Mediterranean diet for cardiovascular disease: an evidence mapping study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the methodological quality of existing meta-analyses (MA) and the quality of evidence for outcome indicators to provide an updated overview of the evidence concerning the therapeutic efficacy of the Mediterranean diet (MD) for various types of CVD. DESIGN: We conducted comprehensive searches of PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases. The quality of the MA was assessed using the A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) checklist, while the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence evaluation system was employed to evaluate the quality of evidence for significant outcomes. SETTING: The CVD remains a significant contributor to global mortality. Multiple MA have consistently demonstrated the efficacy of medical interventions in managing CVD. However, due to variations in the scope, quality and outcomes of these reviews, definitive conclusions are yet to be established. PARTICIPANTS: This study included five randomized trials and twelve non-randomized studies, with a combined participant population of 716 318. RESULTS: The AMSTAR 2 checklist revealed that 54·55 % of the studies demonstrated high quality, while 9·09 % exhibited low quality, and 36·36 % were deemed critically low quality. Additionally, there was moderate evidence supporting a positive correlation between MD and CHD/acute myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, cardiovascular events, coronary events and major adverse cardiovascular events. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that although recognizing the potential efficacy of MD in managing CVD, the quality of the methodology and the evidence for the outcome indicators remain unsatisfactory.

CXCL1 Clone Evolution Induced by the HDAC Inhibitor Belinostat Might Be a Favorable Prognostic Indicator in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most lethal subtype of breast cancer due to its lack of treatment options. Patients with TNBC frequently develop resistance to chemotherapy. As epigenetic-based antineoplastic drugs, histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) have achieved particular efficacy in lymphoma but are less efficacious in solid tumors, and the resistance mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, the GSE129944 microarray dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus database was downloaded, and fold changes at the transcriptome level of a TNBC line (MDA-MB-231) after treatment with belinostat were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were used to identify the critical biological processes. Construction and analysis of the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were performed to screen candidate genes related to cancer prognosis. A total of 465 DEGs were identified, including 240 downregulated and 225 upregulated genes. The cytokine-cytokine receptor pathway was identified as being significantly changed. Furthermore, the expression of CXCL1 was implicated as a favorable factor in the overall survival of breast cancer patients. With in vitro approaches, we also showed that belinostat could induce the expression of CXCL1 in another 2 TNBC cell lines (BT-549 and HCC-1937). We speculate that belinostat-induced CXCL1 expression could be one of the results of the stress clone evolution of cells after HDACi treatment. These findings provide new insights into clone evolution during HDACi treatment, which might guide us to a novel perspective that various mutation-targeted treatments should be implemented during the whole treatment cycle.

Aberrant resting-state cerebral blood flow and its connectivity in primary dysmenorrhea on arterial spin labeling MRI.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to clarify the resting-state cerebral blood flow alteration patterns induced by primary dysmenorrhea, investigate the relationships between cerebral blood flow alterations and clinical parameters of patients with primary dysmenorrhea, and explore whether brain regions with abnormal cerebral blood flow also feature functional connectivity changes. METHODS: Arterial spin labeling imaging and clinical parameters were acquired in 42 patients with primary dysmenorrhea and 41 healthy controls during their menstrual phases. Differences in cerebral blood flow were compared between the two groups, and the clusters with significant group differences were selected as the regions of interest for further statistical analyses. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, patients with primary dysmenorrhea exhibited increased cerebral blood flow in the bilateral precuneus, left posterior cingulate cortex, and right rolandic operculum. Among patients with primary dysmenorrhea, we identified a negative correlation between the cerebral blood flow in the right rolandic operculum and the visual analogue score for anxiety, and greater correlation between the functional connectivity in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex and the right middle cingulate cortex, and between the right rolandic operculum and the left inferior parietal lobule and the bilateral postcentral gyrus. DISCUSSION: Cerebral blood flow abnormalities associated with primary dysmenorrhea were mainly concentrated in the areas comprising the default mode network in primary dysmenorrhea patients, which could be involved in the central mechanism of primary dysmenorrhea. Cerebral blood flow alteration in the rolandic operculum may underlie an anxiety-induced compulsive tendency in patients with primary dysmenorrhea. Investigating the enhanced connectivity among various pain-related brain regions could improve understanding of the onset and development of primary dysmenorrhea.

[Comparison of therapeutic effect of soft-tissue relaxing needling and electroacupuncture for knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of soft-tissue relaxing needling and electroacupuncture (EA) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA), so as to explore a new and more effective therapy for KOA. METHODS: Forty patients with KOA who met our diagnostic criteria were randomly and equally divided into acupuncture group and soft-tissue relaxing needling (relaxing-needling) group. EA (20 Hz, a tolerable strength and duration of 20 min) was applied to the unilateral Neixiyan(EX-LE5) and Waixiyan(EX-LE5), and manual acupuncture stimulation was applied to Heding(EX-LE2), Xuehai (SP10), Xiyangguan (GB33), Liangqiu(ST34), Yanglingquan(GB34) and Yinlingquan(SP9) on the affected side by using uniform reinforcing-reducing technique. In the relaxing-needling group, after identifying the tender point and nodule-like or stiff-strip-muscle spot at the affected limb by palpation, we used filiform needles to insert into them, then, made a longitudinal separation or point-like pricking. The visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, knee flexion activity (range of motion, ROM), and the knee osteoarthritis severity (Lequesne index, composed of daily living, walking distance and pain) were measured before and after the treatment. The therapeutic effect was assessed by consulting the Guiding Principles for Researching New Drugs of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2002) and Criteria for Diagnosis and Assessment of Therapeutic Effect of Syndromes or Illnesses of Traditional Chinese Medicine (1994). RESULTS: After the treatment, the VAS score and Lequesne index were significantly decreased in both acupuncture and relaxing-needling groups (P<0.001), and the ROM score was considerably increased in both groups in comparison with their own pre-treatment (P<0.001). The difference values of VAS score and Lequesne index between pre- and post-treatment were significantly higher in the relaxing-needling group than in the acupuncture group (P<0.05). Of the two 20 cases in the relaxing-needling and acupuncture groups, 8 and 3 experienced a remarkable improvement in their symptoms, 10 and 13 were effective, 2 and 4 failed, with the effective rate being 90.0% and 80.0%, respectively. No significant difference was found between the two groups in the difference value of ROM score and the effective rate (P>0.05)．. CONCLUSION: Both relaxing-needling and EA therapies are comparable in the therapeutic effect for KOA, and the former is superior to the latter in reducing the joint pain and improving the knee joint locomotor function, thus being worthy of clinical application.

Pair aligning improved motility of Quincke rollers.

Density-dependent speed is studied in a two-dimensional active colloid in which the colloidal particles are propelled by an external electric field via a Quincke rotation. Above the critcal electric field, dense dynamic clusters form spotaneously, in which the particles are highly aligned in velocity and move much faster than isolated units. Detailed observations on pair collision reveal that the alignment of velocity is induced by the long-ranged hydrodynamic interactions and the improvement of speed in the clusters arises from pair aligning in which two particles are closely paired and rotate synchronically. In the aligning state, the short-range in-plane dipole-dipole attraction enhances the rotation torque and gives rises to a larger rolling speed. The pair aligning becomes difficult and unstable at high electric field where the normal dipole-dipole repulsion becomes dominant. As a consequence, the dependence of speed on density becomes weak increasingly upon the increase of the electric field. This result offers an interpretation for the discrepancy between our and previous observations on Quincke rollers.