Imbalance Between Angiotensin II and Kallikrein in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Case-Control Emergency Room Study.

The present study aimed to investigate the balance between angiotensin II (Ang-II) and kallikrein (KLK1) in the pathogenesis of ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). The study included a total of 261 participants: 151 STEMI patients and 110 individuals with normal coronary arteries. The plasma levels of Ang-II and KLK1 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the plasma levels of Ang-II, KLK1 and the ratio of Ang-II and KLK1 (Ang-II/KLK1) independently correlated with the presence of STEMI. Furthermore, we found independent associations between STEMI and smoking, cholesterol (CHO), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), as well as age. The ratio of Ang-II/KLK1 correlated with the plasma level of the inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6). Both Ang-II and KLK1 levels are significantly elevated in patients with STEMI. An increased Ang-II/KLK1 ratio may result in the over-activation of Ang-II and exacerbate the progression of STEMI(P = .046). In conclusion, we have demonstrated, for the first time, an Ang-II and KLK1 imbalance in patients with STEMI.

Association between hyperuricemia and hypertension and the mediatory role of obesity: a large cohort study in China.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the sex-specific association between hyperuricemia and the risk of hypertension and whether obesity mediates this association. METHODS: This study included 31,395 (47.0% women) adults without hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline who completed at least one follow-up annual examination between 2009 and 2016. Cox regression models were performed to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Mediation analysis was conducted to estimate the effect of body mass index on the association between hyperuricemia and hypertension. RESULTS: During a median 2.9-year follow-up, hyperuricemia was significantly associated with a higher risk of hypertension (HR 1.15, 95%CI 1.07-1.24 for all participants; HR 1.12, 95%CI 1.03-1.22 for men; and HR 1.23, 95%CI 1.02-1.48 for women) after adjustment for potential confounders. Additional adjustment for body mass index attenuated this association (HR 1.09, 95%CI 1.08-1.10 for all participants; HR 1.07; 95%CI 0.98-1.16 for men; HR 1.18; 95%CI 0.96-1.44 for women). Mediation analysis showed that BMI partially mediated the relationship between hyperuricemia and incident hypertension (indirect effect HR 1.09, 95%CI 1.08-1.10; direct effect: HR 1.08, 95%CI 1.02-1.15). The percentage of the mediation effect was 53.2% (95%CI 37.9-84.5). CONCLUSION: Hyperuricemia is associated with a risk of hypertension in both sexes, and BMI partially mediates hyperuricemia-related incident hypertension.

Effects of ultrasound-induced V-type rice starch-tannic acid interactions on starch in vitro digestion and multiscale structural properties.

V-type starch-polyphenol complexes, known for their improved physicochemical properties compared to native starch, are challenging to form efficiently. In this study, the effects of tannic acid (TA) interaction with native rice starch (NS) on digestion and physicochemical properties were investigated using non-thermal ultrasound treatment (UT). Results showed the highest complexing index for NSTA-UT3 (∼ 0.882) compared to NSTA-PM (∼0.618). NSTA-UT complexes reflected the V6I-type complex having six anhydrous glucose per unit per turn with peaks at 2θ = 7°, 13°, and 20°. The maxima of the absorption for iodine binding were suppressed by the formation of V-type complexes depending on the concentration of TA in the complex. Furthermore, rheology and particle size distributions were also affected by TA introduction under ultrasound, as revealed by SEM. XRD, FT-IR, and TGA analyses confirmed V-type complex formation for NSTA-UT samples, with improved thermal stability and increased short-range ordered structure. Ultrasound-induced addition of TA also decreased the hydrolysis rate and increased resistant starch (RS) concentration. Overall, ultrasound processing promoted the formation of V-type NSTA complexes, suggesting that tannic acid could be utilized for the production of anti-digestion starchy foods in the future.

Association between Periodontitis and Aortic Calcification: A Cohort Study.

The present study investigated the association between the presence of periodontitis and aortic calcification (AC) risk among Chinese adults. A total of 6059 individuals who underwent regular health check-ups and received a diagnosis of periodontitis between 2009 and 2016 were included. The outcome was AC, assessed by a chest low-dose spiral CT scan. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to assess the association between periodontitis and AC risk after adjusting for several confounders. After a median follow-up period of 2.3 years (interquartile range: 1.03-4.97 years), 843 cases of AC were identified, with 532 (12.13%) and 311 (18.59%) patients in the non-periodontitis group and periodontitis group, respectively. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that, compared with those without periodontitis, the hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval for AC risk in participants with periodontitis was 1.18 (1.02-1.36) (P = .025) in the fully adjusted model. Stratified analyses showed that the positive relationship between periodontitis and AC was more evident in males and participants <65 years of age (pinteraction = .005 and .004, respectively). Our results show that the presence of periodontitis was positively associated with AC among Chinese adults, especially among males and younger participants.

Association between hyperuricemia and hypertension and the mediatory role of obesity: a large cohort study in China

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the sex-specific association between hyperuricemia and the risk of hypertension and whether obesity mediates this association. METHODS: This study included 31,395 (47.0% women) adults without hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline who completed at least one follow-up annual examination between 2009 and 2016. Cox regression models were performed to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Mediation analysis was conducted to estimate the effect of body mass index on the association between hyperuricemia and hypertension. RESULTS: During a median 2.9-year follow-up, hyperuricemia was significantly associated with a higher risk of hypertension (HR 1.15, 95%CI 1.07-1.24 for all participants; HR 1.12, 95%CI 1.03-1.22 for men; and HR 1.23, 95%CI 1.02-1.48 for women) after adjustment for potential confounders. Additional adjustment for body mass index attenuated this association (HR 1.09, 95%CI 1.08-1.10 for all participants; HR 1.07; 95%CI 0.98-1.16 for men; HR 1.18; 95%CI 0.96-1.44 for women). Mediation analysis showed that BMI partially mediated the relationship between hyperuricemia and incident hypertension (indirect effect HR 1.09, 95%CI 1.08-1.10; direct effect: HR 1.08, 95%CI 1.02-1.15). The percentage of the mediation effect was 53.2% (95%CI 37.9-84.5). CONCLUSION: Hyperuricemia is associated with a risk of hypertension in both sexes, and BMI partially mediates hyperuricemia-related incident hypertension.

Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Is Associated With Aortic Calcification: A Cohort Study With Propensity Score Matching.

Objectives: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) greatly affects cardiovascular disease, but evidence on the associations between NAFLD and markers of aortic calcification is limited. We aim to evaluate the association between NAFLD and aortic calcification in a cohort of Chinese adults using propensity score-matching (PSM) analysis. Methods: This prospective cohort study involved adults who underwent health-screening examinations from 2009 to 2016. NAFLD was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography at baseline, and aortic calcification was identified using a VCT LightSpeed 64 scanner. Analyses included Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis and PSM with predefined covariates (age, gender, marital and smoking status, and use of lipid-lowering drugs) to achieve a 1:1 balanced cohort. Results: Of the 6,047 eligible participants, 2,729 (45.13%) were diagnosed with NAFLD at baseline, with a median age of 49.0 years [interquartile range, 44.0-55.0]. We selected 2,339 pairs of participants with and without NAFLD at baseline for the PSM subpopulation. Compared with those without NAFLD, patients with NAFLD were at a higher risk of developing aortic calcification during follow-up; significant results were observed before and after matching, with the full-adjusted hazard ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals being 1.19 (1.02-1.38) and 1.18 (1.01-1.38), respectively (both p < 0.05). In subgroup analyses, no interaction was detected according to age, gender, smoking status, body mass index, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, use of lipid-lowering drugs, hypertension, or type 2 diabetes. Conclusions: NAFLD may be independently associated with aortic calcification. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the possible underlying mechanisms.

Association between serum prostate-specific antigen concentrations and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese men: A cohort study.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: The current literature suggests that men with diabetes have a lower prostate-specific antigen concentration than men without diabetes, but the causal association remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between serum prostate-specific antigen concentrations and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a cohort study of a Chinese population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed a cohort study that comprised 16,811 initially non-diabetic Chinese men who received annual health checkups between 2009 and 2016. The outcome of this study was type 2 diabetes mellitus, identified by medical diagnosis, self-reportage, medication use, fasting glucose, 2-h post oral glucose or glycated hemoglobin measurements. Cox proportional hazards models were carried out to evaluate the association. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 3.8 years (interquartile range 1.91-5.73 years), 1,260 participants developed incident type 2 diabetes mellitus. The multivariable model, adjusted for various potential confounders, showed that serum prostate-specific antigen concentrations were inversely related to type 2 diabetes mellitus risk (P for trend = 0.014). Compared with the lowest quartile of serum prostate-specific antigen, the hazard ratio and 95% confidence intervals of type 2 diabetes mellitus risk for quartile 2-4 were 0.84 (0.66-1.07), 0.75 (0.59-0.94) and 0.77 (0.62-0.96), respectively. Subgroup analyses suggested the inverse relationship was more prominent in overweight or obese participants (P for interaction = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: High serum prostate-specific antigen concentration was associated with a low risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese men. Future studies are required to confirm these findings and investigate underlying mechanisms.

LncRNA EBLN3P promotes the progression of osteosarcoma through modifying the miR-224-5p/Rab10 signaling axis.

The treatment of patients with advanced-stage osteosarcoma represents a major challenge, with very few treatments currently approved. Although accumulating evidence has demonstrated the importance of lncRNAs in osteosarcoma, the current knowledge on the functional roles and molecular mechanisms of lncRNA endogenous born avirus-like nucleoprotein (EBLN3P) is limited. At present, the expressions of EBLN3P and miR-224-5p in osteosarcoma tissues were quantified by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR assay, and the expression of Ras-related protein 10 (Rab10) in osteosarcoma tissues was quantified by immunohistochemistry and western-blotting. The bioinformatics prediction software ENCORI was used to predict the putative binding sites of EBLN3P, Rab10 and miR-224-5p. The regulatory role of EBLN3P or miR-224-5p on cell proliferation, migration and invasion ability were verified by Cell Counting Kit-8, wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. The interaction among EBLN3P, miR-224-5p and Rab10 were testified by luciferase. The increased expression of EBLN3P and Rab10 and decreased expression of miR-224-5p were observed in osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines. Besides, the overexpression of EBLN3P or knockdown of miR-224-5p were revealed to promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assay revealed that EBLN3P could directly interacted with miR-224-5p to attenuate miR-224-5p binding to the Rab10 3'-untranslated region. Furthermore, the mechanistic investigations revealed activation of the miR-224-5p/Rab10 regulatory loop by knockdown of miR-372-3p or overexpression of Rab10, thereby confirming the in vitro role of EBLN3P in promoting osteosarcoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate that EBLN3P may act as a competitive endogenous RNA to modulate Rab10 expression by competitive sponging to miR-224-5p, leading to the regulation of osteosarcoma progression, which indicates a possible new approach to osteosarcoma diagnosis and treatment.

Associations of ACE I/D polymorphism with the levels of ACE, kallikrein, angiotensin II and interleukin-6 in STEMI patients.

This study aimed to compare the plasma levels of angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE), Angiotensin II (AngII), kallikrein (KLK1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients with different ACE Insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphisms in a Chinese population. The ACE genotypes were determined in the 199 STEMI patients and 216 control subjects. STEMI patients were divided into three groups based on the ACE genotypes. Single polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to characterize ACE I/D polymorphisms. Plasma levels of ACE, AngII, KLK1 and IL-6 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that the DD or ID genotype was significantly independently associated with high ACE (OR = 4.697; 95% CI = 1.927-11.339), KLK1 (3.339; 1.383-8.063) and IL-6 levels (OR = 2.10; 1.025-4.327) in STEMI patients. However, there was no statistical significance between the ACE I/D polymorphism and AngII plasma levels whether in univariate or multivariate logistic regression. Additionally, we detected a significantly positive correlation between plasma KLK1 levels and IL-6 levels in STEMI patients (r = 0.584, P < 0.001). The study showed high levels of ACE, KLK1 and IL-6 were detected when the D allele was present, but AngII plasma levels was not influenced by the ACE I/D polymorphism.

Dexmedetomidine attenuates persistent postsurgical pain by upregulating K+-Cl- cotransporter-2 in the spinal dorsal horn in rats.

BACKGROUND: Dexmedetomidine (DEX) could have an analgesic effect on pain transmission through the modulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In addition, KCC2-induced shift in neuronal Cl- homeostasis is crucial for postsynaptic inhibition mediated by GABAA receptors. Accumulating evidence shows that nerve injury, peripheral inflammation and stress activate the spinal BDNF/TrkB signal, which results in the downregulation of KCC2 transport and expression, eventually leads to GAGAergic disinhibition and hyperalgesia. The aim of this experiment was to explore the interaction between DEX and KCC2 at a molecular level in rats in the persistent postsurgical pain (PPSP). METHODS: PPSP in rats was evoked by the skin/muscle incision and retraction (SMIR). Mechanical hypersensitivity was assessed with the Dynamic Plantar Aesthesiometer. Western blot and immunofluorescence assay were used to assess the expressions of related proteins. RESULTS: In the first part of our experiment, the results revealed that the BDNF/TrkB-KCC2 signal plays a critical role in the development of SMIR-evoked PPSP; the second part showed that intraperitoneal administrations of 40 µg/kg DEX at 15 min presurgery and 1 to 3 days post-surgery significantly attenuated SMIR-evoked PPSP. Simultaneously, SMIR-induced KCC2 downregulation was partly reversed, which coincided with the inhibition of the BDNF/TrkB signal in the spinal dorsal horn. Moreover, intrathecal administrations of KCC2 inhibitor VU0240551 significantly reduced the analgesic effect of DEX on SMIR-evoked PPSP. CONCLUSION: The results of our study indicated that DEX attenuated PPSP by restoring KCC2 function through reducing BDNF/TrkB signal in the spinal dorsal horn in rats, which provides a new insight into the treatment of chronic pain in clinical postsurgical pain management.

Anesthesia management of surgery for sigmoid perforation and acute peritonitis patient following heart transplantation: case report.

Here we described a case in which a patient underwent emergency laparotomy for acute peritonitis and sigmoid perforation under general anesthesia with a history of heart transplantation. A good knowledge in the physiology of the transplanted heart is critical for effective and safe general anesthesia. We chose etomidate that have a weaker impact on cardiovascular function plus propofol for induction, and propofol plus cisatracurium for maintenance with intermittently analgesics and vasoactive drugs to facilitate the anesthesia. In addition, fluid input, electrolyte and acid-base balance were well adjusted during the whole procedure. The patient was in good condition after the surgery. In this case report we are aiming to provide some guidance for those scheduled for non-cardiac surgery after heart transplant.