Role of Quantitative Plaque Analysis and Fractional Flow Reserve Derived From Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography to Assess Plaque Progression.

PURPOSE: To explore the role of quantitative plaque analysis and fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) derived from coronary computed angiography (CCTA) in evaluating plaque progression (PP). METHODS: A total of 248 consecutive patients who underwent serial CCTA examinations were enrolled. All patients' images were analyzed quantitatively by plaque analysis software. The quantitative analysis indexes included diameter stenosis (%DS), plaque length, plaque volume (PV), calcified PV, noncalcified PV, minimum lumen area (MLA), and remodeling index (RI). PP is defined as PAV (percentage atheroma volume) change rate >1%. CT-FFR analysis was performed using the cFFR software. RESULTS: A total of 76 patients (30.6%) and 172 patients (69.4%) were included in the PP group and non-PP group, respectively. Compared with the non-PP group, the PP group showed greater %DS, smaller MLA, larger PV and non-calcified PV, larger RI, and lower CT-FFR on baseline CCTA (all P <0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that RI≥1.10 (odds ratio [OR]: 2.709, 95% CI: 1.447-5.072), and CT-FFR≤0.85 (OR: 5.079, 95% CI: 2.626-9.283) were independent predictors of PP. The model based on %DS, quantitative plaque features, and CT-FFR (area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve [AUC]=0.80, P <0.001) was significantly better than that based rarely on %DS (AUC=0.61, P =0.007) and that based on %DS and quantitative plaque characteristics (AUC=0.72, P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative plaque analysis and CT-FFR are helpful to identify PP. RI and CT-FFR are important predictors of PP. Compared with the prediction model only depending on %DS, plaque quantitative markers and CT-FFR can further improve the predictive performance of PP.

Potential Genes Related to Levofloxacin Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Based on Transcriptome and Methylome Overlap Analysis.

Drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) has become an increasingly serious public health problem and has complicated tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Levofloxacin (LOF) is an ideal anti-tuberculosis drug in clinical applications. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms of LOF-resistant M. tuberculosis in TB treatment have not been revealed. Our study performed transcriptome and methylome sequencing to investigate the potential biological characteristics of LOF resistance in M. tuberculosis H37Rv. In the transcriptome analysis, 953 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified; 514 and 439 DEGs were significantly downregulated and upregulated in the LOF-resistant group and control group, respectively. The KEGG pathway analysis revealed that 97 pathways were enriched in this study. In the methylome analysis, 239 differentially methylated genes (DMGs) were identified; 150 and 89 DMGs were hypomethylated and hypermethylated in the LOF-resistant group and control group, respectively. The KEGG pathway analysis revealed that 74 pathways were enriched in this study. The overlap study suggested that 25 genes were obtained. It was notable that nine genes expressed downregulated mRNA and upregulated methylated levels, including pgi, fadE4, php, cyp132, pckA, rpmB1, pfkB, acg, and ctpF, especially cyp132, pckA, and pfkB, which were vital in LOF-resistant M. tuberculosis H37Rv. The overlapping genes between transcriptome and methylome could be essential for studying the molecular mechanisms of LOF-resistant M. tuberculosis H37Rv. These results may provide informative evidence for TB treatment with LOF.

Genome-wide DNA methylation and transcriptome and proteome changes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis with para-aminosalicylic acid resistance.

Previous studies have reported that genome-wide DNA methylation and differentially expressed genes and proteins are closely associated with drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). However, no reports have explored such associations in para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS)-resistant M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Here, we investigated genome-wide methylation and transcriptome and proteome changes to explore the associations between specific genes and PAS resistance in M. tuberculosis H37Rv. The results revealed that 1,388 differentially methylated (1,161 hypermethylated and 227 hypomethylated) genes, 214 significantly differentially expressed (103 up- and 111 down-regulated) genes and 137 differentially expressed (48 up- and 89 down-regulated) proteins were regulated by PAS in M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed that metabolic pathways and ABC transporters were closely associated with differentially methylated and expressed genes, respectively. In addition, correlation analysis revealed that differentially methylated genes were negatively correlated with their transcriptional levels in PAS-resistant M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Furthermore, the existence of five hypermethylated candidate genes (esxC, fabG3, fbpB, papA1 and pks2) in PAS-resistant M. tuberculosis H37Rv was verified using protein-protein interaction analysis in the STRING database. The integrated DNA methylation and transcriptome and proteome analysis could provide valuable resources for epigenetics studies in PAS-resistant M. tuberculosis H37Rv.

[Adriamycin or adriamycin-Fe3+ induced bovine serum albumin damage].

ESR spectroscopy was used to investigate the production of reactive oxygen radicals in adriamycin (ADM) and its iron complex. The results showed that ADM-Fe(3+) induced the production of oxygen radicals more efficiently than ADM. The damage of BSA mediated by ADM or ADM-Fe(3+) was investigated by measuring the increase of reactive carbonyl content and the decrease of the fluorescence intensity of the Trp residue. It was shown that the damage of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was dependent on the time and on the concentration of ADM or ADM-Fe(3+). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that BSA was not cross-linked nor fragmented by the effect of ADM or ADM-Fe(3+). It was also found that oxygen radical scavengers could inhibit the damage of BSA induced by ADM or ADM-Fe(3+), suggesting that ADM or ADM-Fe(3+) induced protein damage via the oxygen radicals produced in the reaction.