Gender measurement invariance of the Perceived Social Support Scale in people aged 50 years and older / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective:To investigate gender measurement invariance of the Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS)in people aged 50 years and older.Methods:A total of 1013 adults(50-96 years old)in Beijing, Hunan and Shandong were tested by using PSSS.The measurement invariance of PSSS between middle-aged and elderly males and females was analyzed.Differences in PSSS total scores and subscale scores between males and females were examined.Results:The equivalence test results of each item in the questionnaire met the requirements of the metrology(△CFI≥0.010, △TLI≥0.010, △RSMEA≤0.015), indicating that the hypotheses of morphological equivalence, weak equivalence, strong equivalence and strict equivalence of PSSS were all valid in the middle-aged and elderly population regardless of gender.In addition, middle-aged and elderly females had higher scores in family support, support from friends, support from other people and perceived social support than their male counterparts( P<0.05). Conclusions:PSSS has cross-gender equivalence in middle-aged and elderly people.Thus, differences in PSSS can reflect the perceived social support level in middle-aged and elderly people of different genders.

Role of autophagy in islet β cells: A novel target for diabetes’ therapy / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

Autophagy is a catabolism process in which lysosomes degrade damaged organelles, protein aggregates and recover nutrients. Studies have shown that autophagy could protect the structure and function of islet β cell and maintaining normal secretion of insulin. In addition, autophagy plays important roles in the occurrence and development of diabetes mellitus by reducing oxidative stress, preventing apoptosis and removing ubiquitination protein aggregates. Therefore, autophagy may be a new target for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. At present, hypoglycemic drugs have been proved to play positive roles by regulating autophagy including thiazolidine dione and guanidine. Therefore, this paper will review autophagy definition, the role of autophagy in diabetes mellitus and autophagy-related hypoglycemic drugs, providing a new direction for clinical treatment of diabetes.