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Background: Odor identification dysfunction is an early predictor of the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), which are common in AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), are also associated with odor identification dysfunction. Whether NPS affect the specificity of using odor identification dysfunction to predict cognitive decline in AD and MCI remains unclear. Methods: Patients (233 with MCI and 45 with AD) and 45 healthy controls (HCs) underwent assessments of odor identification (Sniffin' Sticks), NPS (Neuropsychiatric Inventory-12), and cognitive function (global cognition, memory, language, executive function, visual-spatial skill, and attention). Structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping estimation was conducted to explore the relationships between odor identification, NPS, and cognition. Results: Patients with NPS showed significantly worse performance in odor identification and cognition than patients without NPS and HCs. The SEM showed odor identification to be positively associated with cognition, and cognition had special indirect effects on odor identification through affective and psychosis symptoms (two factors extracted from Neuropsychiatric Inventory-12). Additionally, affective and psychosis symptoms partially mediated the effect of cognition on odor identification. Conclusion: Neuropsychiatric symptoms are associated with odor identification dysfunction in patients with AD and MCI. Studies exploring the relationship between odor identification dysfunction and cognitive decline in patients with AD and MCI should include an assessment of affective and psychosis symptoms, and adjust their confounding effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modified Wenyang Huayu decoction has been widely used to treat vascular dementia in China for thousands of years. We have previously proved that a modified version, Wuzang Wenyang Huayu decoction has the potential to be a more effective clinical treatment that can attenuate cerebral ischaemic injury. However, the global transcript profile and signalling conduction pathways regulated by this recipe remains unclear. This study established a two‐vessel occlusion rat model by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion. Two groups of rats were intragastrically treated Wuzang Wenyang Huayu 2.5 g/kg vs or Piracetam 0.15 g/kg for 2 weeks. Learning and memory abilities were measured with Morris water maze. Neuronal plasticity was observed by HE staining. Differentially expressed transcripts of rat hippocampus were analysed by transcriptomics with Illumina HiSeq2500 platform. Results showed that Wuzang Wenyang Huayu decoction significantly alleviated learning, memory deficits, coordination dysfunction and prevented hippocampus cellular injury; Results further revealed the increased gene expression in KEGG metabolic pathways (MT‐ND2. MT‐ND3, MT‐ND4, MT‐ND4L, MT‐ND5 and MT‐ATP8) and genes involved in signal transduction, carcinogenesis, immune system, endocrine system, nervous system etc (Results further revealed differential expression of genes involved in various systems, including MT‐ND2) Our discovery is likely to provide new insights to molecular mechanisms of Wuzang Wenyang Huayu regarding hippocampal transcripts in a murine vascular dementia model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: LncRNA PTCSC3 is a known tumor suppressor, while its roles in other human diseases are unclear. Methods: All participants were admitted by The second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University from January 2016 to January 2018. RT-qPCR, Vectors, cell transfection, In vitro cell proliferation assay and western blot were using to carry out the experiment. Results: In this study we found that PTCSC3 was downregulated, while toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was upregulated in periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) isolated from periodontitis affected teeth that in PDLSCs isolated from healthy teeth. Expression levels of PTCSC3 and TLR4 were only significantly and inversely correlated in PDLSCs isolated from periodontitis affected teeth but not in PDLSCs isolated from healthy teeth. PTCSC3 overexpression led to the downregulation of TLR4 in PDLSCs isolated from periodontitis affected teeth, while TLR4 overexpression failed to significantly affect PTCSC3. PTCSC3 overexpression also led to the inhibited proliferation of periodontitis-affected PDLSCs. Conclusions: Therefore, lncRNA PTCSC3 may regulate the proliferation of PDLSCs and TLR4 expression to improve periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNA regulation is crucial for gene expression and cell functions. It has been linked to tumorigenesis, development and metastasis in colorectal cancer (CRC). Recently, the let-7 family has been identified as a tumor suppressor in different types of cancers. However, the function of the let-7 family in CRC metastasis has not been fully investigated. Here, we focused on analyzing the role of let-7g in CRC. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) genomic datasets of CRC and detailed data from a Taiwanese CRC cohort were applied to study the expression pattern of let-7g. In addition, in vitro as well as in vivo studies have been performed to uncover the effects of let-7g on CRC. We found that the expression of let-7g was significantly lower in CRC specimens. Our results further supported the inhibitory effects of let-7g on CRC cell migration, invasion and extracellular calcium influx through store-operated calcium channels. We report a critical role for let-7g in the pathogenesis of CRC and suggest let-7g as a potential therapeutic target for CRC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variability in human olfactory sensitivity has been attributed to individual-level factors such as genetics, age, sex, medical history of infections and trauma, neurogenerative diseases, and emotional disorders. Scarce evidence exists on the cross-cultural variation in olfactory sensitivity. Hence, we performed 2 studies to estimate the variability in olfactory threshold as a function of location and environment. Study 1 involved 11 laboratories from 4 continents (N = 802). In each location, in a designated laboratory, approximately 80 subjects underwent olfactory sensitivity testing with custom-made tests with eucalyptol and phenylethanol (PEA) odors. Tests were based on the Threshold subtest of the Sniffin' Sticks battery. In Study 2, we compared olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold perception of PEA and eucalyptol in 2 Chinese (N = 160) and 2 Indian (N = 92) populations-one based in their native country and the other in Germany. Both studies present large-scale evidence that olfactory sensitivity varies as a function of geographical location and suggest that environmental factors play an important role in shaping olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold olfactory perception. We delineate further steps necessary to identify specific factors underlying uncovered variability and the relationship between olfactory sensitivity and suprathreshold odor perception. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Purpose: To characterize the location of orbital blowout fractures in Asian individuals., Methods: This was a retrospective review of 470 consecutive Asian patients with orbital blowout fractures who presented to four tertiary care hospitals in Japan and China. Computed tomography (CT) characterized the location and severity of fractures involving the medial wall, the orbital floor, and/or the maxilloethmoidal strut., Results: A total of 475 orbital blowout fractures were identified. More than one fracture location was involved in 19% of all cases. The medial orbital wall was the most commonly involved location, presenting in 29 cases (61%), of which 204 (43%) were isolated medial blowout fractures. The orbital floor was the second most common location involved, present in 226 cases (48%) with 150 isolated orbital floor fractures (32%), while the maxilloethmoidal strut was involved in 45 cases (9%) with 30 of those being isolated strut fractures (6%). The majority of fractures (62%) were classified as moderately severe, whilst 14% were mild, and 24% were severe. Associated nasal fractures were present in 16% of the cases., Conclusions: Orbital blowout fractures in Japanese and Chinese individuals occur most commonly in the medial wall. This is in contrast to previous reports on white individuals, who tend to sustain fractures involving the orbital floor rather than the medial wall.

Aim: To study the association between hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) and pre-existing medical conditions., Methods: Three hundred and thirteen HC patients admitted to the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital (Shanghai, China) in 2000-2005 and 608 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Association between HC and pre-existing medical conditions was studied with their adjusted odds ratio (OR) calculated by logistic regression analysis., Results: The prevalence of choledocholithiasis (adjusted OR = 2.704, P = 0.039), hepatolithiasis (adjusted OR = 3.278, P = 0.018), cholecystolithiasis (adjusted OR = 4.499, P < 0.0001), cholecystectomy (adjusted OR = 7.012, P = 0.004), biliary ascariasis (adjusted OR = 7.188, P = 0.001), liver fluke (adjusted OR = 10.088, P = 0.042) and liver schistosomiasis (adjusted OR = 9.913, P = 0.001) was higher in HC patients than in healthy controls., Conclusion: Biliary tract stone disease (choledocholithiasis, hepatolithiasis, cholecystolithiasis) and parasitic liver disease (biliary ascariasis, liver fluke, liver schistosomiasis) are the risk factors for HC in Chinese population.

Background: The pharmacokinetics of duloxetine hydrochloride have been well studied after its approval for clinical use. However, few such data have been reported in the English language literature. We developed a method to determine the pharmacokinetics of duloxetine enteric-coated capsules in healthy Chinese volunteers., Methods: A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric (LC/MS) method for the determination of duloxetine in human plasma using flupentixol as the internal standard (I.S.) was developed and validated. Sample preparation of the plasma involved deproteination with acetonitrile twice, repeatedly. Samples were then analyzed by HPLC on a Thermo Hypersil-Hypurity C18 column (150 x 2.1 mm, 5 microm). A single-quadrupole mass spectrometer with an electrospray interface was operated in the selected-ion monitoring mode to detect the [M+H](+) ions at 298 m/z for duloxetine and at 435 m/z for the internal standard., Results: Pharmacokinetics were measured in 12 healthy Chinese male volunteers (6 males and 6 females) who received a single regimen with 3 different dosages at 22.4, 44.8 and 67.2 mg of duloxetine enteric-coated capsules., Conclusion: A sensitive and specific method for quantifying duloxetine levels in human plasma has been devised and successfully applied to a clinic pharmacokinetic study of an enteric-coated capsule of duloxetine hydrochloride administered as a single oral dose.