modeling group and a validation group in a 7:3 ratio.

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Background: To assess the link between serum potassium ( ) and all-cause mortality in hospitalized heart failure (HF) patients.

Methods: Hospitalized HF patients (n = 3114) were analyzed at the Fuwai Hospital Heart Failure Center. Before discharge, HF patients were divided into four groups according to the level quartiles: 3.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients hospitalized with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and low N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels. Seven hundred ninety consecutive patients hospitalized with HFpEF from 2006 to 2017 were enrolled. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were compared between low NT-proBNP group (<300 ng/L) and elevated NT-proBNP group (≥300 ng/L).

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Article Synopsis
  • PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) play a significant role in cardiovascular diseases, but their involvement in cardiomyocyte death from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, particularly necroptosis, is not well understood.
  • * A specific piRNA, called heart necroptosis-associated piRNA (HNEAP), has been identified as regulating necroptosis in cardiomyocytes by affecting DNA methylation of Atf7 mRNA through DNMT1.
  • * Elevated levels of HNEAP were found in damaged heart tissue, and inhibiting its action improved heart function, suggesting that targeting the HNEAP-DNMT1-ATF7-CHMP2A pathway could provide new treatments
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Objective: Previous reports on the epidemiology, influencing factors, and the prognostic value of the components of PR interval in hospitalized heart failure patients were limited.

Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled 1182 patients hospitalized with heart failure from 2014 to 2017. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the association between the components of PR interval and the baseline parameters.

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Background: Polyamines have been demonstrated to be beneficial to porcine intestinal development. Our previous study showed that putrescine mitigates intestinal atrophy in weanling piglets and suppresses inflammatory response in porcine intestinal epithelial cells, it is still unknown the role of spermidine in mediating putrescine function.

Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the effect of spermidine on the proliferation, migration, and inflammatory response in porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2 cell line).

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Background: Although the benefits of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) on cardiovascular events have been reported in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with or without heart failure (HF), the impact of SGLT2i on cardiac remodelling remains to be established.

Methods: We searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases up to November 16th, 2020, for randomized controlled trials reporting the effects of SGLT2i on parameters of cardiac structure, cardiac function, plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level or the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) score in T2DM patients with or without chronic HF. The effect size was expressed as the mean difference (MD) or standardized mean difference (SMD) and its 95% confidence interval (CI).

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Background: CYP27A1 is the disease-causing gene of cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX). As a treatable lipid storage disease, early treatment can improve the prognosis. However, CTX patients reported in the literature are mostly adult patients; the phenotype spectrum of CTX in the infantile population remains elusive.

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Article Synopsis
  • PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) play a significant role during cardiac hypertrophy, but their specific functions are not fully understood.
  • A newly identified piRNA, named CHAPIR, promotes harmful cardiac growth by interfering with the methylation of Parp10 mRNA, which leads to increased PARP10 expression.
  • Targeting the CHAPIR-METTL3-PARP10-NFATC4 signaling pathway could offer new therapeutic strategies for managing cardiac hypertrophy and related heart issues.
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Polar crystal structures have attracted more and more attention, due to their unique characteristics, such as ferroelectricity, piezoelectricity, and nonlinear optical property, etc. However, the construction of polar materials is always accidental, and finding an effective synthesis strategy to construct polar materials remains a challenge. Herein, inorganic-organic hybrid compounds of [CHN][FeCl] () ([CHN] = quinuclidinium cation) and [CHN][GeCl] () were prepared, respectively, to verify the beneficial effect of polar anions on the construction of polar crystals.

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Background: Due to the multi-factorial etiology of hepatic fibrosis, multi-target therapeutics based on combinatory drugs is known to be a promising strategy for the disease.

Aims: The present study attempted to test the hypothesis that astragaloside IV combined with ferulic acid synergistically inhibits activation of hepatic stellate cells in vivo.

Methods: Bile duct-ligated rats were treated with astragaloside IV or/and ferulic acid for 28 days.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate low keV mono-energetic reconstructions in spectral coronary CT angiography (CCTA) with lower contrast and radiation dose using dual-layer spectral detector CT (SDCT).
  • Sixty patients were split into two groups, receiving CCTA with different tube voltages and the same amount of contrast media, allowing for a comparison of image quality.
  • Results showed that the mono-energetic images (40-60 keV) offered better image quality and less noise than conventional images (120 kVp and 100 kVp), without significant differences in patient characteristics or effective radiation dose.
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An efficient one pot, three component synthesis of C3 sulfonamidomethylated imidazopyridines has been disclosed under metal-free conditions, which utilized the commercially available and renewable reagent methanol as the main methylene source. A wide range of substituted imidazopyridines and sulfamides/amines were well tolerated to afford the corresponding products in up to 92% yield. In the isotopic labelling experiment, it was found that a minor part of the methylene also originated from DTBP.

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Driven by the rapidly increasing demand for technological applications, multifunctional materials have been one important research area, which are expected to enhance the capacity and versatility of materials in various applications. Nevertheless, combining more than three functions in one molecular compound is still a challenge. Molecular solid-solid phase transition materials could exhibit switchable properties, which could have potential applications such as switches, sensors, and memory devices.

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Magnetoelectric materials with a large magnetoelectric response, a low operating magnetic (or electric) field, and a room-temperature (or higher) operating temperature are of key importance for practical applications. However, such materials are extremely rare because a large magnetoelectric response often requires strong coupling between spins and electric dipoles. Herein, an example of a magnetoelectric composite is prepared by using a room-temperature multiaxial molecular-ionic ferroelectric, tetramethylammonium tetrachlorogallate(III) (1).

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Article Synopsis
  • This study aimed to compare the image quality of monoenergetic reconstructions from spectral non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) with conventional 120 kVp images at a similar radiation dose.
  • Thirty patients were examined using dual-layer spectral detector CT and conventional CT, with various energy levels tested to assess image quality through several metrics including signal-to-noise ratio and subjective scores from radiologists.
  • Results indicated that monoenergetic images at 68 keV provided superior image quality, characterized by higher signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios, as well as lower noise levels, all without increasing radiation exposure.
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Prenatal lead exposure is associated with poor intellectual development in children. However, there are few breakthroughs in therapeutic intervention of developmental lead neurotoxicity. The aim of this study is to evaluate the hypothesis that ferulic acid-mediated promotion of neurite outgrowth following lead exposure might mainly result from its antioxidant capability by extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2).

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A novel iron-involved tosylmethylation of imidazo[1,2-α]pyridines with p-toluenesulfonylmethyl isocyanide in a solvent mixture of H2O and PEG400 under an Ar atmosphere has been developed. This protocol provides a facile synthetic route for the functionalization of the imidazo[1,2-α]pyridine scaffold with broad substrate compatibility, which is less expensive and environmentally friendly. The current methodology could further enable regioselective C-H tosylmethylation of indole at the C3 position.

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A nickel(II)-catalyzed alkynylation/annulation cascade via double C-H cleavage has been successfully achieved. This methodology adopted a removable N,O-bidentate directing group with a broad range of amide substrates and terminal alkynes being well tolerated. The catalytic system allowed for atom-economical and environmentally benign one-pot construction of the corresponding 3-methyleneisoindolin-1-one derivatives using O2 as the external oxidant.

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This study was designed to investigate the effect of gastrodin(GAS) against β-amyloid plaques in 5×FAD Alzheimer’s disease(AD) transgenic mice, and utilize 117 cell model(over-expression of Aβ and β-secretase) to explore the underlying mechanism. 5×FAD mice model were randomly divided into three groups, including GAS-high dose group(GAS-H, 200 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1)), GAS-middle dose group(GAS-M, 100 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1)) and GAS-low dose group(GAS-L, 50 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1)). Meanwhile, the wild type mice were used in the control group.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on the urgent need to improve the early diagnosis and treatment of acute renal allograft rejection in kidney transplant recipients, as this remains a significant risk leading to renal injury.
  • - Researchers utilized data from the ArrayExpress database to identify differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) and mRNAs in cases of acute rejection and functioning allografts, ultimately identifying 59 common genes between these groups.
  • - The analysis revealed a regulatory network involving 103 differentially co-expressed genes and identified several transcription factors and common genes linked to acute renal allograft rejection, suggesting potential targets for treatment and further research.
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This study is to screen the Chinese herbal compounds which could inhibit the production of Abeta and investigate the underlying mechanism. Ten types of compounds which have potential value in the treatment of AD were selected as initial screening trial. The cell models which used could overexpress Abeta and beta-secretases or Abeta and gamma-secretases.

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Parkinson׳s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the selective degeneration of projecting dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and diminished dopamine levels in the striatum. Accumulating evidences demonstrate that the aggregation of extracellular α-synuclein contributes to the neuroinflammation and neuronal injury in the substantia nigra in the brain of patients with PD. Proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), a G-protein coupled receptor, is expressed throughout the peripheral and central nerve system.

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