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Background Diabetes and osteoporosis are common diseases in middle-aged and elderly people. Diabetes can lead to various acute and chronic complications, but its related bone changes are often neglected. Osteoporosis is more common in postmenopausal women, and those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have multiple risk factors for osteoporosis. Therefore, it is particularly important to early identify risk factors of osteoporosis in these women, and to provide them with targeted interventions. Objective To explore the associated factors of osteoporosis in Chinese postmenopausal women with T2DM through a meta-analysis. Methods In July 2021, databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure, CQVIP, WanFang Data, SinoMed, PubMed, EmBase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for literature about factors associated with osteoporosis in Chinese postmenopausal women with T2DM from inception to July 2021. Two researchers independently screened literature and extracted data. RevMan 5.4 and Stata 15.0 were used to conduct a meta-analysis on the data. Results Twenty-one studies were finally included, from which 11 osteoporosis-related factors were extracted. The meta-analysis showed that age〔MD (95%CI) =6.56 (5.24, 7.88) 〕, years of postmenopause〔MD (95%CI) =5.93 (4.23, 7.62) 〕, duration of diabetes〔MD (95%CI) =1.94 (0.89, 2.98) 〕, body mass index〔MD (95%CI) =-1.99 (-2.63, -1.36) 〕, serum calcium〔MD (95%CI) =0.03 (0.01, 0.06) 〕, fasting blood glucose〔MD (95%CI) =0.49 (0.09, 0.90) 〕, glycosylated hemoglobin〔MD (95%CI) =0.37 (0.02, 0.71) 〕, and fasting insulin〔MD (95%CI) =3.65 (1.24, 6.06) 〕 were associated factors for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women with T2DM. But no significant association was found between osteoporosis and serum creatinine〔MD (95%CI) =4.02 (0.00, 8.04) 〕, serum phosphorus〔MD (95%CI) =0.00 (-0.05, 0.05) 〕, or serum alkaline phosphatase〔MD (95%CI) =1.26 (-0.06, 2.57) 〕 in these women. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the association of all the above-mentioned factors (except for serum creatinine) with osteoporosis was relatively robust. Conclusion Older age, long years of postmenopause, long duration of T2DM, low levels of BMI and serum calcium, and high levels of fasting insulin, fasting blood glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin are risk factors for osteoporosis in Chinese postmenopausal women with T2DM. But the effects of serum creatinine, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase on osteoporosis in this group need to be further verified.

The Australian predatory mite, Transeius montdorensis, is an important natural enemy of Bemisia tabaci, thrips, spider mites, and many other pests, and thus might be important for their biological control. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether temperature influences the development of T. montdorensis when preying on B. tabaci. The survival rate and development time of T. montdorensis under different temperature conditions were compared when fed with 1 st to 3 rd instar nymphs of B. tabaci as its prey. We analyzed the association between temperature and the growth rate of T. montdorensis. The results show that the developmental period of T. montdorensis was significantly affected by temperature. The development period of T. montdorensis was the longest (23.23 days) at 15 °C and the shortest (4.62 days) at 35 °C. From 15–35 °C, the developmental period of T. montdorensis correlated negatively with temperature. In addition, increasing temperature (15–30 °C) promoted T. montdorensis survival. The survival rate was 64% at 15 °C and was highest (92%) at 30 °C; however, survival was reduced as the temperature increased from 30 to 35 °C; with only 66% survival at 35 °C. The logistic equation is better at correlating temperature and development than the linear one. The different developmental stages of T. Montdorensis varied in the temperature thresholds of development and effective thermal summation. The temperature threshold of development was 10.45 °C at the immature stage, which had an effective thermal summation of 99.87 d ·°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new sesquiterpenes, named selina-4(14),7,11-trien-9-ol (1) and selina-4(14),11-dien-7-ol (2), along with two known compounds were isolated from rhizomes of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz. All structures were assigned on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configuration of 1 was established by TDDFT-ECD calculations. Compound 1 was found to moderately inhibit LSD1 activity with IC50 value of 34.0 μM. Compounds 1 and 4 exhibited a regulate effect on Keap1-Nrf2-ARE pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the mechanism of Zexie Decoction(ZXD) in promoting white adipose tissue browning/brown adipose tissue activation based on the GLP-1R/cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway. A hyperlipidemia model was induced by a western diet(WD) in mice, and the mice were divided into a control group, a model group(WD), and low-, medium-, and high-dose ZXD groups. An adipogenesis model was induced in 3T3-L1 cells in vitro, and with forskolin(FSK) used as a positive control, low-, medium-, and high-dose ZXD groups were set up. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence results showed that compared with the WD group, ZXD promoted the expression of UCP1 in white and brown adipose tissues, and also upregulated UCP1, CPT1β, PPARα, and other genes in the cells. Western blot analysis showed a dose-dependent increase in the protein expression of PGC-1α, UCP1, and PPARα with ZXD treatment, indicating that ZXD could promote the white adipose tissue browning/brown adipose tissue activation. Hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining results showed that after ZXD treatment, white and brown adipocytes were significantly reduced in size, and the mRNA expression of ATGL, HSL, MGL, and PLIN1 was significantly upregulated as compared with the results in the WD group. Oil red O staining and biochemical assays indicated that ZXD improved lipid accumulation and promoted lipolysis. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining for p-CREB revealed that ZXD reversed the decreased expression of p-CREB caused by WD. In vitro intervention with ZXD increased the protein expression of CREB, p-CREB, and p-PKA substrate, and increased the mRNA level of CREB. ELISA detected an increase in intracellular cAMP concentration with ZXD treatment. Molecular docking analysis showed that multiple active components in Alismatis Rhizoma and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma could form stable hydrogen bond interactions with GLP-1R. In conclusion, ZXD promotes white adipose tissue browning/brown adipose tissue activation both in vivo and in vitro, and its mechanism of action may be related to the GLP-1R/cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway.

Taking lipophagy as the breakthrough point, we explored the mechanism of Zexie Decoction(ZXD) in improving lipid metabolism in the hepatocyte model induced by palmitic acid(PA) and in the animal model induced by high-fat diet(HFD) on the basis of protein kinase B(Akt)/transcription factor EB(TFEB) signaling pathway. Co-localization was carried out for the microtubule-associated protein light chain 3(LC3) plasmid labeled with green fluorescent protein(GFP) and lipid droplets(LDs), and immunofluorescence co-localization for liver LC3 of HFD mice and perilipin 2(PLIN2). The results showed that ZXD up-regulated the expression of LC3, reduced lipid accumulation in hepatocytes, and increased the co-localization of LC3 and LDs, thereby activating lipo-phagy. Western blot results confirmed that ZXD increased autophagy-related protein LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ transformation ratio and lysosome-associated membrane protein 2(LAMP2) in vivo and in vitro and promoted the degradation of sequestosome-1(SQSTM1/p62)(P<0.05). The results above jointly explained that ZXD regulated lipophagy. Furthermore, ZXD activated TFEB expression(P<0.05) and reversed the PA-and HFD-induced decrease of TFEB nuclear localization in hepatocytes(P<0.05). Meanwhile, ZXD activated liver TFEB to up-regulate the expression of the targets Lamp2, Lc3 B, Bcl2, and Atg5(P<0.05). Additionally, ZXD down-regulated the protein level of p-Akt upstream of TFEB in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, ZXD may promote lipophagy by regulating the Akt/TFEB pathway.

The present study investigated the pharmaceutical effect and underlying mechanism of Zexie Decoction(ZXD) on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) in vitro and in vivo via the LKB1/AMPK/PGC-1α pathway based on palmitic acid(PA)-induced lipid accumulation model and high-fat diet(HFD)-induced NAFLD model in mice. As revealed by the MTT assay, ZXD had no effect on HepG2 activity, but dose-dependently down-regulated alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) in the liver cell medium induced by PA, and decreased the plasma levels of ALT and AST, and total cholesterol(TC) and triglyceride(TG) levels in the liver. Nile red staining showed PA-induced intracellular lipid accumulation, significantly increased lipid accumulation of hepatocytes induced by PA, suggesting that the lipid accumulation model in vitro was properly induced. ZXD could effectively improve the lipid accumulation of hepatocytes induced by PA. Oil red O staining also demonstrated that ZXD improved the lipid accumulation in the liver of HFD mice. JC-1 staining for mitochondrial membrane potential indicated that ZXD effectively reversed the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential caused by hepatocyte injury induced by PA, activated PGC-1α, and up-regulated the expression of its target genes, such as ACADS, CPT-1α, CPT-1β, UCP-1, ACSL-1, and NRF-1. In addition, as revealed by the Western blot and immunohistochemistry, ZXD up-regulated the protein expression levels of LKB1, p-AMPK, p-ACC, and PGC-1α in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, ZXD can improve NAFLD and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of the LKB1/AMPK/PGC-1α pathway.

A core-shell multilayered composite microsphere with electric and magnetic features was designed and prepared on the basis of mutilayered fabrication. This kind of microspheres was obtained by introducing a rod-like conductive polyanilline (PANI) or its derivatives onto the surface of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles with 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate as a anchor molecule. Subsequently, the Fe3O4/PANI or Fe3O4/aniline oligomers microspheres, as a secondary core, were covered with a cross-linked shell layer which was constructed by a dispersion polymerization process of methacrylic acid and vinyl pyrrolidone. The structure and morphologies were characterized by using a FTIR, XRD, UV-vis, SEM, TEM and TGA. The average diameter of Fe3O4 nanoparticles prepared is about 10.7 nm, and the PANI nanobars hold the size in the range of about 20.4-25.6 nm. The PANI nanobars are covalently assembled on the surface of Fe3O4 nanoparticles mainly in a mode of extended or horizontal arrangements through XRD and TEM results. The electromagnetic properties were examined based on different polymerization degrees and component ratios of PANI or its derivatives, showing characteristics of soft magnetic materials and controllable conductivity. The multilayer microspheres can be readily used to perform separation and magnetism guide, even electric and pH-modulated drug release in the light of swelling determination and a laser diffraction particle size analyzer, and are potentially of interest for drug targeting purpose.

Objective: To explore the therapeutic effect of Pushen capsule (PSC) in treating primary hyperlipidemia., Methods: Two hundred and forty patients with primary hyperlipidemia were randomly divided into two groups, the 120 patients in the treated group treated with PSC (4 capsules, tid) and the 120 patients in the control group treated with Zhibituo tablet (3 tablets, tid), and they were administered at the same time with Zhibituo placebo. The therapeutic course for both groups was 4 weeks. The therapeutic effect and the effects on blood lipids and viscosity were observed., Results: The effective rate in the treated group was 76.3%, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (48.7%, P < 0.01). PSC showed a significant lowering effect on TC, TG and LDL-C and raising effect on HDL-C, and the effect in lowering TG was significantly better than that of Zhibituo (P < 0.01). PSC also showed a certain effect in decreasing whole blood viscosity of both high-sheared and low-sheared viscosity., Conclusion: Pushen capsule has promising blood lipid regulating effect in patients with hyperlipidemia, and some effects in lowering the blood viscosity.