[Mechanism of Dabugan Decoction in treatment of generalized anxiety disorder based on network pharmacology and experimental verification].

This study aims to explore the mechanism of Dabugan Decoction in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder(GAD) based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and animal experiments. Network pharmacology and molecular docking technology were used to obtain the possible targets and related signaling pathways of Dabugan Decoction in the treatment of GAD. The GAD rat model was established, and the corresponding drugs were given by gavage after randomization. After 28 days of continuous intervention, the anxiety state of rats was detected, and the pathological changes of the hippocampus were detected in each group. ELISA and Western blot were used to detect the protein expression levels of related molecules. A total of 65 drug compounds in Dabugan Decoction were obtained, involving 403 targets of action, 7 398 disease targets of GAD, and 279 common targets of "drug-disease". The key nodes in the protein-protein interaction(PPI) network were Akt1, TNF, IL-6, TP53, IL-1ß, etc. Function analysis of Gene Ontology(GO) and enrichment analysis of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) showed that the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway was the most important pathway. The results of molecular docking showed that the core components of the drug had good binding activity with the corresponding key targets. Animal experiments showed that Dabugan Decoction could effectively improve the anxiety behavior of rats and increase the open arm end movement distance and total distance of rats in the elevated cross labyrinth, the number and stay time of entering the open box, and the time(%) and the number of entering the center of the open field. At the same time, HE staining and Nicil staining showed that the number of hippocampal nerve cells in rats increased, and they were closely arranged. The damage to the cell body was improved, and there was an increase in Nissl substances in the cells. The expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß in rat hippocampus decreased, and the expression of TP53, p-Akt1, and p-PI3K increased. The mechanism may be related to the activation of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and the inhibition of inflammatory response. Dabugan Decoction can play a good therapeutic and regulatory role in GAD, reflecting the overall effect of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) compound and the characteristics of multiple targets and multiple pathways. At the same time, it is preliminarily discussed that the state of GAD may be improved by Dabugan Decoction via-activating PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and inhibiting inflammatory response and anti-apoptosis, thus providing experimental data support for the clinical application of Dabugan Decoction.

Intraventricular colistin sulphate as a last resort therapy in a patient with multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii induced post-neurosurgical ventriculitis.

Limited therapeutic options exist for multidrug-resistant/extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR/XDR-Ab) meningitis/ventriculitis. A combination of intravenous and intraventricular (IVT)/intrathecal (IT) polymyxins achieves good therapeutic outcomes for cases of healthcare-associated MDR/XDR-Ab meningitis/ventriculitis. Colistin is commercially available as colistin sulphate and its sulphomethylated derivative. However, the effect and safety of colistin sulphate in the treatment of MDR/XDR-Ab meningitis/ventriculitis has not been reported. We report on a 66-year-old male patient who developed post-neurosurgical ventriculitis caused by MDR-Ab. IVT concomitant intravenous colistin sulphate was used as a last-resort antimicrobial therapy, the patient's ventriculitis was dramatically improved, and the concentrations of CSF colistin were higher than the MIC breakpoint throughout the treatment. Meanwhile, no nephrotoxicity or neurotoxicity was observed during the treatment.

Pontine warning syndrome and restless legs syndrome secondary to paramedian pontine infarction: a case report.

Pontine warning syndrome (PWS) occurs rarely and is characterized by recurrent, stereotyped episodes of motor or sensory dysfunction, dysarthria, or ophthalmoplegia leading to pontine infarction. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a distinct neurological sensorimotor disorder. Pontine infarction is a rare but possible cause of RLS. Here, we report the case of a 58-year-old woman who experienced unilateral RLS in concomitance with stereotyped episodes of left-sided weakness and dysarthria, and developed an acute paramedian pontine infarction eventually. To the best of our knowledge, no other cases of PWS coinciding with RLS in the progression of pontine infarction have been reported in the literature. Furthermore, we discussed the potential mechanisms of PWS and RLS secondary to pontine infarction, which may be helpful for managing such patients.

Chantriolides F-P, Highly Oxidized Withanolides with Hepatoprotective Activity from Tacca chantrieri.

Eleven highly oxidized withanolides, chantriolides F-P (1-11), together with six known analogues (12-17), were isolated from the rhizomes of Tacca chantrieri. Their structures were established on the basis of comprehensive spectroscopic data analysis and comparison with published NMR data, and their absolute configurations were further confirmed by experimental ECD data and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The structures of compounds 5-8 contained a chlorine atom substituted at C-3. Compounds 1 and 12 are a pair of epimers isomerized at C-24 and C-25, while compounds 9 and 16 are isomerized at C-1, C-7, C-24, and C-25. Next, the hepatoprotective effect of all the isolates was evaluated on tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-injured AML12 hepatocytes. Compounds 5-11 and 16 significantly enhanced cell viability. Compound 8 decreased reactive oxygen species accumulation and increased glutathione level in t-BHP injured AML12 hepatocytes through promoting nuclear translocation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2).

VEGF/Src signaling mediated pleural barrier damage and increased permeability contributes to subpleural pulmonary fibrosis.

The distribution of fibrosis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is subpleural with basal predominance. Alveolar epithelial cell was considered as the key cell in the initial phase of IPF. However, the idea of activation and damage of alveolar epithelial cells is very difficult to explain why fibrosis distributes in the subpleural area. In this study, human pleural mesothelial cell (PMC) line and primary rat PMC was used as in vitro model. Intraperitoneal injection of bleomycin was used for making a pulmonary fibrosis model. The integrity of cultured monolayer PMCs was determined by transepithelial electric resistance (TEER). Pleural permeability was estimated by measuring paracellular transport of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated dextran. Changes in lung tissue of patients with IPF were analyzed by Masson's and immunofluorescence staining. We found bleomycin induced PMCs damage and increased PMCs permeability; increased PMCs permeability aggravated bleomycin-induced subpleural inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis. Moreover, bleomycin was found to activate VEGF/Src signaling which increased PMCs permeability. In vivo, inhibition of VEGF/Src signaling prevented bleomycin-induced subpleural pulmonary fibrosis. At last, activation of VEGF/Src signaling was confirmed in subpleural area in patients with IPF. Taken together, our findings indicate that VEGF/Src signaling mediated pleural barrier damage and increased permeability which contributes to subpleural pulmonary fibrosis.

Mesenteric Lymph Drainage Improves Cardiac Papillary Contractility and Calcium Sensitivity in Rats with Hemorrhagic Shock.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial dysfunction is an important adverse factor of hemorrhagic shock that induces refractory hypotension, and post-hemorrhagic shock mesenteric lymph (PHSML) return is involved in this adverse effect. This study investigated whether mesenteric lymph drainage (MLD) improves PHSML return-induced cardiac contractile dysfunction via the restoration of cardiomyocyte calcium sensitivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A hemorrhage shock model was established by using a controlled hemorrhage through the femoral artery that maintained a mean arterial pressure of 40 ± 2 mmHg for 3 h. MLD and mesenteric lymph duct ligation (MLDL) were performed from 1 to 3 h during hypotension. The papillary muscles of the heart were collected for measurement of calmodulin expression and for determining contractile responses to either isoprenaline or calcium. RESULTS: The results showed that either MLD or MLDL reversed the hemorrhagic shock-induced downregulation of calmodulin expression, a marker protein of cardiomyocyte calcium sensitization, in papillary muscles. MLD also improved the decreased contractile response and ±df/dt of the papillary muscle strip to gradient isoprenaline or calcium caused by hemorrhagic shock. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that increased cardiac contractibility may be associated with the restoration of calcium sensitivity produced by PHSML drainage.

Diarrhea Is Associated With Prolonged Symptoms and Viral Carriage in Corona Virus Disease 2019.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We compared clinical, laboratory, radiological, and outcome features of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) with pneumonia, with vs without diarrhea. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, single-center analysis of 84 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in Wuhan Union Hospital, China, from January 19 through February 7, 2020. Cases were confirmed by real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Blood samples were analyzed for white blood cell count, lymphocyte count, alanine aminotransferase, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer, C-reactive protein, and in some cases, immunoglobulins, complement, lymphocyte subsets, and cytokines. Virus RNA was detected in stool samples by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Of the 84 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, 26 (31%) had diarrhea. The duration of fever and dyspnea in patients with diarrhea was significantly longer than those without diarrhea (all P < .05). Stool samples from a higher proportion of patients with diarrhea tested positive for virus RNA (69%) than from patients without diarrhea (17%) (P < .001). As of February 19, a lower proportion of patients with diarrhea had a negative result from the latest throat swab for SARS-CoV-2 (77%) than patients without diarrhea (97%) (P = .010), during these patients' hospitalization. Of 76 patients with a negative result from their latest throat swab test during hospitalization, a significantly higher proportion of patients with diarrhea had a positive result from the retest for SARS-CoV-2 in stool (45%) than patients without diarrhea (20%) (P = .039). CONCLUSIONS: At a single center in Wuhan, China, 31% of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia had diarrhea. A significantly higher proportion of patients with diarrhea have virus RNA in stool than patients without diarrhea. Elimination of SARS-CoV-2 from stool takes longer than elimination from the nose and throat.

Neuroprotective and Anti-inflammatory Ditetrahydrofuran-Containing Diarylheptanoids from Tacca chantrieri.

Three new dimeric diarylheptanoids, taccachanfurans A-C (1-3), a new monomeric diarylheptanoid, taccachannoid A (4), and four known diarylheptanoids (5-8) were isolated from the EtOH extract of the rhizomes of Tacca chantrieri. Their structures were established on the basis of comprehensive spectroscopic data analysis. The absolute configuration of taccachanfuran A (1) was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All the diarylheptanoid dimers contain a ditetrahydrofuran moiety, which has not been described previously for diarylheptanoid compounds. A plausible biosynthetic pathway for the diarylheptanoid dimers is proposed. Compounds 2-4 showed significant neuroprotective activity against Aß25-35-induced damage in SH-SY5Y cells at the concentrations of 10 and 1 µM. Compounds 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 showed anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-stimulated murine microglial BV-2 cells at the concentrations of 10 and 1 µM.

[Usage of ethnomedicine on COVID-19 in China].

In December 2019, an outbreak of viral pneumonia began in Wuhan, Hubei Province, which caused the spread of infectious pneumonia to a certain extent in China and neighboring countries and regions, and triggered the epidemic crisis. The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease listed as a B infectious disease, which is managed according to standards for A infectious disease. Traditional Chinese medicine and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine have played an active role in the prevention and control of this epidemic. China's ethnomedicine has recognized infectious diseases since ancient times, and formed a medical system including theory, therapies, formula and herbal medicines for such diseases. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Chuxiong Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan, Qiandongnan Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou have issued the prevention and control programs for COVID-19 using Tibetan, Mongolian, Uygur, Yi and Miao medicines. These programs reflect the wisdom of ethnomedicine in preventing and treating diseases, which have successfully extracted prescriptions and preventive measures for the outbreak of the epidemic from their own medical theories and traditional experiences. In this paper, we summarized and explained the prescriptions and medicinal materials of ethnomedicine in these programs, and the origin of Tibetan medicine prescriptions and Mongolian medicine prescriptions in ancient books were studied. These become the common characteristics of medical prevention and treatment programs for ethnomedicine to formulate therapeutic programs under the guidance of traditional medicine theories, recommend prescriptions and prevention and treatment methods with characteristics of ethnomedicine, and focus on the conve-nience and standardization. However, strengthening the support of science and technology and the popularization to the public, and improving the participation of ethnomedicine in national public health services and the capacity-building to deal with sudden and critical diseases are key contents in the development of ethnomedicine in the future.

Allopolyploid origin in Rubus (Rosaceae) inferred from nuclear granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) sequences.

BACKGROUND: Polyploidy and hybridization are ubiquitous in Rubus L., a large and taxonomically challenging genus. Chinese Rubus are mainly concentrated into two major sections, the diploid Idaeobatus and the polyploid Malachobatus. However, it remains unclear to be auto- or allo- polyploid origin of polyploids in Rubus. We investigated the homoeologs and the structure of the GBSSI-1 (granule-bound starch synthase I) gene in 140 Rubus individuals representing 102 taxa in 17 (out of the total 24) subsections of 7 (total of 12) sections at different ploidy levels. RESULTS: Based on the gene structure and sequence divergence, we defined three gene variants, GBSSI-1a, GBSSI-1b, and GBSSI-1c. When compared with GBSSI-1a, both GBSSI-1b and GBSSI-1c have a shorter fourth intron, and GBSSI-1c had an additional deletion in the fifth intron. For diploids, either GBSSI-1a or GBSSI-1b was detected in 56 taxa consisting of 82 individuals from sect. Idaeobatus, while both alleles existed in R. pentagonus and R. peltatus. Both homoeologs GBSSI-1a and GBSSI-1b were identified in 39 taxa (48 individuals) of Malachobatus polyploids. They were also observed in two sect. Dalibardastrum taxa, in one sect. Chamaebatus taxon, and in three taxa from sect. Cylactis. Interestingly, all three homoeologs were observed in the three tetraploid taxa. Phylogenetic trees and networks suggested two clades (I and II), corresponding to GBSSI-1a, and GBSSI-1b/1c sequences, respectively. GBSSI-1 homoeologs from the same polyploid individual were resolved in different well-supported clades, and some of these homoelogs were more closely related to homoelogs in other species than they were to each other. This implied that the homoeologs of these polyploids were donated by different ancestral taxa, indicating their allopolyploid origin. Two kinds of diploids hybridized to form most allotetraploid species. The early-divergent diploid species with GBSSI-1a or -1b emerged before polyploid formation in the evolutionary history of Rubus. CONCLUSION: This study provided new insights into allopolyploid origin and evolution from diploid to polyploid within the genus Rubus at the molecular phylogenetic level, consistent with the taxonomic treatment by Yü et al. and Lu.

Role of HGF/c-Met in the treatment of colorectal cancer with liver metastasis.

The system of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor c-Met plays a critical role in tumor invasive growth and metastasis. The mortality rate of colorectal cancer (CRC), one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies, is increased by it gradual development into metastasis, most frequently in the liver. Overexpression of c-Met, the protein tyrosine kinase receptor for the HCF/scatter factor, has been implicated in the progression and metastasis of human colorectal carcinoma. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of c-Met in CRC liver metastasis and illustrate the clinical impact of regulating HGF/c-Met signaling in patients with CRC liver metastasis. We found that (I) higher levels of c-Met expression (mRNA and Protein) in CRC liver metastasis than primary CRC by assessing the patient tissue samples; (II) a positive correlation of c-Met expression with tumor stages of CRC liver metastasis, as well as c-Met expression in CRC, live metastasis concurred with regional lymph node metastasis; (III) the clinical impact of downregulation of HGF/c-Met signaling on the reduction of proliferation and invasion in CRC liver metastasis. Therefore, we demonstrate that the regulation of HGF/c-Met pathways may be a promising strategy in the treatment of patients with CRC liver metastasis.

Regional Differences of the Urinary Proteomes in Healthy Chinese Individuals.

Objective Urine is a promising biomarker source for clinical proteomics studies. Regional physiological differences are common in multi-center clinical studies. In this study, we investigate whether significant differences are present in the urinary proteomes of individuals from different regions in China. Methods In this study, morning urine samples were collected from healthy urban residents in three regions of China (Haikou, Xi'an and Xining) and urinary proteins were preserved using a membrane-based method (Urimem). The urine proteomes of 27 normal samples were analyzed using LC-MS/MS and compared among three regions. Functional annotation of the differential proteins among the three areas was analyzed using the DAVID online database, and pathway enrichment of the differential urinary proteins was analyzed using KEGG. Results We identified 1898 proteins from Urimem samples using label-free proteome quantification, of which 56 urine proteins were differentially expressed among the three regions (P < 0.05). Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that inter-regional differences caused less significant changes in the urine proteome than inter-sex differences. After gender stratification, 16 differential proteins were identified in male samples and 84 differential proteins were identified in female samples. Among these differential proteins, several proteins have been previously reported as urinary disease biomarkers. Conclusions Urimem will facilitate urinary protein storage for large-scale urine sample collection. Regional differences are a confounding factor influencing the urine proteome and should be considered in future multi-center biomarker studies.

The impact of dementia caregiving on self-care management of caregivers and facilitators: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Caregivers of patients with dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD) face special health challenges due to the progressive nature of the disease. Self-care has crucial importance on individuals' management of life, health, and well-being. However, limited evidence is available on self-care management of dementia and AD caregivers. This study aimed to investigate the influence of caregiving on the self-care management of dementia and AD caregivers based on the caregivers' experience. In addition, the facilitators of caregivers' self-care management were assessed. METHODS: A sample of 45 caregivers of patients with dementia or AD was recruited from a local community in the south-eastern USA. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by the method of cross-case thematic analysis of qualitative data. RESULTS: As reported by the caregivers, caregiving negatively influenced their self-care management, including physical self-care and mental and social self-care. Both internal and external facilitators were found that can assist caregivers' self-care. Caregivers differ considerably in their demographic characteristics, caregiving tasks, and self needs. CONCLUSION: Self-care management of dementia and AD caregivers can be largely affected by caregiving. Awareness, motivation, and knowledge of self-care, as well as knowledge of health-care resources, are important prerequisites for caregivers to achieve self-care management. Given the massive differences in caregiving situations, future intervention studies based on the specific needs of individual caregivers are warranted.

Dissection of the Mechanism for Compatible and Incompatible Graft Combinations of Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck ('Hongmian Miyou').

'Hongmian miyou' (Citrus grandis L. Osbeck) is mutated from 'Guanxi miyou', with a different spongy layer coloration. Trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata) is widely used as rootstocks in 'Guanxi miyou' grafting, whereas 'Hongmian miyou' is incompatible with available trifoliate orange rootstocks. To explore the reasons for the etiolation of leaves of 'Hongmian miyou'/trifoliate orange, anatomical differences among different graft unions, gene expression profiles, and auxin levels of scion were investigated in this study. A histological assay indicated that there was no significant difference in anatomical structure between the compatible and incompatible combinations. A total of 1950 significant differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and analyzed. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis revealed that genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and plant hormone signal transduction were significantly enriched. Moreover, the expression of nine genes in the auxin pathway were upregulated and three were downregulated in compatible combinations compared with those in the incompatible group. Further experiments verified that indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) content increases in the compatible graft combination, which suggests that IAA might promote graft compatibility.

[Advances of Epigenetic Studies on Mechanisms of Paramutation].

Studies in traditional genetics have revealed the molecular causes of many genetic diseases and provided direct clues for their prevention, diagnosis and treatments, as well as for various disorders with genetic background. However, the genetic profiles of most human diseases could not be fully explained with the canonical laws of genetics. Paramutation is one of non-Mendelian inheritance phenomenon, which was found in maize first in 1950s. The absence of alteration in nucleotide sequences in the gene-coding alleles suggested that paramutations might involve epigenetic mechanisms to transmit heritable changes in gene expression and determination of phenotypes. Recently, a novel epigenetic mechanism has been found in paramutation researches, emphasized the importance of DNA methyltransferase II mediated RNA (primarily non-coding RNAs) methylation in the occurrence and maintenance of paramutations. Researches on paramutations and their epigenetic mechnisms will not only expand our understanding in the genetic principles of life, but also help to develop new ideas for bioengineer and disease treatments. The present article reviewed the research highlights on molecular mechanisms of paramutation and discussed the prospects in disease study and therapy.

Rab from the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei: characterization and its regulation upon environmental stress.

With the destruction of the ecological environment, shrimp cultivation in China has been seriously affected by outbreaks of infectious diseases. Rab, which belong to small GTPase Ras superfamily, can regulate multiple steps in eukaryotic vesicle trafficking including vesicle budding, vesicle tethering, and membrane fusion. Knowledge of Rab in shrimp is essential to understanding regulation and detoxification mechanisms of environmental stress. In this study, we analyzed the functions of Rab from the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Full-length cDNA of Rab was obtained, which was 751 bp long, with open reading frame encoding 206 amino acids. In this study, for the first time, the gene expression of Rab of L. vannamei was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR after exposure to five kinds of environmental stresses (bacteria, pH, Cd, salinity and low temperature). The results demonstrate that Rab is sensitive and involved in bacteria, pH, and Cd stress responses and Rab is more sensitive to bacteria than other stresses. Therefore we infer that Rab may have relationship with the anti-stress mechanism induced by environment stress in shrimp and Rab could be used as critical biomarkers for environmental quality assessment.

Cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 mediates LTD4-induced activation of mouse microglial cells in vitro.

AIM: To investigate the roles of cysteinyl leukotriene receptors CysLT1R and CysLT2R in leukotriene D4 (LTD4)-induced activation of microglial cells in vitro. METHODS: Mouse microglial cell line BV2 was transfected with pcDNA3.1(+)-hCysLT1R or pcDNA3.1(+)-hCysLT2R. The expression of relevant mRNAs and proteins in the cells was detected using RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Phagocytosis was determined with flow cytometry analysis. The release of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) from the cells was measured using an ELISA assay. RESULTS: The expression of CysLT1R or CysLT2R was considerably increased in the transfected BV2 cells, and the receptors were mainly distributed in the plasma membrane and cytosol. Treatment of the cells expressing CysLT1R or CysLT2R with CysLT receptor agonist LTD4 (0.1-100 nmol/L) concentration-dependently enhanced the phagocytosis, and increased mRNA expression and release of IL-1ß. Moreover, the responses of hCysLT1R-BV2 cells to LTD4 were significantly larger than those of hCysLT2R-BV2 or WT-BV2 cells. Pretreatment of hCysLT1R-BV2 cells with the selective CysLT1R antagonist montelukast (1 µmol/L) significantly blocked LTD4-induced phagocytosis as well as the mRNA expression and release of IL-1ß, whereas the selective CysLT2R antagonist HAMI 3379 (1 µmol/L) had no such effects. CONCLUSION: CysLT1R mediates LTD4-induced activation of BV2 cells, suggesting that CysLT1R antagonists may exert anti-inflammatory activity in brain diseases.

Prevalence of chronic illnesses and characteristics of chronically ill informal caregivers of persons with dementia.

OBJECTIVES: to examine the prevalence of and the link of chronic illnesses (CIs) to informal caregivers of persons with dementia (PWDs), as well as to identify characteristics of caregivers with CIs. METHODS: the sample included 124 caregivers of PWDs from a caregiver programme of research. Sociodemographic information and caregivers CIs were collected by an in-person interview. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi-square analysis and binary logistic regressions were performed for data analysis. RESULTS: approximately 81.5% (n = 101) of caregivers reported having at least one CI, 60.5% (n = 75) reported two or more CIs. Caregivers with CIs were more likely to be older and unemployed; advanced age and female gender were risk factors for CIs. The link of CIs to caregivers was stronger in younger caregivers but weaker in older caregivers when compared with the general population. CONCLUSION: targeted interventions based on this study need to be developed to improve the health of caregivers of PWDs.

HIV infection and sexual behaviors among non-commercial men who have sex with men at different venues.

The prevalence of HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) has increased rapidly in China. Previous studies suggested that some venue-specific characteristics could significantly affect MSM's sexual behaviors that were related to HIV transmission. Thus, to compare the HIV infection rates and related risky sexual behaviors among MSM at different venues, we conducted a cross-sectional study with time-location sampling in Shenzhen, China. Among the 801 MSM recruited in the study, 7.0 % (n = 56) were found to be HIV positive, with 0.9 % of MSM at bars (BMSM), 3.5 % of MSM at suburban recreational centers (RMSM), 8.1 % of MSM at saunas (SMSM), 9.3 % of MSM at parks (PMSM), and 10.1 % of MSM at dorm-based venues (DMSM). HIV infection was significantly more prevalent in MSM in dorm-based venues, parks, and saunas than in other venues. Compared to MSM in other venues, BMSM were more likely to be single, drug and alcohol users, but less likely to be HIV and syphilis positive. More PMSM reported having unprotected anal intercourse with other men while more SMSM reported having multiple male sex partners and more RMSM had a low level of HIV-related knowledge. The results indicated that MSM frequenting different venues were inconsistent with regards to demographic characteristics, HIV and syphilis infection rates, and risky sexual behaviors. Greater efforts are needed to develop intervention strategies that target specific venues and risky behaviors.

[Effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor NL101 on rat neurons].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor NL101 on L-homocysteine (HCA)-induced toxicity in rat neurons, and the toxic effect on normal rat neurons. METHODS: In the presence of NL101 at various concentrations, HCA (5 mmol/L)-induced changes in cell density, necrosis, and viability were determined in the mixed cultures of rat cortical cells and the primary cultures of rat neurons. The direct effect of NL101 on primary neurons was also observed in the absence of HCA. Histone deacetylase inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) was used as the control. After the treatments, cell viability, the density, and morphology of neurons and glial cells, and cell necrosis were determined. RESULTS: In the mixed cultures of cortical cells, NL101 had no effect on HCA (5 mmol/L)-induced cell number reduction at 0.001-10µmol/L; however, it significantly attenuated necrosis at 1-10 µmol/L, and increased neuronal number at 1 µmol/L. NL101 had no effect on the mixed cortical cells in the absence of HCA. In the primary neurons, NL101 reduced neuronal viability and mildly increased necrosis at 1-10 µmol/L in the absence of HCA, while it significantly attenuated HCA-induced neuronal viability reduction at 0.01-10 µmol/L and reduced neuronal necrosis at 1-10 µmol/L. The effects of NL101 were apparently similar to those of SAHA. CONCLUSION: NL101 has protective effect on HCA-induced neuronal injury but it is neurotoxic at high concentrations, which is similar to the typical histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA.