CircRNA: a rising therapeutic strategy for lung injury induced by pulmonary toxicants.

Lung injury has been a serious medical problem that requires new therapeutic approaches and biomarkers. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that exist widely in eukaryotes. CircRNAs are single-stranded RNAs that form covalently closed loops. CircRNAs are significant gene regulators that have a role in the development, progression, and therapy of lung injury by controlling transcription, translating into protein, and sponging microRNAs (miRNAs) and proteins. Although the study of circRNAs in lung injury caused by pulmonary toxicants is just beginning, several studies have revealed their expression patterns. The function that circRNAs perform in relation to pulmonary toxicants (severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), drug abuse, PM2.5, and cigarette smoke) is the main topic of this review. A variety of circRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers of lung injury. In this review, the biogenesis, properties, and biological functions of circRNAs were concluded, and the relationship between circRNAs and pulmonary toxicants was discussed. It is expected that the new ideas and potential treatment targets that circRNAs provide would be beneficial to research into the molecular mechanisms behind lung injury.

Association between obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic syndrome: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Evidence suggests that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is related to metabolic syndrome; however, the relationship among metabolic syndrome parameters (blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL)) and OSA is unclear. METHODS: PRISMA guidelines were followed for this study. Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases were searched until December 23, 2015, using following terms: obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea, OSA and metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: Ten studies were included in the analysis which included 2053 patients. Patients with OSA had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) (pooled standard mean difference (SMD) = 0.56, 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.71, P.

Natural products as the therapeutic strategies for addiction.

World Drug Report 2023 concluded that 296 million people abused drugs, 39.5 million became addiction and 494,000 died as a direct or indirect result of addiction. Addiction has become a growing problem that affects individuals, their families, societies, countries and even the world. However, treatment for addiction is only limited to some developed countries because of the high cost, difficult implementation, and time consuming. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a low-cost, effective drug for the development of addiction treatment in more countries, which is essential for the stability and sustainable development of the world. In this review, it provided an overview of the abuse of common addictive drugs, related disorders, and current therapeutic regimen worldwide, and summarized the mechanisms of drug addiction as reward circuits, neuroadaptation and plasticity, cognitive decision-making, genetics, and environment. According to their chemical structure, 43 natural products and 5 herbal combinations with potential to treat addiction were classified, and their sources, pharmacological effects and clinical trials were introduced. It was also found that mitragine, ibogine, L-tetrahydropalmatine and crocin had greater potential for anti-addiction.

[Effects of intermittent hypoxia on the responses of genioglossus motor cortex to transcranial magnetic stimulation in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influence of intermittent hypoxia on the responses of genioglossus motor cortex to transcranial magnetic stimulation. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group and a chronic intermittent hypoxia group. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied in genioglossus motor cortex of the 2 groups. The responses of transcranial magnetic stimulation were recorded and analyzed by single factor analysis of variance. RESULTS: The anterolateral area provided an optimal motor evoked potential response to transcranial magnetic stimulation in the genioglossus motor cortex of the rats. Genioglossus motor evoked potential latency and amplitude were significantly modified by intermittent hypoxic exposure, with a significant decrease in latency (F = 3.294, P < 0.01) at the 1st day [(4.90 ± 0.54) ms] and the 14th day [(4.64 ± 1.71) ms], and an increase in amplitude (F = 1.905, P < 0.05) at the 1st day [(2.28 ± 0.57) mV] and the 7th day [(1.89 ± 0.20) mV]. CONCLUSION: Intermittent hypoxia could increase the transcranial magnetic stimulation response of genioglossus motor cortex in rats.

A Case Report and Literature Review of Oligomeganephronia.

A 23-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with proteinuria and mildly elevated creatinine, and a renal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of oligomeganephronia (OMN). OMN is an extremely rare bilateral renal hypoplastic disease, and its diagnosis mainly relies on the pathological results obtained from renal biopsy. At present, there is no effective treatment for OMN. Here, we report a case with mild renal insufficiency and proteinuria as the main symptom and present a summary of the clinical characteristics of ON along with a review of the literature on OMN.

Membranous Nephropathy Complicated with Disseminated Nocardia farcinica Infection: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Disseminated infection caused by Nocardia farcinica with primary nephrotic syndrome is exceedingly rare. A 66-year-old female visited the outpatient department due to fever and fatigue who had been diagnosed as membranous nephropathy and with a long-term prednisone and immunosuppressive therapy. After lung biopsy for many times, culture from space-occupying lesion of the right lung and species identification by mass spectrometry-based methods (MALDI-TOF) revealed Nocardia farcinica. By imaging examination, space-occupying lesions from the lungs, brain, abdominal cavity and kidney were found. After 2 weeks of meropenem intravenous and up to 6 months of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) therapy, our patient has remained relapse-free at that time of writing. Disseminated infection caused by Nocardia farcinica is usually subacute with complex clinical manifestations. In addition, it can be easily confused with diseases such as tumor and mycobacterial infection, and lead to fatal consequences. Therefore, we hope that we can remind clinicians considering by discussing common features of disseminated Nocardia farcinica infection.

[Risk factors of novel severe influenza A(H1N1) with concurrent adult respiratory distress syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the risk factors of novel severe influenza A (H1N1) with concurrent adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). METHODS: A multivariable Logistic regression analysis was conducted for ARDS risk factors in controlled clinical trials for comparing the clinical features between the ARDS and non-ARDS groups and comparing ARDS patients' lymphocyte counts and T lymphocyte subsets between the smoking and non-smoking groups through a retrospective analysis of 92 novel influenza A (H1N1) patients who admitted to our hospital from October 2009 to January 2010. RESULTS: Through a single factor analysis between ARDS and non-ARDS groups, the comparisons in the factors including smoking (17 cases vs 11 cases), T lymphocyte subsets, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), initial treatment point of oseltamivir and initial oxygen flow greater than 2 L/min (28 cases vs 18 cases) had statistically significant differences (all P<0.05). The comparison in T lymphocyte subsets had statistically significant difference between the smoking and non-smoking groups in ARDS patients (all P<0.05). The multivariable Logistic regression analysis showed that smoking (P=0.027, OR=8.05, 95%CI: 1.28-50.80) and initial oxygen flow greater than 2 L/min (P=0.010, OR=16.70, 95%CI: 3.29-84.84) were relevant to the incidence of ARDS in novel influenza A (H1N1) patients. CONCLUSION: Smoking and initial oxygen flow greater than 2 L/min were the risk factors of novel severe influenza A (H1N1) with concurrent ARDS.

Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Asthma: A Meta-Analysis.

This study evaluates the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and asthma. Literature search was carried out in several electronic databases and random effects meta-analyses were performed to obtain pooled estimates of the prevalence of OSA, OSA risk and sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in asthma patients and pooled odds ratios of the prevalence between asthma and non-asthma patients. In adult asthma patients, the prevalence [95% confidence interval] of OSA, OSA risk, and SDB was 49.50 [36.39, 62.60] %, 27.50 [19.31, 35.69] %, and 19.65 [14.84, 24.46] % respectively. The odds of having OSA, OS risk and SDB by the asthma patients were 2.64 [1.76, 3.52], 3.73 [2.90, 4.57] and 1.73 [1.11, 2.36] times higher (p < 0.00001 for all) in asthma than in non-asthma patients, respectively. Adult asthma patients with OSA had significantly higher BMI in comparison with asthma patients without OSA. This study reveals that the prevalence of OSA in asthma patients is considerably higher; even higher than OSA risk and SDB. Sleep studies should be performed in asthma patients with symptoms suggestive of OSA/OSA risk/SDB.