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Vascular remodelling refers to abnormal changes in the structure and function of blood vessel walls caused by injury, and is the main pathological basis of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and pulmonary hypertension. Among them, the neointimal hyperplasia caused by abnormal proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of vascular remodelling. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) can release vasoactive substances to target VSMCs and regulate the pathological process of vascular remodelling. Specifically, PVAT can promote the conversion of VSMCs phenotype from contraction to synthesis by secreting visfatin, leptin, and resistin, and participate in the development of vascular remodelling-related diseases. Conversely, it can also inhibit the growth of VSMCs by secreting adiponectin and omentin to prevent neointimal hyperplasia and alleviate vascular remodelling. Therefore, exploring and developing new drugs or other treatments that facilitate the beneficial effects of PVAT on VSMCs is a potential strategy for prevention or treatment of vascular remodelling-related cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is one of the main intracellular components of the blood vessel wall. The abnormalities of VSMCs participate in the development of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and restenosis, especially the formation and stability of atherosclerotic plaques. Autophagy is involved in the regulation of proliferation, migration and phenotype switching of VSMCs, which in turn affects the pathological process of atherosclerosis. However, the autophagy of VSMCs has a dual effect on cells survival. Autophagy is induced in VSMCs by various stimuli such as 7-ketocholesterol (7-KC), unsaturated lipid peroxidation-derived aldehyde and excess free cholesterol, thereby promoting VSMCs survival and stabilising atherosclerotic plaque. Conversely, autophagy caused by factors such as osteopontin (OPN), angiotensin II (Ang II) and nicotine can accelerate the death of VSMCs, further accelerating atherosclerotic lesions. In addition, mitophagy and lipophagy as selective autophagy are also involved in the outcome of VSMCs as well as progression of atherosclerotic lesion. Currently, there are only a few drugs available to induce VSMCs autophagy, such as atorvastatin, telmisartan and so on. Due to the important role of VSMCs autophagy in the progression of atherosclerosis plaques, drugs that directly target autophagy of VSMCs are urgently needed to be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) belongs to a multifunctional secreted protein that mainly expresses in the liver, and is regulated by numerous post-translational modifications, including multiple cleavage and glycosylation. Accumulating evidences have revealed that ANGPTL3 plays a critical role in both biological processes, such as lipid metabolism, angiogenesis and haematopoietic function and pathological changes, including atherosclerosis, carcinogenesis, nephrotic syndrome, diabetes, liver diseases and so on. Thus, ANGPTL3 may serve as a potential biomarker in these diseases. Furthermore, ANGPTL3 signalling pathways including LXR/ANGPTL3, thyroid hormone/ANGPTL3, insulin/ANGPTL3 and leptin/ANGPTL3 are also involved in physiological and pathological processes. Some biological ANGPTL3 inhibitors, chemical drugs and traditional Chinese medicine exert beneficial effects by targeting ANGPTL3 directly or indirectly. Therefore, elucidating the effects and underlying mechanisms of ANGPTL3 is essential to develop promising strategies in the diagnosis and treatment of related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas residues (BRs) are prospective organic fertilizer sources for agricultural cultivation. Besides N and P, however, other inorganic metal elements, such as K, Fe, Cu, Zn and so on, also affect the nutritional level of BRs significantly. In this study, a sequential extraction procedure (SEP) combined with a toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) was conducted to investigate the speciation and leachability of metal components in BRs. The results showed that element K was the most effective nutrient component due to its largest available fraction and highest mobility factor (MF) of 78.4, whereas phytotoxic Al was the most stable and inert element in terms of its 96.68% residual fraction. Ca and Mg could be viewed as potential nutrient sources because their MFs exceeded 60. TCLP results revealed that these BRs could be classed as non-toxic organic waste but Cu and Zn should be paid more attention in that their total contents were beyond the permissible values. Meanwhile, more concerns should be given to Ni and Pb due to their large TCLP extractable fraction. In conclusion, these BRs can be used as a prospective nutrient pool for agricultural cultivation. SEP combined with TCLP can be effectively applied for assessing the nutrient level of the BRs as organic fertilizer for agricultural use. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The oxytetracycline bacterial residue–activated carbon (OBR-AC) prepared from oxytetracycline bacterial residue with K2CO3 under chemical activation was studied. The effects of activation temperature, activation time, and activation ratio on the specific surface area (SSA) and methylene blue adsorption (MBA) were studied. Characterization of the optimum OBR-AC was performed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pore structure (PS,) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The optimum parameters were as follows: 800°C activation temperature, 3 hr activation time, and 1:3 activation ratio. The SSA and MBA under optimum conditions were 1593.09 m2/g and 117.0 mg/g, respectively. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics data were determined for the adsorption of phenol from the synthetically prepared phenol solution. The results showed that the Langmuir model gave the best fit for equilibrium isotherm, whereas the kinetics data were well fitted by the pseudo-second order model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]