The role of physical activity on healthcare utilization in China.

Background: Evidence on the role of physical activity (PA) on healthcare utilization and expenditure is limited in China. We aimed to examine the association between the total physical activity (TPA) per week, healthcare service use and expenditure.

Methods: We extracted the data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011, 2013, and 2015.

Cyanidin-3-glucoside inhibits ferroptosis in renal tubular cells after ischemia/reperfusion injury via the AMPK pathway.

Background: Ferroptosis, which is characterized by lipid peroxidation and iron accumulation, is closely associated with the pathogenesis of acute renal injury (AKI). Cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), a typical flavonoid that has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects on ischemia‒reperfusion (I/R) injury, can induce AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation. This study aimed to show that C3G exerts nephroprotective effects against I/R-AKI related ferroptosis by regulating the AMPK pathway.

Machine learning algorithm-based identification and verification of characteristic genes in acute kidney injury.

Background: Acute kidney injury is a common renal disease with high incidence and mortality. Early identification of high-risk acute renal injury patients following renal transplant could improve their prognosis, however, no biomarker exists for early detection.

Methods: The GSE139061 dataset was used to identify hub genes in 86 DEGs between acute kidney injury and control samples using three machine learning algorithms (LASSO, random forest, and support vector machine-recursive feature elimination).

Polydatin attenuates tubulointerstitial fibrosis in diabetic kidney disease by inhibiting YAP expression and nuclear translocation.

The activation of Yes-associated protein (YAP) pathway is mutually causal with the increase of extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness. Polydatin (PD) has been proved to have anti-fibrosis effect in diabetic kidney disease (DKD), but it is still a mystery whether PD participates in YAP-related mechano-transduction. Therefore, this study intends to solve the following two problems: 1) To construct an system of polyacrylamide hydrogels (PA gels) based on the true stiffness of kidneys in healthy and DKD rats, and observe the effect of PD on pathological matrix stiffness-induced YAP expression in renal fibroblasts; 2) Compared with verteporfin (VP), a pharmacological inhibitor of YAP, to explore whether the therapeutic effect of PD on DKD model is related to the regulation of YAP.

Polydatin Attenuates Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury via SIRT6-Mediated Autophagy Activation.

In the treatment of malignant tumors, the effectiveness of cisplatin (CP) is limited by its nephrotoxicity, leading to cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (CP-AKI). Polydatin (PD) has been demonstrated to regulate autophagy in tumors, sepsis, and diabetes. We have recently confirmed that PD attenuated CP-AKI by inhibiting ferroptosis, but it is not clear whether PD can regulate autophagy to protect from CP-AKI.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor in acute kidneyinjury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a complex clinical syndrome with multiple etiologies and pathogenesis, which lacks early biomarkers and targeted therapy. Recently, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) family protein have received increasing attention owing to its pleiotropic protein molecule character in acute kidney injury, where it performed a dual role in the pathological process. macrophage migration inhibitory factor and macrophage migration inhibitory factor-2 are released into the peripheral circulation when Acute kidney injury occurs and interact with various cellular pathways.

Inhibition of Xanthine Oxidase Protects against Sepsis-Induced Acute Kidney Injury by Ameliorating Renal Hypoxia.

Xanthine oxidase (XO) utilizes molecular oxygen as a substrate to convert purine substrates into uric acid, superoxide, and hydrogen peroxide, which is one of the main enzyme pathways to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) during septic inflammation and oxidative stress. However, it is not clear whether XO inhibition can improve sepsis-induced renal hypoxia in sepsis-induced acute kidney injury (SI-AKI) mice. In this study, pretreatment with febuxostat, an XO-specific inhibitor, or kidney knockdown of XO by shRNA in vivo significantly improved the prognosis of SI-AKI, not only by reducing the levels of blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, tumor necrosis factor-, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1 in peripheral blood but also by improving histological damage and apoptosis, reducing the production of ROS, and infiltrating neutrophils and macrophages in the kidney.

Epidemiology and Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Patients in Northwestern China Who Had a History of Exposure in Wuhan City: Departure Time-Originated Pinpoint Surveillance.

Most COVID-19 patients cannot provide a clear exposure time; therefore, this study was designed to predict the progression of COVID-19 by using the definite departure time from Wuhan. In this retrospective study, all cases were selected from Northwestern China, which has the lowest population density. As our study endpoints, the incubation period was defined as the date of departure from Wuhan City to the date of symptom onset; we defined the confirmed time as the interval from symptom onset to positive results (samples from the respiratory tract).

Challenges Caused by Imported Cases Abroad for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in China.

Overseas imported cases of COVID-19 continue to increase in China, so we conducted this study to review the epidemiological characteristics of these patients. From February 26 to April 4, 2020, the imported cases from abroad were enrolled in this study. The effect of prevention countermeasures in curbing the spread of COVID-19 was assessed in this study.

Epidemiological Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Coronavirus Disease Patients in Northwest China: High-Volume Research From Low Population Density Regions.

Few studies have reported the transmission characteristics of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in low-density populations. This study has therefore analyzed the epidemiological characteristics and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients in Northwestern China, an area with low population density. From January 21 to March 11, 2020, data from patients diagnosed with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) in areas of Northwestern China with lower population densities were retrospectively analyzed.

Reversal of Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension by Hypoxia-Inducible Overexpression of Angiotensin-(1-7) in Pulmonary Endothelial Cells.

Hypoxia-induced pulmonary vascular constriction and structure remodeling are the main causes of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. In the present study, an adeno-associated virus vector, containing Tie2 promoter and hypoxia response elements, was designed and named HTSFcAng(1-7). Its targeting, hypoxic inducibility, and vascular relaxation were examined , and its therapeutic effects on hypobaric hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension were examined in rats.

Association between Normal Thyroid Hormones and Diabetic Retinopathy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

The relationship between normal thyroid function and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been a particular focus for concern. The present study determined the relationship between thyroid hormone levels and the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in T2DM patients. A cross-sectional study ( = 633) was performed in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.

Knockdown of cyclooxygenase-2 leads to growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is proved to play important roles in the development and progression of various human tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the antitumor effect of RNA interference (RNAi) technology targeting COX-2 in HCC has not yet been verified. We silenced COX-2 expression using a lentivirus-mediated RNAi and further investigated the effects of COX-2 knockdown on cell growth and cell cycle in Huh7 and SMMC-7721 cells.

Treatment of myoclonic-atonic epilepsy caused by SLC2A1 de novo mutation with ketogenic diet: A case report.

Rationale: The SLC2A1 gene encodes glucose transporter 1 on blood-brain barrier, which plays an important role in the energy supply for neurons. Mutations in SLC2A1 gene can cause many clinical syndromes, including glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome and many types of epilepsy syndromes such as childhood absence epilepsy and myoclonic-atonic epilepsy, etc. Ketogenic diet has been proved to be very effective on those cases.

SSeCKS/Gravin/AKAP12 Inhibits PKCζ-Mediated Reduction of ERK5 Transactivation to Prevent Endotoxin-Induced Vascular dysfunction.

SSeCKS/Gravin/AKAP12 is a protein kinase C (PKC) substrate that inhibits the activity of PKC through binding with it. SSeCKS is expressed in vascular endothelial cells (ECs). The atypical PKC isoform ζ (PKCζ) is a pathologic mediator of endothelial dysfunction.

Regional gray matter abnormality in hepatic myelopathy patients after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt: a voxel-based morphometry study.

Hepatic myelopathy is a complication seen in patients with chronic liver failure with physiologic or iatrogenic portosystemic shunting. The main symptom is progressive lower limb dyskinesia. The role of the brain motor control center in hepatic myelopathy is unknown.

Circular RNA expression profiles of persistent atrial fibrillation in patients with rheumatic heart disease.

Objective: To investigate the expression profile of circular RNAs (circRNAs) and proposed circRNA-microRNA (miRNA) regulatory network in atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: Atrial tissues from patients with persistent AF with rheumatic heart disease and non-AF myocardium with normal hearts were collected for circRNA differential expression analyses by high-throughput sequencing. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to predict the potential functions of the differentially expressed genes and AF-related pathways.

Overexpression of serum response factor is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

Serum response factor (SRF) is highly expressed in many tumors, including gastric cancer. However, the exact prognostic utility of SRF in patients with gastric cancer remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the expression and prognostic value of SRF in patients with gastric cancer.

Identification of differentially expressed genes and signaling pathways using bioinformatics in interstitial lung disease due to tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a rare but lethal adverse effect of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) treatment. The specific mechanism of this disease is not fully understood. To systematically analyze genes associated with EGFR-TKI induced ILD, gene data of EGFR-TKI induced ILD were extracted initially using text mining, and then the intersection between genes from text mining and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset was taken for further protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis using String-bd database.