The Relationship Between Small Dense Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Metabolic Syndrome.

Background: Prior research has established an association between small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL-C) and dyslipidemia, serving as a significant marker for predicting cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, the connection between sdLDL-C and metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains unclear. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 23,187 individuals who underwent health checkups at Taizhou Hospital's health management center. Here, we investigated the relationship between sdLDL-C and MetS, along with its components, utilizing Spearman correlation analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, logistic regression, and mediation analysis. Results: The MetS group exhibited significantly higher level of sdLDL-C compared to the non-MetS group (P<0.001). We observed a strong correlation between sdLDL-C and several key factors: TG (r = 0.711), TC (r = 0.672), LDL-C (r = 0.781), GGT (r = 0.420), and HDL-C (r = -0.417). After adjusting for age and gender, the odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) for MetS incidence in the second, third, and fourth quartiles versus the first quartile of sdLDL-C concentration were 2.264 (95% CI: 1.851, 2.770), 4.053 (95% CI: 3.350, 4.903), and 9.034 (95% CI: 7.531, 10.837). The optimal cut-off value for diagnosing MetS using sdLDL-C was determined to be 0.98 mmol/L, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.716 (95% CI: 0.705, 0.726). Additionally, mediation analysis revealed that sdLDL-C mediated a 12.8% correlation between GGT and TG concentration. Conclusion: The sdLDL-C is correlated with MetS and it can successfully mediate the relationship between GGT and TG. Our data suggests that sdLDL-c and GGT are suitable parameters for preventing and monitoring MetS.

In vitro activity of ceftazidime/avibactam, imipenem/relebactam and meropenem/vaborbactam alone or in combination with polymyxin B against carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Nosocomial infection caused by Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CR-A. baumannii) has become a challenge in clinical practice. Acting as the last resort antibacterial agents for the treatment of CR-A. baumannii infection, polymyxins have high risk of nephrotoxicity and poor clinical efficacy. Ceftazidime/avibactam, imipenem/relebactam and meropenem/vaborbactam are three ß-lactam/ß-lactamase inhibitor combination complexes that newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infection. In this study, we analyzed the in vitro activity of those novel antibacterial agents alone or in combination with polymyxin B against the CR-A. baumannii obtained from a Chinese tertiary hospital. Our results suggest that those novel antibacterial agents should not be used alone for the treatment of CR-A. baumannii infection, as they cannot prevent the regrowth of bacteria at the clinical achievable blood concentration. Imipenem/relebactam and meropenem/vaborbactam should not be used as the substitutes of imipenem and meropenem for polymyxin B based combination therapy against CR-A. baumannii, since they have no edge over imipenem and meropenem on antibacterial activity when in combination with polymyxin B. Ceftazidime/avibactam may be more suitable than ceftazidime for polymyxin B based combination therapy against CR-A. baumannii, as it has a higher synergistic rate with polymyxin B, and the antibacterial activity of ceftazidime/avibactam is much higher than that of ceftazidime when tested in combination with polymyxin B. Ceftazidime/avibactam may also be the better choice than imipenem and meropenem for polymyxin B based combination therapy against CR-A. baumannii, as it has a higher synergistic rate with polymyxin B.

Synergistic antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities of resveratrol and polymyxin B against multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Bacterial infection caused by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa has become a challenge in clinical practice. Polymyxins are used as the last resort agent for otherwise untreatable Gram-negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant P.aeruginosa. However, pharmacodynamic (PD) and pharmacokinetic (PK) data on polymyxins suggest that polymyxin monotherapy is unlikely to generate reliably efficacious plasma concentrations. Also, polymyxin resistance has been frequently reported, especially among multidrug-resistant P.aeruginosa, which further limits its clinical use. A strategy for improving the antibacterial activity of polymyxins and preventing the development of polymyxin resistance is to use polymyxins in combination with other agents. In this study, we have demonstrated that resveratrol, a well tolerated compound, has synergistic effects when tested in vitro with polymyxin B on antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities. However, its' systemic use is limited as the required high plasma levels of resveratrol are not achievable. This suggests that it could be a partner for the combination therapy of polymyxin B in the treatment of topical bacterial infection caused by MDR P.aeruginosa.

Long-term sero-positivity for IgG, sequelae of respiratory symptoms, and abundance of malformed sperms in a patient recovered from severe COVID-19.

Patients with severe coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19 pneumonia) may have many sequelae, which seriously affect their quality of life and work. Here, we report a case of infection in China, reviewed the course, treatment, and rehabilitation of a patient suffering from severe COVID-19 pneumonia, and collected his examination reports, including chest CT, laboratory examination results, lung function examination, sleep monitoring report, sex hormones, sperm morphology and activity. The patient's antiviral immunoglobulin G (IgG) continued to be positive for more than 11 months, and his small airway function was abnormal, and he suffered from respiratory problems (cough, chest pain, chest tightness, and shortness of breath), unstructured sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome, and nocturnal sleep hypoxemia. His abnormal sperm rate increased obviously, and sperm activity decreased obviously. Patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia may have respiratory sequela, the abnormal sperm rate is obviously increased, and IgG positive can last for a long time.

Exploring the Relationship between Rising Temperatures and the Number of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in China.

Warming has strongly influenced the quantity and variability of natural disasters around the globe. This study aims to characterize the varying patterns between rising temperatures and climate-related natural disasters in China from 1951 to 2010. We examined the overall trend in the patterns of an 11-year cycle, and climate-related natural disaster responses to periods of rising and dropping temperature. We used Morlet wavelet analysis to determine the length of a temperature cycle period, and the arc elasticity coefficient to assess the number of climate-related natural disasters in response to the changing temperature. We found that: (1) the overall relationship between temperature and the number of climate-related natural disasters was positive; (2) however, on the cycle level, the pattern of climate-related natural disasters was found to be independent of temperature variation; (3) on the rise-drop level, temperature increases were associated with declines in the number of climate-related natural disasters. Moreover, as temperature decreased, the number of climate-related natural disasters increased substantially, such that temperature had a more considerable influence on the quantity of climate-related natural disasters during the temperature-drop period. Findings in this study can help enhance the dissemination of warning and mitigation efforts to combat natural disasters in the changing climate.

Qiliqiangxin reduced cardiomyocytes apotosis and improved heart function in infarcted heart through Pink1/Parkin -mediated mitochondrial autophagy.

BACKGROUND: Qiliqiangxin (QLQX) is a preparation refined from a traditional Chinese medicine compound. It plays an important role in protecting cardiac function after myocardial infarction (MI). However, the underline mechanism of QLQX action is not clear. The purpose of this study was to detect the effects of QLQX on mitophagy after MI. METHODS: Male FVB/NJ mice aged 8-10 weeks were underwent left coronary artery ligation and were orally administered either QLQX (0.25 g/kg/d) or saline. Twenty-eight days after surgical operation, the cardiac function of mice was detected by echocardiography. Electron Microscopy was used to observe the microstructure of cardiomyocytes. Myocardial apoptosis was examined by TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) and western blot. H9c2 cells were cultured in a hypoxic incubator chamber (5% CO2, 1% O2, 94% N2) for 12 h and pretreated with or without QLQX (0.5 mg/mL). The cell apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential and mitophagy were detected. RESULTS: When compared to sham group, the cardiac function of MI mice decreased significantly, and their cardiomyocyte apoptosis and mitochondrial damage were more serious. These MI-induced cardiac changes could be reversed by QLQX treatment. In vitro experiments also confirmed that QLQX could protect cardiomyocytes from hypoxia-induced apoptosis and mitochondrial damage. Further study indicated that QLQX could increase the expression of Pink1 and Parkin in cardiomyocytes. CONCLUSION: Qiliqiangxin could reduce cardiomyocytes apotosis and improved heart function in infarcted heart through Pink1-mediated mitochondrial autophagy.

A novel fully enzymatic method for determining glucose and 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol in serum of one cuvette.

The aim of the study was to set up a novel fully enzymatic method for screening glucose and 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol (1,5-AG) in one cuvette. We have determined glucose and 1,5-AG, based on glucokinase (GK) converting glucose to G6P, a compound that can be catalyzed ultimately into 6-PGA by G-6PD and its coenzyme NADP(+), and then calculated glucose concentration according to absorbance variety. Furthermore, pyranose oxidase was used to oxidize 1,5-AG with the formation of 1, 5-anhydro-fructose and H(2)O(2). Measurement was done according to Trinder's reaction principle. The mean within-run and day-to-day precision (CV) of this method for glucose was 0.88% and 1.4%, and also that for 1,5-AG was 1.05% and 1.94%, respectively. The mean recovery rate of two targets was 100.2% and 101.6%, respectively. The correlation (R(2)) between the results of 1,5-AG obtained with our proposed method (y) and those obtained with LanaAG method (x) was 0.999 (y=1.002x-0.675 micromol/l; n=86), and the correlation (R(2)) of glucose between the results obtained with our GK method (y) and those obtained with recommendatory hexokinase method (x) was 0.9999 (y=1.0043x+0.1229 mmol/l; n=86). The reference range (95%) of serological glucose and 1,5-AG was 3.7 to 5.7 mmol/l (4.70+/-0.51 mmol/l) and 83.1 to 240.7 micromol/l (161.9+/-40.2 micromol/l), respectively; and there was no difference with age and sex (P>0.05). This newly developed method was dependable and steady-going, with analysis automatization, and allows quicker and easier measurement of serum glucose and 1,5-AG in one identical reaction cuvette in-phase than previously described methods.

[Analysis of apolipoprotein A5 gene polymorphisms in Hubei Han people].

Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragments length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to explore the distribution of apolipoprotein A5 gene -1131T>C and 56C>G polymorphisms in 257 healthy Hubei Han people. The following results were calculated: the frequency of -1131TT genotype was 50.9%, far more than that of -1131TC and -1131CC genotypes (32.9% and 16.2%, respectively). The number of T allele carriers was higher than that of C carriers, and their respective frequencies were 0.675 and 0.325. There were 56GG and 56GC genotypes, but only 2 individuals in all subjects carried the G allele, the frequency of which was low than 5%. Furthermore, the frequency of genotypes and alleles in apoa5 -1131T>C and 56C>G polymorphisms was clearly different from other races and areas. We conclude that the apoa5 -1131T>C variation should be considered a single nucleotide polymorphism, but the 56C>G variation should be considered as a mutation instead.