Analysis of the heavy metal contents' effect on steroidal saponins and the anti-breast cancer activity of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis.

Background: P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis, as a near-threatened and ethnic medicine in China, used to be a key ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of traumatic injuries, sore throat, snakebites, and convulsions for thousands of years. However, there were no reports on the inverse relationship between the contents of heavy metals and saponins and its anti-breast cancer pharmacological activity in P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis. Methods: The present study aimed to reveal the characteristics of heavy metal contents and saponins and its anti-breast cancer pharmacological activity and their interrelationships in P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis from different production areas. The contents of heavy metal and steroidal saponins in P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the high-performance liquid chromatography technique, respectively. The Pearson correlation was used to study the correlation between saponins and heavy metals. 4T1 mouse mammary tumor cells were selected and cultivated for antitumor studies in vitro. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, Hoechst staining, and flow cytometry analysis were used for the examination of the proliferation and apoptosis of 4T1 tumor cells. Mouse breast cancer 4T1 cells were subcutaneously injected into BALB/c mice to construct a tumor model to explore the in vivo inhibitory effect on breast cancer. TUNEL assay and immunohistochemistry were used for the examination of the effect of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis from different origins on cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis induction in 4T1 tumor mice. Results: Heavy metal contents were highly correlated with the content of steroidal saponins. The overall content of 10 metals in the three producing origins was of the order C3 >C2 >C1. The total content of eight steroidal saponins in the extracts of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis from three different origins was C1 >C2 >C3. The Pearson correlation study showed that in all of the heavy metals, the contents of Cd and Ba were positively correlated with the main steroidal saponins in P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis, while Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Zn, As, Hg, and Pb showed a negative correlation. In vitro experiments showed that the extracts of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis from three origins could inhibit the proliferation and induce cell apoptosis of 4T1 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, especially in the C1 origin. In vivo experiments showed that the extract of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis from the three origins could inhibit the growth of tumors and induce the apoptosis of tumor cells. In the three origins, C1 origin had the lowest total heavy metal level but the highest total steroidal saponin level. Therefore, it showed a better effect in reducing the expression of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and Kiel 67 (Ki67) and increasing the expression of p53 in tumor tissues compared to the other origins. In conclusion, in the three origins, C1 origin exhibits antitumor pharmacological effects in vivo and in vitro which are better than those in the other origins. Conclusion: In this study, we found that with the increase of the heavy metal content, the content of steroid saponins and anti-breast cancer activity decreased. The results showed that the high content of the total heavy metals may not be conducive to the accumulation of steroidal saponins in P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis and lead to the low anti-breast cancer activity. The results of this study suggest that the content of heavy metals should be controlled in the artificial cultivation process of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis.

Characterization and Immunogenicity of Recombinant A. flavus Uox Modified by Co/EDTA Carbon Dots.

BACKGROUND: Uricase (Uox) is a major drug in gout and a supplementary drug in cancer treatment. Because allergic reactions caused by Uox limit its clinical application,10% Co/EDTA was used to chemically modify Uox from A. flavus to reduce its immunogenicity. METHODS: The immunogenicity of Uox and 10% Co/EDTA-Uox was examined by determining the antibody titer and concentration of IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-ß in quail and rat serum. Moreover, we examined the pharmacokinetics of 10% Co/EDTA-Uox in rats and acute toxicity in mice. RESULTS: The concentration of UA decreased from 771.85 ±180.99 to 299.47 ±20.37 µmoL/L（p<0.01） in the hyperuricemia model of quails injected by 10% Co/EDTA-Uox. Two-way immuno-diffusion electrophoresis revealed that 10% Co/EDTA-Uox did not produce antibody, whereas the antibody titer against Uox was 1:16. The concentrations of four cytokines in the 10% Co/EDTA-Uox group were significantly lower than in Uox group (p < 0.01)； The titer of IgG and IgM against 10% Co/EDTA-Uox was significantly lower than that against Uox at different serum dilutions (p < 0.0001). The pharmacokinetic data indicated that the half-life time of 10% Co/EDTA- Uox( 69.315h) was significantly longer than that of Uox(13.4 h)（p<0.01）. The tissue section of the liver, heart, kidney, and spleen revealed no toxicity in Uox and 10% Co/EDTA- Uox groups. CONCLUSION: 10% Co/EDTA-Uox possesses little immunogenicity, a long half-life time, and a highly efficient degradation of UA.

Semi-supervised Long-tail Endoscopic Image Classification.

Objective To explore the semi-supervised learning (SSL) algorithm for long-tail endoscopic image classification with limited annotations. Method We explored semi-supervised long-tail endoscopic image classification in HyperKvasir, the largest gastrointestinal public dataset with 23 diverse classes. Semi-supervised learning algorithm FixMatch was applied based on consistency regularization and pseudo-labeling. After splitting the training dataset and the test dataset at a ratio of 4:1, we sampled 20%, 50%, and 100% labeled training data to test the classification with limited annotations. Results The classification performance was evaluated by micro-average and macro-average evaluation metrics, with the Mathews correlation coefficient (MCC) as the overall evaluation. SSL algorithm improved the classification performance, with MCC increasing from 0.8761 to 0.8850, from 0.8983 to 0.8994, and from 0.9075 to 0.9095 with 20%, 50%, and 100% ratio of labeled training data, respectively. With a 20% ratio of labeled training data, SSL improved both the micro-average and macro-average classification performance; while for the ratio of 50% and 100%, SSL improved the micro-average performance but hurt macro-average performance. Through analyzing the confusion matrix and labeling bias in each class, we found that the pseudo-based SSL algorithm exacerbated the classifier's preference for the head class, resulting in improved performance in the head class and degenerated performance in the tail class. Conclusion SSL can improve the classification performance for semi-supervised long-tail endoscopic image classification, especially when the labeled data is extremely limited, which may benefit the building of assisted diagnosis systems for low-volume hospitals. However, the pseudo-labeling strategy may amplify the effect of class imbalance, which hurts the classification performance for the tail class.

Steady-State Based Model of Airborne Particle/Gas and Settled Dust/Gas Partitioning for Semivolatile Organic Compounds in the Indoor Environment.

Indoor semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), present in the air, airborne particles, settled dust, and other indoor surfaces, can enter the human body through several pathways. Knowing the partitioning between gaseous and particulate phases is important in identifying specific pathway contributions and thereby accurately assessing human exposure. Numerous studies have developed equilibrium equations to predict airborne particle/gas (P/G) partitioning in air (KP) and dust/gas (D/G) partitioning in settled dust (KD). The assumption that P/G and D/G equilibria are instantaneous for airborne and settled dust phases, commonly adopted by current indoor fate models, is not likely valid for compounds with high octanol-air partition coefficients (KOA). Here, we develop steady-state based equations to predict KP and KD in the indoor environment. Results show that these equations perform well and are verified by worldwide monitoring data. It is suggested that instantaneous steady state could work for P/G and D/G partitioning of SVOCs in indoor environments, and the equilibrium is just a special case of the steady state when log KOA < 11.38 for P/G partitioning and log KOA < 10.38 for D/G partitioning. These newly developed equations and methods provide a tool for more accurate assessment for human exposure to SVOCs in the indoor environment.

The complete chloroplast genome and phylogenetic analysis of Sida szechuensis matsuda (Malvaceae).

Sida szechuensis Matsuda is an economically and medicinally important plant. Here, we report the first chloroplast (cp) genome of the genus Sida (S. szechuensis). The complete cp genome is 159,878 bp in length with an overall GC content of 36.9% and consists of a large single copy region (LSC, 89,426 bp), a small single copy region (SSC, 114,715 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb, 25,288 bp). The genome encodes 111 unique genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 29 tRNA genes, 4 rRNA genes, and 1 pseudogene. Phylogenetic analysis constructed using the maximum likelihood (ML) method showed that Sida was closely related to Malvastrum and Malva.

The complete chloroplast genome and phylogenetic analysis of Piptanthus concolor Craib (Leguminosae).

In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing technology to sequence and functionally annotate the chloroplast genome of Piptanthus concolor. The total length of P. concolor chloroplast genome is 152,115 bp with the typical quadripartite structure. It contains two inverted repeats (IRa and IRb) of 26,233 bp each, which are separated by a large single-copy (LSC) region of 82,024 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,625 bp. The cp genome contained 111 genes, including 77 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on the whole chloroplast genome showed that P. concolor was closely related to Ammopiptanthus.

The complete chloroplast genome sequences and phylogenetic analysis of Crotalaria pallida (Leguminosae).

The complete chloroplast genome of Crotalaria pallida was obtained using the high-throughput sequencing technology in this article. The complete chloroplast genomes of this species were 152,658 bp in length, consisting of a large single-copy region (LSC) of 83,652 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,028 bp, which were separated by a pair of inverted repeat (IRs) regions of 25,489 bp. The chloroplast genome contained 111 unique genes, including 77 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The phylogenomic relationship analysis suggested that C. pallida was closely related to Lupinus in the family of Leguminosae.

Gossypol, a novel modulator of VCP, induces autophagic degradation of mutant huntingtin by promoting the formation of VCP/p97-LC3-mHTT complex.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by toxic aggregates of mutant huntingtin protein (mHTT) in the brain. Decreasing mHTT is a potential strategy for therapeutic purpose of HD. Valosin-containing protein (VCP/p97) is a crucial regulator of proteostasis, which regulates the degradation of damaged protein through proteasome and autophagy pathway. Since VCP has been implicated in pathogenesis of HD as well as other neurodegenerative diseases, small molecules that specifically regulate the activity of VCP may be of therapeutic benefits for HD patients. In this study we established a high-throughput screening biochemical assay for VCP ATPase activity measurement and identified gossypol, a clinical approved drug in China, as a novel modulator of VCP. Gossypol acetate dose-dependently inhibited the enzymatic activity of VCP in vitro with IC50 of 6.53±0.6 µM. We further demonstrated that gossypol directly bound to the interface between the N and D1 domains of VCP. Gossypol acetate treatment not only lowered mHTT levels and rescued HD-relevant phenotypes in HD patient iPS-derived Q47 striatal neurons and HD knock-in mouse striatal cells, but also improved motor function deficits in both Drosophila and mouse HD models. Taken together, gossypol acetate acted through a gain-of-function way to induce the formation of VCP-LC3-mHTT ternary complex, triggering autophagic degradation of mHTT. This study reveals a new strategy for treatment of HD and raises the possibility that an existing drug can be repurposed as a new treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Identification of risk factors of developing pressure injuries among immobile patient, and a risk prediction model establishment: A protocol for systematic review.

BACKGROUD: Pressure injuries (PIs) bring a considerable physical and mental burden on immobile patients, and have put families and government under tremendous pressure to cover the cost of treatment. Therefore, this protocol proposes to identify risk factors of developing PIs in immobile patients from systematic reviews (SRs) and clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), in order to establish a risk prediction model for developing PIs and identify individual risk factors that can be modified to aid prevention. METHODS: Electronic databases and specific databases for CPGs and SRs will be searched. Study selection and data collection will be performed independently by two reviewers. All included SRs and CPGs will be subject to critical appraisal. RevMan 5.3 will be used to calculate the pooled odds ratio (ORP) after appraising the quality of eligible studies, and the risk predictive model will be established using logistic regression model. A narrative synthesis, evidence summary table, and Sankey diagram will also be performed. RESULTS: The results of this study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSION: This systematic review will provide a risk prediction model of PI developing. INSPLAY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2020100097.

The complete chloroplast genome of Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC. (Rutaceae) and its phylogenetic analysis.

We sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of Zanthoxylum acanthopodium via high-throughput sequencing technology, and analyzed its structural characteristics and phylogenetic relationships. The chloroplast exhibits a genome length of 158,473 bp, including a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb) of 27,369 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,629 bp and a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85,570 bp. The annotation analysis identified 112 genes, containing 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes and 4 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis showed that Z. acanthopodium was closely related to Z. piperitum and Z. tragodes.

Interpretations and comments for expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of heat stroke in China.

Heat stroke is the most severe type of heat illness, it is often accompanied by severe multiorgan damage and has a high fatality rate. In January 2020, based on new research evidence and the experiences of Chinese experts in heat stroke, the Expert Group of Heat Stroke Prevention and Treatment of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Professional Committee of Critical Care Medicine of the Chinese PLA jointly issued a new Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Heat Stroke in China. This article aims to interpret and supplement the major updates to the new consensus.

Seasonal variation and influence factors of organophosphate esters in air particulate matter of a northeastern Chinese test home.

To investigate the seasonal variation of organophosphate esters (OPEs) in air particulate matter (PM) and the corresponding influence factors in indoor environment, 104 indoor PM samples were collected in a test home, Harbin, China, from March 2017 to March 2018. The Σ12OPEs concentrations ranged from 0.41 ng/m3 to 940 ng/m3. Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP) was the most abundant OPE and accounted for 83.2% of the total OPEs. The Σ12OPEs concentrations in spring and summer were higher than those in autumn and winter. Outdoor total suspended particles (TSP) were the main factor that affected the concentration variation of OPEs in PM samples in the test home. Comparisons of the gas/particle (G/P) partitioning equilibrium models indicated that the Dachs-Eisenreich (D-E) model estimates were more reliable than the other models in this study. The particle fractions of OPEs with log KOA > 10.51 that predicted by all four models generally well matched the measured OPE particle fractions in the literatures. To OPEs with lower molecular weight, inhalation was the main exposure route and ingestion contributed mostly to OPEs with higher molecular weight. In addition, the estimated daily intakes (EDIs) and carcinogenic risks (CRs) posed by OPEs were all below the recommended values, indicating that the current OPE levels in the test home were within the safe thresholds.

Phthalates in infant cotton clothing: Occurrence and implications for human exposure.

Clothing easily adsorbed the chemicals in the environment, and became a source of human exposure to chemicals. However, large contacted surface area and long exposure duration have elevated human exposure to chemicals from clothing, such as phthalates. Among them, cotton clothing, which infants prefer to wear, has been proven to adsorb phthalates more easily than other fabrics. While infants are developing, they are easily affected by phthalates. In this study, in order to study accumulation of phthalates in infant cotton clothing during the whole process from production to the first wearing, 24 infant cotton clothing samples were collected from shopping malls in Harbin, China. High detection rates and concentrations suggest that phthalates in the environment are widely adsorbed to infant cotton clothing, and traditional laundering for infant clothing cannot remove phthalates completely. The median concentration of the total phthalates was 4.15 µg/g. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has become the dominant phthalate. For the estimated daily intakes (EDIs) for infants, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) had the highest contribution, followed by di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP) and DEHP. Dermal absorption has become the main route of infant exposure to phthalates, and ingestion contributed very little. The result of comparing with the EDIs via dermal absorption from house air and dust suggests that clothing plays an important role of dermal absorption exposure to phthalates. For risk assessment, the carcinogenic risk of BBP and DEHP indicates that the level of DEHP in infant cotton clothing might pose potential adverse effects to infant health.

[Start-up and Performance Recovery of Granular Sludge for Phosphorus Removal and Nitrification].

In this experiment, to determine the characteristics of low carbon and nitrogen water quality in domestic sewage, a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was used to realize the stable operation of dephosphorization-nitrosation, by inoculating the enhanced biological phosphorus removal granular sludge, which was stored at low temperature. The sludge was activated by control of the aeration intensity and sludge age, which provided water for the influent of a CANON or anaerobic ammonia oxidation (ANAMMOX) process. In the experiment, when the concentration of dissolved oxygen was 6.5 mg·L-1 and the sludge age was 30 days, the effluent TP was less than 0.5 mg·L-1, the concentration of COD was less than 50 mg·L-1, and the accumulation rate of nitrite nitrogen was above 90%. It was also found that the performance of phosphorus removal can be improved by reducing the aeration intensity and reducing the age of sludge when the performance was damaged by excessive aeration strength. Aging the sludge for 40 days could restore nitrification during the process of phosphorus removal and nitrification. The final concentration of phosphorus was kept below 0.5 mg·L-1, and the removal rate of COD and TP was stable at 80% and 95%, respectively, the accumulation rate of nitrite remained above 90%, and the SVI value decreased from the initial 63 mL·g-1 to 35 mL·g-1. The settling performance of the granular sludge was good, and the particle size was kept above 1000 µm.

Semi-volatile organic compounds in infant homes: Levels, influence factors, partitioning, and implications for human exposure.

While infants are developing, they are easily affected by toxic chemicals existing in their environments, such as semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs): phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and organophosphate esters (OPEs). However, the specific living environment of infants, including increased plastic products and foam floor mats, may increase the presence of these chemicals. In this study, 68 air, dust, and window film samples were collected from homes, with 3- to 6-month-old infant occupants, to analyze phthalates, PAHs, PBDEs, and OPEs. High detection rates and concentrations suggest that these SVOCs are widespread in infant environments and are associated with cooking methods, smoking habits, the period of time after decoration, and room floors. The partitioning behavior of SVOCs indicates that the logarithms of the dust/gas-phase air partition coefficient (logKD) and the window film/gas-phase air partition coefficient (logKF) in homes are not at an equilibrium state when the logarithm of the octanol/air partition coefficient (logKOA) is less than 8 or greater than 11. Considering the 3 exposure routes, ingestion and dermal absorption have become the main routes of infant exposure to phthalates and OPEs, and ingestion and inhalation have become the dominant routes of exposure to PAHs and PBDEs. The total carcinogenic risk of SVOCs, which have carcinogenic toxicities, via ingestion and dermal absorption for infants in homes exceeds the acceptable value, suggesting that the current levels of these SVOCs in homes might pose a risk to infant health.

Organophosphate flame retardants in college dormitory dust of northern Chinese cities: Occurrence, human exposure and risk assessment.

Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are widely added to consumer products and building materials, which may pose potential health risk to humans. But information on their contamination and human exposure in the indoor environment especially dormitories in northern China is rare. In this study, twelve OPFRs were investigated in college dormitory dust that collected from Harbin, Shenyang, and Baoding, in northern China. Indoor dust samples were also collected from homes and public microenvironments (PMEs) in Harbin for comparison. The median ∑OPFR concentrations in dormitory dust in Shenyang samples (8690 ng/g) were higher than those in Baoding (6540 ng/g) and Harbin (6190 ng/g). The median ∑OPFR concentrations in home dust (7150 ng/g) were higher than in dormitory and PME dust (5340 ng/g) in Harbin. Tris(2­chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and tris (2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) were the most abundant chlorinated OPFRs, while triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) and tris(2­butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) were the dominant non-chlorinated OPFRs. The daily intakes of ∑OPFR were estimated, with the median values for female students (2.45 ng/kg-day) higher than those for male students (2.15 ng/kg-day) while were similar to adults (2.45 ng/kg-day) in homes. The estimated daily intakes (EDI) of these OPFRs from indoor dust in Harbin were all below the recommended values. The calculated non-carcinogenic hazard quotients (10-8-10-3) from OPFRs were much lower than the theoretical risk threshold. Meanwhile, carcinogenic risk (CR) of tri­n­butyl phosphate (TNBP), TCEP, tris(2­ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP), and tris(1,3­dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) were also estimated. The highest carcinogenic risk of TCEP for gender-specific and age-specific category range from 1.75 × 10-7 to 2.46 × 10-7 from exposure to indoor dust indicated a low potential carcinogenic risk for human exposure.

[Adjusting Temperature and Settling Time to Achieve ANAMMOX Particles Rapid Start-up and Stable Operation].

At room temperature (21-25℃), the long start-up time of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) granular sludge is the main problem preventing the practical application of this technology. This experiment aimed to cultivate the anaerobic ammonia oxidizing granular sludge in the SBR reactor by adjusting the temperature. After the start-up of the ANAMMOX, stable operation was achieved by changing hydraulic retention time (HRT) and the concentration of the inflow water substrate. The results demonstrated that the anaerobic ammonia oxidation granular sludge could be successfully started-up in 30 d and realized a stable operation at room temperature (21-25℃). The removal rate of ammonia-nitrogen and nitrogen was about 88% and 85%, respectively, and the removal rate of total nitrogen was 75%. At the stable operation stage of the low matrix, the removal rate of ammonia-nitrogen reached 86%, the removal rate of nitrogen was 98%, and the total nitrogen removal rate was over 85%. SVI was stable at 30 mL·g-1, and MLVSS/MLSS was more than 60%. The value of protein/polysaccharide was stable around 1.75. The dissolved oxygen in the influent was not removed. In this case, controlling the temperature could be used to realize the rapid start-up of the anaerobic ammonia oxidation granular sludge at room temperature (21-25℃), and the high biomass content and nitrogen removal rate can be obtained.

Functional and proteomic comparison of different techniques to produce equine anti-tetanus immunoglobulin F(ab')2 fragments.

Tetanus is still a major cause of human deaths in several developing countries. In particular, the neonatal form remains a significant public health problem. According to the World Health Organization, administration of tetanus toxoid is recommended for neonatal tetanus patients. Furthermore, tetanus antitoxin or anti-tetanus immunoglobulin (Ig) are used for mild case or intensive care. This paper discusses a novel purification technique for improving equine anti-tetanus Ig production. First, equine plasma dealt with two steps salting out with ammonium sulfate; second, ultrafiltration concentration liquid purified by one successive protein G based affinity chromatography steps; finally, the purified F(ab')2 fragments was characterized using biochemical and proteomic methods and shown to be pure and homogeneous. Compared with the original technique product, specific activity increased by 80% (about 90,000 IU/g) and recovery of F(ab')2 is approximately equal 75%. Furthermore, Proteomic profiling of total technique process is demonstrated by nano-HPLC-MS and bioinformatics analysis. New technique to produce equine anti-tetanus immunoglobulin F(ab')2 fragments from crude plasma in high quality and yield. And it also could be used for industrial amplification.

Pegylated Interferon-α Plus Ribavirin Therapy Improves Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Attaining Sustained Virological Response.

BACKGROUND: Pegylated interferon (pegIFN) in combination with ribavirin (RBV) has successfully improved the rate of sustained virological response (SVR) in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected individuals, which reduces the progression of the chronic liver disease. However, the influence of combination therapy (pegIFN/RBV) on cardiac function has yielded ambiguous results. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of combination therapy with pegIFN/RBV on cardiac function of HCV-infected individuals with SVR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cardiac function was assessed and correlated in 142 treatment-naïve patients with HCV infections by determining cardiac biomarkers and echocardiography before treatment and for 24 weeks post-treatment. RESULTS: An SVR was achieved by 50.7% of all patients. Serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels were significantly higher in all patients before treatment and decreased significantly 24 weeks post-treatment in the SVR group (62.84 [36.98-102.73] versus 22.87 [15.64-56.92] pg/mL, P < 0.01). Peak early diastolic annular velocity (E') was significantly lower (7.69 ± 2.48 versus 9.74 ± 2.68cm/s, P < 0.001) and E/E' was higher (10.04 ± 2.51 versus 8.18 ± 2.31, P < 0.001) in all patients with SVR. However, there were no statistically significant differences in biomarkers and echocardiographic parameters for patients without SVR. In addition, multivariate analysis identified age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.076; 95% CI: 1.031-1.125; P < 0.001), NT-proBNP (OR = 1.122; 95% CI: 1.002-1.248; P = 0.015), and SVR (OR = 0.532; 95% CI: 0.214-0.895; P = 0.023) as statistically significant independent variables associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed no adverse effects of combination therapy on cardiac function of HCV-infected individuals with SVR. Subsequent viral eradication resulted in improvement of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.