Genetic Polymorphism rs6505162 in MicroRNA-423 May Not Be Associated with Susceptibility of Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNA-423 (miR-423) rs6505162 polymorphism is found to be associated with breast cancer (BC) risk. However, the results were inconsistent. This study meta-analyzed the literature on possible association between rs6505162 polymorphism and BC risk. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. Meta-analyses were performed to examine the association between rs6505162 polymorphism and BC. RESULTS: None of the five genetic models suggested a significant association between rs6505162 polymorphism and BC risk: allelic model, OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.18-1.28, P=0.85; recessive model, OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.72-1.38, P=0.97; dominant model, OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.72-1.21, P=0.60; homozygous model, OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.66-1.65, P=0.87; and heterozygous model, OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.90-1.28, P=0.45. Similar results were obtained in subgroup analyses of Asian, Chinese, and Caucasian patients. CONCLUSION: The available evidence suggests no significant association between rs6505162 polymorphism and BC risk. These conclusions should be verified in large, well-designed studies.

Combined Effects of Plant Sterols with Low Ratio of n-6/n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids against Atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- Mice.

The effects of low ratio of n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have been clarified against atherosclerosis. Increasing evidence indicated that plant sterols (PS) have a significant cholesterol-lowering effect. This study explored the effects of PS combined with n-6/n-3 (2:1) PUFA on atherosclerosis and investigated the possible mechanism. In ApoE-/- mice, the milk fat in high fat diets was replaced with n-6/n-3 (2:1) PUFA alone or supplemented with 6% PS for 16 weeks. Results demonstrated that PS combined with PUFA exerted commentary and synergistic effects on ameliorating atherosclerosis, improving lipid metabolism and lipid deposition in liver, and alleviating inflammatory response. These changes were accompanied with decreased serum TC, TG, LDL-C and increased fecal cholesterol efflux, as well as the lower inflammatory cytokine CRP, IL-6, TNF-α. It is suggested that the underlying mechanism of PS combined with n-6/n-3 (2:1) PUFA promoting the fecal cholesterol efflux may be mediated by liver X receptor α/ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 pathway.

[Adjuvant effects of Zhenyuan capsule on chronic heart failure: Meta-analysis].

To systematically review the adjuvant effects of Zhenyuan capsule on improving the cardiac function of patients with chronic heart failure. Databases including PubMed, EMbase, the Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang Data were searched electronically from inception to October 2016 to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about Zhenyuan capsule for adjuvant treatment of chronic heart failure. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. A total of 14 RCTs involving 1 204 patients were included. The results of Meta-analysis showed that the Zhenyuan capsule group had significantly better effectiveness in cardiac function (RR=1.27, 95%CI 1.20 to 1.35, P < 0.000 01), stroke volume (WMD=7.62, 95%CI 6.39 to 8.84,P < 0.000 01), scores of HAMA (WMD=-4.16, 95%CI -5.59 to -2.72, P < 0.000 01), psychological effect of HAMA (RR=1.47, 95%CI 1.15 to 1.89, P=0.002), and traditional Chinese medical syndrome (RR=1.46, 95%CI 1.25 to 1.72, P < 0.000 01) than those of the control group, with statistically significant differences. Current evidence showed that Zhenyuan capsule combined with routine treatment could improve the cardiac function and quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure, and with high safety. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, the above conclusion still needs to be verified by carrying out more high-quality RCTs.

One step physically adsorbed coating of silica capillary with excellent stability for the separation of basic proteins by capillary zone electrophoresis.

The coating of capillary inner surface is considered to be an effective approach to suppress the adsorption of proteins on capillary inner surface in CE. However, most of coating materials reported are water-soluble, which may dissolve in BGE during the procedure of electrophoresis. In this study, a novel strategy for selection of physically coating materials has been illustrated to get coating layer with excellent stability using materials having poor solubility in commonly used solvents. Taking natural chitin as example (not hydrolyzed water soluble chitosan), a simple one step coating method using chitin solution in hexafluoroisopropanol was adopted within only 21 min with good coating reproducibility (RSDs of EOF for within-batch coated capillaries of 1.55% and between-batch coated capillaries of 2.31%), and a separation of four basic proteins on a chitin coated capillary was performed to evaluate the coating efficacy. Using chitin coating, the adsorption of proteins on capillary inner surface was successfully suppressed with reversed and stable EOF, and four basic proteins including lysozyme, cytochrome c, ribonuclease A and α-chymotrypsinogen A were baseline separated within 16 min with satisfied separation efficiency using 20 mM pH 2.0 H3PO4-Na2HPO4 as back ground electrolyte and 20 kV as separation voltage. What is more important, the chitin coating layer could be stable for more than two months during this study, which demonstrates that chitin is an ideal material for preparing semi-permanent coating on bare fused silica capillary inner wall and has hopeful potential in routine separation of proteins with CE.

Mitofusin2 decreases intracellular cholesterol of oxidized LDL-induced foam cells from rat vascular smooth muscle cells.

Mitofusin2 (Mfn2) plays a pivotal role in the proliferation and apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Mfn2 on the trafficking of intracellular cholesterol in the foam cells derived from rat VSMCs (rVSMCs) and also to investigate the effects of Mfn2 on the expression of adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette subfamily A member 1 (ABCA1), adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette subfamily G member 1 (ABCG1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). The rVSMCs were co-cultured with oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL, 80 µg/mL) to produce foam cells and cholesterol accumulation in cells. Before oxidized LDL treatment, different titers (20, 40 and 60 pfu/cell) of recombinant adenovirus containing Mfn2 gene (Adv-Mfn2) were added into the culture medium for 24 h to transfect the Mfn2 gene into the rVSMCs. Then the cells were harvested for analyses. The protein expression of Mfn2 was significantly higher in Adv-Mfn2-transfected group than in untransfected group (P<0.05), and the expression levels significantly increased when the titer of Adv-Mfn2 increased (P<0.05). At 24 or 48 h after oxidized LDL treatment, rVSMCs became irregular and their nuclei became larger, and their plasma abounded with red lipid droplets. However, the number of red lipid droplets was significantly decreased in Adv-Mfn2-transfected group as compared with untransfected group. At 48 h after oxidized LDL treatment, the intracellular cholesterol in rVSMCs was significantly increased (P<0.05), but it was significantly decreased in Adv-Mfn2-transfected group as compared with untransfected group (P<0.05), and it also significantly decreased when the titer of Adv-Mfn2 increased (P<0.05). The mRNA and protein expression levels of ABCA1 and ABCG1 were significantly increased in Adv-Mfn2-transfected group as compared with untransfected group (P<0.05). Though the mRNA and protein expression levels of PPARγ was not significantly increased (P>0.05), the phosporylation levels of PPARγ were significantly decreased in Adv-Mfn2-transfected group as compared with untransfected group (P<0.05). These results suggest that the transfection of Adv-Mfn2 can significantly reduce intracellular cholesterol in oxidized LDL-induced rVSMCs possibly by decreasing PPARγ phosporylation and then increasing protein expression levels of ABCA1 and ABCG1, which may be helpful to suppress the formation of foam cells.

Candesartan versus imidapril in hypertension: a randomised study to assess effects of anti-AT1 receptor autoantibodies.

BACKGROUND: Anti-angiotensin II receptor subtype 1 (AT1 receptor) autoantibodies have previously been shown in sera of hypertensive patients. This study assessed whether anti-AT1-receptor autoantibody in serum is correlated with the efficacy of an AT1-receptor blocker (ARB; candesartan)-based regimen in hypertensive patients after 8 weeks of treatment. DESIGN: The Study of Optimal Treatment in Hypertensive Patients with Anti-AT1-Receptor Autoantibodies is a multicentre, randomised, blinded endpoint, open-label, parallel-group comparison clinical trial conducted in five centres in Wuhan, China. Treatment is designed as stepwise added-on therapy to reduce blood pressure (BP) < 140/90 mm Hg. 512 patients with moderate to severe primary hypertension were randomly assigned to an 8-week treatment with either ARB (candesartan)-based regimen (n=257) or ACE inhibitor (imidapril)-based regimen (n=255). RESULTS: Systolic and diastolic BP was reduced significantly in both treatment groups. The candesartan-based regimen achieved a significantly greater systolic BP reduction than imdapril (30.8 ± 10.3 vs 28.8 ± 10.3 mm Hg, p = 0.023). In those anti-AT1 receptor autoantibody-positive hypertensive patients, the mean systolic BP at baseline was higher than in the anti-AT1 receptor autoantibody-negative group (160.5 ± 16.5 vs 156.2 ± 17.7 mm Hg; p = 0.006). The mean BP reduction was greater in the candesartan-based regimen than the imidapril-based regimen (-35.4 ± 9.8/16.9 ± 6.9 vs -29.4 ± 9.8/14.2 ± 6.9 mm Hg; p = 0.000 and 0.002, respectively), and more patients on imidapril required add-on medications to achieve BP control (94% vs 86%; p=0.03). No correlation was observed between the titre of anti-AT1 receptor autoantibody and the efficacy of candesartan-based therapy. In those anti-AT1 receptor autoantibody-negative patients similar BP lowering was reached in the candesartan and the imidapril-based regimens. CONCLUSIONS: An ARB-based regimen is more effective in BP lowering than an ACE inhibitor-based regimen in the presence of anti-AT1 receptor autoantibodies. Trial registration number This trial has been registered at http://www.register.clinicaltrials.gov/ (identifier: NCT00360763).

[tMfn2 gene transfer promotes vascular smooth-muscle cells apoptosis via activation of the mitochondrial cell death pathway].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of tMfn2 gene transfer on promoting the apoptosis of vascular smooth-muscle cells (VSMCs). METHODS: VSMCs were infected by adenovirus-mediated tMfn2 (Adv-tMfn2) or adenovirus-mediated Mfn2 (Adv-Mfn2). FACS analysis, cell death ELISA and TUNEL staining were used to investigate the role of tMfn2 and Adv-Mfn2 gene transfer on VSMCs apoptosis. Western blot was used to analyze the protein expression of p-Akt, Bcl-2, Bax and cleaved caspase-9. RESULTS: FACS and ELISA results showed that tMfn2 was superior to Mfn2 in promoting VSMCs apoptosis and tMfn2 gene transfer induced VSMCs apoptosis in a time-dependent manner (P < 0.01). TUNEL staining evidenced that there were more positive-apoptotic VSMCs in tMfn2 group than that in Mfn2 group (P < 0.01). The protein expressions of phosphorylated Akt and Bcl-2 were significantly decreased, whereas Bax and cleaved caspase-9 protein expressions were significantly upregulated in tMfn2-transfected VSMCs. CONCLUSIONS: tMfn2 transfer promoted apoptosis of VSMCs in a time dependent manner via the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.

[Development and applications of an auto-analyzing system for Model TJ-IV vector-cardiogram].

A new computer-assisted vector-cardiogram analyzing system Model TJ-IV developed based on Model TJ-III, has been using in the routine clinical work in order to evaluate its features and performances. The system employs a 586 computer with a CPU of 120 MHz, a special low-noise amplifier, a 12 bit A/D tranducer and the C language for programming. The examinations of 206 cases were performed and all the vector-cardiograms were analyzed by the computer system and by manipulative methods respectively. In comparison with the manipulative methods the system has a very high accuracy of picture-recognition. The accuracy for distinguishing the onsets and terminals of orthogonal ECG waves is 98% while that for distinguishing the peaks and troughs of the waves is 100%. These waves include P, Q, R, S, R' and S' waves. The new system is capable to provide the parameters of more than 591 items, including 46 newly-developed diagnostic parameters. The testing and analyzing of 12 parameters of orthogonal ECG and plane VCG have proved that the results of the aboved two methods have no difference. The new system has a very high accuracy of picture-recognition and index calculation with many technical problems existing in the old versions, solved--a great improvement of safety and anti-interference and an increase of the detecting & diagnostic speed.