Curcumin attenuates hypoxia/reoxygenation­induced cardiomyocyte injury by downregulating Notch signaling.

Recovery of the blood supply is the most effective treatment against ischemic heart disease; however, it is also a major cause of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in clinical therapy. Curcumin has been reported to possess beneficial effects against hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)­induced cardiomyocyte injury by regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis and antioxidant enzyme activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of curcumin on H/R­injured cardiomyocytes. H9C2 cardiomyocytes were pretreated with curcumin, and then cultured under H/R conditions. The viability of H9C2 cells was measured using a Cell Counting kit­8 assay, and the levels of intracellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured to assess cell injury. Levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. The expression levels of Notch intracellular domain (NICD) and numerous downstream genes were analyzed via reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The results revealed that curcumin protected H9C2 cells against H/R­induced injury, reversing the H/R­induced increases in LDH and MDA levels, and decreases in SOD levels. ROS levels in H/R­induced cells were also significantly downregulated by curcumin treatment (P<0.01), and the apoptotic rate was significantly decreased from 15.13% in the H/R group to 7.7% in the H/R + curcumin group (P<0.01). The expression levels of NICD, hairy and enhancer of split (Hes)­1, Hes­5 and hairy/enhancer­of­split related with YRPW motif protein 1 (Hey­1) were significantly decreased in H/R­treated cells following curcumin treatment. Treatment with Jagged1 attenuated the effects of curcumin on cell viability, ROS levels and apoptosis; the Notch pathway was also reactivated. The present study indicated that there was a role for the Notch pathway in the protective effects of curcumin against H/R­induced cardiomyocyte injury, suggesting that downregulation of the Notch pathway may alleviate H/R­induced injury in H9C2 cells.

Colonization prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Group B Streptococcus in pregnant women over a 6-year period in Dongguan, China.

This study investigated the prevalence of recto-vaginal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization, serotype distribution, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns among pregnant women in Dongguan, China. Recto-vaginal swabs were collected from pregnant women at gestational age 35-37 weeks between January 1st 2009 and December 31st 2014. Isolates were serotyped by latex-agglutination and were tested against seven antimicrobials by disk diffusion. Of 7,726 pregnant women who completed GBS testing, 636 (8.2%) were GBS carriers. Of 153 GBS isolates available for typing, 6 serotypes (Ia, Ib, III, V, VI and VIII) were identified with type III being predominant, while 9 (5.9%) were non-typable isolates. All isolates were sensitive to penicillin, ceftriaxone, linezolid and vancomycin, whereas 52.4% were resistant to clindamycin, 25.9% were resistant to levofloxacin and 64.9% were resistant to erythromycin. This study showed the recto-vaginal colonization prevalence of GBS in Dongguan is significant. Due to 100% susceptibility to penicillin of all GBS samples, penicillin remains the first recommendation for treatment and prevention against GBS infection. Susceptibility testing should be performed for women allergic to penicillin in order to choose the most appropriate antibacterial agents for treatment and prevention of vertical transmission to neonates. In addition, we suggest establishing standard processes for GBS culture and identification in China as early as possible.

The prevalence and adverse profiles of fatty liver disease among different ethnic public servants in Urumqi of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this survey was to confirm the prevalence and adverse profiles of fatty liver disease among different ethnic public servants in Urumqi of Xinjiang. METHODS: The cross-sectional study were implemented among serving and retired public servants who participated in the annual physical check-up including abdominal ultrasonography from April 2012 to April 2013 at the health promotion center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University in Urumqi. The information including questionnaires, anthropometric indexes and biochemical profiles were collected to analyze. RESULTS: There were 46612 individuals ranging from 20 to 93 years of age included in the analysis. There were 39120 of Han, 4148 of Uygur, 877 of Kazakh, 2098 of Hui, and 369 of other ethnic groups. The prevalence of FLD in total, Han, Hui, Uygur, Kazakh and other ethnic group were 32.0%, 31.2%, 31.5%, 39.3%, 36.4% and 32.8%. Uygur was significantly higher than the other ethnic groups both male and female (P < 0.01) and male was higher than female regardless of ethnicity (P < 0.01). FLD co-exiting with DM, hypertension, obesity, overweight and dysliplidemia (especially for hypertriglyceridemia) were common and distribution of these diseases were significantly different among various ethnicity (P < 0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that there were different in adverse factors including age, gender, DM, obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension of FLD among ethnicity and obesity having higher OR value in each ethnic group can be as predictive index of FLD. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of FLD is present among public servants in Urumqi of Xinjiang, China. The prevalence of FLD is significantly different in different ethnic groups and genders. Distributions of adverse factors are disparate in different ethnicity. Comprehensive strategies for the prevention and treatment of FLD should be explored basing on the ethnic differences.