Negative correlation between early recovery and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 levels after intravenous thrombolysis.

OBJECTIVE: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is considered a biomarker for systemic inflammation and the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. However, little is known about the effect of acute vascular events on marker levels. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential association of early recovery with Lp-PLA2 levels in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). METHODS: Forty-three consecutive AIS patients who had their first stroke and were hospitalized within 5 hours of the onset of stroke were enrolled. All patients were treated with IVT using alteplase or urokinase. Plasma Lp-PLA2 levels were measured within 24 hours after IVT. Variables that showed a significant association with Lp-PLA2 in univariate analysis were included in the multivariate ordered logistic regression model. RESULTS: Early recovery was associated with Lp-PLA2 levels after IVT, and Lp-PLA2 levels tended to decrease with increased probability of early recovery. This study is the first to report a negative correlation between early recovery and Lp-PLA2 levels after IVT. CONCLUSION: Early recovery after IVT was negatively correlated with Lp-PLA2 A2 levels.

Effects of temperature and PM2.5 on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth in a heavily polluted area, Shijiazhuang, China.

The influence of weather and air pollution factors on hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) has received widespread attention. However, most of the existing studies came from lightly polluted areas and the results were inconsistent. There was a lack of relevant evidence of heavily polluted areas. This study aims to quantify the relationship between weather factors and air pollution with HFMD in heavily polluted areas. We collected the daily number of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Shijiazhuang, China from 2014 to 2018, as well as meteorological and air pollutant data over the same period. The generalized linear model combined with the distributed lag model was used to study the effect of meteorological factors and air pollutants on the daily cases of HFMD and its hysteresis effect. We found that the dose-response relationship between temperature, PM2.5, and the risk of hand-foot-mouth disease was non-linear. Both low temperature and high temperature increased the risk of hand-foot-mouth disease. The cumulative effect of high temperature reached the maximum at 0-10 lag days, and the cumulative effect of low temperature reached the maximum at 0-3 lag days. The concentration of PM2.5 between 76 and 200 µg/m3 has a certain risk of the onset of hand, foot, and mouth disease, but the extreme PM2.5 concentration has a certain protective effect. In addition, low humidity, low wind speed, and low-O3 can increase the risk of HFMD. Risks of humidity and low concentration of O3 increased as lag days extended. In conclusion, our study found that climate factors and air pollutants exert varying degrees of impact on HFMD. Our research provided the scientific basis for establishing an early warning system so that medical staff and parents can take corresponding measures to prevent HFMD.

Epidemiological characteristics of tuberculosis and effects of meteorological factors and air pollutants on tuberculosis in Shijiazhuang, China: A distribution lag non-linear analysis.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health problem in China. There is evidence to prove that meteorological factors and exposure to air pollutants have a certain impact on TB. But the evidence of this relationship is insufficient, and the conclusions are inconsistent. METHODS: Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to describe the distribution characteristics of TB in Shijiazhuang in the past five years. Through the generalized linear regression model (GLM) and the generalized additive model (GAM), the risk factors that affect the incidence of TB are screened. A combination of GLM and distribution lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was used to evaluate the lag effect of environmental factors on the TB. Results were tested for robustness by sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: The incidence of TB in Shijiazhuang showed a downward trend year by year, with seasonality and periodicity. Every 10 µg/m3 of PM10 changes, the RR distribution is bimodal. The first peak of RR occurs on the second day of lag (RR = 1.00166, 95% CI: 1.00023, 1.00390); the second risk period starts from 13th day of lag and peaks on15th day (RR = 1.00209, 95% CI: 1.00076, 1.00341), both of which are statistically significant. The cumulative effect of increasing 10 µg/m3 showed a similar bimodal distribution. Time zones where the RR makes sense are days 4-6 and 13-20. RR peaked on the 18th day (RR = 1.02239, 95% CI: 1.00623, 1.03882). The RR has a linear relationship with the concentration. Under the same concentration, the RR peaks within 15-20 days. CONCLUSION: TB in Shijiazhuang City showed a downward trend year by year, with obvious seasonal fluctuations. The air pollutant PM10 increases the risk of TB. The development of TB has a short-term lag and cumulative lag effects. We should focus on protecting susceptible people from TB in spring and autumn, and strengthen the monitoring and emission management of PM10 in the atmosphere.

Oxidative Stress-Related Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated With Hepatitis B Virus-Induced Liver Disease in the Northern Chinese Han Population.

Oxidative stress is closely related to the occurrence and development of various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular and infectious diseases. We identified six critical genetic variants related to oxidative stress, and evaluated their main effects and their interaction effects on hepatitis B virus (HBV)-induced liver diseases. We enrolled 3,128 Han Chinese subjects into five groups: healthy controls, chronic hepatitis B (CHB), liver cirrhosis (LC), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and natural clearance. We then determined the genotypes in each group for CYBA-rs4673, NCF4-rs1883112, NOX4-rs1836882, rs3017887, SOD2-rs4880, and GCLM-rs41303970, and evaluated the association between these variants and HBV-induced liver diseases. Gene-gene interactions were evaluated using generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction, logistic regression, and four-by-two tables. Significant associations were observed between healthy controls and the CIB group (CHB+LC+HCC). The CYBA-rs4673AG genotype was associated with a 1.356 rate of susceptibility of HBV-induced liver disease compared to the wild type GG genotype. The NCF4-rs1883112G allele occurred more frequently in healthy controls than in the CIB group in all three models (dominant, codominant, and recessive). Nox4-rs1836882 TC showed a protective association, being more frequent in healthy controls compared to the wild type TT genotype. GCLM-rs41303970A was associated with HBV-induced liver disease. The overall best model by multifactor dimensionality reduction was a five factor interaction model that had the highest cross validation consistency (10/10) and test accuracy (0.5669), P = 0.001. Oxidative stress-related gene polymorphisms are likely to be associated with HBV-induced liver disease, suggesting that information on these variations is useful for risk assessment of HBV-induced liver disease.

Protein components of post-synaptic density lattice, a backbone structure for type I excitatory synapses.

It is essential to study the molecular architecture of post-synaptic density (PSD) to understand the molecular mechanism underlying the dynamic nature of PSD, one of the bases of synaptic plasticity. A well-known model for the architecture of PSD of type I excitatory synapses basically comprises of several scaffolding proteins (scaffold protein model). On the contrary, 'PSD lattice' observed through electron microscopy has been considered a basic backbone of type I PSDs. However, major constituents of the PSD lattice and the relationship between the PSD lattice and the scaffold protein model, remain unknown. We purified a PSD lattice fraction from the synaptic plasma membrane of rat forebrain. Protein components of the PSD lattice were examined through immuno-gold negative staining electron microscopy. The results indicated that tubulin, actin, α-internexin, and Ca2+ /calmodulin-dependent kinase II are major constituents of the PSD lattice, whereas scaffold proteins such as PSD-95, SAP102, GKAP, Shank1, and Homer, were rather minor components. A similar structure was also purified from the synaptic plasma membrane of forebrains from 7-day-old rats. On the basis of this study, we propose a 'PSD lattice-based dynamic nanocolumn' model for PSD molecular architecture, in which the scaffold protein model and the PSD lattice model are combined and an idea of dynamic nanocolumn PSD subdomain is also included. In the model, cytoskeletal proteins, in particular, tubulin, actin, and α-internexin, may play major roles in the construction of the PSD backbone and provide linker sites for various PSD scaffold protein complexes/subdomains.

The Association between Leptin Level and Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Contradictory results have been reported regarding the association between leptin level and breast cancer. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to investigate this issue. METHODS: Published literature from PubMed and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) Database was retrieved. This study was performed based on different cases and control groups. The combined effect ([Formula: see text]) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed-effects or random-effects model analysis. RESULTS: Overall, the mean serum leptin level of case groups was significantly higher than that of control groups. A) For 9 studies comparing breast cancer cases and healthy controls the combined effect [Formula: see text] was 0.58 with 95% CI (0.48, 0.68). B) For 4 studies comparing premenopausal breast cancer cases and healthy controls the [Formula: see text] was 0.32 (0.12, 0.52). C) For 5 studies comparing postmenopausal cases and healthy controls the [Formula: see text] was 0.65 (0.46, 0.84). D) For 4 studies comparing breast cancer cases and breast benign controls the [Formula: see text] was 0.38 (0.17, 0.59). E) For 2 studies comparing premenopausal breast cancer cases and breast benign controls the [Formula: see text] was 0.33 (-0.25, 0.91). F) For 6 studies comparing postmenopausal breast cancer cases and breast benign controls the [Formula: see text] was 0.39 (0.19, 0.60). G) For 4 studies comparing lymph node metastasis positive cases and negative controls the [Formula: see text] was 0.72 (0.45, 1.00). H) For 3 studies comparing breast benign cases and healthy controls the [Formula: see text] was 0.71 (0.41, 1.01). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that leptin level plays a role in breast cancer and has potential for development as a diagnostic tool.