Aim: To evaluate the prognostic value of triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index in nondiabetic patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) below 1.8 mmol/L. ...Methods: A total of 1655 nondiabetic patients with ACS with LDL-C below 1.8 mmol/L were included in the analysis. Patients were stratified into two groups. The incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), infarct size in patients with AMI, and major adverse cardiac and cerebral event during a median of 35.6-month follow-up were determined and compared between the two groups. The TyG index was calculated using the following formula: ln fasting triglycerides (mg/dL)×fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL)/2. Results: Compared with the TyG index <8.33 group, the TyG index ≥ 8.33 group had a significantly higher incidence of AMI (21.2% vs. 15.2%, p=0.014) and larger infarct size in patients with AMI the peak value of troponin I: 10.4 vs. 4.8 ng/ml, p=0.003; the peak value of Creatine kinase MB: 52.8 vs. 22.0 ng/ml, p=0.006; the peak value of myoglobin: 73.7 vs. 46.0 ng/ml, p=0.038. Although there was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups, the incidence of revascularization of the TyG index ≥ 8.33 group was significantly higher than that of the TyG index <8.33 group (8.9% vs. 5.0%, p=0.035). A multivariable Cox regression revealed that the TyG index was positively associated with revascularization hazard ratio, 1.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–2.75; p=0.043. Conclusions: In nondiabetic patients with ACS with LDL-C below 1.8 mmol/L, a high TyG index level was associated with higher incidence of AMI, larger infarct size, and higher incidence of revascularization. A high TyG index level might be a valid predictor of subsequent revascularization.
A heatsink is a large experimental device which is used to simulate the outer space environment. In this paper, a Raman-based distributed temperature sensor was used for real-time and continuous ...heatsink temperature monitoring, and a special Raman-based distributed temperature sensing method and system have been proposed. This method takes advantage of three calibration parameters ( Δ α , γ , C ) to calculate the temperature. These three parameters are related to the attenuation of the optical fiber, the Raman translation, and the difference of optoelectronic conversion, respectively. Optical time domain reflectometry was used to calculate the location. A series of heatsink temperature measurement experiments were performed in a vacuum and −173 °C environment. When the temperature dropped to −100 °C, the parameter Δ α was found to vary. A method was proposed to recalculate Δ α and modify the traditional Raman fiber temperature equation. The results of the experiments confirmed the validity of this modified Raman fiber temperature equation. Based on this modified equation, the temperature field in the heatsink was calculated. The Raman-based distributed temperature sensor has potential applications in temperature measurement and judging the occurrence of faults in space exploration.
The entry of HIV-1 into host cells is initiated by the interaction of the viral envelope (Env) spike with the CD4 receptor. During this process, the spike undergoes a series of conformational changes ...that eventually lead to the exposure of the fusion peptide located at the N-terminus of the transmembrane glycoprotein, gp41. Recent structural and functional studies have provided important insights into the interaction of Env with CD4 at various stages. However, a fine elucidation of the earliest events of CD4 contact and its immediate effect on the Env conformation remains a challenge for investigation. Here, we summarize the discovery of the quaternary nature of the CD4-binding site in the HIV-1 Env and the role of quaternary contact in the functional interaction with the CD4 receptor. We propose two models for this initial contact based on the current knowledge and discuss how a better understanding of the quaternary interaction may lead to improved immunogens and antibodies targeting the CD4-binding site.
Triglyceride glucose (TyG) index is considered a reliable alternative marker of insulin resistance and an independent predictor of cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. However, the prognostic value of TyG ...index in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T
DM) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains unclear.
A total of 1932 consecutive patients with T
DM and AMI were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into tertiles according to their TyG index levels. The incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCEs) was recorded. The TyG index was calculated as the ln fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) × fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL)/2.
Competing risk regression revealed that the TyG index was positively associated with CV death 2.71(1.92 to 3.83), p < 0.001, non-fatal MI 2.02(1.32 to 3.11), p = 0.001, cardiac rehospitalization 2.42(1.81 to 3.24), p < 0.001, revascularization 2.41(1.63 to 3.55), p < 0.001 and composite MACCEs 2.32(1.92 to 2.80), p < 0.001. The area under ROC curve of the TyG index for predicting the occurrence of MACCEs was 0.604 (0.578 to 0.630), p < 0.001, with the cut-off value of 9.30. The addition of TyG index to a baseline risk model had an incremental effect on the predictive value for MACCEs net reclassification improvement (NRI): 0.190 (0.094 to 0.337); integrated discrimination improvement (IDI): 0.027 (0.013 to 0.041); C-index: 0.685 (0.663 to 0.707), all p < 0.001.
The TyG index was significantly associated with MACCEs, suggesting that the TyG index may be a valid marker for risk stratification and prognosis in patients with T
DM and AMI. Trial registration Retrospectively registered.
Acute hyperglycemia has been recognized as a robust predictor for occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in nondiabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), however, its discriminatory ...ability for AKI is unclear in diabetic patients after an AMI. Here, we investigated whether stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR), a novel index with the combined evaluation of acute and chronic glycemic levels, may have a better predictive value of AKI as compared with admission glycemia alone in diabetic patients following AMI.
SHR was calculated with admission blood glucose (ABG) divided by the glycated hemoglobin-derived estimated average glucose. A total of 1215 diabetic patients with AMI were enrolled and divided according to SHR tertiles. Baseline characteristics and outcomes were compared. The primary endpoint was AKI and secondary endpoints included all-cause death and cardiogenic shock during hospitalization. The logistic regression analysis was performed to identify potential risk factors. Accuracy was defined with area under the curve (AUC) by a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
In AMI patients with diabetes, the incidence of AKI (4.4%, 7.8%, 13.0%; p < 0.001), all-cause death (2.7%, 3.6%, 6.4%; p = 0.027) and cardiogenic shock (4.9%, 7.6%, 11.6%; p = 0.002) all increased with the rising tertile levels of SHR. After multivariate adjustment, elevated SHR was significantly associated with an increased risk of AKI (odds ratio 3.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.99-5.09, p < 0.001) while ABG was no longer a risk factor of AKI. The SHR was also strongly related to the AKI risk in subgroups of patients. At ROC analysis, SHR accurately predicted AKI in overall (AUC 0.64) and a risk model consisted of SHR, left ventricular ejection fraction, N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) yielded a superior predictive value (AUC 0.83) for AKI.
The novel index SHR is a better predictor of AKI and in-hospital mortality and morbidity than admission glycemia in AMI patients with diabetes.
Renal interstitial fibrosis and glomerulosclerosis are the characteristic presentation of diabetic nephropathy progression. Twist-1 overexpression contributes to renal fibrosis. Previous studies have ...demonstrated that pioglitazone (PIO), a PPAR-γ agonists, can ameliorate renal fibrosis and protect renal function. However, whether PIO attenuates renal fibrosis and delays diabetic nephropathy progression by regulating Twist-1 expression remains unclear.
Male Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: (1) ZDF group, (2) ZDF + PIO group treated with PIO for 10 weeks, (3) ZDF + PIO + GW9662 group treated with GW9662 (a PPAR-γ antagonist) and PIO for 10 weeks. Age-matched Zucker lean rats (ZL group) were used as a control group. Urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) and renal blood flow were measured. Renal histopathology and Twist-1 expression were determined by immunohistochemistry. The protein and mRNA levels of Twist-1 and PPAR-γ were analyzed by Western blot and qRT-PCR.
PIO considerably reduced UACR and improved renal blood flow. This was associated with amelioration of glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial fibrosis evidenced by the expression decrease of collagen I, aquaporin 1, α-SMA, transforming growth factor β1 and nephrin, although glycaemia remained high. Moreover, Twist-1 protein and mRNA expression in kidney of ZDF rats were significantly increased compared with ZL rats and PIO significantly decreased Twist-1 levels.
This study shows that PIO can downregulate Twist-1 expression in the kidney, inhibit renal fibrosis and protect renal function in ZDF rats. These PIO-mediated effects are independent of glycemic control.
Although it is known that the expression and activity of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) significantly decrease in doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiomyopathy, the role of interaction between SIRT1 and sestrin 2 ...(SESN2) is largely unknown. In this study, we investigated whether SESN2 could be a crucial target of SIRT1 and the effect of their regulatory interaction and mechanism on DOX-induced cardiac injury. Here, using DOX-treated cardiomyocytes and cardiac-specific Sirt1 knockout mice models, we found SIRT1 deficiency aggravated DOX-induced cardiac structural abnormalities and dysfunction, whereas the activation of SIRT1 by resveratrol (RES) treatment or SIRT1 overexpression possessed cardiac protective effects. Further studies indicated that SIRT1 exerted these beneficial effects by markedly attenuating DOX-induced oxidative damage and apoptosis in a SESN2-dependent manner. Knockdown of Sesn2 impaired RES/SIRT1-mediated protective effects, while upregulation of SESN2 efficiently rescued DOX-induced oxidative damage and apoptosis. Most importantly, SIRT1 activation could reduce DOX-induced SESN2 ubiquitination possibly through reducing the interaction of SESN2 with mouse double minute 2 (MDM2). The recovery of SESN2 stability in DOX-impaired primary cardiomyocytes by SIRT1 was confirmed by Mdm2-siRNA transfection. Taken together, our findings indicate that disrupting the interaction between SESN2 and MDM2 by SIRT1 to reduce the ubiquitination of SESN2 is a novel regulatory mechanism for protecting hearts from DOX-induced cardiotoxicity and suggest that the activation of SIRT1-SESN2 axis has potential as a therapeutic approach to prevent DOX-induced cardiotoxicity.
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•DOX-induced cardiotoxicity is based on decreased SIRT1 and SESN2 levels.•SIRT1 activation improves DOX-induced cardiac oxidative stress and apoptosis.•The benefits of SIRT1 in DOX-impaired cardiac function require the activation of SESN2.•SIRT1 reduces ubiquitination and degradation of SESN2 via MDM2.
Intrahepatic mucinous cholangiocarcinoma (IMCC) is a rare subtype of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC). Limited data describe the genetic characteristics of IMCC and insights on its pathogenesis ...are lacking. Here, we employed a multi-omics approach to analyze somatic mutations, transcriptome, proteome and metabolome of tumor tissue obtained from a case of IMCC in order to clarify the pathogenesis of IMCC. A total of 54 somatic mutations were detected, including a G12D mutation in KRAS that is likely to be involved in the onset of IMCC. The genes consistently up-regulated at the transcription level and in the proteome were enriched for mucin and mucopolysaccharide biosynthesis, for cell cycle functions and for inflammatory signaling pathways. The consistently down-regulated genes were enriched in bile synthesis and fatty acid metabolism pathways. Further multi-omics analysis found that mucin synthesis by MUC4 and MUC16 was elevated by up-regulated expression of mesothelin (MSLN). Moreover, transcription factor ONECUT3 was identified that possibly activates the transcription of mucin and mucopolysaccharide biosynthesis in IMCC.
Euphorbia kansui showed potent anti-HIV-1 activity during screening of a library composed of plant extracts from Euphorbiaceae and Thymelaeaceae families. Bioassay-guided isolation led to ...identification of ingenane esters as the active compounds. Further chemical modification resulted in 3-(2-naphthoyl)ingenol (23), which exhibited the most potent anti-HIV-1 activity. Compound 23 also acted as an HIV-1-latency-reversing agent on activation of HIV-1 replication in a latently infected U1 cell model and a T cell latent HIV-1 model JLat-A2.
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•MeOH extract of Euphorbia kansui showed potent anti-HIV-1 activity.•Ingenane esters from Euphorbia kansui are potent anti-HIV-1 agents.•Naphthoyl group at C-3 of 20-deoxyingenol and ingenol enhanced anti-HIV-1 activity.•3-(2-Naphthoyl)ingenol is a potent HIV-1 latency reversing agent.
Nearly one-quarter of all avian species is either threatened or nearly threatened. Of these, 73 species are currently being rescued from going extinct in wildlife sanctuaries. One of the previously ...most critically-endangered is the crested ibis, Nipponia nippon. Once widespread across North-East Asia, by 1981 only seven individuals from two breeding pairs remained in the wild. The recovering crested ibis populations thus provide an excellent example for conservation genomics since every individual bird has been recruited for genomic and demographic studies.
Using high-quality genome sequences of multiple crested ibis individuals, its thriving co-habitant, the little egret, Egretta garzetta, and the recently sequenced genomes of 41 other avian species that are under various degrees of survival threats, including the bald eagle, we carry out comparative analyses for genomic signatures of near extinction events in association with environmental and behavioral attributes of species. We confirm that both loss of genetic diversity and enrichment of deleterious mutations of protein-coding genes contribute to the major genetic defects of the endangered species. We further identify that genetic inbreeding and loss-of-function genes in the crested ibis may all constitute genetic susceptibility to other factors including long-term climate change, over-hunting, and agrochemical overuse. We also establish a genome-wide DNA identification platform for molecular breeding and conservation practices, to facilitate sustainable recovery of endangered species.
These findings demonstrate common genomic signatures of population decline across avian species and pave a way for further effort in saving endangered species and enhancing conservation genomic efforts.