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Sarcopenia is a serious condition especially in the elderly population mainly characterized by the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength with aging. Extremity skeletal muscle mass index (EMMI) (sum of skeletal muscle mass in arms and legs/height) is gaining popularity in sarcopenia definition (less than two standard deviations below the mean of a young adult reference group), but little is known about the gender- and population-specific differences of EMMI. This study aimed at investigating the differences of EMMI, arm muscle mass index (AMMI), and leg muscle mass index (LMMI) between gender groups and populations (Chinese vs. Caucasians). The participants included 1,809 Chinese and 362 Caucasians with normal weight aged from 19 to 45 years old. Extremity muscle mass, arm muscle mass, and leg muscle mass were measured by using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Independent sample t tests were used to analyze the differences in muscle mass indexes between the studied groups. All the study parameters including EMMIs, AMMIs, and LMMIs were significantly higher ( P ≤ 0.0003) in the Caucasian group than in the Chinese group and also higher in the male group than in the female group, and these significant differences ( P ≤ 0.0005) remained after adjusting for age by simple regressions. The detected differences of muscle mass indexes between different gender and ethnic groups may provide important implications in their different risk of future sarcopenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High aldosterone (Ald) levels can induce hypertrophy of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), which carries high risks of heart failure. A previous study showed that Ald induces hypertrophy of VSMCs by up-regulating NOX1, a catalytic subunit of NADPH oxidase that produces superoxides. However, the precise mechanism remains unknown. Diphenylene iodonium (DPI) is known as an inhibitor of complex I in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, and it was also found to almost completely suppress the induction of NOX1 mRNA and the phosphorylation of activating transcription factor (ATF-1) by PGF2α or PDGF in a rat VSMC cell line. In this study, we found that the Ald-induced phosphorylation of ATF-1 and NOX1 expression was significantly suppressed by DPI. Silencing of ATF-1 gene expression attenuated the induction of NOX1 mRNA expression, and over-expression of ATF-1 restored Ald-induced NOX1 expression. On the basis of this data, we show that the mitochondria mediate aldosterone-induced NOX1 gene expression in an ATF-1-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prepulse inhibition (PPI) and attention were impaired, which may cause psychotic symptoms and (or) hinder the cognitive functions in schizophrenia. However, due to the measurement methods of PPI, findings about the relationship between PPI and clinical symptoms, cognitive performances have been equivocal., Methods: Seventy-five schizophrenia patients (SZ) and 50 healthy controls (HC) were assessed in a modified acoustic PPI paradigm, named perceived spatial separation-induced PPI (PSS-PPI), compared to perceived spatial co-location PPI (PSC-PPI) with inter-stimulus interval (ISI) of 120 ms. Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status and the Stroop Color-Word Test were administered to all subjects., Results: Significant decrease in the modified PPI was found in the patients as compared to the controls, and effect sizes (Cohen'd) for patients vs. HCs % PPI levels achieved a significant level (PSC-PPI d = 0.84, PSS-PPI d = 1.27). A logistic regression model based on PSS-PPI significantly represented the diagnostic grouping (χ 2 = 29.3; p < 0 .001), with 85.2% area under ROC curve in predicting group membership. In addition, patients exhibited deficits in neurocognition. Among patients of "non-remission", after controlling for gender, age, education, duration, recurrence times, onset age, cigarettes per day and chlorpromazine equivalent dosage, PSS-PPI levels were associated with positive and negative symptoms, PANSS total and thought disorder (P1, P6, P7, N5, N7, G9). In multiple linear regression analyses, male and higher attention scores contributed to better PSC-PPI and PSS-PPI in controls group, while larger amount of smoke and longer word-color interfere time contributed to poor PSS-PPI. In patients' group, higher education and attention scores contributed to better PSS-PPI, while repeated relapse contributed to poor PSS-PPI., Conclusions: The acoustic perceived spatial separation-induced PPIs may bring to light the psychopathological symptoms, especially for thought disorder, and the mechanism(s) of the novel PPI paradigm was associated with attention function.

Background: Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) are active constituents of Astragalus membranaceus. They have been widely studied, especially with respect to their immunopotentiating properties, their ability to counteract the side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs, and their anticancer properties. However, the mechanism by which APS inhibit cancer and the issue of whether that mechanism involves the reversal of multidrug resistance (MDR) is not completely clear. The present paper describes an investigation of the effects of APS on P-glycoprotein function and expression in H22 hepatoma cell lines resistant to Adriamycin (H22/ADM)., Methods: H22/ADM cell lines were treated with different concentrations of APS and/or the most common chemotherapy drugs, such as Cyclophosphamid, Adriamycin, 5-Fluorouracil, Cisplatin, Etoposide, and Vincristine. Chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity, P-glycoprotein function and expression, and MDR1 mRNA expression were detected using MTT assay, flow cytometry, Western blotting, and quantitative RT-PCR., Results: When used alone, APS had no anti-tumor activity in H22/ADM cells in vitro. However, it can increase the cytotoxicity of certain chemotherapy drugs, such as Cyclophosphamid, Adriamycin, 5-Fluorouracil, Cisplatin, Etoposide, and Vincristine, in H22/ADM cells. It acts in a dose-dependent manner. Compared to a blank control group, APS increased intracellular Rhodamine-123 retention and decreased P-glycoprotein efflux function in a dose-dependent manner. These factors were assessed 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h after administration. APS down regulated P-glycoprotein and MDR1 mRNA expression in a concentration-dependent manner within a final range of 0.8-500 mg/L and in a time-dependent manner from 24-72 h., Conclusion: APS can enhance the chemosensitivity of H22/ADM cells. This may involve the downregulation of MDR1 mRNA expression, inhibition of P-GP efflux pump function, or both, which would decrease the expression of the MDR1 protein.

Background: Lung cancer is one of the most common human cancers and the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. The identification of lung cancer associated genes is essential for lung cancer diagnosis and treatment., Methods: Differential Display-PCR technique was used to achieve the novel cDNA, which were then verified by real-time PCR. Northern blot was utilized to observe the expression of LCMR1 in different human tissues. 84 cases human NSCLC tissues and normal counterparts were analyzed for the expression of LCMR1 by immunohistochemistry., Results: A novel 778-bp cDNA fragment from human large cell lung carcinoma cell lines 95C and 95D was obtained, and named LCMR1 (Lung Cancer Metastasis Related protein 1). LCMR1 was differentially expressed in different human tissues. LCMR1 was strongly overexpressed in NSCLC and its expression was significantly associated with clinical stage., Conclusion: Our data indicated that LCMR1, strongly overexpressed in NSCLC, might have applications in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.