Characteristics of sarcopenia subjects in arterial pulse spectrum analysis.

Aims: Sarcopenia is significantly associated with the number of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, however, the underlying pathophysiological processes are largely unknown. This study performed harmonic index of finger photoplethysmography (PPG) waveforms with the aims of distinguishing different arterial pulse waveform signals between sarcopenia, presarcopenia, dynapenia, and healthy subjects. Methods: Sixty-eight subjects were enrolled and obtained 1-min PPG signals, then were assigned to four age-matched groups: control, dynapenia, presarcopenia, and sarcopenia which definition according to Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS): 2019 Consensus Update on Sarcopenia Diagnosis and Treatment. Harmonics 1-10 of the PPG waveform were obtained and calculated each of the amplitude proportions (C n ), standard deviations (SD n ), coefficients of variations (CV n ), and vascular elasticity index (VEI) for to evaluating the blood-pressure harmonic variability. Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia in women gender (8 out of 9, 88.9%, p = 0.046) and osteoporosis in dynapenia (7 out of 16, 43.8%, p = 0.005) were significant higher. Among the four groups, compared with control, dynapenia, and presarcopenia, sarcopenia had largest SD n -values for harmonics 1, 2, 3, and 5 (ratio 1, 2, 3, 5 = 0.354, 0.209, 0.137, 0.074); whereas sarcopenia had largest coefficients of variations (CV n ) values for harmonics 1, 2, 3 and 10 (ratio 1, 2, 3, 10 = 0.263, 0.310, 0.402, 0.791). Besides, the Δ odds ratio of ratio 3, 4,and 6 tertile values were significantly increased in sarcopenia and possible sarcopenia group compared with control group. Subjects with sarcopenia had significantly higher VEI in mean, SD, and CV of the PPG waveform (mean = 2.332, SD = 1.479, CV = 0.634, p = 0.007) among the groups and the results of binary logistic regression analysis in the tertiles met statistical significance between the sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia groups whether adjusted or unadjusted (adjusted odds ratio 6.956, p = 0.030, unadjusted odds ratio 3.937, p = 0.039). Conclusions: The elasticity of vessels among sarcopenia groups in lower-frequency components of harmonic ratio in which we defined as VEI showed a significantly highest VEI mean, SD, and CV in sarcopenia indicates the poorer elasticity of the arteries. The present findings showed finger PPG waveform measurements may be useful for early detection of vascular diseases with patients with sarcopenia in a non-invasive and easy-to-perform technique which may expand the clinical applicability in the future.

Activation of Nrf2/HO-1 signaling: An important molecular mechanism of herbal medicine in the treatment of atherosclerosis via the protection of vascular endothelial cells from oxidative stress.

Introduction: Recently, Nrf2/HO-1 has received extensive attention as the main regulatory pathway of intracellular defense against oxidative stress and is considered an ideal target for alleviating endothelial cell (EC) injury. Objectives: This paper aimed to summarized the natural monomers/extracts that potentially exert protective effects against oxidative stress in ECs. Methods: A literature search was carried out regarding our topic with the keywords of "atherosclerosis" or "Nrf2/HO-1" or "vascular endothelial cells" or "oxidative stress" or "Herbal medicine" or "natural products" or "natural extracts" or "natural compounds" or "traditional Chinese medicines" based on classic books of herbal medicine and scientific databases including Pubmed, SciFinder, Scopus, the Web of Science, GoogleScholar, BaiduScholar, and others. Then, we analyzed the possible molecular mechanisms for different types of natural compounds in the treatment of atherosclerosis via the protection of vascular endothelial cells from oxidative stress. In addition, perspectives for possible future studies are discussed. Results: These agents with protective effects against oxidative stress in ECs mainly include phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and alkaloids. Most of these agents alleviate cell apoptosis in ECs due to oxidative stress, and the mechanisms are related to Nrf2/HO-1 signaling activation. However, despite continued progress in research on various aspects of natural agents exerting protective effects against EC injury by activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling, the development of new drugs for the treatment of atherosclerosis (AS) and other CVDs based on these agents will require more detailed preclinical and clinical studies. Conclusion: Our present paper provides updated information of natural agents with protective activities on ECs against oxidative stress by activating Nrf2/HO-1. We hope this review will provide some directions for the further development of novel candidate drugs from natural agents for the treatment of AS and other CVDs.

Variability of global mean annual temperature is significantly influenced by the rhythm of ocean-atmosphere oscillations.

While global warming has been evolving over several decades, in particular years there have been considerable deviations of global temperature from the underlying trend. These could be explained by climate variability patterns and, in particular, by the major interplays of atmospheric and oceanic processes that generate variations in the global climatic system. Here we show, in a simple and straightforward way, that a rhythm of the major ocean-atmosphere oscillations, such as the ENSO and IPO in the Pacific as well as the AMO in the Atlantic, is indeed meaningfully influencing the global mean annual temperature. We construct time series of residuals of the global temperature from the medium-term (5-year) running averages and show that these largely follow the rhythm of residuals of three basic ocean-atmosphere oscillation modes (ENSO, IPO and AMO) from the 5-year running averages. We find meaningful correlations between analyzed climate variability and deviations of global mean annual temperature residuals that are robust across various datasets and assumptions and explain over 70% of the annual temperature variability in terms of residuals from medium-term averages.

Correlates of protection for rotavirus vaccines: Possible alternative trial endpoints, opportunities, and challenges.

Rotavirus (RV) is a major vaccine-preventable killer of young children worldwide. Two RV vaccines are globally commercially available and other vaccines are in different stages of development. Due to the absence of a suitable correlate of protection (CoP), all RV vaccine efficacy trials have had clinical endpoints. These trials represent an important challenge since RV vaccines have to be introduced in many different settings, placebo-controlled studies are unethical due to the availability of licensed vaccines, and comparator assessments for new vaccines with clinical endpoints are very large, complex, and expensive to conduct. A CoP as a surrogate endpoint would allow predictions of vaccine efficacy for new RV vaccines and enable a regulatory pathway, contributing to the more rapid development of new RV vaccines. The goal of this review is to summarize experiences from RV natural infection and vaccine studies to evaluate potential CoP for use as surrogate endpoints for assessment of new RV vaccines, and to explore challenges and opportunities in the field.

Long-term immunogenicity of an AS03-adjuvanted influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine in young and elderly adults: an observer-blind, randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: This study (NCT00979602) evaluated the immunogenicity and relative protective efficacy of one dose of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine with or without AS03 (an α-tocopherol oil-in-water emulsion based Adjuvant System). METHODS: Four thousands and forty-eight healthy adults aged ≥ 18 years were randomized (1:1) to receive one dose of either the adjuvanted split virion (3.75 µg hemagglutinin antigen [HA]/AS03) or non-adjuvanted (15 µg HA) vaccine. Hemagglutination inhibition [HI] antibody response was evaluated before vaccination and at Days 21, 42 and 182 (Month 6). Safety of the study vaccines was evaluated during the entire study duration. RESULTS: At Day 21, both study vaccines induced HI immune responses meeting the US regulatory criteria in subjects 18-64 years (seroprotection rate [SPR]: 98.0% [97.1-98.6]; seroconversion rate [SCR]: 89.7% [88.0-91.2] in the AS03-adjuvanted group; SPR: 91.4% [89.9-92.8]; SCR: 74.6% [72.3-76.9] in the non-adjuvanted group) and >64 years of age (SPR: 86.0% [82.5-89.0]; SCR: 75.3% [71.1-79.2] in the AS03-adjuvanted group; SPR: 69.1% [64.6-73.3]; SCR: 56.7% [52.0-61.3] in the non-adjuvanted group). The AS03-adjuvanted vaccine induced higher HI geometric mean titers than the non-adjuvanted vaccine at all time points. At Month 6, only subjects 18-64 years of age from both vaccine groups still met the US regulatory criteria (SPR: 82.1% [80.0-84.1]; SCR: 62.3% [59.6-64.8] in the AS03-adjuvanted group; SPR: 75.3% [72.9-77.5]; SCR: 53.7% [51.0-56.4] in the non-adjuvanted group). Protective efficacy was not evaluated due to low number of RT-qPCR-confirmed A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza cases. Through Month 12, 216 serious adverse events (in 157 subjects: 84 in the AS03-adjuvanted and 73 in the non-adjuvanted group) and 12 potentially immune mediated diseases (5 in the AS03-adjuvanted and 7 in the non-adjuvanted group) were reported. CONCLUSION: A single dose of either adjuvanted or non-adjuvanted influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine induced protective HI antibody levels against the A/California/7/2009 strain that persisted through Month 6 in the 18-64 years population.