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Vascular calcification (VC) is high prevalent and predicts cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients. The mechanisms are not known clearly. Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a gut-microbiota derivate metabolite, is also associated with cardiovascular outcomes in hemodialysis (HD) patients. This study aims to evaluate serum TMAO levels and establish their relation to VC in HD patients. Serum TMAO concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Vascular calcification was evaluated by abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) scores. Taking the AAC score value 5.5 as the cutoff value, the participants were divided into the high AAC score group and the low AAC score group. A total of 184 HD patients and 39 healthy controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Serum Ln(TMAO) (the natural logarithm of TMAO) concentrations were significantly higher in HD patients than that of control subjects (1.82 ± 0.62 vs. −1.60 ± 0.77, p < 0.001). Compared with the group with low AAC scores, the HD patients with high AAC scores showed significantly higher serum Ln(TMAO) levels (2.09 ± 0.55 vs. 1.67 ± 0.54, p < 0.001). In the multivariate regression analysis, serum Ln(TMAO), HD vintage, with diabetic mellitus, age and plasma intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) were independent determinant factors for VC in HD patients. Higher serum TMAO levels, older age, longer HD vintage, higher plasma iPTH and with diabetes mellitus were independent risk factors for VC in HD patients. The underlying mechanism deserves further investigations and the finding hints at a new target for the treatment of VC.

RNAi technology, known as a revolutionary technology in the history of pesticides, has been identified as a very promising novel approach for crop protection, which is of great significance for achieving the sustainable agricultural development of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Although many studies have shown that RNA biopesticides have strong application prospects, its stability seriously restricts the commercial use. As the core component of RNAi, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is unstable in its natural form. Therefore, how to ensure the stability of dsRNA is one of the most significant challenges in realizing the commercial use of RNA biopesticides. Nanomaterials such as cationic polymers and lipofectamine can improve the stability of dsRNA in the environment, which has been proved. This paper reviews the recent research progress of nanomaterials that can be used to improve the environmental stability of dsRNA, and discusses the advantages and limitations of different nanomaterials combined with dsRNA, which provides reference for the selection of dsRNA nanoformulations.

Background Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is a common valve disease with an increasing incidence, but no effective drugs as of yet. With the development of sequencing technology, non-coding RNAs have been found to play roles in many diseases as well as CAVD, but no circRNA/lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA interaction axis has been established. Moreover, valve interstitial cells (VICs) and valvular endothelial cells (VECs) play important roles in CAVD, and CAVD differed between leaflet phenotypes and genders. This work aims to explore the mechanism of circRNA/lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA network in CAVD, and perform subgroup analysis on the important characteristics of CAVD, such as key cells, leaflet phenotypes and genders. Results We identified 158 differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs), 397 DElncRNAs, 45 DEmiRNAs and 167 DEmRNAs, and constructed a hsa-circ-0073813/hsa-circ-0027587–hsa-miR-525-5p–SPP1/HMOX1/CD28 network in CAVD after qRT-PCR verification. Additionally, 17 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in VICs, 9 DEGs in VECs, 7 DEGs between different leaflet phenotypes and 24 DEGs between different genders were identified. Enrichment analysis suggested the potentially important pathways in inflammation and fibro-calcification during the pathogenesis of CAVD, and immune cell patterns in CAVD suggest that M0 macrophages and memory B cells memory were significantly increased, and many genes in immune cells were also differently expressed. Conclusions The circRNA/lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA interaction axis constructed in this work and the DEGs identified between different characteristics of CAVD provide a direction for a deeper understanding of CAVD and provide possible diagnostic markers and treatment targets for CAVD in the future.

Myocardial infarction results from obstruction of a coronary artery that causes insufficient blood supply to the myocardium and leads to ischemic necrosis. It is one of the most common diseases threatening human health and is characterized by high morbidity and mortality. Atherosclerosis is the pathological basis of myocardial infarction, and its pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are an important part of the human immune system and participate in many processes, including inflammation, metabolism and tissue remodeling, and play an important role in atherosclerosis. However, their specific roles in myocardial infarction are unclear. This review describes the current understanding of the relationship between innate lymphoid cells and myocardial infarction during the acute phase of myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, and heart repair and regeneration following myocardial infarction. We suggest that this review may provide new potential intervention targets and ideas for treatment and prevention of myocardial infarction.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) plays substantial roles in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation and regenerative medicine. UCB is usually cryopreserved for years before use. It remains unclear whether and how cryopreservation affects UCB function. We constructed a single-cell transcriptomics profile of CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) and mononuclear cells (MNCs) from fresh and cryopreserved UCB stored for 1, 5, 10, and 19 years. Compared with fresh UCB, cryopreserved HSCs and multipotent progenitors (MPPs) exhibited more active cell-cycle and lower expression levels of HSC and multipotent progenitor signature genes. Hematopoietic reconstitution of cryopreserved HSPCs gradually decreased during the first 5 years but stabilized thereafter, aligning with the negative correlation between clinical neutrophil engraftment and cryopreservation duration of UCB. Cryopreserved HSPCs also showed reduced megakaryocyte generation. In contrast, cryopreserved NK cells and T cells maintained a capacity for cytokine production and cytotoxicity comparable to that of fresh cells. Mechanistically, cryopreserved HSPCs exhibited elevated ROS, reduced ATP synthesis, and abnormal mitochondrial distribution, which collectively led to attenuated hematopoietic reconstitution. These effects could be ameliorated by sulforaphane (SF). Together, we elucidate the negative effect of cryopreservation on UCB HSPCs and identify SF as a mitigation strategy, broadening the temporal window and scope for clinical applications of cryopreserved UCB.

According to some recent observational studies, the gut microbiota influences atherosclerosis via the gut microbiota-artery axis. However, the causal role of the gut microbiota in atherosclerosis remains unclear. Therefore, we used a Mendelian randomization (MR) strategy to try to dissect this causative link. The biggest known genome-wide association study (GWAS) (n = 13,266) from the MiBioGen collaboration was used to provide summary data on the gut microbiota for a two-sample MR research. Data on atherosclerosis were obtained from publicly available GWAS data from the FinnGen consortium, including cerebral atherosclerosis (104 cases and 218,688 controls), coronary atherosclerosis (23,363 cases and 187,840 controls), and peripheral atherosclerosis (6631 cases and 162,201 controls). The causal link between gut microbiota and atherosclerosis was investigated using inverse variance weighting, MR-Egger, weighted median, weighted mode, and simple mode approaches, among which inverse variance weighting was the main research method. Cochran's Q statistic was used to quantify the heterogeneity of instrumental variables (IVs), and the MR Egger intercept test was used to assess the pleiotropy of IVs. Inverse-variance-weighted (IVW) estimation showed that had a protective influence on cerebral atherosclerosis (OR = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.01-0.67, = 0.018), while (OR = 5.39, 95% CI: 1.50-19.37, = 0.010), (OR = 6.87, 95% CI: 1.60-29.49, = 0.010), (OR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.18-7.05, = 0.021), and (OR = 5.26, 95% CI: 1.28-21.61, = 0.021) had pathogenic effects on cerebral atherosclerosis. For (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.76-0.99, = 0.039), the (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-1.00, = 0.048), the (OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.69-0.94, = 0.006), and the (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.77-0.98, = 0.023) were protective against coronary atherosclerosis. However, the (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.00-1.24, = 0.049) had a pathogenic effect on coronary atherosclerosis. Finally, (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.69-0.99, = 0.036), (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.61-0.94, = 0.013), (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.60-0.96, = 0.022), and (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.46-0.92, = 0.013), these four microbiota have a protective effect on peripheral atherosclerosis. However, for the (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01-1.56, = 0.040) and the (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.04-1.42, = 0.016), there is a pathogenic role for peripheral atherosclerosis. No heterogeneity was found for instrumental variables, and no considerable horizontal pleiotropy was observed. We discovered that the presence of probiotics and pathogens in the host is causally associated with atherosclerosis, and atherosclerosis at different sites is causally linked to specific gut microbiota. The specific gut microbiota associated with atherosclerosis identified by Mendelian randomization studies provides precise clinical targets for the treatment of atherosclerosis. In the future, we can further examine the gut microbiota's therapeutic potential for atherosclerosis if we have a better grasp of the causal relationship between it and atherosclerosis.

BackgroundBipolar disorder is an emotional disorder with complex clinical manifestations. Patients may experience irregular and repetitive emotions, as well as various symptoms of disorder and mental illness. In addition, bidirectional affective disorder has been a common psychological disorder among students in recent years. With the development of society, higher education management and health education are gradually being valued, and some universities are already exploring innovative models of higher education management and health education.Subjects and MethodsTo analyze the impact of university education management integrated with health education on students with bidirectional disabilities, this study selected 60 students with bidirectional disabilities from a certain university and divided them into two groups: an observation group and a control group, with 30 cases in each group. The control group only received olanzapine medication treatment, while the observation group received university education and health education based on medication treatment. The treatment period for both groups was 6 weeks. The analysis tools selected for the study include the Self Rating Depression Scale, Yang’s Mania Scale, Quality of Life Scale, and SPSS23.0.ResultsThe research results showed that after treatment, there was a significant decrease in depression and manic scores in both groups of patients, and the observation group showed the highest decrease (P<0.05). In addition, after treatment, the quality-of-life scale scores of both groups of patients showed a significant increase, and the observation group showed the highest increase (P<0.05).ConclusionsFrom this, the combination of higher education management and health education is beneficial for the recovery of students with bidirectional disabilities.

BackgroundThis study explores the effectiveness of Chaihu Hehuan Jieyu Tang (CHT) combined with career guidance to alleviate employment anxiety among college students. Employment anxiety is a common concern among college students, and targeted interventions are necessary to mitigate its negative impact.Subjects and MethodsOne hundred sixty college students with employment anxiety were selected for this study. They were randomly divided into four groups: the CHT combined with the career guidance group (n=40), the CHT alone group (n=40), the career guidance alone group (n=40), and the control group (n=40). The Stanford Acute Stress Response Questionnaire (SASRQ) and the 3-min Confusion Assessment Scale (3D-CAM) measured the participants’ anxiety levels. The intervention was conducted over twelve weeks, with regular sessions twice weekly.ResultsStatistical analysis using SPSS23.0 revealed a significant reduction in anxiety levels in all intervention groups compared to the control group (P<0.001). However, the group receiving the combined intervention of CHT and career guidance exhibited a more substantial decrease in anxiety symptoms than those receiving single interventions (P<0.05), as measured by the SASRQ and 3D-CAM. These findings suggest that the combined intervention has a more substantial effect on alleviating employment anxiety among college students.ConclusionsThis study indicates that combining Chaihu and Huanjieyu Tang with career guidance effectively reduces employment anxiety among college students. These results highlight the importance of combining traditional Chinese medicine interventions such as CHT with career guidance to achieve more comprehensive and effective results.

Until now, few articles have revealed the potential roles of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in cardiovascular diseases. However, the infiltration of ILC subsets in ischemic myocardium, the roles of ILC subsets in myocardial infarction (MI) and myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) and the related cellular and molecular mechanisms have not been described with a sufficient level of detail. In the current study, 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups: MI, MIRI and sham group. Single-cell sequencing technology was used to perform dimensionality reduction clustering of ILC to analyze the ILC subset landscape at a single-cell resolution, and finally flow cytometry was used to confirm the existence of the new ILC subsets in different disease groups. Five ILC subsets were found, including ILC1, ILC2a, ILC2b, ILCdc and ILCt. It is worth noting that ILCdc, ILC2b and ILCt were identified as new ILC subclusters in the heart. The cellular landscapes of ILCs were revealed and signal pathways were predicted. Furthermore, pseudotime trajectory analysis exhibited different ILC statuses and traced related gene expression in normal and ischemic conditions. In addition, we established a ligand-receptor-transcription factor-target gene regulatory network to disclose cell communications among ILC clusters. Moreover, we further revealed the transcriptional features of the ILCdc and ILC2a subsets. Finally, the existence of ILCdc was confirmed by flow cytometry. Collectively, by characterizing the spectrums of ILC subclusters, our results provide a new blueprint for understanding ILC subclusters' roles in myocardial ischemia diseases and further potential treatment targets.

Background: Inflammatory responses critically impact long-term outcomes in myocardial infarction (MI) survivors, yet few biomarkers comprehensively evaluate systemic immune-inflammatory status. This study assessed the prognostic utility of a novel marker—the pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV)—for predicting all-cause and cardiovascular mortality post-MI. Methods: Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data (2001–2018), 1559 MI survivors were included. PIV was calculated as (neutrophils × platelets × monocytes)/lymphocytes. Weighted Cox models assessed the association between log-transformed PIV (LnPIV) and mortality. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) models explored non-linear dose–response relationships, and predictive performance was evaluated via time-dependent ROC analysis. Results: Over a median 75-month follow-up, 675 deaths occurred. LnPIV showed significant non-linear associations with all-cause (p < 0.0001) and cardiovascular mortality (p = 0.0471). When LnPIV ≥ 5.59, each unit increase was associated with an 85% (HR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.49–2.28) higher all-cause mortality risk; for cardiovascular mortality, the risk increased by 77% (HR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.20–2.63) when LnPIV ≥ 5.68. Time-dependent ROC analysis confirmed strong prediction above these thresholds. Conclusion: PIV demonstrates threshold-dependent mortality risk stratification in MI patients, particularly effective in high-inflammatory subgroups, offering a potential tool for personalized risk stratification.