Impact of h19 on aβ treated pc12 cells apoptosis in young players

Purpose: To investigate the influence of long-chain non-coding RNA H19 on the apoptosis of Aβ treated PC12 cells and its mechanism. Methods: Exploiting Aβ treated PC12 cells to construct the Alzheimer disease (AD) model, and adopting pcDNA3.1-H19 and si-H19 plasmids to transfect PC12 cells to regulate the expression of H19. Using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) technology to exam the expressions of H19, miR-29b-5p, BACE1, pro-apoptotic Bax, Caspase3, and apoptosis-inhibiting gene Bcl-2 in PC12 cells. Employing Western blot (WB) to check the expressions of pro-apoptotic Bax, Caspase3, Bcl-2, BACE1 protein, and finally detecting the expression level of Aβ42 via ELISA. Results: Overexpression of H19 boosted the expressions of pro-apoptosis-related genes (i.e., Bax, Caspase3) in Aβ treated PC12 cells, while reducing the expressions of apoptosis-related genes Bcl-2; Simultaneously, miR-29b-5p expression decreased which results in the overexpression of BACE1 and Aβ 42. Inhibiting the H19 expression decreased the expressions of Bax and Caspase3 and increased the expression of Bcl-2；However, the expression of miR-29b-5p reduced which renders the expression level of BACE1 and Aβ42 decreased meaningfully. The above results are statistically significant. Conclusion: H19 participates in the regulation of AD cell model apoptosis ,which may be relevant to the miR-29b-5p/BACE1/Aβ signal pathway. (AU)

Lower Plasma α-Synuclein Levels are Associated with Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND: α-Synuclein (α-syn) has a central role in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Plasma α-syn has been associated with the presence of cognitive impairment in PD although data have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to explore the correlation between plasma α-syn levels and cognitive impairment in PD. METHODS: A total of 53 participants, 26 patients with PD and 27 healthy controls were included in the study. Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part Ⅲ and Hohen-Yahr scale (H-Y scale) were used to detect PD severity. The cognitive function was assessed with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale, Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), Trail Making Test A (TMT-A), Verbal Function Test (VFT), Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method was used to measure α-syn and hemoglobin (Hb) concentration in the plasma samples collected from participants. RESULTS: Plasma α-syn in PD patients was significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.01). No associations were found between plasma α-syn and Hb or gender (p > 0.05). The decline in plasma α-syn in PD patients was negatively correlated with disease severity, including UPDRS Ⅲ scores and H-Y scale. Furthermore, lower plasma α-syn was negatively associated with the scores of MoCA, FAB, and RAVLT (immediate recall) scores in PD group. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that lower plasma α-syn levels are associated with cognitive decline in PD. Thus, plasma α-syn may be a novel biomarker for patients at risk of cognitive decline.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as an independent risk factor for mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have described the clinical characteristics of patients with novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infected pneumonia (COVID-19), indicating severe patients tended to have higher neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Whether baseline NLR could be an independent predictor of in-hospital death in Chinese COVID-19 patients remains to be investigated. METHODS: A cohort of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from January 1 to February 29 was retrospectively analyzed. The baseline data of laboratory examinations, including NLR, were collected. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were developed to assess the independent relationship between the baseline NLR and in-hospital all-cause death. A sensitivity analysis was performed by converting NLR from a continuous variable to a categorical variable according to tertile. Interaction and stratified analyses were conducted as well. RESULTS: 245 COVID-19 patients were included in the final analyses, and the in-hospital mortality was 13.47%. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that there was 8% higher risk of in-hospital mortality for each unit increase in NLR (Odds ratio [OR] = 1.08; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.01 to 1.14; P = 0.0147). Compared with patients in the lowest tertile, the NLR of patients in the highest tertile had a 15.04-fold higher risk of death (OR = 16.04; 95% CI, 1.14 to 224.95; P = 0.0395) after adjustment for potential confounders. Notably, the fully adjusted OR for mortality was 1.10 in males for each unit increase of NLR (OR = 1.10; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.19; P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: NLR is an independent risk factor of the in-hospital mortality for COVID-19 patients especially for male. Assessment of NLR may help identify high risk individuals with COVID-19.