Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Toward Disease Management and Biologic Therapy.

Background: This study aims to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) toward disease management and biologic therapy. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between April 20, 2023, and May 5, 2023, among patients with SLE at Union Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. A self-designed questionnaire was developed to collect demographic information of SLE patients and assess their KAP. Results: A total of 463 SLE patients participated. The mean scores for knowledge, attitudes, and practices were 8.52 ± 2.36 (possible range: 0-11), 39.40 ± 3.38 (possible range: 11-55), and 27.10 ± 6.29 (possible range: 8-40), respectively. The path analysis demonstrated a significant and positive association between knowledge and attitudes, as indicated by a path coefficient of 0.455 (p < 0.001), and a significant and positive relationship between knowledge and practices, with a path coefficient of 0.709 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with SLE exhibited insufficient knowledge, negative attitudes, and poor practices.

Alcohol consumption and diabetes risk in a Chinese population: a Mendelian randomization analysis.

AIM: To assess the causality between alcohol intake, diabetes risk and related traits. DESIGN: Mendelian randomization (MR) study. Subgroup analysis, standard instrumental variable analysis and local average treatment effect (LATE) methods were applied to assess linear and non-linear causality. SETTING: China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4536 participants, including 721 diabetes cases. FINDINGS: Carriage of an ALDH2 rs671 A allele reduced alcohol consumption by 44.63% [95% confidence interval (CI) = -49.44%, -39.37%]. In males, additional carriage of an A allele was significantly connected to decreased diabetes risk for the overall population [odds ratio (OR) = 0.716, 95% CI = 0.567-0.904, P = 0.005] or moderate drinkers (OR = 0.564, 95% CI = 0.355-0.894, P = 0.015). In instrumental variable (IV) analysis, increasing alcohol consumption by 1.7-fold was associated with an incidence-rate ratio of 1.32 (95% CI = 1.06-1.67, P = 0.014) for diabetes risk, and elevated alcohol intake was causally connected to natural log-transformed fasting, 2-hour post-load plasma glucose (ß = 0.036, 95% CI = 0.018-0.054; ß = 0.072, 95% CI = 0.035-0.108) and insulin resistance [homeostatic model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR] (ß = 0.104, 95% CI = 0.039-0.169), but was not associated with beta-cell function (HOMA-beta). In addition, the LATE method did not identify significant U-shaped causality between alcohol consumption and diabetes-related traits. In females, the effects of alcohol intake on all the outcomes were non-significant. CONCLUSION: Among men in China, higher alcohol intake appears to be causally associated with increased diabetes risk and worsened related traits, even for moderate drinkers. This study found no significant U-shaped causality between alcohol consumption and diabetes-related traits.

Elevated circulating Neuregulin4 level in patients with diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Neuregulin4 (Nrg4) is a novel adipokine expressed in adipose tissues, enriched in brown adipose tissue, and able to improve whole-body metabolism in rodent, thus having the potential to treat obesity-associated disorders such as diabetes. However, the association between serum Nrg4 levels and diabetes risk in human remains unclear. This study was designed to examine circulating Nrg4 levels in subjects with different glucose tolerance status. METHODS: Age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched subjects (n = 310: 83 normal glucose tolerance [NGT], 129 prediabetes, and 96 diabetes) from the Risk Evaluation of Cancers in Chinese Diabetic Individuals: A Longitudinal study (Reaction study) were included. Serum Nrg4 was measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Basic anthropometric parameters, fasting plasma glucose and 2-hours postload plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c , and serum lipid profile were also measured. RESULTS: The serum Nrg4 levels were higher in patients with diabetes than those with NGT and prediabetes (diabetes: 396.8[65.9, 709.4], NGT: 80.1[0, 554.1], prediabetes: 168.0[32.9, 463.9] pg/mL [median (interquartile range), both P < 0.05]). The Nrg4 concentration was correlated with fasting plasma glucose. When the top versus bottom quartiles of serum Nrg4 concentrations were compared with adjustment for age and sex, an odds ratio of 3.005 was observed in diabetes prevalence, which persisted after adjusting other potential confounding variables. Other nonglucose parameters as body mass index; waist, hip, and neck circumferences; alanine aminotransferase; triglyceride; high-density lipoprotein; uric acid; and estimated glomerular filtration rate were also correlated with serum Nrg4 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The circulating Nrg4 level is elevated in the prediabetic and diabetic patients compared to control and is an independent risk factor associated with diabetes.

Berberine attenuates axonal transport impairment and axonopathy induced by Calyculin A in N2a cells.

Berberine is a primary component of the most functional extracts of Coptidis rhizome used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Recent reports indicate that Berberine has the potential to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). The previous studies reported that Calyculin A (CA) impaired the axonal transport in neuroblastoma-2a (N2a) cells. Berberine attenuated tau hyperphosphorylation and cytotoxicity induced by CA. Our study aimed at investigating the effects of Berberine on the axonal transport impairment induced by CA in N2a cells. The results showed that Berberine could protect the cell from CA -induced toxicity in metabolism and viability, as well as hyperphosphorylation of tau and neurofilaments (NFs). Furthermore, Berberine could reverse CA-induced axonal transport impairment significantly. Berberine also partially reversed the phosphorylation of the catalytic subunit of PP-2A at Tyrosine 307, a crucial site negatively regulating the activity of PP-2A, and reduced the levels of malondialdehyde and the activity of superoxide dismutase, markers of oxidative stress, induced by CA. The present work for the first time demonstrates that Berberine may play a role in protecting against CA-induced axonal transport impairment by modulating the activity of PP-2A and oxidative stress. Our findings also suggest that Berberine may be a potential therapeutic drug for AD.

Two [Cu2I2]-based coordination polymers of 1,3-bis(pyridin-4-yl)propane.

Solvothermal reactions of Cu(2)(OH)(2)CO(3) with 1,3-bis(pyridin-4-yl)propane (bpp) in the presence of aqueous ammonia in 4-iodotoluene/CH(3)CN or 1,4-diiodobenzene/CH(3)CN afforded two [Cu(2)I(2)]-based coordination polymers, namely catena-poly[[[di-µ-iodido-dicopper(I)]-bis[µ-1,3-bis(pyridin-4-yl)propane-κ(2)N:N']] p-toluidine tetrasolvate], {[Cu(2)I(2)(C(13)H(14)N(2))(2)]·4C(7)H(9)N}(n), (I), and the analogous 1,4-diiodobenzene monosolvate, {[Cu(2)I(2)(C(13)H(14)N(2))(2)]·C(6)H(4)I(2)}(n), (II). The [Cu(2)I(2)] unit of (I) lies on a centre of symmetry at the mid-point of the two I atoms, while that of (II) has a twofold axis running through the I···I line. In (I) and (II), each Cu centre is tetrahedrally coordinated by two µ-I and two N atoms from two different bpp ligands. Each rhomboid [Cu(2)I(2)] unit can be considered as a four-connecting node linked to the symmetry-related [Cu(2)I(2)] units via two pairs of bpp ligands to form a one-dimensional double chain along the c axis. The dimensions of the [Cu(2)I(2)(bpp)(2)](2) rings in (I) and (II) are different, which may be due to the presence of different guest solvent molecules in the structures. In (I), one p-toluidine molecule, derived from an Ullmann coupling reaction of 4-iodotoluene with ammonia, interacts with the [Cu(2)I(2)] cluster fragment through N-H···I hydrogen bonds, while the two p-toluidine molecules interact via N-H···N hydrogen bonds. In (II), two I atoms of each 1,4-diiodobenzene molecule are linked to the I atoms of the [Cu(2)I(2)] fragments from a neighbouring chain via I···I secondary interactions.

A Mn(III)-superoxo complex of a zwitterionic calix[4]arene with an unprecedented linear end-on Mn(III)-O2 arrangement and good catalytic performance for alkene epoxidation.

Reactions of [H(4)L][PF(6)](4) with 4 equiv. of Mn(OAc)(2)·4H(2)O in the presence of air gave rise to a mononuclear Mn(III)-superoxo complex [Mn(III)L(O(2))(H(2)O)](PF(6))(2), which contains a bowl-shaped cationic structure with a D(4d) symmetry. It has an unprecedented linear end-on Mn(III)-O(2) unit and exhibited good efficiency and selectivity in the catalytic oxidation of alkenes with O(2) plus isobutyraldehyde under mild conditions.