The rs17782313 polymorphism near MC4R gene confers a high risk of obesity and hyperglycemia, while PGC1α rs8192678 polymorphism is weakly correlated with glucometabolic disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The relationships of the rs17782313 polymorphism near melanocortin 4 receptor gene (MC4R) and the rs8192678 polymorphism in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha gene (PGC1α) with metabolic abnormalities have been explored in many populations around the world, but the findings were not all consistent and sometimes even a bit contradictory. Methods: Electronic databases including Medline, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI and Google Scholar were checked for studies that met the inclusion criteria. Data were carefully extracted from eligible studies. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) were calculated by using a random-effects model to examine the differences in the indexes of obesity, glucometabolic disorder and dyslipidemia between the genotypes of the rs17782313 and rs8192678 polymorphisms. Cochran's Q-statistic test and Begg's test were employed to identify heterogeneity among studies and publication bias, respectively. Results: Fifty studies (58,716 subjects) and 51 studies (18,660 subjects) were respectively included in the pooled meta-analyses for the rs17782313 and rs8192678 polymorphisms. The C-allele carriers of the rs17782313 polymorphism had a higher average level of body mass index (SMD = 0.21 kg/m2, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.12 to 0.29 kg/m2, p < 0.001), waist circumference (SMD = 0.14 cm, 95% CI = 0.06 to 0.23 cm, p < 0.001) and blood glucose (SMD = 0.09 mg/dL, 95% CI = 0.02 to 0.16 mg/dL, p = 0.01) than the TT homozygotes. Regarding the rs8192678 polymorphism, no significant associations with the indexes of obesity, glucometabolic disorder and dyslipidemia were detected. However, significant correlations between the rs8192678 polymorphism and multiple glucometabolic indexes were observed in subgroup analyses stratified by sex, age, ethnicity and health status. Conclusion: The meta-analysis demonstrates that the C allele of the MC4R rs17782313 polymorphism confers a higher risk of obesity and hyperglycemia, and the PGC1α rs8192678 polymorphism is weakly correlated with glucometabolic disorder. These findings may partly explain the relationships between these variants and diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42022373543.

Association of admission hyperglycemia and all-cause mortality in acute myocardial infarction with percutaneous coronary intervention: A dose-response meta-analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the associations between admission hyperglycemia and the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with or without diabetes, to find optimal admission glucose intervention cut-offs, and to clarify the shape of the dose-response relations. Methods: Medline/PubMed and EMBASE were searched from inception to 1 April 2022. Cohort studies reporting estimates of all-cause mortality risk in patients with admission hyperglycemia with AMI were included. The outcomes of interest include mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). A random effect dose-response meta-analysis was conducted to access linear trend estimations. A one-stage linear mixed effect meta-analysis was used for estimating dose-response curves. Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were pooled using a random-effects model. Results: Of 1,222 studies screened, 47 full texts were fully reviewed for eligibility. The final analyses consisted of 23 cohort studies with 47,177 participants. In short-term follow-up, admission hyperglycemia was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (relative risk: 3.12, 95% confidence interval 2.42-4.02) and MACEs (2.34, 1.77-3.09). In long-term follow-up, admission hyperglycemia was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (1.97, 1.61-2.41) and MACEs (1.95, 1.21-3.14). A linear dose-response association was found between admission hyperglycemia and the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with or without diabetes. Conclusion: Admission hyperglycemia was significantly associated with higher all-cause mortality risk and rates of MACEs. However, the association between admission hyperglycemia and long-term mortality risk needs to be determined with caution. Compared with current guidelines recommendations, a lower intervention cut-off and more stringent targets for admission hyperglycemia may be appropriate. Systematic review registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022317280], identifier [CRD42022317280].

Effects of Oxytocin Administration on Cue-Induced Craving in Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and PTSD: A Within-Participant Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are much more likely to meet criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the general population. Compared to AUD alone, those with comorbid AUD-PTSD experience worse outcomes. Prior literature suggests that oxytocin, a hypothalamic neuropeptide, may be effective in the treatment of both AUD and PTSD when administered intranasally, although specific mechanisms remain elusive. METHODS: Forty-seven male patients with comorbid AUD-PTSD were administered intranasal oxytocin in a randomized, double-blind, dose-ranging (20 IU, 40 IU, and matched placebo), within-participant design with study visits at least 1 week apart. A cue-induced craving paradigm was conducted using each participant's preferred alcoholic beverage versus a neutral water cue. Self-reported alcohol craving and heart rate (HR) were recorded and analyzed using linear mixed-effect models. RESULTS: While alcohol cues significantly induced self-reported craving and increased HR compared to neutral water cues, neither dosage of oxytocin compared to placebo reduced self-reported cue-induced alcohol craving nor cue-induced changes in HR in patients with PTSD-AUD. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggest that oxytocin does not affect cue-induced craving. Our results contribute to an ever-growing field of research investigating the effects of intranasal oxytocin on the symptoms of substance use disorders and will help further refine methodology and streamline future inquiries in this area.

Ultrafast switching of optical singularity eigenstates with compact integrable liquid crystal structures.

By using the strong nonlinear effect and ultrafast electronic response of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLC), ultrafast all optical switching between polarization vortex and phase vortex is realized in a system combining CLC and q-plate. The experimental result shows that switching with high modulation depth can be accomplished in less than 1 picosecond. Furthermore, CLC and q-plates will enable compact integrated devices with sub-mm thicknesses.

Accumulation of T-helper 22 cells, interleukin-22 and myeloid-derived suppressor cells promotes gastric cancer progression in elderly patients.

Chronic inflammation and immunosuppression lead to aging and tumorigenesis. T-helper 22 (Th22) cells, interleukin 22 (IL-22) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) serve an important role in inflammatory-immune diseases and cancer. However, the status of Th22 cells, IL-22 and MDSCs in aging and elderly gastric cancer progression is unknown. In the present study, 39 elderly patients with gastric cancer (EGC), 32 elderly healthy controls (HE) and 31 young healthy controls (HY) were enrolled, and the peripheral Th22, Th17 and Th1 cells, and MDSCs, were examined using flow cytometry. Plasma levels of IL-22, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were examined using ELISA. IL-22 protein levels in tumor tissues were examined using immunohistochemistry. There were increased numbers of peripheral Th22 and Th17 cells, and MDSCs, as well as increased plasma levels of IL-22, IL-6 and TNF-α in EGC compared with HE and HY. However, HE exhibited significantly increased levels of peripheral Th22 and Th17 cells as well as IL-6 and TNF-α compared with HY. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that IL-22 protein accumulated in tumor cells and lymphocytes in the tumor microenvironment. The results obtained demonstrated that peripheral Th22 and Th17 cells as well as IL-6 and TNF-α plasma levels increased with aging. Furthermore, Th22 and Th17 cells, MDSCs, and IL-22 may be used as prognostic markers for identifying gastric cancer in elderly patients.

Primary gastric natural killer/T-cell lymphoma with diffuse CD30 expression and without CD56 expression: A case report.

The majority of natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphomas occur in the nasal cavity and rarely involve the stomach. They possess a specific immunophenotype, with the expression of cluster of differentiation (CD)56, CD2 and CD3ε, but without CD3 expression. Few cases of NK/T-cell lymphoma have partial CD30 expression. The present study reveals a unique case of a 41-year-old female patient with gastric NK/T-cell lymphoma that did not express CD56 and diffusely expressed CD30. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that the tumor cells expressed CD3ε, CD43, CD30 and granzyme B and did not express CD2, CD4, CD5, CD7, CD8, CD56, anaplastic lymphoma kinase, CD20, paired box-5 or pan cytokeratin. Based on the immunostaining profile and morphological features, the initial diagnosis considered was gastric anaplastic large cell lymphoma. However, following a consultation with other pathologists, the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) status of the patient was investigated to exclude a diagnosis of NK/T-cell lymphoma. Notably, the signal for EBV RNA was diffuse positive. Therefore, the final diagnosis was corrected to NK/T-cell lymphoma. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to report NK/T-cell lymphoma in the stomach with a diffuse CD30-positive and CD56-negative phenotype.

A transmission-grating-modulated pump-probe absorption spectroscopy and demonstration of diffusion dynamics of photoexcited carriers in bulk intrinsic GaAs film.

A transmission-grating-modulated time-resolved pump-probe absorption spectroscopy is developed and formularized. The spectroscopy combines normal time-resolved pump-probe absorption spectroscopy with a binary transmission grating, is sensitive to the spatiotemporal evolution of photoinjected carriers, and has extensive applicability in the study of diffusion transport dynamics of photoinjected carriers. This spectroscopy has many advantages over reported optical methods to measure diffusion dynamics, such as simple experimental setup and operation, and high detection sensitivity. The measurement of diffusion dynamics is demonstrated on bulk intrinsic GaAs films. A carrier density dependence of carrier diffusion coefficient is obtained and agrees well with reported results.

The cavity dispersion noncoaxiality effects on broadband few-cycle pulse generation in Ti:sapphire laser.

The cavity dispersion noncoaxiality (CDN) effects on broadband few-cycle pulse generation of a Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser is investigated theoretically and experimentally. It is found that the influence of CDN is comparable with that of self-focusing and self-phase-modulation in the frequency-dependent mode size (FDMS) effects. Spectra extending from 680 nm to 1020 nm with pulse duration shorter than three optical cycles are favorably generated under the minimum CDN in the vicinity of the coaxial point of the sub-cavity.