Pratermills0689

This review also aims to highlight the further investigation into the dynamic crosstalk of N-myristoylation in physiological processes as well as the potential application of protein N-myristoylation in translational medicine.Some studies have shown that gut microbiota along with its metabolites is closely associated with diabetic mellitus (DM). In this study we explored the relationship between gut microbiota and kidney injuries of early diabetic nephropathy (DN) and its underlying mechanisms. Male SD rats were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin to induce DM. DM rats were orally administered compound broad-spectrum antibiotics for 8 weeks. After the rats were sacrificed, their blood, urine, feces, and renal tissues were harvested for analyses. We found that compared with the control rats, DM rats had abnormal intestinal microflora, increased plasma acetate levels, increased proteinuria, thickened glomerular basement membrane, and podocyte foot process effacement in the kidneys. Furthermore, the protein levels of angiotensin II, angiotensin-converting enzyme, and angiotensin II type 1 receptor in the kidneys of DM rats were significantly increased. Administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics in DM rats not only completely killed most intestinal microflora, but also significantly lowered the plasma acetate levels, inhibited intrarenal RAS activation, and attenuated kidney damage. Finally, we showed that plasma acetate levels were positively correlated with intrarenal angiotensin II protein expression (r = 0.969, P  less then  0.001). In conclusion, excessive acetate produced by disturbed gut microbiota might be involved in the kidney injuries of early DN through activating intrarenal RAS.Cycloastragenol (CAG) is the active form of astragaloside IV isolated from Astragalus Radix, which displays multiple pharmacological effects. Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), a class III histone deacetylase, has been shown to play an important role in neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia. In this study, we investigated whether CAG protected against ischemic brain injury and, if so, whether the beneficial effects were associated with the regulation of SIRT1 in the ischemic brain. Mice were subjected to 45 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by reperfusion. CAG (5, 10, 20 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally at the onset of reperfusion, 12 h later and then twice daily for up to three days. CAG dose-dependently reduced brain infarct volume, significantly ameliorated functional deficits, and prevented neuronal cell loss in MCAO mice. Meanwhile, CAG significantly reduced matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity, prevented tight junction degradation and subsequently ameliorated blood-brain barrier disruption. Moreover, CAG significantly upregulated SIRT1 expression in the ischemic brain but did not directly activate its enzymatic activity. Concomitant with SIRT1 upregulation, CAG reduced p53 acetylation and the ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 in the ischemic brain. CAG also inhibited NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation. As a result, CAG suppressed the mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IL-1β, and inhibited the activation of microglia and astrocytes in the ischemic brain. Our findings suggest that CAG is neuroprotective against ischemic brain injury in mice and that its beneficial effect may involve SIRT1 upregulation and the inhibition of apoptosis and neuroinflammation in the ischemic brain.Gastrodin (GAS) is the main bioactive component of Tianma, a traditional Chinese medicine widely used to treat neurological disorders as well as cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases. In the present study, the protective effects of GAS on H9c2 cells against ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-like injury were found to be related to decreasing of oxidative stress. Furthermore, GAS could protect H9c2 cells against oxidative injury induced by H2O2. Pretreatment of GAS at 20, 50, and 100 μM for 4 h significantly ameliorated the decrease in cell viability and increase in apoptosis of H9c2 cells treated with 400 μM H2O2 for 3 h. Furthermore, we showed that H2O2 treatment induced fragmentation of mitochondria and significant reduction in networks, footprint, and tubular length of mitochondria; H2O2 treatment strongly inhibited mitochondrial respiration; H2O2 treatment induced a decrease in the expression of mitochondrial fusion factors Mfn2 and Opa1, and increase in the expression of mitochondrial fission factor Fis1. All these alterations in H2O2-treated H9c2 cells could be ameliorated by GAS pretreatment. Moreover, we revealed that GAS pretreatment enhanced the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 under H2O2 treatment. Knockdown of Nrf2 expression abolished the protective effects of GAS on H2O2-treated H9c2 cells. Our results suggest that GAS may protect H9c2 cardiomycytes against oxidative injury via increasing the nuclear translocation of Nrf2, regulating mitochondrial dynamics, and maintaining the structure and functions of mitochondria.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.Hypertension (HTN) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity among Iranians. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of pre-HTN and HTN and some of its related factors in south of Iran. This cross-sectional survey was conducted on the data of the Persian cohort study in Kherameh. The participants consisted of 10,663 people aged 40-70 years. HTN was defined as either systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) ≥140/90 mmHg or taking medications. Pre-HTN was defined as SBP = 120-139 mmHg and/or DBP = 80-89 mmHg. The logistic regression method was used to identify the factors associated with pre-HTN and HTN. The age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR) of pre-HTN was 19.66% (95% CI 19.45-19.86%) and 18.59% (95% CI 18.36-18.83%) in males and females, respectively. learn more Also, the ASPR of HTN was 21.44 (95% CI 21.22-21.65%) in males and 33.53% (95% CI 33.22-33.85%) in females. Male gender, old age, being unemployed, low education level, high body mass index (BMI), no smoking, diabetes, cerebro-cardiovascular disease, suffering from another chronic disease, family history of CVD, and negative family history of cancer and other chronic diseases were independently associated with pre-HTN (p  less then  0.05). All variables, except for gender, smoking, and family history of cancer, were significantly associated with HTN. Drug abuse was also correlated to HTN (p  less then  0.05). This study revealed the increased prevalence of HTN in rural and urban areas. Therefore, the health system needs to develop strategies to raise the accessibility of screening and diagnostic services.Inconsistent evidence is found in the literature regarding the association between individuals' stature and hypertension status. In this study, an attempt has been made to investigate the true association between height and occurrence of hypertension. For analysis purpose, this study considers Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2011 data obtained from an observational study. By dividing height (tall/normal/short) based on 25th and 75th percentile points separately for females and males, a binary logistic regression model was fitted to the weighted data, where weights were calculated from propensity scores (PS). From the PS-based weighted data, we did not find any significant association between height and hypertension (p > 0.05). Besides the respondent's height, logistic regression analyses of a balanced data set have revolved around some well-known factors that are associated with the occurrence of hypertension gender of the respondent, higher wealth index status, as well as overweight. This study also found higher odds of occurring hypertension among the residents of Khulna and Rangpur divisions, whereas lower likelihood of hypertension is reported for the individual living in Chittagong and Sylhet districts. The findings of this paper indicate that human stature is not a risk factor for hypertension. Apart from height, this study uncovers some important risk factors for developing hypertension. By considering these factors, awareness should be raised among male, wealthier, and overweighted individuals in Bangladesh. However, why the prevalence of hypertension is higher in Khulna and Rangpur, as well as lower in Chittagong and Sylhet, demands further research.Hypertension and triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index are both closely associated with insulin resistance, respectively, while the role of TyG index and the association between TyG index and obesity on hypertension risk remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the association and interactive effect of TyG index and obesity on hypertension risk. link2 There was a population-based cross-sectional survey in Henan, China. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the association between TyG index and the risk of prehypertension and hypertension. The area under curves (AUC) of TyG index and joint indicators (TyG index and obesity indices) was calculated to assess the predictive ability of hypertension. The additive interaction was computed to evaluate the interactive effect between TyG index and obesity. Compared with the lowest TyG quartile, participants in the highest quartile had an increased risk of prehypertension (odds ratio (OR) 1.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.18-2.44) and hypertension (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.80-3.57). The AUCs of joint indicators were significantly higher than TyG index in predicting hypertension (all P  less then  0.01). Presence of higher TyG index enhanced the ORs of waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and percent body fat (PBF) from 3.50 (95% CI 2.55-4.80) to 6.51 (95% CI 4.81-8.82), and from 3.88 (95% CI 2.78-5.42) to 7.09 (95% CI 5.11-9.84) with significant additive interaction on hypertension, respectively. Increased TyG index was significantly associated with a higher risk of prehypertension and hypertension in Chinese adults. Besides, our results also demonstrated the interactions of TyG index and WHtR and PBF on hypertension risk.Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are involved in several pathophysiologic processes in vascular diseases, including progressive loss of elasticity of the vessel wall (arterial stiffness). Circulating soluble receptors for AGEs (sRAGE) act as a decoy and counterbalanced the harmful properties of AGEs as the natural protective factor. We compared the role of circulating or skin-deposed AGEs and sRAGE regarding the natural course of arterial stiffening. In a prospective cohort study, we longitudinally followed 536 general population-based subjects (subsample of Czech post-MONICA study). Aortic pulse-wave velocity (PWV) was measured twice (at baseline and after ~8 years of follow-up) using a SphygmoCor device (AtCor Medical Ltd), and the intraindividual change in PWV per year (∆PWV/year) was calculated. Concentrations of sRAGE and carboxymethyl lysine (circulating AGEs) were assessed at the follow-up visit by ELISA, while skin AGEs were measured using the autofluorescence-based device AGE Reader. link3 Using multiple regressions, we found significant association between ∆PWV/year as a dependent variable, and both, sRAGE and skin AGEs as independent ones (each on its own model). However, the closest associations to ∆PWV/year were found for the ratio of these two factors (skin AGEs/sRAGE) [β coeff = 0.0747 (SE 0.0189), p  less then  0.0001]. In a categorized manner, subjects with skin AGEs/sRAGE ratio ≥ 3.3 showed about twofold higher risk having ΔPWV/year ≥ 0.2 m/s [adjusted odds ratio was 2.09 (95% CI 1.35-3.22), p = 0.001]. In contrast, neither circulating AGEs nor circulating AGEs/sRAGE showed any significant relation to ΔPWV/year. In conclusion, skin AGEs/sRAGE ratio seems to be a more sensitive biomarker of vascular aging than these single factors themselves or circulation status of AGEs.