Spirituality and Attitudes Toward Death Among Older Adults in Rural and Urban China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate spirituality and attitudes toward death among rural and urban elderly. We asked 134 older adults from rural areas and 128 from urban areas to complete a self-administrated questionnaire including the Spiritual Self-assessment Scale and Death Attitude Scale. The fear and anxiety of death, escape acceptance, natural acceptance, approach acceptance, and death avoidance scores of older adults living in rural areas were higher than those living in urban areas. The construction of social infrastructure and medical care should be strengthened in rural areas so as to improve older adults' attitudes toward death.

[Determination of pyrethroid pesticides in tea by series two-solid phase extraction-columns cleanup and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

A rapid determination method of three pyrethroid pesticides (cyfluthrin, cypermethrin and fenvalerate) in tea was developed by series two-solid phase extraction-column cleanup and external standard method coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) in 30 min. The pesticide residues in tea were extracted with acetonitrile, and cleaned up by Carb/NH2 and SLH solid-phase extraction columns. After filtration, the target compounds were analyzed by GC-MS and quantified by the external standard method. Under the optimized conditions, good linear ranges of 0.05-2.00 mg/kg were obtained. The limits of detection varied from 0.3 to 1.0 µ g/kg. The linear correlation coefficients were greater than 0.999. At three spiked levels (0.10, 0.50 and 2.00 mg/L), the average recoveries were determined between 80.6% and 116.3% in the four matrices. The inter-day relative standard deviations were between 1.3%-12.6%, and the intra-day relative standard deviations were between 2.7% and 12.1%. This method is simple, fast, and has a good reproducibility, which can meet the requirements of the rapid detection of pyrethroid pesticides in tea.

Branched Chain Amino Acids Cause Liver Injury in Obese/Diabetic Mice by Promoting Adipocyte Lipolysis and Inhibiting Hepatic Autophagy.

The Western meat-rich diet is both high in protein and fat. Although the hazardous effect of a high fat diet (HFD) upon liver structure and function is well recognized, whether the co-presence of high protein intake contributes to, or protects against, HF-induced hepatic injury remains unclear. Increased intake of branched chain amino acids (BCAA, essential amino acids compromising 20% of total protein intake) reduces body weight. However, elevated circulating BCAA is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and injury. The mechanisms responsible for this quandary remain unknown; the role of BCAA in HF-induced liver injury is unclear. Utilizing HFD or HFD+BCAA models, we demonstrated BCAA supplementation attenuated HFD-induced weight gain, decreased fat mass, activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), inhibited hepatic lipogenic enzymes, and reduced hepatic triglyceride content. However, BCAA caused significant hepatic damage in HFD mice, evidenced by exacerbated hepatic oxidative stress, increased hepatic apoptosis, and elevated circulation hepatic enzymes. Compared to solely HFD-fed animals, plasma levels of free fatty acids (FFA) in the HFD+BCAA group are significantly further increased, due largely to AMPKα2-mediated adipocyte lipolysis. Lipolysis inhibition normalized plasma FFA levels, and improved insulin sensitivity. Surprisingly, blocking lipolysis failed to abolish BCAA-induced liver injury. Mechanistically, hepatic mTOR activation by BCAA inhibited lipid-induced hepatic autophagy, increased hepatic apoptosis, blocked hepatic FFA/triglyceride conversion, and increased hepatocyte susceptibility to FFA-mediated lipotoxicity. These data demonstrated that BCAA reduces HFD-induced body weight, at the expense of abnormal lipolysis and hyperlipidemia, causing hepatic lipotoxicity. Furthermore, BCAA directly exacerbate hepatic lipotoxicity by reducing lipogenesis and inhibiting autophagy in the hepatocyte.

Mn-SOD Upregulation by Electroacupuncture Attenuates Ischemic Oxidative Damage via CB1R-Mediated STAT3 Phosphorylation.

Electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment elicits the neuroprotective effect against cerebral ischemic injury through cannabinoid receptor type 1 receptor (CB1R). In current study, we aimed to investigate whether the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) were involved in the antioxidant effect of EA pretreatment through CB1R. At 2 h after EA pretreatment, focal cerebral ischemic injury was induced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion for 60 min in C57BL/6 mice. The expression of Mn-SOD in the penumbra was assessed by Western blot and immunoflourescent staining at 2 h after reperfusion. In the presence or absence of Mn-SOD small interfering RNA (siRNA), the neurological deficit score, the infarct volume, the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUDP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, and oxidative stress were evaluated. Furthermore, the Mn-SOD protein expression and phosphorylation of STAT3 at Y705 were also determined in the presence and absence of CB1R antagonists (AM251, SR141716) and CB1R agonists (arachidonyl-2-chloroethylamide (ACEA), WIN 55,212-2). EA pretreatment upregulated the Mn-SOD protein expression and Mn-SOD-positive neuronal cells at 2 h after reperfusion. EA pretreatment also attenuated oxidative stress, inhibited cellular apoptosis, and induced neuroprotection against ischemic damage, whereas these beneficial effects of EA pretreatment were reversed by knockdown of Mn-SOD. Mn-SOD upregulation and STAT3 phosphorylation by EA pretreatment were abolished by two CB1R antagonists, while pretreatment with two CB1R agonists increased the expression of Mn-SOD and phosphorylation level of STAT3. Mn-SOD upregulation by EA attenuates ischemic oxidative damage through CB1R-mediated STAT3 phosphorylation in stroke mice, which may represent one new mechanism of EA pretreatment-induced neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia.

Involvement of GluR2 up-regulation in neuroprotection by electroacupuncture pretreatment via cannabinoid CB1 receptor in mice.

We investigated whether glutamate receptor subunit 2 (GluR2) is involved in EA pretreatment-induced neuroprotection via cannabinoid CB1 receptors (CB1R) after global cerebral ischemia in mice. Two hours after electric acupuncture (EA) pretreatment, global cerebral ischemia (GCI) was induced by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) for 20 min. The GluR2 expression was examined in the hippocampus after reperfusion. Cell survival, neuronal apoptosis, the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and neurological scores were evaluated at 24 h after BCCAO in the presence or absence of the GluR2 inhibitor. Furthermore, the GluR2 was determined in the presence and absence of CB1R inhibitor. Our results showed EA pretreatment enhanced expression of GluR2 in the hippocampus 2 h after reperfusion. Moreover, EA pretreatment improved neurological outcome, promoted cell survival, inhibited neuronal apoptosis, and decreased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio after reperfusion. GluR2 knockdown by GluR2 siRNA effectively reversed the beneficial effects of EA pretreatment. Furthermore, CB1R siRNA and two CB1R antagonists blocked the elevation of GluR2 expression by EA pretreatment, whereas the two CB1R agonists up-regulated GluR2 expression as EA pretreatment. In conclusion, GluR2 up-regulation is involved in neuroprotection of EA pretreatment against GCI through CB1R, suggesting that GluR2 may be a novel target for stroke intervention.

Electroacupuncture pretreatment induces tolerance against focal cerebral ischemia through activation of canonical Notch pathway.

BACKGROUND: Electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment can induce the tolerance against focal cerebral ischemia. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully understood. Emerging evidences suggest that canonical Notch signaling may be involved in ischemic brain injury. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that EA pretreatment-induced tolerance against focal cerebral ischemia is mediated by Notch signaling. RESULTS: EA pretreatment significantly enhanced Notch1, Notch4 and Jag1 gene transcriptions in the striatum, except Notch1 intracellular domain level, which could be increased evidently by ischemia. After ischemia and reperfusion, Hes1 mRNA and Notch1 intracellular domain level in ischemic striatum in EA pretreatment group were increased and reached the peak at 2 h and 24 h, respectively, which were both earlier than the peak achieved in control group. Intraventricular injection with the γ-secretase inhibitor MW167 attenuated the neuroprotective effect of EA pretreatment. CONCLUSIONS: EA pretreatment induces the tolerance against focal cerebral ischemia through activation of canonical Notch pathway.