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Kun-Rui Rao,1,* Ru-Yi Bao,1,* Hu Ming,1 Jian-Wei Liu,1 Yi-Fei Dong1,2 1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China; 2Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yi-Fei Dong, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China, Email yf_dong66@126.comBackground: Hypertension patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) have a higher risk of cardiovascular complications than blood pressure-matched essential hypertension (EH) patients. The cause may be closely related to inflammation. We explored the correlations between leukocyte-related inflammation parameters and plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) in PA patients and clinical characteristics-matched EH patients.Methods: A total of 346 PA and 346 sex, age and 24-h blood pressure-matched EH patients at the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 2020 to June 2021 were enrolled in this study. The differences and correlations of aldosterone and leukocyte parameters between the two groups were analyzed.Results: Compared with EH patients, the lymphocyte count was significantly lower (P = 0.004), the neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (P = 0.023) and the monocyte–lymphocyte ratio (MLR) (P = 0.037) were significantly higher in PA patients. Linear regression analysis and multivariate regression analysis identified that lymphocyte count, NLR and MLR were significantly and independently correlated with PAC in PA patients, and the correlations were stronger with increasing levels of aldosterone. However, in EH patients, only NLR maintained an independent correlation with PAC.Conclusion: Leukocyte-related inflammation parameters, including lymphocyte count, NLR, and MLR, were significantly and independent

Identifying and protecting refugia is a priority for conservation management under projected anthropogenic climate change. We have two main objectives: the first is to explore the spatial (East Asia) and temporal (Last Glacial Maximum to year 2070) distribution patterns of dominant Castanopsis species of evergreen broad-leaved forests, also the relation with their niche breadths; the second is to identify long-term stable refugia for preserving these species and provide a framework of conservation strategies. We find that there is an extraordinary richness with 32 dominant Castanopsis species, and they form both a geographically and climatically almost unbroken connection from ca. 5°N to 38°N, having thus ecological significance. During the Mid-Holocene and, particularly, the Last Glacial Maximum, the predicted suitable areas of the species as a whole were larger than those in the present. By 2070, potentially suitable areas with high richness of dominant Castanopsis species will be reduced by 94.5 % on average. No correlation between species niche breadths and distribution ranges is found, which could be due to regional climate stability. Mountains of southwestern and southern Yunnan in China are identified as climatically long-term stable refugia for 7¿9 Castanopsis species. We recommend that these refugia have the highest priority of conservation to prevent their extinction. Our suggested urgent measures include improving the effectiveness of currently protected Castanopsis species and expanding the network of protected areas to cover a larger fraction of the refugia, as well as ensuring Castanopsis species natural regeneration potential in fragmented and natural secondary forest areas.

Rui-Fei Zhou1,2 *, Ning-Peng Liang1 *, Shuo Chen,1 Wen-Chao Zhang,1 Yi-Xi Wang,1 Yu Wang,1 Hui-Fang Ji,1 Yi-Fei Dong1,3 1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Yichun People’s Hospital, Yichun, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China; 3Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yi-Fei Dong, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 1 Minde Road, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330006, People’s Republic of China, Email yf_dong66@126.comPurpose: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients and is related to worse adverse prognosis in HCM patients. However, there are no acknowledged warning characteristics to help to identify OSA in HCM patients.Methods: Seventy-one HCM patients and forty-nine hypertensive (HTN) patients as control group underwent polysomnography (PSG) examination at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 2015 to December 2019 patients were consecutively enrolled. The characteristics were analyzed and compared between HCM patients with OSA and without OSA.Results: A total of 37 (52%) HCM patients and 25 (51%) HTN patients were diagnosed with OSA. High body mass index (BMI) (OR = 1.228, 95% CI: 1.032,1.461, P = 0.020) and low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (OR = 0.959, 95% CI: 0.931,0.989, P = 0.007) independently correlated with the occurrence of OSA in HCM patients, respectively. Multiplicative interaction was shown between high BMI and low eGFR on the risk of OSA in HCM patients (OR: 6.050, 95% CI: 1.598, 22.905, P = 0.008). The additive interaction analysis further suggested that 70.1% of HCM patients developed OSA due to the additive int

Dipentodon sinicus Dunn. (Dipentodonaceae) is a rare and threatened relict plant species usually found co-dominating with other relict plants in subtropical forest patches in highly fragmented habitats of southwestern China, northern Vietnam and northeastern Myanmar of East Asia. To date, its management and conservation strategies in the light of climate change have not been explored. We evaluated effects of climate change on the distribution of climatically suitable areas of D. sinicus as found prevailing during the last glacial maximum (LGM), the mid-Holocene and the present time, and predicted the distribution of climatically suitable habitats in 2070 throughout East Asia. The results as derived from ecological niche modeling (ENM) show the current distribution to be limited to the prehistoric (the mid-Holocene and LGM) refugia, and to indicate decreasing probability of presence and a reducing range of distribution for 2070. In addition, the suitable areas predicted with high probability (0.5–1) only account for on average 9.8% of the total area of potential habitats (threshold‒1) among the models for the year 2070, thereby indicating that D. sinicus is highly vulnerable. Under all the future scenarios for the year 2070, 69–74.2% of potential habitats in China would be outside protected areas. We assess and propose priorities for protected areas, and provide suggestions for conservation management strategies.

Today East Asia harbors many “relict” plant species whose ranges were much larger during the Paleogene-Neogene and earlier. The ecological and climatic conditions suitable for these relict species have not been identified. Here, we map the abundance and distribution patterns of relict species, showing high abundance in the humid subtropical/warm-temperate forest regions. We further use Ecological Niche Modeling to show that these patterns align with maps of climate refugia, and we predict species’ chances of persistence given the future climatic changes expected for East Asia. By 2070, potentially suitable areas with high richness of relict species will decrease, although the areas as a whole will probably expand. We identify areas in southwestern China and northern Vietnam as long-term climatically stable refugia likely to preserve ancient lineages, highlighting areas that could be prioritized for conservation of such species.

The conservation and management of Tertiary relict plants will eventually depend on knowledge of their geographic distribution and the environmental changes that threaten them. This study, using species distribution modeling (involving a new approach that allows for uncertainty), predicts the distribution of climatically suitable areas prevailing during the mid-Holocene, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and at present, and estimates the potential formation of new habitats in 2070 of the endangered and rare Tertiary relict tree Davidia involucrata Baill. The results regarding the mid-Holocene and the LGM demonstrate that south-central and southwestern China have been long-term stable refugia, and that the current distribution is limited to the prehistoric refugia. Given future distribution under six possible climate scenarios, only some parts of the current range of D. involucrata in the midhigh mountains of south-central and southwestern China would be maintained, while some shift west into higher mountains would occur. Our results show that the predicted suitable area offering high probability (0.5¿1) accounts for an average of only 29.2% among the models predicted for the future (2070), making D. involucrata highly vulnerable. We assess and propose priority protected areas in light of climate change. The information provided will also be relevant in planning conservation of other paleoendemic species having ecological traits and distribution ranges comparable to those of D. involucrata.

This study, using species distribution modeling (involving a new approach that allows for uncertainty), predicts the distribution of climatically suitable areas prevailing during the mid-Holocene, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and at present, and estimates the potential formation of new habitats in 2070 of the endangered and rare Tertiary relict tree Davidia involucrata Baill. The results regarding the mid-Holocene and the LGM demonstrate that south-central and southwestern China have been long-term stable refugia, and that the current distribution is limited to the prehistoric refugia. Given future distribution under six possible climate scenarios, only some parts of the current range of D. involucrata in the mid-high mountains of south-central and southwestern China would be maintained, while some shift west into higher mountains would occur. Our results show that the predicted suitable area offering high probability (0.5‒1) accounts for an average of only 29.2% among the models predicted for the future (2070), making D. involucrata highly vulnerable. We assess and propose priority protected areas in light of climate change. The information provided will also be relevant in planning conservation of other paleoendemic species having ecological traits and distribution ranges comparable to those of D. involucrata.

This study was undertaken to elucidate a novel mechanism underlying angiotensin II-induced cardiac injury, focusing on the role of oxidative stress and myocardial capillary density. Salt-loaded Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats (DS rats), a useful model for hypertensive cardiac remodeling or heart failure, were orally given irbesartan (an AT1 receptor blocker), tempol (a superoxide dismutase mimetic) or hydralazine (a vasodilator). Irbesartan significantly ameliorated left ventricular ischemia and prevented the development of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in DS rats. The benefits were associated with the attenuation of oxidative stress, normalization of myocardial capillary density and inhibition of capillary endothelial apoptosis. Moreover, DS rats with significant cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis displayed decreased myocardial vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and increased cardiac apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) activation. Treatment with irbesartan significantly reversed these phenotypes. Tempol treatment of DS rats mimicked all the above-mentioned effects of irbesartan, indicating the critical role of oxidative stress in cardiac injury. We also investigated the role of VEGF and ASK1 in oxidative stress-induced endothelial apoptosis by using cultured endothelial cells from wild-type and ASK1-deficient mice. Oxidative stress-induced ASK1 activation led to endothelial apoptosis, and VEGF treatment prevented oxidative stress-induced endothelial apoptosis by inhibiting ASK1 activation. We obtained the first evidence that oxidative stress-induced cardiac VEGF repression and ASK1 activation caused the enhancement of endothelial apoptosis and contributed to a decrease in myocardial capillary density. These effects resulted in angiotensin II-induced progression of cardiac injury.