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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in countless infections and caused millions of deaths since its emergence in 2019. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated mortality is caused by uncontrolled inflammation, aberrant immune response, cytokine storm, and an imbalanced hyperactive immune system. The cytokine storm further results in multiple organ failure and lung immunopathology. Therefore, any potential treatments should focus on the direct elimination of viral particles, prevention strategies, and mitigation of the imbalanced (hyperactive) immune system. This review focuses on cytokine secretions of innate and adaptive immune responses against COVID-19, including interleukins, interferons, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and other chemokines. In addition to the review focus, we discuss potential immunotherapeutic approaches based on relevant pathophysiological features, the systemic immune response against SARS-CoV-2, and data from recent clinical trials and experiments on the COVID-19-associated cytokine storm. Prompt use of these cytokines as diagnostic markers and aggressive prevention and management of the cytokine storm can help determine COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality. The prophylaxis and rapid management of the cytokine storm appear to significantly improve disease outcomes. For these reasons, this study aims to provide advanced information to facilitate innovative strategies to survive in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are elevated in pleural fluids of tuberculous pleuritis (TBP) where pleural mesothelial cells (PMCs) conduct the first-line defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). However, the clinical implication of TNF-α and MMPs in TBP and the response of PMCs to MTB infection remain unclear. We measured pleural fluid levels of TNF-α and MMPs in patients with TBP (n = 18) or heart failure (n = 18) as controls. Radiological scores for initial effusion amount and residual pleural fibrosis at 6-month follow-up were assessed. In vitro human PMC experiments were performed to assess the effect of heat-killed M. tuberculosis H37Ra (MTBRa) on the expression of TNF-α and MMPs. As compared with controls, the effusion levels of TNF-α, MMP-1 and MMP-9 were significantly higher and correlated positively with initial effusion amount in patients with TBP, while TNF-α and MMP-1, but not MMP-9, were positively associated with residual pleural fibrosis of TBP. Moreover, effusion levels of TNF-α had positive correlation with those of MMP-1 and MMP-9 in TBP. In cultured PMCs, MTBRa enhanced TLR2 and TLR4 expression, activated ERK signaling, and upregulated TNF-α mRNA and protein expression. Furthermore, knockdown of TLR2, but not TLR4, significantly inhibited ERK phosphorylation and TNF-α expression. Additionally, both MTBRa and TNF-α markedly induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 synthesis in human PMCs, and TNF-α neutralization substantially reduced the production of MMP-1, but not MMP-9, in response to MTBRa stimulation. MTBRa activates TLR2/ERK signalings to induce TNF-α and elicit MMP-1 and MMP-9 in human PMCs, which are associated with effusion volume and pleural fibrosis and may contribute to pathogenesis of TBP. Further investigation of manipulation of TNF-α and MMP expression in pleural mesothelium may provide new insights into the mechanisms and rational treatment strategies for TBP.

Background Numerous studies have documented factors that are associated with substance use behaviors among college-aged individuals. However, relatively few studies have considered the heterogeneity of the college experience by field of study (i.e., college major) and how that educational context might affect students’ health behaviors differently. Drawing from theories and prior research, this study investigates whether college majors are associated with different substance use behaviors, both during college and upon graduation. Methods The study analyzed longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97 ( N  = 1031), specifically data on individuals who obtained a bachelor’s degree, to examine the associations between college fields of study and trajectories of three substance use behaviors: smoking, heavy alcohol use, and marijuana use. Results The results indicate that social science and business majors were associated with more substance use behaviors than arts and humanities and STEM majors. However, social science majors were associated with a faster decrease in substance use behaviors over time. Importantly, the differences we found in mean levels of substance use behaviors and trajectories were not explained by demographic characteristics, family SES background, childhood health conditions, and employment experience. Further analysis that examined college major and each substance use behavior individually suggests that the associations were stronger for heavy alcohol use and marijuana use. Moreover, we found the associations were more pronounced in men than women. Conclusions The study finds that not all college majors show the same level of engagement in substance use behaviors over time, and that the associations also vary by (1) the specific substance use behavior examined and (2) by gender. These findings suggest it is important to consider that the different learning and educational contexts that college majors provide may also be more or less supportive of certain health behaviors, such as substance use. Practical implications are discussed.

Bipolar disorder is a highly heritable mental illness that transmits intergeneratively. Previous studies supported that first-degree relatives (FDRs), such as parents, offspring, and siblings, of patients with bipolar disorder, had a higher risk of bipolar disorder. However, whether FDRs of bipolar patients have an increased risk of schizophrenia, major depressive disorder (MDD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remains unclear. Among the entire population in Taiwan, 87 639 patients with bipolar disorder and 188 290 FDRs of patients with bipolar disorder were identified in our study. The relative risks (RRs) of major psychiatric disorders were assessed among FDRs of patients with bipolar disorder. FDRs of patients with bipolar disorder were more likely to have a higher risk of major psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder (RR 6.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.95-6.30), MDD (RR 2.89, 95% CI 2.82-2.96), schizophrenia (RR 2.64, 95% CI 2.55-2.73), ADHD (RR 2.21, 95% CI 2.13-2.30), and ASD (RR 2.10, 95% CI 1.92-2.29), than the total population did. These increased risks for major psychiatric disorders were consistent across different familial kinships, such as parents, offspring, siblings, and twins. A dose-dependent relationship was also found between risk of each major psychiatric disorder and numbers of bipolar patients. Our study was the first study to support the familial coaggregation of bipolar disorder with other major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, MDD, ADHD, and ASD, in a Taiwanese (non-Caucasian) population. Given the elevated risks of major psychiatric disorders, the public health government should pay more attention to the mental health of FDRs of patients with bipolar disorder.

Recent genetic and imaging analyses of large datasets suggested that common biological substrates exist across psychiatric diagnoses. Functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities of thalamocortical circuits were consistently found in patients with schizophrenia but have been less studied in other major psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to examine thalamocortical FC in 4 major psychiatric disorders to identify the common connectivity abnormalities across major psychiatric disorders. This study recruited 100 patients with schizophrenia, 100 patients with bipolar I disorder, 88 patients with bipolar II disorder, 100 patients with major depressive disorder, and 160 healthy controls (HCs). Each participant underwent resting functional magnetic resonance imaging. The thalamus was used to derive FC maps, and group comparisons were made between each patient group and HCs using an independent-sample t test. Conjunction analysis was used to identify the common thalamocortical abnormalities among these 4 psychiatric disorders. The 4 groups of patients shared a similar pattern of thalamocortical dysconnectivity characterized by a decrease in thalamocortical FC with the dorsal anterior cingulate, anterior prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex. The groups also showed an increase in FC with the postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, superior temporal cortex, and lateral occipital areas. Further network analysis demonstrated that the frontoparietal regions showing hypoconnectivity belonged to the salience network. Our findings provide FC evidence that supports the common network hypothesis by identifying common thalamocortical dysconnectivities across 4 major psychiatric disorders. The network analysis also supports the cardinal role of salience network abnormalities in major psychiatric disorders.

Cordycepin is an adenosine derivative isolated from Cordyceps sinensis, which has been used as an herbal complementary and alternative medicine with various biological activities. The general anti-cancer mechanisms of cordycepin are regulated by the adenosine A3 receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β, leading to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Notably, cordycepin also induces autophagy to trigger cell death, inhibits tumor metastasis, and modulates the immune system. Since the dysregulation of autophagy is associated with cancers and neuron, immune, and kidney diseases, cordycepin is considered an alternative treatment because of the involvement of cordycepin in autophagic signaling. However, the profound mechanism of autophagy induction by cordycepin has never been reviewed in detail. Therefore, in this article, we reviewed the anti-cancer and health-promoting effects of cordycepin in the neurons, kidneys, and the immune system through diverse mechanisms, including autophagy induction. We also suggest that formulation changes for cordycepin could enhance its bioactivity and bioavailability and lower its toxicity for future applications. A comprehensive understanding of the autophagy mechanism would provide novel mechanistic insight into the anti-cancer and health-promoting effects of cordycepin.

With the introduction of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents, hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment has dramatically improved. However, there are insufficient data on the benefits of DAA therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcome of patients who received DAA therapy after HCC treatment. We retrospectively reviewed patients with HCV-related HCC in a single medical center, and the outcome of patients with or without DAA therapy was analyzed. In total, 107 HCC patients were enrolled, of whom 60 had received DAA therapy after treatment for HCC. There were no significant intergroup differences in age, sex, laboratory results, or tumor burden. A more advanced stage was noted in the no DAA group (P = 0.003). In the treatment modality, sorafenib was commonly prescribed in the no DAA group (P = 0.007). The DAA group had a longer overall survival (OS) time than the no DAA group (P<0.001). When stratified by Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging, the DAA group had better OS in the HCC stages 0-A and B-C (P = 0.034 and P = 0.006). There were 35 patients who received DAA therapy after curative HCC therapy. At a median follow-up of 20 months, 37.1% patients had HCC recurrence after DAA therapy. There was no statistical difference in recurrence-free survival between patients receiving and those not receiving DAA (P = 0.278). DAA therapy improved the survival outcome of HCC patients and did not increase recurrent HCC after curative therapy. .

Increasing evidence supports a rapid antidepressant and antisuicidal effect of a single subanesthetic dose of ketamine infusion for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Maintaining the initial clinical response after ketamine infusion in TRD is a crucial next-step challenge. D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist of the glycine co-agonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor, is potentially effective as a depression augmentation treatment. However, whether DCS maintains the antidepressant and antisuicidal effects of ketamine infusion remains unknown. In all, 32 patients with TRD (17 with major depression and 15 with bipolar depression) who responded to ketamine infusion with an average 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) score of 9.47 ± 4.11 at baseline were randomly divided to 6-week DCS treatment (250 mg for 2 days, 500 mg for 2 days, 750 mg for 3 days, and 1000 mg for 5 weeks) and placebo groups. Depression symptoms were rated at timepoints of dose titration and weekly. During the 6-week treatment, the total scores of HAMD did not differ between the DCS and placebo groups. The results remained consistent when stratified by disorder. A mixed model analysis indicated that the DCS group exhibited lower scores of HAMD item 3 (suicide) compared with the placebo group throughout the follow-up period (p = 0.01). A superior maintenance of the antisuicidal effect of ketamine was observed in the DCS group than in the placebo group. DCS may be therapeutically beneficial for patients with TRD who responded to ketamine infusion but have a residual suicidal risk.

In this article, we explicitly construct the coordinates associated with the Penrose diagram in spacetimes connected via a spacelike thin shell in the following two examples: the generalized black-to-white hole bounce with mass difference and the Schwarzschild-to-de Sitter transition. We point out the issue of the first junction condition in the Penrose diagram constructed by cutting and pasting analytically known metrics with spherical symmetry by a static spacelike thin shell. With the goal of a global conformal coordinate chart associated with the corresponding Penrose diagram without discontinuity at the thin shell, we give a procedure consisting of three conformal transformations that serve different purposes. The first two of them are used to generate a continuous coordinate patch covering the entire thin shell, and therefore, the Penrose diagram can be constructed properly by patches with overlapping. The third transformation removes any coordinate singularity reintroduced by the first two transformations at the event horizons.

Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic compound that shows great potential in neuroprotection, anti-inflammation,and antioxidation. Previous studies have demonstrated that resveratrol can effectively treat various animal models of retinal diseases. The aim of the research was to use an animal experimental model to assess the effectiveness of resveratrol in treating retinal-related diseases in various animal models of retinal diseases such as ischemia-reperfusion injury, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, chronic ocular hypertension, optic neuritis, age-related macular degeneration, and retinopathy of prematurity. Furthermore, this study aims to reveal the underlying mechanisms of resveratrol related to the treatment of retina-related diseases. A search was conducted across several databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and OVID. The search time was from the establishment of the database to October 2024 to collect studies on resveratrol intervention in animal models of retinal diseases. The studies included in this paper adopted the SYRCLE's risk of bias tool. Stata 16.0 and RevMan 5.4 software were used to analyze and visualize the results. Our meta-analysis comprises 26 studies and 365 animals demonstrates the following effects of resveratrol compared to the control group: a significant increase in the number of retinal ganglion cells (SMD = 3.91, 95% Cl = [2.97, 4.86], 0.00001) and superoxide dismutase activity (SMD = 3.14, 95% Cl = [0.96, 5.33], 0.005). Moreover, a decrease in malondialdehyde (SMD = -9.29,95% Cl = [-12.84, -5.74], 0.00001), reactive oxygen species level (SMD = -4.29,95% Cl = [-6.25, -2.32], 0.0001), cyclooxygenase-2 (SMD = -2.66, 95% Cl = [-4.01, -1.30], 0.0001), tumour necrosis factor-α(SMD = -3.96,95% Cl = [-6.27, -1.65], = 0.0008) and interleukin-6 (SMD = -3.32,95% Cl = [-4.20, -2.44], 0.00001) was observed. The A-wave amplitude and B-wave amplitude showed an increase respectively (MD = 105.92,95% Cl = [58.99, 152.84], 0.00001); (MD = 158.00,95% Cl = [86.35, 229.65], 0.0001), along with an increase in inner retinal thickness (SMD = 6.33, 95% CI = [5.10, 7.56], 0.00001) and total retinal thickness (SMD = 2.70, 95%Cl = [0.77, 4.83], 0.01). Subgroup analysis showed that different doses of resveratrol were associated with an increase in the number of RGCs ( 0.05). Resveratrol improves retinal diseases through multiple mechanisms: i) Neuroprotection: it activates the SIRT1/NF-κB and Nrf2 pathways, inhibits Caspase-3 expression, and promotes the survival of RGCs and ii) Antioxidation: it upregulates SOD activity, reduces the levels of MDA and ROS, and alleviates oxidative damage and iii) Anti-inflammation: it inhibits the COX-2, TNF-α, IL-6, and NF-κB pathways, alleviating the inflammatory response. These mechanisms resulted in enhanced amplitude of A/B waves, improved retinal thickness and visual function. Resveratrol has neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects through multiple mechanisms, thereby reducing retinal damage and maintaining the structure and function of the retina. This provides preclinical support for its possible therapeutic uses in the management of retinal diseases. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/myprospero.