Predictive power of lipid-related indicators for testosterone deficiency: a comparative analysis, NHANES 2011-2016.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that lipid-related indicators are associated with testosterone deficiency. However, it is difficult to determine which indicator is the most accurate predictor of testosterone deficiency. We aimed to identify the lipid-related indicators most predictive of testosterone deficiency in adults in the United States. METHODS: This observational research was conducted on a population aged ≥ 20 years. By plotting the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and obtaining the corresponding area under the curve (AUC) value, we assessed the predictive capacity of TyG, WTI, LAP, and VAI for testosterone deficiency. We compared the area under the curve (AUC) values of these measures to determine if there were any statistically significant differences. The relationship between lipid-related indices and testosterone hormones was investigated using regression modeling, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) modeling, and sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: A total of 3,272 eligible participants were included in the study. Testosterone deficiency was found to exist in 20.63% of the participants. Subjects with higher lipid-related markers were more likely to have lower testosterone levels. LAP was the best predictor of testosterone deficiency in ROC analysis over other indicators (AUC = 0.7176, (95% CI: 0.6964-0.7389)). CONCLUSION: LAP is the most straightforward and convenient indicator for identifying testosterone deficiency in clinical practice.

Serum protein corona-responsive autophagy tuning in cells.

Autophagy represents an important cellular response to nanoparticles (NPs), whose modulation holds great promise for developing nanomedicine. Here, we systematically studied cell autophagy responses elicited by the NP-protein corona with diverse protein corona types surrounding NPs with different sizes, shapes, and compositions. We demonstrated that these physicochemical properties of NP-protein coronas exerted a remarkable influence on cell autophagy responses. Particularly, for surface protein type-associated modulation of cell autophagy, we correlated the autophagy level to adsorbed protein type on Fe3O4 NPs. Accordingly, we could modulate cell autophagy in response to various levels of protein adsorption. Our work provides new clues to modulate cell autophagy by rational designing NP-protein complexes, which could aid in further biological and therapeutic applications.

Systematic Study in Mammalian Cells Showing No Adverse Response to Tetrahedral DNA Nanostructure.

The advent of DNA technology has demonstrated great potential in a wide range of applications, especially in the field of biology and biomedicine. However, current understanding of the toxicological effects and cellular responses of DNA nanostructures remains to be improved. Here, we chose tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs), a type of nanocarriers for delivering molecular drugs, as a model for systematic live-cell analysis of the biocompatibility of TDNs to normal bronchial epithelial cells, carcinoma cells, and macrophage. We found that the interaction behaviors of TDNs in different cell lines were very different, whereas after internalization, most of the TDNs in diverse cell lines were positioned to lysosomes. By a systematic assessment of cell responses after TDN exposure to various cells, we demonstrate that internalized TDNs have good innate biocompatibility. Interestingly, we found that TDN-bearing cells would not affect the cell cycle progression and accompany cell division and that TDNs were separated equally into two daughter cells. This study improves our understanding of the interaction of DNA nanostructures with living systems and their biocompatibility, which will be helpful for further designing DNA nanostructures for biomedical applications.