Uhrf1 regulates H3K9me2 modification of mTOR to inhibit the effect of autophagy in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.

The regulation of mTOR and the dimethylation of histone H3 on lysine 9 (H3K9me2) H3K9me2 by Uhrf1 and the mechanism of autophagy regulation in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) were studied in vivo and in vitro. An in vitro I/R injury model was established using the primary mouse cardiomyocytes treated with H2O2. Subsequent analysis by qRT-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence indicated that overexpression of Uhrf1 significantly inhibited apoptosis of the H2O2-treated cardiomyocytes, reduced expression of apoptosis factors caspase-3 and Bax, and increased expression of apoptosis inhibitory factor Bcl-2. Furthermore, Uhrf1 was found to increase cardiomyocyte proliferation and promote the expression of mTOR, while the four expression peaks of H3K9me2 on the mTOR gene were inhibited by overexpression of Uhrf1. The expression of autophagy factors LC3, Beclin-1, and p-mTOR in Uhrf1-overexpressed cardiomyocytes was dramatically increased, and P62 expression was dramatically decreased. When an H3K9me2 inhibitor was added to the Uhrf1-knockdown cardiomyocytes, the expression of mTOR was increased, the expression of LC3, Beclin-1, and p-mTOR was decreased, and P62 expression was significantly increased. In the present study, Uhrf1 exhibits a protective function in MIRI, reducing the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes while increasing their proliferation and viability.

Comparative quality of life study between endoscopic sphincterotomy and surgical choledochotomy.

AIM: To determine quality of life improvement in choledocholithiasis patients who underwent endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) versus open choledochotomy (OCT). METHODS: Eligible choledocholithiasis patients (n = 216) hospitalized in the Changhai Hospital between May 2010 and January 2011 were enrolled into a prospective study using cluster sampling. Patients underwent EST (n = 135) or OCT (n = 81) depending on the patient's wishes. Patients were followed-up with a field survey and by correspondence. Patients were also given the self-administered Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) to measure patient quality of life before surgery, and at two and six weeks after the procedures. RESULTS: With respect to baseline patient characteristics, the EST and OCT groups were comparable. After the procedure, gallstones were completely eliminated in all patients. Among 216 eligible patients, 191 patients (88.4%) completed all three surveys, including 118 patients who underwent EST (118/135; 87.4%) and 73 patients who underwent OCT (73/81; 90.1%). EST was associated with a significantly shorter hospital stay than OCT (8.8 ± 6.5 vs 13.9 ± 6.7 d; P < 0.001). The GIQLI score was similar between the EST and OCT groups before cholelithotomy (103.0 ± 15.4 vs 99.7 ± 10.2), but increased significantly in the EST group at two weeks (113.4 ± 12.0 vs 107.2 ± 11.2; P < 0.001) and six weeks (120.7 ± 10.6 vs 116.9 ± 7.5; P < 0.05) after the procedures. CONCLUSION: EST, compared with OCT, is associated with better postoperative quality of life in patients treated for choledocholithiasis.

Using a zeolite medium biofilter to remove organic pollutant and ammonia simultaneously.

A pilot scale zeolite medium biological aerated filter(ZBAF) was designed and used to treat municipal wastewater. It showed that ZBAF could simultaneously remove chemical oxygen demand(COD), ammonia-N and turbidity to satisfied degree at a hydraulic retention time(HRT) of 0.95 h. Their average removal efficiencies were 73.9%, 88.4% and 96.2% with the corresponding average effluent concentrations of 43.4 mg/L, 3.5 mg/L and 3.7 NTU, respectively. These effluent items met with the water quality standard of the treated water reused for cooling water. The COD removal volumetric loading rate increased proportionally with its applied volumetric loading rate with its maximum of 7.1 kg/(m3 x d). Ammonia-N removal loading rate also increased proportionally with its applied loading rate at HRT of longer than 0.95 h and the feasible maximum removal loading rate was 0.9 kg/(m3 x d). The COD loading rate did not affect the ammonia-N removal efficiency significantly when it was lower than 5.5 kg/(m3 x d). ZBAF has good application prospect for its low cost and high removal efficiency in the future.