A combined CaMKII inhibition and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism via eplerenone inhibits functional deterioration in chronic pressure overloaded mice

In the diseased and remodelled heart, increased activity and expression of Ca^2+/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), an excess of fibrosis, and a decreased electrical coupling and cellular excitability leads to disturbed calcium homeostasis and tissue integrity. This subsequently leads to increased arrhythmia vulnerability and contractile dysfunction. Here, we investigated the combination of CaMKII inhibition (using genetically modified mice expressing the autocamtide‐3‐related‐peptide (AC3I)) together with eplerenone treatment (AC3I‐Epler) to prevent electrophysiological remodelling, fibrosis and subsequent functional deterioration in a mouse model of chronic pressure overload. We compared AC3I‐Epler mice with mice only subjected to mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonism (WT‐Epler) and mice with only CaMKII inhibition (AC3I‐No). Our data show that a combined CaMKII inhibition together with MR antagonism mitigates contractile deterioration as was manifested by a preservation of ejection fraction, fractional shortening, global longitudinal strain, peak strain and contractile synchronicity. Furthermore, patchy fibrosis formation was reduced, potentially via inhibition of pro‐fibrotic TGF‐β/SMAD3 signalling, which related to a better global contractile performance and a slightly depressed incidence of arrhythmias. Furthermore, the level of patchy fibrosis appeared significantly correlated to eplerenone dose. The addition of eplerenone to CaMKII inhibition potentiates the effects of CaMKII inhibition on pro‐fibrotic pathways. As a result of the applied strategy, limiting patchy fibrosis adheres to a higher synchronicity of contraction and an overall better contractile performance which fits with a tempered arrhythmogenesis.     

Comprehensive analysis of mRNA‐level and miRNA‐level subpathway activities for identifying robust ovarian cancer prognostic signatures

Ovarian cancer (OvCa) causes the highest mortality among all gynaecologic cancers. A large number of mRNA‐ or miRNA‐based signatures were identified for OvCa patient prognosis. However, the comprehensive analysis of function‐level prognostic signatures is currently not considered in OvCa. In the present study, we respectively inferred subpathway activities from mRNA and miRNA levels based on high‐throughput expression profiles and reconstructed subpathways. Firstly, the activities of two tumour pathways were calculated and the difference between normal and tumour samples were analysed using multiple tumour types. Then, we calculated subpathway activities for OvCa based on the expression profiles from both mRNA and miRNA levels. Furthermore, based on these subpathway activity matrices, we performed bootstrap analysis to obtain sub‐training sets and utilized univariate method to identify robust OvCa prognostic subpathways. A comprehensive comparison of subpathway results between these two levels was performed. As a result, we observed subpathway mutual exclusion trend between the levels of mRNA and miRNA, which indicated the necessary of combining mRNA‐miRNA levels. Finally, by using ICGC data as testing sets, we utilized two strategies to verify survival predictive power of the mRNA‐miRNA combined subpathway signatures and performed comparisons with results from individual levels. It was confirmed that our framework displayed application to identify robust and efficient prognostic signatures for OvCa, and the combined signatures indeed exhibited advantages over individual ones. In the study, we took a step forward in relevant novel integrated functional signatures for OvCa prognosis.     

Intracoronary application of nicorandil regulates the inflammatory response induced by percutaneous coronary intervention

Intracoronary application of nicorandil can effectively reduce the myocardial no‐reflow (MNR) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to investigate the mechanisms of nicorandil in preventing MNR, besides that of dilating the coronary microvasculature. A total of 60 patients undergoing PCI were enrolled and randomly divided into a nicorandil group and a control group. Before PCI, 2 mg of nicorandil or an equal volume of normal saline was injected into the coronary artery. Blood samples were collected before, 24 hours and 1 week after PCI and inflammatory cytokines were tested. In the control group, the expression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines was significantly increased, while the anti‐inflammatory cytokines were decreased 24 hours after PCI. In contrast, these changes were reversed in the nicorandil group, indicating that nicorandil regulated the inflammatory response induced by PCI. Then, proteomic analysis was performed to further elucidate the potential mechanisms. A total of 53 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were found 24 hours after PCI in the control group, and the changes of these relevant genes were reversed in the nicorandil group. These DEPs were significantly enriched in the inflammatory pathways. In conclusion, the intracoronary application of nicorandil before PCI can regulate the inflammatory responses induced by PCI, which might be an important mechanism of nicorandil in preventing MNR.     

Association of suboptimal health status with intestinal microbiota in Chinese youths

Suboptimal health status (SHS), a physical state between health and disease, is a subclinical and reversible stage of chronic disease. Previous studies have shown alterations in the intestinal microbiota in patients with some chronic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the association between SHS and intestinal microbiota in a case‐control study with 50 SHS individuals and 50 matched healthy controls. Intestinal microbiota was analysed by MiSeq 250PE. Alpha diversity of intestinal microbiota in SHS individuals was higher compared with that of healthy controls (Simpson index, W = 2238, P = .048). Beta diversity was different between SHS and healthy controls (P = .018). At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobia was higher in the SHS group than that in the controls (W = 2201, P = .049). Compared with that of the control group, nine genera were significantly higher and five genera were lower in abundance in the SHS group (all P < .05). The intestinal microbiota, analysed by a random forest model, was able to distinguish individuals with SHS from the controls, with an area under the curve of 0.79 (95% confidence interval: 0.77‐0.81). We demonstrated that the alteration of intestinal microbiota occurs with SHS, an early stage of disease, which might shed light on the importance of intestinal microbiota in the primary prevention of noncommunicable chronic diseases.     

Circulating exosome‐derived bona fide long non‐coding RNAs predicting the occurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Although the diagnosis and therapy approach developed, techniques for the early diagnosis of HCC remain insufficient which results in poor prognosis of patients. The traditional biomarker AFP, however, has been proved with low specificity. Circulating exosomal ncRNAs revealed different profiles reflecting the characteristics of tumour. In this study, we mainly focused on circulating exosomal ncRNAs which might be the fingerprint for HCC, especially for the diagnosis or metastasis prediction. A high throughput lncRNA microarray in exosomes extracted from cell‐free plasma was applied. The risk score analysis was employed to screen the potential exosome‐derived lncRNAs in two independent sets based on different clinical parameters in 200 paired HCC patients. After a multi‐stage validation, we finally revealed three lncRNAs, ENSG00000248932.1, ENST00000440688.1 and ENST00000457302.2, increased in HCC comparing with the both chronic hepatitis (CH) patients and cancer‐free controls. ROC curve revealed a higher sensitivity and specificity in predicting the occurrence of HCC from cancer‐free controls and CH patients with the area under curve (AUC) of 0.905 and 0.879 by combining AFP. The three lncRNA panel combined with AFP also indicted a fingerprint function in predicting the metastasis of HCC with the AUC of 0.870. In conclusion, ENSG00000248932.1, ENST00000440688.1 and ENST00000457302.2 might be the potential biomarker for the tumorigenesis prediction from CH patients or healthy controls and may also be applied for dynamic monitoring the metastasis of HCC.     

Chemical Characterization and Phytotoxic Effects of the Aerial Parts of Ruzigrass (Urochloa ruziziensis)

Studies of the phytotoxic effects between plants can be a crucial tool in the discovery of innovative compounds with herbicide potential. In this sense, we can highlight ruzigrass (Urochloa ruziziensis), which is traditionally used in the crop rotation system in order to reduce weed emergence. The aim of this work was to characterize the secondary metabolites of ruzigrass and to evaluate its phytotoxic effects. In total, eight compounds were isolated: friedelin, oleanolic acid, α‐amyrin, 1‐dehydrodiosgenone, sitosterol and stigmasterol glycosides, tricin and p‐coumaric acid. Phytotoxic effects of the crude methanolic extract and fractions of ruzigrass were assessed using germination rate, initial seedling growth, and biomass of Bidens pilosa, Euphorbia heterophylla and Ipomoea grandifolia. Chemometric analysis discriminated the weed species into three groups, and B. pilosa was the most affected by fractions of ruzigrass. The phytotoxic activities of 1‐dehydrodiosgenone, tricin, and p‐coumaric acid are also reported, and p‐coumaric acid and 1‐dehydrodiosgenone were active against B. pilosa.     

急性血源性骨髓炎全身与局部抗生素治疗体会及重症病例分析

目的:总结急性血源性骨髓炎尤其是重症患者治疗中全身及局部抗生素应用的经验、方法及临床疗效。方法:回顾性分析空军军医大学第二附属医院2016年11月至2019年4月收治的12例急性血源性骨髓炎患者,其中3例为合并肺脓肿的重症败血症患者。对患者首先进行经验性全身抗生素治疗,并进行细菌学分析,然后根据药敏结果进行系统抗生素调整,采用万古霉素负载的硫酸钙/磷酸钙复合物进行局部抗生素缓释治疗,分析治疗前后实验室指标变化、局部影像学变化。结果:细菌学培养显示金黄色葡萄球菌10例,人葡萄球菌1例,阴沟肠杆菌1例;平均随访56.6周;治疗后患者白细胞(WBC)、中性粒细胞百分比(NEUT%)、红细胞沉降率(ESR)、高敏C反应蛋白(hs-CRP)等指标均恢复到正常范围内;影像学显示患者病灶处骨重建及新骨形成良好,无感染复发迹象;12例患者中成功治愈11例,治愈率91.7%;1例转为慢性骨髓炎,二期手术后痊愈;其中3例骨髓炎合并重症败血症、肺脓肿患者经系统抗生素及外科治疗,全部治愈。结论:急性血源性骨髓炎的致病菌主要为甲氧西林敏感金黄色葡萄球菌(MSSA),其治疗要在早诊断的前提下,率先经验性应用抗生素,然后根据药敏结果合理选择足量敏感抗生素。苯唑西林在3例合并败血症、肺脓肿的重症患者治疗中起到了关键作用,同时局部采用硫磷复合物负载万古霉素进行治疗,既可以实现局部抗感染作用,又可以促进新骨形成,有效控制全身感染、消除败血症,临床疗效满意。     

不同术前皮肤准备方案与手术切口感染的关系研究

目的:研究不同术前皮肤准备方案与手术切口感染(SSI)的关系,为降低临床SSI发生率提供参考。方法:选择自2015年1月～2019年12月在医院行手术治疗的患者1810例为本次研究对象。根据析因设计表,将因素A:是否剃毛(1不剃毛;2剃毛),B:清洁方式(1清水清洁;2肥皂水清洁),C:术前备皮时间(1术前1 d;2术前2 h)配对分为8个组:A1B1C1组226例,A1B2C1组229例,A1B1C2组216例,A1B2C2组232例,A2B1C1组221例,A2B2C1组241例,A2B1C2组221例,A2B2C2组224例,比较各组手术部位及切口类型分布、术后SSI发生率,并采用析因分析法分析术前皮肤准备后各组菌落计数的相关性及交互作用。结果:各组患者的手术部位及切口类型之间的差异不存在统计学意义(P0.05)。A1B1C1组及A2B1C1组的SSI发生率较高,分别为12.83%和14.48%。A1水平的SSI发生率是8.75%,与A2水平的8.27%相比,差异不存在统计学意义(P0.05)。B1、C1水平的SSI发生率分别是11.31%、10.03%,明显高于B2、C2水平的5.83%、6.94%,差异均存在统计学意义(P0.05)。各组术前皮肤准备后的菌落计数差异存在统计学意义(P0.05),析因分析结果显示,B、C单因素分析差异存在统计学意义(P0.05),且A与C,B与C间具有交互作用,而A、B、C间具有二级交互作用(P0.05)。结论:术前皮肤准备对降低SSI发生具有重要作用,实际操作时,建议在较短的时间内利用肥皂水或其他消毒水进行皮肤清洗并完成备皮。     

中国斑叶蝉族昆虫地理分布格局聚类分析

分析了斑叶蝉族昆虫在中国以及贵州动物地理区的分布情况,探讨其分布格局形成、起源和演化原因。根据中国和贵州斑叶蝉族的地理分布数据,运用MEGA 6.0、SPSS 22.0和ArcGIS 10.2等软件,对斑叶蝉族昆虫的区及亚区分布进行支序聚类分析,结果表明我国斑叶蝉族现代分布中心为西部山地高原亚区、华南区的台湾亚区及滇南山地亚区,分布热点地区为西双版纳地区、海南地区和台湾地区。贵州斑叶蝉现代分布中心为黔东低山丘陵省、黔北中山峡谷省和黔南低山河谷省,分布热点地区为铜仁北部的沿河地区、遵义的务川地区及贵州黔东南州的榕江、雷山地区。斑叶蝉族昆虫中国分布区形成的顺序先是东北区,其次是青藏区和蒙新区,最后是西南区、华北区、华南区和华中区。贵州分布区形成的顺序先是黔西高原中山省和黔中山原丘陵省,其次是黔南低山河谷省,最后是黔北中山峡谷省和黔东低山丘陵省。中国分布区中,B21和B22聚类群属级阶元的相似性最高,区间关联性最强。在贵州分布区中黔东低山丘陵省和黔北中山峡谷省属级阶元的相似性最高,物种交流最为频繁。目前,斑叶蝉族昆虫的地理分布格局主要是历史气候变化、当前气候条件以及植被覆盖等生态环境共同作用的结果;区系起源和演化主要受地质构造运动作用;斑叶蝉在各区的分布相似性可能与气候变化引起的物种由南向北扩散有关。