Search

Cuiliu Li, Yunna Zhang, Fang Gao The Second Department of Endocrinology, Cangzhou Central Hospital, Cangzhou, 061001, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Cuiliu Li, Tel +8603172075935, Email licuiliu1989@163.comPurpose: To assess changes in pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) levels in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and to investigate sexual dimorphism in serum PEDF levels and their relationships with estradiol.Methods: A total of 318 individuals (145 men, 173 women) who underwent health examinations in our department were selected. Serum PEDF, estradiol and other metabolic parameters were determined. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA- IR) and homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-β) were calculated to evaluate insulin resistance and β-cell function, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyse the factors influencing serum PEDF.Results: Serum PEDF levels were significantly higher in subjects with MetS in both men and women (12.09± 2.75 vs 8.97± 3.19 μg/mL in men and 11.31± 2.79 vs 8.40± 2.32 μg/mL in women, MetS vs non-MetS, P< 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that serum PEDF levels were significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting and 2-h postprandial glucose, fasting and 2-h postprandial insulin, HOMA-β, HOMA-IR, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), uric acid (UA), triacylglycerol (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Elevated ALT, HOMA-IR and TG were significant predictors of increased PEDF concentrations. In women, estradiol was inversely correlated with PEDF levels (r=− 0.25, P=0.011), and the association was no longer significant after adjustment for ALT.Conclusion: PEDF could be used as a biomarker of MetS in both men and women. This study reported for the first time that circulating PEDF displays sexual dimorphism, which could be related to estrogen. The association between estrogen and circulating PEDF levels was attenuated after adjusting for ALT.Keywords: pigment epithelium-derived factor, metabolic syndrome, sexual dimorphism, estradiol, alanine aminotransferase

Post-synthesis modification is an effective strategy for the preparation of rare earth organic framework materials and the derivation of high-performance functional materials. Here, we report the preparation of a dual emission Ln-MOF material (Eu-Ca-MOF) using Ca-MOF as the parent framework and introducing Eu

Heteroatom doping and three-dimensional (3D) porous structures are critical to the performance of graphene supercapacitor electrode materials. However, the conventional methods, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and hydrothermal synthesis, require tedious processes and harsh conditions. In this work, we describe a very simple and efficient approach to fabricate a 3D nitrogen/sulfur-co-doped porous graphene hydrogel (3DNS-GH). It is found that thiourea can reduce graphene oxide (GO) obtaining 3DNS-GHs at low temperature and atmospheric pressure by adjusting the pH value, because the reducibility of thiourea significantly increases in acidic or alkaline media. Furthermore, the amount of nitrogen and sulfur doping and nano-pore structure varies with the pH value of solution. The 3DNS-GH exhibits uniform pore structure and can be directly used as electrode materials without additive binder. The binder-free electrode based on the optimum operating conditions (3DNS-GH-12) exhibit a high specific capacitance of 259.2 F g−1 and retain 96.0% of its initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles in 2 M KOH solution at 10 A g−1. Additionally, the symmetrical supercapacitor assembled by the 3DNS-GH-12 showed an impressive energy density of 6.08 W h kg−1 and a high power density of 7.51 kW kg−1. Therefore, these materials demonstrate excellent performance, indicating this route possess potential applied value in the production of supercapacitor electrode materials.

As a kind of cheap and easily available organic molecular with Faradic redox activity, quinones can well combined with carbon-materials by non-covalent π–π conjugation and remedy its shortcomings possessing relatively low specific capacitance. However, in previous studies, the combination of quinones and carbon-based materials often requires toxic organic solvent or high energy-consuming and interminable process, greatly hindering their practical application. Here we use water-soluble sodium anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQS) and graphene oxide (GO) solution as raw materials to directly obtain AQS composite reduced GO (AQS/rGO) hydrogels by chemical reduction, the whole process of which is performed at relatively low temperature and normal pressure, and only takes a short time, resulting in great promotion in sustainability and efficiency. The AQS/rGO hydrogel exhibiting a high specific capacitance of 387.43 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and an excellent cycling stability of 91.11% after 10000 cycles at 10 A g−1, has a prodigious improvement for the pure graphene in all aspects. Besides, the maximum energy density of the asymmetric supercapacitor assembled by AQS/rGO-1 hydrogel reaches 15.98 W h kg−1 at the power density of 325.02 W kg−1. This work provide a new idea for the green and efficient preparation of graphene organic quinones composite and has an important significance for its practical application.

Background Cushing's disease (CD) is associated with increased risk of mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, peptic ulcers, fractures and infections. The prevalence of CD is nearly 40 per million and higher in women than in men. When surgery has failed, is not feasible, or has been refused, pharmacotherapy can be considered a valuable option. Pasireotide is the first medical therapy officially approved for adult patients with CD. We will conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of pasireotide for CD. Methods Five English databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and OVID) and 3 Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database) will be searched from their respective inception of databases to December 2020. Two reviewers will select articles, extract data and assess the risk of bias independently. Any disagreement will be resolved by discussion with the third reviewer. Review Manager 5.3 software will be used for data synthesis. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool will be used to evaluate the bias risk. Results This systematic review and meta-analysis will conduct a comprehensive literature search and provide a systematic synthesis of current published data to explore the efficacy and safety of pasireotide for CD. Conclusions This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide clinical evidence for the efficacy and safety of pasireotide for CD, and inform our understanding of the value of pasireotide in improving CD clinical signs and symptoms. The conclusions drawn from this study may be beneficial to patients, clinicians, and health-related policy makers. Study registration number INPLASY2020110070.

Herein, a series of novel dual-mode NaYF4:Ln/NaYF4:Eu (Ln = Yb, Er, Tm) composites involving up-conversion and down-shifting luminescence have been prepared by a facile synthetic method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, up-conversion and down-shifting fluorescence spectrometer were used to characterize the materials. By doping different lanthanide ions and tailoring the molar ratio of the doped lanthanide ions, three kinds of composites were obtained which could exhibit three-primary-color (red-green-blue, abbreviating as RGB) up-conversion luminescence under the irradiation of 980 nm laser, and generate red down-shifting color under the excitation of 393 nm. The composites show excellent photoluminescence properties, which attribute to NaYF4 served as a major matrix for both the up-conversion and down-shifting materials. Moreover, the work provides a promising material for anti-counterfeiting application.

Monocyte chemotactant protein-1 (MCP-1), a pro-inflammatory cytokine, plays an important role in inflammatory process. In present study, we evaluated the association of MCP-1 gene rs1024611 polymorphism with risk and clinical characteristics of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). This study recruited 116 patients with DFUs, 135 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) without complications (non-DFU), and 149 healthy controls (HCs). MCP-1 gene rs1024611 polymorphism was genotyped by direct sequencing. The expression of MCP-1 was analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assume the association strength. Individuals with rs1024611 AG and GG genotypes exhibited significantly higher susceptibility to DFUs, in the comparison with HCs (AG vs AA, OR = 2.364, 95% CI = 1.021–5.470; GG vs AA, OR = 2.686, 95% CI = 1.154–6.255). Meanwhile, G allele was associated with increased DFUs susceptibility (OR = 1.457, 95% CI = 1.014–2.093). Besides, rs1024611 SNP was slightly correlated with increased DFUs susceptibility in patients with DM. GG genotype of rs1024611 was significantly correlated with higher epidermal thickness and lower dermis thickness in patients with DFUs (P

Ectopic accumulation of lipids in nonadipose tissues plays a primary role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study was to examine the effects of exenatide, insulin, and pioglitazone on liver fat content and body fat distributions in T2DM. Thirty-three drug-naive T2DM patients (age 52.7 ± 1.7 years, HbA1c 8.7 ± 0.2 %, body mass index 24.5 ± 0.5 kg/m(2)) were randomized into exenatide, insulin, or pioglitazone for 6 months. Intrahepatic fat (IHF), visceral fat (VF), and subcutaneous fat (SF) were measured using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Plasma tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and adiponectin were assayed by ELISA. HbA1c declined significantly in all three groups. Body weight, waist, and serum triglycerides decreased with exenatide. After interventions, IHF significantly reduced with three treatments (exenatide Δ = -68 %, insulin Δ = -58 %, pioglitazone Δ = -49 %). Exenatide reduced VF (Δ = -36 %) and SF (Δ = -13 %), and pioglitazone decreased VF (Δ = -30 %) with no impact on SF, whereas insulin had no impact on VF or SF. Levels of TNFα (exenatide/insulin/pioglitazone) decreased, and levels of adiponectin (exenatide/pioglitazone) increased. Analysis showed that ΔIHF correlated with ΔHbA1c and Δweight. Besides, ΔIHF correlated with Δtriglycerides and ΔTNFα, but the correlations fell short of significance after BMI adjustment. By linear regression analysis, ΔHbA1c alone explained 41.5 % of the variance of ΔIHF, and ΔHbA1c + Δweight explained 57.6 % of the variance. Liver fat content can be significantly reduced irrespective of using exenatide, insulin, and pioglitazone. Early glycaemic control plays an important role in slowing progression of fatty liver in T2DM.

A facile and straightforward strategy was developed for the fabrication of highly fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs). The CQDs were synthesized only using pure-solvent tetrahydrofuran (THF) as carbon source via a one-step hydrothermal treatment without further surface passivation or modification. The as-synthesized CQDs emitted bright blue fluorescence and showed a strong emission at 460 nm with excitation at 370 nm. Also, the CQDs displayed a high quantum yield of 11.5%. The CQDs not only showed excellent photoluminescence properties and water solubility, but also exhibited an exceptional multifunctional fluorescence sensor for the applications of pH probing and silver ion (Ag+) sensing. There was a linear correlation between the fluorescence intensity vs. the pH value in the range from 4.0 to 12.0 (R2 = 0.987). In addition, the sensor could detect Ag+ (R2 = 0.998) in the concentration range of 0.2–50 μM with a detection limit of 0.075 μM. Furthermore, the proposed method is applicable to the detection of Ag+ in real aqueous samples, which is a detection system with excellent development prospects.