Publications by authors named "Zhan Junkun"

Vascular aging and its associated diseases represent a principal cause of mortality among the global elderly population, making the mitigation of vascular aging a significant aspiration for humanity. This article explores the intersection of nature and health, focusing on the role of the natural plant, pepper, and its principal bioactive compound, capsaicin, in combating vascular aging. By examining molecular and cellular mechanisms as well as phenotypic alterations in blood vessels, we offer a comprehensive review of the effects of capsaicin and its receptor, transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), within vascular aging.

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Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) represents a major global health challenge, marked by chronic hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and immune system dysfunction. Immune cells, including T cells and monocytes, play a pivotal role in driving systemic inflammation in T2DM; however, the underlying single-cell mechanisms remain inadequately defined.

Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 37 patients with T2DM and 11 healthy controls (HC) was conducted.

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Obesity causes an imbalance in the expression and secretion of several organokines, which in turn contributes to the development of metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. Organokines are produced by corresponding organs and affect systemic metabolic homeostasis. Diverse organokines play a crucial role in the communication between adipose tissue, skeletal muscle and other organs.

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Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe and progressive lung disease that significantly impairs patients' health and imposes heavy clinical and economic burdens. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive epidemiological analysis on the global burden and trends of PAH.

Methods: We estimated the prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of PAH from 1990 to 2021 using the results of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD).

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Background: Medical diagnostics is a pivotal bridge curriculum that receives much less attention from undergraduates in non-clinical medicine health profession programs with less student engagement and poor performance. Mind mapping is an active learning strategy for graphically presenting radiant thinking to culture clinical reasoning. The purpose of this study was to explore whether students' comprehensive diagnostic skills are enhanced through increased student engagement by employing mind mapping.

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Sarcopenia was recently reported to be relevant to an increased macro-and microvascular disease risk. Sarcopenia index (SI) has been identified as a surrogate marker for sarcopenia. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between macro- and microvascular disease and SI in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

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Objective: To investigate the relationship between icariin and the osteoblastic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and the signal pathway involved.

Methods: We applied a universally accepted calcification model of VSMCs induced by β glycerophosphate. Then the VSMCs calcification was observed by treatment with icariin and/or inhibitors of estrogen receptors (ERs) and p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling.

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Introduction: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the major microvascular complications of diabetes. DKD is associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. Versican (VCAN), a chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan, has been proven to participate in oxidative stress and inflammation.

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Background: Previous studies suggested protective effects of bilirubin against cardiovascular disease, with a possible gender difference. However, the relationship between serum total bilirubin (TBIL) with diabetic macro- and microvascular complications remains unknown. We aimed to examine the association of macro- and microvascular complications with serum TBIL levels.

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Vascular calcification and aging often increase morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM); however, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. In the present study, we found that Bcl-2 modifying factor (BMF) and BMF antisense RNA 1 (BMF-AS1) were significantly increased in high glucose-induced calcified and senescent vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) as well as artery tissues from diabetic mice. Inhibition of BMF-AS1 and BMF reduced the calcification and senescence of VSMCs, whereas overexpression of BMF-AS1 and BMF generates the opposite results.

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Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) increases the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which might be related to insulin resistance (IR). We aimed to explore the association between the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, a reliable indicator of IR, and VDD in patients with T2DM.

Methods: There were 1034 participants with T2DM enrolled in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.

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Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging regulators of vascular diseases, yet their role in diabetic vascular calcification/aging remains poorly understood. In this study, we identified a down-expressed lncRNA SNHG1 in high glucose (HG)-induced vascular smooth muscle cells (HA-VSMCs), which induced excessive autophagy and promoted HA-VSMCs calcification/senescence. Overexpression of SNHG1 alleviated HG-induced HA-VSMCs calcification/senescence.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated changes in the structure and function of lower-limb muscles in patients with type 2 diabetes, both with and without diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).
  • A total of 203 patients were examined using ultrasonography to measure the cross-sectional area and shear wave velocity of specific muscles, revealing significant decreases in the abductor hallux muscle in those with DPN.
  • The findings suggest that the abductor hallux's properties are linked to clinical factors like the Toronto Clinical Scoring System and glycosylated hemoglobin levels, indicating potential imaging markers for monitoring DPN in diabetes patients.
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Objective: To investigate the relationships between serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and body composition among postmenopausal women in China.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 776 postmenopausal women in China from May to July 2008. Clinical information was collected using a standardized questionnaire.

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Exosomes play a role as mediators of cell-to-cell communication, thus exhibiting pleiotropic activities to homeostasis regulation. Exosomal non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), mainly microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), are closely related to a variety of biological and functional aspects of human health. When the exosomal ncRNAs undergo tissue-specific changes due to diverse internal or external disorders, they can cause tissue dysfunction, aging, and diseases.

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Vascular aging is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population. Endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), forming the intima and media layers of the vessel wall respectively, are closely associated with the process of vascular aging and vascular aging-related diseases. Numerous studies have revealed the pathophysiologic mechanism through which lncRNA contributes to vascular aging, hence more attention is now paid to the role played by antisense long non-coding RNA (AS-lncRNA) in the pathogenesis of vascular aging.

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Vascular aging is defined as organic and functional changes in blood vessels, in which decline in autophagy levels, DNA damage, MicroRNA (miRNA), oxidative stress, sirtuin, and apoptosis signal-regulated kinase 1 (ASK1) are integral thereto. With regard to vascular morphology, the increase in arterial stiffness, atherosclerosis, vascular calcification and high amyloid beta levels are closely related to vascular aging. Further closely related thereto, at the cellular level, is the aging of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).

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With the demographic changes, more and more elderly people have chosen to spend their retirement life in a senior care facility. The elderly people in senior care facility are commonly suffering from various geriatric syndromes, including declined daily living activities, cognitive dysfunction, frailty, comorbidities, and polypharmacy, which make them vulnerable to adverse effects, like hypoglycemia and fall. Therefore, layered management is necessary for this population with group disparities.

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Delayed repair is a serious public health concern for diabetic populations. Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and Lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) play important roles in orchestrating the repair process. However, little is known about their effects on endothelial cell (EC) proliferation and neutrophil activity in subjects with hyperglycemia (HG).

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Aging is the most significant risk factor for late-onset AD. The age-associated changes in the immune system are termed immunosenescence.

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Background: The delayed repair process in the aging diabetic population is becoming an alarming public health concern. ICAM-1 plays an important role in orchestrating the repair process by mediating neutrophil recruitment and phagocytosis. However, little is known about the role of ICAM-1 in aging diabetic repair.

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Objective: Cardiovascular diseases and vascular aging are common in patients with diabetes. High glucose is a major cause of vascular aging and cardiovascular diseases. Premature senescence of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is one of the main contributors to vascular aging.

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The aging of the vasculature plays a crucial role in the pathological progression of various vascular aging-related diseases. As endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are essential parts in the inner and medial layers of vessel wall, respectively, the structural and functional alterations of ECs and VSMCs are the major causes of vascular aging. Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) is a multifunctional glycoprotein which exerts a regulatory role in the intercellular interactions involved in a variety of biological and pathological processes.

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