Search

Aim To explore the association between serum folate concentration and the prevalence of elderly diastolic hypertension. This study aims to identify potential relationships that could inform further research into the mechanisms underlying hypertension management.Methods Data from six NHANES cycles (2007–2008, 2009–2010, 2011–2012, 2013–2014, 2015–2016, and 2017–2018) were analysed for individuals aged over 60. Weighted logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression explored the serum folate concentration and elderly diastolic hypertension relationship.Results This study included 9,419 participants (4,734 females and 4,685 males) with a mean age of 70.0 ± 7.0 years. Among them, 360 were diagnosed with diastolic hypertension. In the fully adjusted model, there was a negative correlation between serum folate concentration and the prevalence of diastolic hypertension (OR 0.65; 95% CI: 0.52–0.82). When serum folate concentration levels were divided into quartiles (in μg/dL), the ORs for diastolic hypertension corresponding to Q2 (1.29–1.98), Q3 (1.99–3.08), and Q4 (3.09–5.56) levels compared to Q1 (0.18–1.28) were 1.41 (95% CI: 0.60–3.33), 0.48(95% CI: 0.20–1.16), and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.16–0.74), respectively, with a P for trend

We aimed to investigate the species composition of a small mammal community and the prevalence of Echinococcus spp. in a typical endemic area of the Tibetan Plateau. One pika and five rodent species were identified based on the morphological characteristics of 1278 small mammal specimens collected during 2014–2019. Detection of Echinococcus DNA in tissue samples from small mammal specimens revealed that Ochotona curzoniae (pika, total prevalence: 6.02%, 26/432), Neodon fuscus (5.91%, 38/643), N. leucurus (2.50%, 3/120), and Alexandromys limnophilus (21.74%, 10/46) were infected by both E. multilocularis and E. shiquicus; Cricetulus longicaudatus (16.67%, 1/6) was infected by E. shiquicus; and no infection was detected in N. irene (0/15). Neodon fuscus and O. curzoniae were the two most abundant small mammal species. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of pika and the overall rodent species assemblage (6.26%, 53/846); however, the larger rodent populations suggested that more attention should be paid to their role in the transmission of echinococcosis in the wildlife reservoir, which has long been underestimated. Moreover, although DNA barcoding provides a more efficient method than traditional morphological methods for identifying large numbers of small mammal samples, commonly used barcodes failed to distinguish the three Neodon species in this study. The close genetic relationships between these species suggest the need to develop more powerful molecular taxonomic tools.

Heart failure (HF) preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) accounts for almost 50% of HF, and hypertension is one of the pathogenies. The MAPK signaling pathway is closely linked to heart failure and hypertension; however, its function in HEpEF resulting from salt-sensitive hypertension is not well understood. In this work, a salt-sensitive hypertension-induced HEpEF model was established based on deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt (DOCA-salt) hypertension mice. The impact of the MAPK inhibitor (Doramapimod) on HEpEF induced by salt-sensitive hypertension was assessed through various measures, such as blood pressure, transthoracic echocardiography, running distance, and histological analysis, to determine its therapeutic effectiveness on cardiac function. In addition, the effects of high salt on myogenic cells were also evaluated in vitro using qRTPCR. The LV ejection fractions (LVEF) in DOCA-salt hypertension mice were over 50%, indicating that the salt-sensitive hypertension-induced HFpEF model was successful. RNA-seq revealed that the MAPK signaling pathway was upregulated in the HFpEF model compared with the normal mice, accompanied by hypertension, impaired running distance, restricted cardiac function, increased cross-sectional and fibrosis area, and upregulation of heart failure biomarkers, including GAL-3, LDHA and BNP. The application of Doramapimod could improve blood pressure, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, and myocardial fibrosis, as well as decrease the aforementioned heart failure biomarkers. The qRTPCR results showed similar findings to these observations. Our findings suggest that the use of a MAPK inhibitor (Doramapimod) could be a potential treatment for salt-sensitive hypertension-induced HFpEF.

Abstract Background Since myocardial work (MW) and left atrial strain are valuable for screening coronary artery disease (CAD), this study aimed to develop a novel CAD screening approach based on machine learning-enhanced echocardiography. Methods This prospective study used data from patients undergoing coronary angiography, in which the novel echocardiography features were extracted by a machine learning algorithm. A total of 818 patients were enrolled and randomly divided into training (80%) and testing (20%) groups. An additional 115 patients were also enrolled in the validation group. Results The superior diagnosis model of CAD was optimized using 59 echocardiographic features in a gradient-boosting classifier. This model showed that the value of the receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (AUC) was 0.852 in the test group and 0.834 in the validation group, with high sensitivity (0.952) and low specificity (0.691), suggesting that this model is very sensitive for detecting CAD, but its low specificity may increase the high false-positive rate. We also determined that the false-positive cases were more susceptible to suffering cardiac events than the true-negative cases. Conclusions Machine learning-enhanced echocardiography can improve CAD detection based on the MW and left atrial strain features. Our developed model is valuable for estimating the pre-test probability of CAD and screening CAD patients in clinical practice. Trial registration: Registered as NCT03905200 at ClinicalTrials.gov. Registered on 5 April 2019.

Abstract Background This study aims to investigate the value of myocardial work (MW) parameters during the isovolumic relaxation (IVR) period in patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). Methods This study prospectively recruited 448 patients with risks for LVDD and 95 healthy subjects. An additional 42 patients with invasive measurements of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function were prospectively included. The MW parameters during IVR were noninvasively measured using EchoPAC. Results The total myocardial work during IVR (MWIVR), myocardial constructive work during IVR (MCWIVR), myocardial wasted work during IVR (MWWIVR), and myocardial work efficiency during IVR (MWEIVR) of these patients were 122.5 ± 60.1 mmHg%, 85.7 ± 47.8 mmHg%, 36.7 ± 30.6 mmHg%, and 69.4 ± 17.8%, respectively. The MW during IVR was significantly different between patients and healthy subjects. For patients, MWEIVR and MCWIVR were significantly correlated with the LV E/e’ ratio and left atrial volume index, MWEIVR exhibited a significant correlation with the maximal rate of decrease in LV pressure (dp/dt per min) and tau, and the MWEIVR corrected by IVRT also exhibited a significant correlation with tau. Conclusions MW during IVR significantly changes in patients with risks for LVDD, and is correlated to LV conventional diastolic indices, including dp/dt min and tau. Noninvasive MW during IVR may be a promising tool to evaluate the LV diastolic function.

We aimed to investigate the species composition of a small mammal community and the prevalence of Echinococcus spp. in a typical endemic area of the Tibetan Plateau. One pika and five rodent species were identified based on the morphological characteristics of 1278 small mammal specimens collected during 2014–2019. Detection of Echinococcus DNA in tissue samples from small mammal specimens revealed that Ochotona curzoniae (pika, total prevalence: 6.02%, 26/432), Neodon fuscus (5.91%, 38/643), N. leucurus (2.50%, 3/120), and Alexandromys limnophilus (21.74%, 10/46) were infected by both E. multilocularis and E. shiquicus; Cricetulus longicaudatus (16.67%, 1/6) was infected by E. shiquicus; and no infection was detected in N. irene (0/15). Neodon fuscus and O. curzoniae were the two most abundant small mammal species. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of pika and the overall rodent species assemblage (6.26%, 53/846); however, the larger rodent populations suggested that more attention should be paid to their role in the transmission of echinococcosis in the wildlife reservoir, which has long been underestimated. Moreover, although DNA barcoding provides a more efficient method than traditional morphological methods for identifying large numbers of small mammal samples, commonly used barcodes failed to distinguish the three Neodon species in this study. The close genetic relationships between these species suggest the need to develop more powerful molecular taxonomic tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Background:. Recently, T-helper 17 (Th17) cells have been proved to play an important role in promoting cervical cancer. But, till now, few study has been carried out to understand the involvement of these cells in efficacy of anti-tumor treatments. This study aimed to investigate the alterations in the percentage of circulating Th17 cells and related cytokines in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) patients before and after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) and to analyze the correlations between the alterations in Th17 cells and treatment efficacy. Methods:. A prospective study with 49 LACC (International federation of gynecology and obstetrics [FIGO] stage IIB–IIIB) patients and 23 controls was conducted. Patients received the same cCRT schedule and were followed up for 3 years. Circulating Th17 cells (CD3+CD8– interleukin [IL]-17+ T cells) and related cytokines IL-17, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), IL-10, IL-23, IL-6, and IL-22 were detected before and after cCRT. Correlations between alterations of circulating Th17 cells and treatment efficacy were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results:. We found that 40 patients finished the entire cCRT schedule and met the endpoint of this study. The percentage of circulating Th17 cells in the LACC patients was higher than that in the controls, and it significantly decreased after cCRT (P < 0.05). After cCRT, patients were divided into two groups based on the average of the Th17 cells declined. The subgroup of patients with a prominent decrease in circulating Th17 cells after cCRT had a higher treatment efficacy and longer PFS and OS times. Compared with the control patients, LACC patients had higher IL-6, IL-10, IL-22, TGF-β levels and a lower IL-23 level (P < 0.05). After cCRT, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IL-23 level significantly increased and TGF-β level significantly decreased compared with the levels before cCRT (P < 0.05). Conclusion:. Circulating Th17 cells in the LACC patients (FIGO stage IIB–IIIB) were higher than those in the controls, but they generally decreased after cCRT. A more pronounced decrease in circulating Th17 cells after cCRT was correlated with better therapeutic effect and longer PFS and OS times.