Biological indicators of sub-optimal health status.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate biological indicators of sub-optimal health status and provide means of objective assessment of sub-optimal health status. METHODS: We set the unified standards for diagnosing a SHS. We tested various laboratory indicators in 407 cases that we selected randomly from 2807 subjects and collected 15 mL of fasting venous blood from each case. We measured serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations, serum beta endorphins (beta-EP), cortisol (C), testosterone (T), plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and serum T lymphocyte subsets CD3+ and CD4+. RESULTS: Mean serum testosterone concentrations and their ratio to cortisol (C) concentrations were significantly higher in the healthy group than in those with sub-optimal health status (P < 0.01). Mean serum CD3+ concentrations were significantly higher in those with sub-optimal health status than in the healthy group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Decreased serum testosterone/cortisol ratio may be an objective indication of sub-optimal health status. Changes in neuroendocrine and immunological indicators may explain some of the symptoms, including malaise and poor work performance, attributable to persistent or relapsing fatigue in subjects with sub-optimal health status.

Diagnosis Analysis of 4 TCM Patterns in Suboptimal Health Status: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach.

Background. We illustrated an example of structure equation modelling (SEM) in the research on SHS to explore the diagnosis of the Sub optimal health status (SHS) and provide evidence for the standardization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) patterns in SHS. And the diagnosis of 4 TCM patterns in SHS was evaluated in this analysis. Methods. This study assessed data on 2807 adults (aged 18 to 49) with SHS from 6 clinical centres. SEM was used to analyze the patterns of SHS in TCM. Parameters in the introduced model were estimated by the maximum likelihood method. Results. The discussed model fits the SHS data well with CFI = 0.851 and RMSEA = 0.075. The direct effect of Qi deficiency pattern on dampness pattern had the highest magnitude (value of estimate is 0.822). With regard to the construct of "Qi deficiency pattern", "fire pattern", "stagnation pattern" and "dampness pattern", the indicators with the highest load were myasthenia of limbs, vexation, deprementia, and dizziness, respectively. It had been shown that estimate factor should indicate the important degree of different symptoms in pattern. Conclusions. The weights of symptoms in the respective pattern can be statistical significant and theoretical meaningful for the 4 TCM patterns identification in SHS research. The study contributed to a theoretical framework, which has implications for the diagnosis points of SHS.

Glucose and magnetic-responsive approach toward in situ nitric oxide bubbles controlled generation for hyperglycemia theranostics.

Stimuli-responsive devices that deliver drugs or imaging contrast agents in spatial-, temporal- and dosage-controlled fashions have emerged as the most promising and valuable platform for targeted and controlled drug delivery. However, implementing high performance of these functions in one single delivery carrier remains extremely challenging. Herein, we have developed a sequential strategy for developing glucose and magnetic-responsive microvesicle delivery system, which regulates the glucose levels and spatiotemporally controls the generation of nitric oxide gas free bubbles. It is observed that such injectable microvesicles loaded with enzyme and magnetic nanoparticles can firstly regulate hyperglycemic level based on the enzymatic reactions between glucose oxidase and glucose. In a sequential manner, concomitant magnetic field stimuli enhance the shell permeability while prompts the reaction between H2O2 and l-arginine to generate the gasotransmitters nitric oxide, which can be imaged by ultrasound and further delivered for diabetic nephropathy therapy. Therefore, magnetic microvesicles with glucose oxidase may be designed as a novel theranostic approach for restoring glucose homeostasis and spatiotemporally control NO release for maintaining good overall diabetic health.

A Novel Approach to Making the Gas-Filled Liposome Real: Based on the Interaction of Lipid with Free Nanobubble within the Solution.

Nanobubbles with a size less than 1 µm could make a promising application in ultrasound molecular imaging and drug delivery. However, the fabrication of stable gas encapsulation nanobubbles is still challenging. In this study, a novel method for preparation of lipid- encapsulated nanobubbles was reported. The dispersed phospholipid molecules in the prefabricated free nanobubbles solution can be assembled to form controllable stable lipid encapsulation gas-filled ultrasound-sensitive liposome (GU-Liposome). The optimized preparation parameters and formation mechanism of GU-Liposome were investigated in detail. Results showed that this type of GU-Liposome had mean diameter of 194.4 ± 6.6 nm and zeta potential of -25.2 ± 1.9 mV with layer by layer self-assembled lipid structure. The acoustic imaging analysis in vitro indicated that ultrasound imaging enhancement could be acquired by both perfusion imaging and accumulation imaging. The imaging enhancement level and duration time was related with the ratios of lipid to gas in the GU-Liposome structure. All in all, by this novel and controllable nanobubble construction technique, it will broaden the future theranostic applications of nanobubbles.

Controlled drug release and hydrolysis mechanism of polymer-magnetic nanoparticle composite.

Uniform and multifunctional poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-nanoparticle composite has enormous potential for applications in biomedical and materials science. A detailed understanding of the surface and interface chemistry of these composites is essential to design such materials with optimized function. Herein, we designed and investigated a simple PLA-magnetic nanoparticle composite system to elucidate the impact of nanoparticles on the degradation of polymer-nanoparticle composites. In order to have an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of hydrolysis in PLA-nanoparticle composites, degradation processes were monitored by several surface sensitive techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, contact angle goniometry, atomic force microscopy, and sum frequency generation spectroscopy. As a second-order nonlinear optical technique, SFG spectroscopy was introduced to directly probe in situ chemical nature at the PLA-magnetic nanoparticle composite/aqueous interface, which allowed for the delineation of molecular mechanisms of various hydrolysis processes for degradation at the molecular level. The best PLA-NP material, with a concentration of 20% MNP in the composite, was found to enhance the drug release rate greater than 200 times while maintaining excellent controlled drug release characteristics. It was also found that during hydrolysis, various crystalline-like PLA domains on the surfaces of PLA-nanoparticle composites influenced various hydrolysis behaviors of PLA. Results from this study provide new insight into the design of nanomaterials with controlled degradation and drug release properties, and the underlined molecular mechanisms. The methodology developed in this study to characterize the polymer-nanoparticle composites is general and widely applicable.