Lifestyle-based nomogram for identifying the Chaoshan inhabitants of China at high risk of Helicobacter pylori infection.

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is associated with various diseases. Early detection can prevent the onset of illness. We constructed a nomogram to predict groups at high risk of HP infection. METHODS: Patients who underwent regular medical check-ups at hospital in Chaoshan, China from March to September 2022 were randomly allocated to the training and validation cohorts. Risk factors including basic characteristics and lifestyle habits associated with HP infection were analyzed by logistic regression analyses. The independent varieties were calculated and plotted into a nomogram. The nomogram was internally validated by receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration, and decision curve analyses (DCAs). RESULTS: Of the 945 patients, 680 were included in the training cohort and 265 in the validation cohort. 356 patients in training cohort with positive 13 C-UBT results served as the infected group, and 324 without infection were the control group. The multivariate regression analyses showed that the risk factors for HP infection included alcohol consumption (OR = 1.29, 95%CI = 0.78-2.13, P = 0.03), family history of gastric disease (OR = 4.35, 95%CI = 1.47-12.84, P = 0.01), living with an HP-positive individual (OR = 18.09, 95%CI = 10.29-31.82, P < 0.0001), drinking hot tea (OR = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.05-2.48, P = 0.04), and infection status of co-drinkers unknown (OR = 2.29, 95%CI = 1.04-5.06, P = 0.04). However, drinking tea > 3 times per day (OR = 0.56, 95%CI = 0.33-0.95, P = 0.03), using serving chopsticks (OR = 0.30, 95%CI = 0.12-0.49, P < 0.0001) were protective factors for HP infection. The nomogram had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85 in the training cohort. The DCA was above the reference line within a large threshold range, indicating that the model was better. The calibration analyses showed the actual occurrence rate was basically consistent with the predicted occurrence rate. The model was validated in the validation cohort, and had a good AUC (0.80), DCA and calibration curve results. CONCLUSIONS: This nomogram, which incorporates basic characteristics and lifestyle habits, is an efficient model for predicting those at high risk of HP infection in the Chaoshan region.

Suppression of cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling ameliorates retinal injury in diabetic retinopathy.

The blood-retinal barrier (BRB), homeostasis, neuronal integrity, and metabolic processes are all directly influenced by Müller cells, the most important retinal glial cells. We isolated primary Müller cells from Sprague-Dawley (SD) neonatal rats and treated them with glucose at varying doses. CCK-8 was used to quantify cellular viability, and a TUNEL assay was performed to detect cell apoptosis. ELISA, immunofluorescence, and western blotting were used to assess cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling, Kir4.1, AQP4, GFAP, and VEGF levels, respectively. H&E staining was used to examine histopathological alterations in diabetic retinopathy (DR)-affected retinal tissue in rats. As glucose concentration increases, gliosis of Müller cells became apparent, as evidenced by a decline in cell activity, an increase in apoptosis, downregulation of Kir4.1 level, and overexpression of GFAP, AQP4, and VEGF. Treatments with low, intermediate, and high glucose levels led to aberrant activation of cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling. Interestingly, blocking cAMP and PKA reduced high glucose-induced Müller cell damage and gliosis by a significant amount. Further in vivo results suggested that cAMP or PKA inhibition significantly improved edema, bleeding, and retinal disorders. Our findings showed that high glucose exacerbated Müller cell damage and gliosis via a mechanism involving cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling.

Prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes in Shanghai.

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in residents of Shanghai and analyze the risk factors of DR. METHODS: This study involved 7233 patients with diabetes in 2016. The demographic data of the participants were collected using a questionnaire survey. Physical examination, laboratory tests, and ophthalmological examinations were conducted. Two professional ophthalmologists diagnosed and graded DR by fundus examination and then combined the results with fundus images. The unconditional multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factors. RESULTS: In total, 6978 patients with type 2 diabetes in Shanghai with a mean age of 68.33±8.40y were recruited, including 2975 males (42.6%) and 4003 females (57.4%). Overall, 1184 patients were diagnosed with DR, with a prevalence rate of 16.97%. Regression analysis showed that duration of diabetes (OR 1.061, 95%CI 1.049-1.073), high systolic blood pressure (SBP; OR 1.071, 95%CI 1.037-1.106), increased glycosylated hemoglobin level (OR 1.234, 95%CI 1.162-1.311), high blood glucose level (OR 1.061, 95%CI 1.023-1.099), increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR; OR 1.132, 95%CI 1.053-1.217) and mean platelet volume (MPV; OR 1.077, 95%CI 1.016-1.142) were risk factors of DR. Conversely, hematocrit (HCT; OR 0.971, 95%CI 0.954-0.988) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV; OR 0.980, 95%CI 0.965-0.994) were protective factors. CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of DR in Shanghai is 16.97%. The duration of diabetes, high SBP, increased glycosylated hemoglobin, NLR, and MPV were determined as risk factors of DR.

Discovery, Biosynthesis, and Heterologous Production of Loonamycin, a Potent Anticancer Indolocarbazole Alkaloid.

Genome mining of an indolocarbazole-type gene cluster from a marine-derived Nocardiopsis flavescens NA01583 strain led to the discovery of three new indolocarbazole alkaloids (1-3). Heterologous expression of the intact loo gene cluster in a surrogate host Streptomyces lividans K4-114 led to the successful production of 3. Notably, compound 1 showed potent cytotoxic activities toward eight cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 41 to 283 nM.

Responsiveness and minimal clinically important difference of the Chinese version of the Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire after cataract surgery.

AIM: To investigate the Chinese version of the Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (CLVQOL) as an instrument for obtaining clinically important changes after cataract surgery. METHODS: Patients underwent cataract surgery in Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who fit the inclusion criteria were recruited. Two CLVQOLs were administered, including a preoperative CLVQOL and a CLVQOL at the end of the 3mo follow-up period, and were completed using face-to-face interviews or phone interviews conducted by trained investigators. The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) was calculated using an anchor-based method and a distribution method. In addition, the responsiveness of the questionnaire was measured. RESULTS: A total of 155 residents were enrolled. The average visual acuity (VA) preoperatively was 0.08 (SD=0.05), and it increased to 0.47 (SD=0.28) at the end of follow-up. Statistically significant positive changes in the CLVQOL scores indicated significant improvement of vision related quality of life after cataract surgery. With the larger value between the two results as the final value, the MCID values of the CLVQOL (scores of the four scales as well as the total score) were 8.94, 2.61, 4.34, 3.10 and 17.63, respectively. The CLVQOL has both good internal and external responsiveness. CONCLUSION: CLVQOL scores are appropriate instruments for obtaining clinically important changes after cataract surgery. This study is an effective exploration for establishing cataract surgery efficacy standards, which helps clinical and scientific research workers in ophthalmology to gain a more in-depth understanding when using CLVQOL.

[Study on the Preparation of A New Composite Coagulant: Poly-Ferric-Titanium-Sulfate and Analysis of FTIR Spectrum and UV-Vis Spectrum].

Composite coagulants have drawn a widespread attention recently for its superior coagulation-flocculation performance. Fe and Ti based coagulants, as a kind of inorganic metal water treatment agent, h have received huge attention, but there is little study about the preparation and characterization of composite coagulate composite with Ti4+. In this paper we prepared a composite coagulant, in which the Ti (SO4)2 was introduced as coordination complexes, PO3-4 as stabilizer and complexant. Then, the FT-Infra Red spectrum (FT-IR) and ultraviolet/visible absorption spectrum (UV-Vis) were adopted to characterizse the changes of chemical group, species distribution of coagulants in case of varies Ti/Fe, P/Fe and OH/Fe molar ratio. The results shows other than simple mixture of the raw materials, the introduction of Ti4+ and ­PO4 group synthesized the chemical group bond as Ti­O, ­Fe­P­Fe­ and ­Ti­P­Ti­, which were beneficial to the degree of polymerization and increased the stability of the product. Furthermore, when the Ti/Fe molar ratio of 1∶8, P/Fe was in the range of 0.2~0.3, the optimal material is suitable for the generation of Fe­P­Ti­ chemistry bond and medium polymer as Fe6(OH)6+12，[Fex(OH)y]2H2PO(6x-2y-1)+4. Whereas, too much addition of Ti4+, PO3-4 and HCO-3 deteriorated the polymer structure, leading to the presentation of precipitate as TiO2, Ti3(PO4)4 and FePO4, which will decrease the coagulation performance.

[Study on infrared spectroscopy of cationic polyacrylamide initiated by ultraviolet].

Cationic Polyacrylamide P(AM-DAC-BA) was synthesized by UV initiation, with acrylamide (AM), acryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DAC), butyl acrylate (BA) as the monomers. P(AM-DAC-BA). UV spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy were employed to study the structural characteristics. Attributions of typical infrared vibrational frequencies in AM/DAC/BA/P(AM-DAC-BA) were analysed. By comparing with infrared spectroscopy of the monomers, symmetrical characteristic of P(AM-DAC-BA) increasesd, and the infrared spectroscopy of polymerization product was simpler. The intrinsic viscosity increased with the increase in light intensity, BA content, photoinitiator concentration and illumination time. The groups of -CONH2, -COOCH2(C=O), -COOCH2--(C-O-C), -CH2--N(CH3 )3 group in AM, DAC, BA were selected as characteristic absorption peaks for studying. With the increase in light intensity and BA content, the characteristic peak areas increased. With the increase in photoinitiator concentration, the characteristic peak areas decreased. The characteristic peak areas decreased firstly and then increased with increasing the illumination time. But the corresponding characteristic IR absorption peaks of P(AM-DAC-BA) were similar, and the positions of characteristic peaks were basically the same.