Therapeutic potency of crocin in the treatment of inflammatory diseases: Current status and perspective

Crocin is the major component of saffron, which is used in phytomedicine for the treatment of several diseases including diabetes, fatty liver, depression, menstruation disorders, and, of special interest in this review, inflammatory diseases. Promising selective anti-inflammatory properties of this pharmacological active component have been observed in several studies. Saffron has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory properties against several inflammatory diseases and can be used as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of inflammatory diseases either alone or in combination with other standard anti-inflammatory agents. This review summarizes the protective role of saffron and its pharmacologically active constituents in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases including digestive diseases, dermatitis, asthma, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases for a better understanding and hence a better management of these diseases.     

2006～2008年我院法定报告传染病疫情分析

目的了解鹰潭市人民医院法定传染病报告情况,分析其流行病学特点,为制定传染病防治对策及降低传染病的发生提供科学依据。方法对鹰潭市人民医院2006～2008年法定传染病疫情资料进行分析．结果共报告法定传染病19种,累计报告发病4170例,其中无甲类传染病报告。主要病种为感染性腹泻、肺结核、病毒性肝炎、流行性腮腺炎、菌痢,占报告总数的93．62％;死亡13例（5个病种）．结论肺结核、乙型肝炎、肠道传染病是今后传染病防治工作的重点和难点,应加大管理力度．做好传染病的预防和控制工作．     

Disease-Aging Network Reveals Significant Roles of Aging Genes in Connecting Genetic Diseases

One of the challenging problems in biology and medicine is exploring the underlying mechanisms of genetic diseases. Recent studies suggest that the relationship between genetic diseases and the aging process is important in understanding the molecular mechanisms of complex diseases. Although some intricate associations have been investigated for a long time, the studies are still in their early stages. In this paper, we construct a human disease-aging network to study the relationship among aging genes and genetic disease genes. Specifically, we integrate human protein-protein interactions (PPIs), disease-gene associations, aging-gene associations, and physiological system–based genetic disease classification information in a single graph-theoretic framework and find that (1) human disease genes are much closer to aging genes than expected by chance; and (2) diseases can be categorized into two types according to their relationships with aging. Type I diseases have their genes significantly close to aging genes, while type II diseases do not. Furthermore, we examine the topological characters of the disease-aging network from a systems perspective. Theoretical results reveal that the genes of type I diseases are in a central position of a PPI network while type II are not; (3) more importantly, we define an asymmetric closeness based on the PPI network to describe relationships between diseases, and find that aging genes make a significant contribution to associations among diseases, especially among type I diseases. In conclusion, the network-based study provides not only evidence for the intricate relationship between the aging process and genetic diseases, but also biological implications for prying into the nature of human diseases.     

Emerging role of HMGB1 in lung diseases: friend or foe

Lung diseases remain a serious problem for public health. The immune status of the body is considered to be the main influencing factor for the progression of lung diseases. HMGB1 (high‐mobility group box 1) emerges as an important molecule of the body immune network. Accumulating data have demonstrated that HMGB1 is crucially implicated in lung diseases and acts as independent biomarker and therapeutic target for related lung diseases. This review provides an overview of updated understanding of HMGB1 structure, release styles, receptors and function. Furthermore, we discuss the potential role of HMGB1 in a variety of lung diseases. Further exploration of molecular mechanisms underlying the function of HMGB1 in lung diseases will provide novel preventive and therapeutic strategies for lung diseases.     

Polyglutamine-mediated neurodegeneration: Use of chaperones as prevention strategy

Polyglutamine diseases are a class of inherited neurodegenerative disorders caused by the expansion of a polyglutamine tract within the respective proteins. Clinical studies have revealed that the forming of neuronal intranuclear inclusions by the disease protein is a common pathological feature of polyglutamine diseases. Although there has been considerable progress in understanding polyglutamine diseases, many questions regarding their mechanism are still unanswered. The finding that molecular chaperones are associated with ubiquitinated intranuclear inclusions clearly indicates a crucial role of molecular chaperones in the generation of these fatal diseases. Molecular and chemical chaperones have been found to be a good agent for suppressing many polyglutamine diseases in several animal models. In this review, I discuss the roles of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway and molecular chaperones in the development of polyglutamine diseases and probable approach for the prevention of many of these fatal disorders using molecular chaperones as a therapeutic agent. Newly found chemical chaperones have been demonstrated to be potentially useful and could be used as a therapeutic strategy in preventing many versions of polyglutamine diseases.     

The COVID-19 epidemic and other notifiable infectious diseases in China

Many infection control measures have been implemented to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 during COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 epidemic on the other notifiable infectious diseases in China, including respiratory infectious diseases, diseases transmitted through the digestive tract and animal-borne diseases. Compared with 2019, the overall decline rate of respiratory infectious diseases in 2020 is the highest (60–90%), and the diseases transmitted by the digestive tract and animal-borne diseases are similar at 20–30%. Both hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases decreased significantly in February, and there were basically no significant changes in other months compared with previous years. The series of measures taken by China government to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 are also very effective in preventing the spread of respiratory infectious diseases. But they also have a certain degree of prevention against notifiable infectious diseases spread by other routes.     

哈尔滨市儿童医院收治口腔粘膜病患儿的构成情况调查

目的:统计20l3年哈尔滨市儿童医院全年就诊口腔黏膜病患儿的病历资料,分析目前儿童口腔粘膜病的病种构成和临床治疗情况。方法:收集哈尔滨市儿童医院2013年全年口腔粘膜病例22257例,按病因分成四大类疾病,针对其就诊性别、年龄、各病种的伴发全身疾病和相关影响因素等进行统计分析。结果:22257病例中,感染性疾病的构成比最高,除鹅口疮外均在幼儿期高发,上皮珠主要发生在新生儿期,婴儿期创生性溃疡的构成比最高。复杂病因疾病随年龄增加构成比呈上升趋势。女孩发育性疾病构成比率更高,而男孩外伤性疾病的构成比更高。外伤性疾病伴发全身疾病比率最低(7%),而疱疹性口炎和疱疹性咽峡炎100%伴发上呼吸道感染。复杂病因疾病患儿有家族史的比例较高,城市患儿创伤性溃疡的患病率较低。结论:对儿童口腔粘膜病统计分析可以掌握就诊患儿的口腔粘膜病种类型及变化,有助于医生开展疾病的诊治和预防工作。     

Medico-genetic study of the population of Uzbekistan. VI. Hereditary pathology among the populations of 4 regions of the Kashkadarinskaia area]

The screening for families burdened with multiple cases of non-infectious diseases, the diagnostic of those diseases and the investigation of relations between the population structure and the distribution of hereditary diseases in 4 districts of the Kashkadarja province were carried out. On the basis of the data obtained the load of excessive hereditary diseases was calculated and nosological spectrum was described; it included more than 30 different diseases. The study of spatial distribution of recessive diseases has shown that the load of hereditary diseases may be accounted for the positive assortative matings. The high level of interpopulation migration prevents from the local accumulation of a certain hereditary disease.     

Emerging and re-emerging bacterial diseases in India

There has been a remarkable progress in the prevention, control and even eradication of infectious diseases with improved hygiene and development of antimicrobials and vaccines. However, infectious diseases still remain a leading cause of global disease burden with high morbidity and mortality especially in the developing world. Furthermore, there have been threats of new diseases during the past three decades due to the evolution and adaptation of microbes and the re-emergence of old diseases due to the development of antimicrobial resistance and the capacity to spread to new geographic areas. The impact of the emerging and re-emerging diseases in India has been tremendous at socioeconomic and public health levels. Their control requires continuing surveillance, research and training, better diagnostic facilities and improved public health system. Emerging and reemerging zoonotic diseases, foodborne and waterborne diseases and diseases caused by multiresistant organisms constitute the major threats in India. This review of bacterial emerging and re-emerging diseases should be of critical importance to microbiologists, clinicians, public health personnel and policy makers in India.     

The role of interleukin-10 in autoimmune disease: systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and multiple sclerosis (MS)

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an immunoregulatory cytokine that plays a crucial role in inflammatory and immune reactions. It has potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities on myeloid cell functions which forms a solid basis for its use in acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. Here, we discuss the role of IL-10 in autoimmune diseases and examine its beneficial effects in cellular-based autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) or its involvement in humoral-based autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Inhibition of the immune stimulatory activities of IL-10 may provide novel approaches in the treatment of humoral autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cancer.     

Genetics of common disease: implications for therapy,screening and redefinition of disease.

Susceptibility to most common human diseases is, at least in part, determined by genetic factors. Rapid progress is being made in defining these genetic determinants for a range of diseases including breast cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, arthritis and dementia. The ability to define susceptibility in genetic terms has already led to a reclassification of some of these diseases on genetic and mechanistic grounds. This information is likely to have a profound effect on our approach to human diseases as it will allow a better definition of these disorders, permitting more effective therapeutic intervention, and will lead to both a more precise understanding of the natural history of these diseases and the possibility of identifying populations at risk. An understanding of the mechanisms underlying disease susceptibilty will also improve our ability to develop rational therapeutic interventions for many of these diseases. The role of genetic screening in these common diseases will be discussed, particularly in regard to the application of health care in populations.     

Global distribution of outbreaks of water-associated infectious diseases

Background

Water plays an important role in the transmission of many infectious diseases, which pose a great burden on global public health. However, the global distribution of these water-associated infectious diseases and underlying factors remain largely unexplored.

Methods and Findings

Based on the Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON), a global database including water-associated pathogens and diseases was developed. In this study, reported outbreak events associated with corresponding water-associated infectious diseases from 1991 to 2008 were extracted from the database. The location of each reported outbreak event was identified and geocoded into a GIS database. Also collected in the GIS database included geo-referenced socio-environmental information including population density (2000), annual accumulated temperature, surface water area, and average annual precipitation. Poisson models with Bayesian inference were developed to explore the association between these socio-environmental factors and distribution of the reported outbreak events. Based on model predictions a global relative risk map was generated. A total of 1,428 reported outbreak events were retrieved from the database. The analysis suggested that outbreaks of water-associated diseases are significantly correlated with socio-environmental factors. Population density is a significant risk factor for all categories of reported outbreaks of water-associated diseases; water-related diseases (e.g., vector-borne diseases) are associated with accumulated temperature; water-washed diseases (e.g., conjunctivitis) are inversely related to surface water area; both water-borne and water-related diseases are inversely related to average annual rainfall. Based on the model predictions, “hotspots” of risks for all categories of water-associated diseases were explored.

Conclusions

At the global scale, water-associated infectious diseases are significantly correlated with socio-environmental factors, impacting all regions which are affected disproportionately by different categories of water-associated infectious diseases.     

A Network Based Method for Analysis of lncRNA-Disease Associations and Prediction of lncRNAs Implicated in Diseases

Increasing evidence has indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are implicated in and associated with many complex human diseases. Despite of the accumulation of lncRNA-disease associations, only a few studies had studied the roles of these associations in pathogenesis. In this paper, we investigated lncRNA-disease associations from a network view to understand the contribution of these lncRNAs to complex diseases. Specifically, we studied both the properties of the diseases in which the lncRNAs were implicated, and that of the lncRNAs associated with complex diseases. Regarding the fact that protein coding genes and lncRNAs are involved in human diseases, we constructed a coding-non-coding gene-disease bipartite network based on known associations between diseases and disease-causing genes. We then applied a propagation algorithm to uncover the hidden lncRNA-disease associations in this network. The algorithm was evaluated by leave-one-out cross validation on 103 diseases in which at least two genes were known to be involved, and achieved an AUC of 0.7881. Our algorithm successfully predicted 768 potential lncRNA-disease associations between 66 lncRNAs and 193 diseases. Furthermore, our results for Alzheimer''s disease, pancreatic cancer, and gastric cancer were verified by other independent studies.     

富氢水和富氢生理盐水生物医学研究进展——临床试验

氢分子已被证实具有广泛的生物学效应,研究表明,氢气对多种疾病具有显著的治疗作用。近年来,国内外关于氢分子临床应用的报道较多,为疾病治疗提供了新的途径。饮用富氢水或注射富氢生理盐水是常用的氢气摄入方式,因其摄入简单、安全性高得到了临床广泛地关注。主要综述了富氢水在代谢性疾病、神经系统疾病、炎症性疾病、肿瘤、皮肤病及运动疲劳等的临床研究进展,旨在为富氢水和富氢生理盐水的临床应用及作用机制研究提供理论参考。     

Modern probabilistic and statistical approaches to search for nucleotide sequence options associated with integrated diseases

Complex diseases are a major important problem for modern medicine. These diseases arise under the influence of specific environmental and clinical-demographic factors, so-called risk factors, in combination with factors of genetic heredity. The contribution of genetic factors to the development of complex diseases is on average about 50%. The cause of complex diseases can be a lot of variants of the nucleotide sequence. In addition to common variants of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rare variants also play a role in the development of complex diseases. This review presents modern probabilistic and statistical approaches to the search for gene variants and their combinations associated with complex diseases with an emphasis on methods for finding rare and unique variants. A comparative analysis of these approaches is performed, and a number of problems requiring resolution are formulated.     

The influence of foliar diseases and their control by selective fungicides on a range of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes

Twenty groundnut genotypes were grown with various spray treatments which controlled either, only rust, or only leaf spot diseases, or all of these diseases or none of them. The genotypes varied in their resistance to these diseases, some having resistance to only one disease and some having resistance or susceptibility to all the diseases. Chemical control of the diseases resulted in variations in leaf area protection and in yield which were specific to each genotype. For some genotypes the diseases had little influence on yield and foliage, while for others yield and remaining green leaf were varied greatly by the control of diseases. For many of the genotypes the yield achieved was well related to variations in the green leaf remaining at maturity as a result of the spray treatments. Genotypes with good levels of genetic resistance did not have high yield potentials while those with the best yields when diseases were controlled were the most susceptible to these diseases.     

肠道微生态与非消化系统疾病的研究进展

人体肠道微生态系统是人体微生态系统中最大最复杂的一部分,参与机体代谢、免疫等各方面的生理作用。由于内外源性的病理因素导致肠道微生态的破坏可能会引起人体疾病。随着肠道微生态与消化道疾病研究的不断深入,越来越多的学者开始关注肠道微生态与非消化道疾病的相关性。近年来大量研究表明,肠道微生态与肥胖、神经精神病、皮肤病、心脑血管疾病、消化道外肿瘤、感染性疾病和自身免疫病等非消化系统疾病具有相关性。微生态制剂和粪菌移植可以通过调节肠道微生态平衡参与这类疾病的预防和治疗。肠道微生态系统与消化系统疾病的相关性已被广泛研究和阐述,本文侧重对肠道微生态与非消化系统疾病的研究进展进行综述。     

Fingerprinting the diseased prostate: associations between BPH and prostate cancer

Two of the most common diseases which occur in ageing men relate to their prostate. BPH and prostate cancer are prevalent diseases which have an impact on most men as they age. The advent of gene expression analysis has provided an opportunity to examine these diseases in a novel fashion. These analyses, to date, have revealed associations between these two diseases which have not been previously identified. These commonalities include global genetic changes which occur throughout the prostates in individuals with these diseases. Understanding the fingerprints of these diseases is providing novel markers and treatment strategies for both BPH and prostate cancer.     

药物作用靶点研究最新进展

通过对我国学者近2年在国内外发表的相关论文进行检索和整理,分类综述针对神经退行性疾病（如阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病等）、心血管疾病（如高血压、心律失常、心衰、冠心病、心肌梗死、动脉粥样硬化等）、脑血管疾病、代谢类疾病（如肥胖症、血脂异常、脂肪肝、糖尿病等）、感染性疾病（如艾滋病、流感、结核病等）、恶性肿瘤、自身免疫性疾病等多种疾病的药物作用靶点研究最新进展。