Renin-angiotensin system inhibitor use and risk of Parkinson's disease: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a recognized risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors are widely used to treat hypertension. However, the association of RAS inhibitor use with PD has still been an area of controversy. METHODS: Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between RAS inhibitor use and PD. PUBMED and EMBASE databases were searched for articles published up to Oct 2023. All studies that examined the relationship between RAS inhibitor use and the incidence of PD were included. RESULTS: Seven studies with total 3,495,218 individuals met our inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. Overall, RAS inhibitor use was associated with a reduction in PD risk (OR = 0.88, 95%CI = 0.79-0.98) compared with the controls. When restricted the analysis to individuals with RAS inhibitor use indication, RAS inhibitor exposure was also associated with a decreased risk of PD (OR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.62-0.92). Pooled results of cohort studies also did support a protective role of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) (OR = 0.97, 95%CI = 0.89-1.07) users and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) (OR = 0.8, 95%CI = 0.63-1.02) in PD. CONCLUSION: Overall, RAS inhibitor use as a class is associated with a reduction in PD risk. However, the findings of ACEIs and ARBs may be limited by small sample size. Future well-designed studies considering the classification by inhibitor type, duration, dose, or property of BBB penetration of RAS inhibitors are needed to clarify the contribution of these exposure parameters on the risk of PD.

Saline short-term shock and rapid recovery on anammox performance.

Anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) is an environmental-friendly biological nitrogen removal process, which has been developed as a promising technology in industrial wastewater treatment. However, anammox nitrogen removal under high saline conditions still faces many challenges. This study investigated the performance of anammox sludge under saline short-term shock and the strategy of rapid recovery. Salinity concentration, saline exposure time, and NaCl/Na2SO4 ratio were selected as three critical factors for short-term shock. The activity inhibition of anammox sludge were tested by using response surface methodology (RSM). Our results showed that, compared with the NaCl/Na2SO4 ratio, the salinity concentration and saline exposure time were the significant factor causing the anammox inhibition. The addition of glycine betaine (GB) in moderate amounts (0.1-5 mM) was found to help anammox to resist in relative low saline shock intensities (e.g., IC25 and IC50), with the activity retention rate of 94.7%. However, glycine betaine was not worked effectively under relatively high saline shock intensities (e.g., complete inhibition condition). Microbial community analysis revealed that Brocadiaceae accounted for only about 7.6%-13.2% at inhibited conditions. Interestingly, 16S rRNA analysis showed that the abundance of activated Brocadiaceae remarkably decreased with time after high-level saline shock. This tendency was consistent with the results of qPCR targeted hzsA gene. Finally, based on quorum sensing, the anammox activity was recovered to 93.5% of original sludge by adding 30% original sludge. The study realized the rapid recovery of anammox activity under complete inhibition, promoting the development and operation of salt-tolerant anammox process.

Effects of hsa-mir-145-5p on the Regulation of msln Expression in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal cancers in the world, and its incidence is increasing all over the world including China. In recent years, research data show that some miRNAs are differentially expressed in cancer tissues, and their expression is closely contributed with the prognosis of CRC. Microarray technology was used, and 179 miRNAs were screened out with significantly altered expression in CRC tissues compared with adjacent tissues. The expression of mir-145-5p in tumor tissues was 3.48 times lower than that in normal tissues. Using bioinformatics technology and network resource prediction, we found that mir-145-5p had a potential target gene relationship with msln gene. Then, qRT-PCR was used to validate the expression level of mir-145-5p and msln mRNA in CRC and paracancerous tissues. The results showed that msln mRNA was higher than in normal tissues, while mir-145-5p was lower, with statistically significant difference (P < 0.01, n = 3). Furthermore, the expression of msln protein in CRC and normal colorectal tissues was detected by protein mass spectrometry (MRM) (n = 3) and immunohistochemistry in a total case of 30 colorectal cancer tissues and normal tissues. Result showed that the positive expression of msln in CRC was higher than that in normal colorectal tissues, 1.38e-6 and 1.89e-6, respectively (P < 0.01, n = 3). Furthermore, in 48 h RTCA real-time monitoring experiment, mir-145-5p showed inhibitory effect on the proliferation of colo320 cells stimulated by msln. This study demonstrated that msln is a target gene of mir-145-5p in CRC. Besides, mir-145-5p negatively regulates the proliferation of CRC colo320 cells through downregulating msln gene expression in CRC colo320 cells.

Self-assembly of a three-dimensional fibrous polymer sponge by electrospinning.

In this paper, we report a quick approach to self-assemble three-dimensional (3D) spongiform nanofiber stacks via electrospinning, which usually fabricates 2D non-woven fiber mats. Through controlling experimental conditions, cone-like polystyrene fiber stacks can be self-assembled on aluminum foil within 30 min. The stacks are able to reach a height of more than 10 cm. Moreover, conversion between the 3D fiber stack and 2D thin film can be controlled. The formation mechanism of the self-assembled fiber stacks and the influence of experimental conditions have also been explored. The 3D fiber stacks may be promising for applications in many fields such as tissue engineering, electrodes of battery, and filtration, etc.