Salivary cortisol levels and temporomandibular disorders – A systematic review and meta-analysis of 13 case-control studies

Purpose: To compare salivary cortisol levels between patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and healthy controls.Methods: Pubmed, EMBASE, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases were employed to screen for the included studies. RevMan 5.3 software and RStudio software were used for meta-analysis, while a random-effect model was selected to synthesize the effect with the mean difference (MD).Results: Thirteen studies were eligible and a total of 504 TMD patients and 410 controls were included. The pooled MD of salivary cortisol levels in TMD patients compared to controls was 0.05 (95 %CI = 0.01 - 0.09, p = 0.02), indicating a significantly higher level of salivary cortisol in TMD patients than in the controls. Subgroup analysis suggested studies published later than 2014 showed significant increase of salivary cortisol level in TMD patients when compared to controls (MD = 0.07, 95 % CI = 0.01-0.13, p = 0.03). Besides, high-quality studies presented significant differences with regard to the cortisol level in saliva among individuals with or without TMD (MD = 0.04, 95 %CI = 0.03-0.05, p < 0.01). However, the instability of the results showed by the sensitivity analysis was a hindrance to reaching a definitive conclusion.Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that salivary cortisol level in TMD patients is significantly higher than in controls. Consequently, supportive psychological treatment is recommended to prevent TMD patients from mood disorders. More high-quality studies are, however, needed to confirm the relationship, considering the high degree of heterogeneity among the studies

Effects of ambient temperatures between 5 and 35 °C on energy balance, body mass and body composition in mice

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was partly supported by grants (31670417 and 31870388 to Z.J.Z., and 92057206 to J.R.S) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFA0801900 to J.R.S).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy and non-coding RNA

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are common autoimmune diseases that affect skeletal muscle quality and function. The lack of an early diagnosis and treatment can lead to irreversible muscle damage. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play an important role in inflammatory transfer, muscle regeneration, differentiation, and regulation of specific antibody levels and pain in IIMs. ncRNAs can be detected in blood and hair; therefore, ncRNAs detection has great potential for diagnosing, preventing, and treating IIMs in conjunction with other methods. However, the specific roles and mechanisms underlying the regulation of IIMs and their subtypes remain unclear. Here, we review the mechanisms by which micro RNAs and long non-coding RNA-messenger RNA networks regulate IIMs to provide a basis for ncRNAs use as diagnostic tools and therapeutic targets for IIMs

Nonsynonymous Single-Nucleotide Variations on Some Posttranslational Modifications of Human Proteins and the Association with Diseases

Protein posttranslational modifications (PTMs) play key roles in a variety of protein activities and cellular processes. Different PTMs show distinct impacts on protein functions, and normal protein activities are consequences of all kinds of PTMs working together. With the development of high throughput technologies such as tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and next generation sequencing, more and more nonsynonymous single-nucleotide variations (nsSNVs) that cause variation of amino acids have been identified, some of which result in the damage of PTMs. The damaged PTMs could be the reason of the development of some human diseases. In this study, we elucidated the proteome wide relationship of eight damaged PTMs to human inherited diseases and cancers. Some human inherited diseases or cancers may be the consequences of the interactions of damaged PTMs, rather than the result of single damaged PTM site

Remnant cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular mortality

Background: Genetic, observational, and clinical intervention studies indicate that circulating levels of remnant cholesterol (RC) are associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, the predictive value of RC for cardiovascular mortality in the general population remains unclear. Methods: Our study population comprised 19,650 adults in the United States from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (1999–2014). RC was calculated from non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) minus low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) determined by the Sampson formula. Multivariate Cox regression, restricted cubic spline analysis, and subgroup analysis were applied to explore the relationship of RC with cardiovascular mortality. Results: The mean age of the study cohort was 46.4 ± 19.2 years, and 48.7% of participants were male. During a median follow-up of 93 months, 382 (1.9%) cardiovascular deaths occurred. In a fully adjusted Cox regression model, log RC was significantly associated with cardiovascular mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 2.82; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17–6.81]. The restricted cubic spline curve indicated that log RC had a linear association with cardiovascular mortality (p for non-linearity = 0.899). People with higher LDL-C (≥130 mg/dL), higher RC [≥25.7/23.7 mg/dL in males/females corresponding to the LDL-C clinical cutoff point (130 mg/dL)] and abnormal HDL-C (<40/50 mg/dL in males/females) levels had a higher risk of cardiovascular mortality (HR 2.18; 95% CI 1.13–4.21 in males and HR 2.19; 95% CI 1.24–3.88 in females) than the reference group (lower LDL-C, lower RC and normal HDL-C levels). Conclusions: Elevated RC levels were associated with cardiovascular mortality independent of traditional risk factors

dbDEPC 2.0: updated database of differentially expressed proteins in human cancers

A large amount of differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) have been identified in various cancer proteomics experiments, curation and annotation of these proteins are important in deciphering their roles in oncogenesis and tumor progression, and may further help to discover potential protein biomarkers for clinical applications. In 2009, we published the first database of DEPs in human cancers (dbDEPCs). In this updated version of 2011, dbDEPC 2.0 has more than doubly expanded to over 4000 protein entries, curated from 331 experiments across 20 types of human cancers. This resource allows researchers to search whether their interested proteins have been reported changing in certain cancers, to compare their own proteomic discovery with previous studies, to picture selected protein expression heatmap across multiple cancers and to relate protein expression changes with aberrance in other genetic level. New important developments include addition of experiment design information, advanced filter tools for customer-specified analysis and a network analysis tool. We expect dbDEPC 2.0 to be a much more powerful tool than it was in its first release and can serve as reference to both proteomics and cancer researchers. dbDEPC 2.0 is available at http://lifecenter.sgst.cn/dbdepc/index.do

Near-infrared light for phototherapy : photothermal induced drug release and tumor ablation

Since the introduction of nanotechnology into cancer treatment, numerous therapeutic nanoagents have been developed for the detection, imaging and therapy of various types of cancers. Amongst all these efforts, near-infrared-light-involved anticancer therapy has drawn increasing attention in recent years, due to the minimal invasiveness and high tissue penetration of near-infrared light (NIR). This thesis will focus on the utilization of NIR light in anticancer therapy in combination with inorganic and organic NIR-responsive photothermal agents, of which could absorb the incoming NIR irritation and transform it into thermal energy. The temperature escalation is used to initiate the release of anticancer drugs from the nanocarrier or directly destroy the cancer cells. The studies listed in this thesis made a robust investigation into the potential application of NIR-driven therapeutic nanoplatforms and showed inspiring results both in vitro and in vivo. Gold nanorods are one of the many types of anisotropic metallic nanoparticles used in biomedical research. With their highly achievable monodispersity and manipulable aspect ratio, the optical absorption wavelength of gold nanorods could be precisely controlled within the biological window of living tissues, which is ideal for controllable and efficient photothermal heat generation. Chapter 2 introduces a stimuli-responsive drug delivery system using a single gold nanorod as the core compartment. The hydrophilic anticancer drug doxorubicin was encapsulated using ultraviolet irritation and could be released in response to NIR illumination. Its controllable drug release behaviour has been further investigated in vivo in live zebrafish embryo models. Polymer chemistry is one of the most important sub-branches of modern chemistry that is closely related to our daily life. It could provide us with products at various sizes with unique physical and chemical properties. Chapter 3 describes one of my attempts to combine the specifically functionalized polymer with gold nanorods for a controllable drug delivery system. A pH/temperature dual responsive polymer shell was conjugated onto the gold nanorods for the drug encapsulation and delivery. Though the eventual outcome is not satisfactory, it still provided some inspirations for my follow-up research. The lessons learnt from the dual responsive core/shell drug nanocarrier proved substantial, which offered useful insights for the shaping of a new NIR responsive drug delivery system. To overcome those problems that are persistent to the organic/inorganic hybrid nanoparticles such as low cellular uptake and morphological uniformity, a new organic photothermal agent IR825 was used with thermoresponsive liposomal formulations. The structural characterizations and therapeutic efficacy were introduced in Chapter 4. My studies of these NIR responsive therapeutic nanoplatforms presented a variety of applications based on nanomaterials that were capable of photothermal heat generation. Collectively these studies provided robust insights on the application of NIR laser in cancer treatment, as well as expanded our knowledge of nanotechnology in drug delivery research.Doctor of Philosophy (MSE

Clock-offset computation method of space network aided by satellite clock prediction

A novel network clock-offset resolution method for space network is proposed in the paper. In the process of clock-offset resolution based on the network inter-node measurement data, the prediction of satellite clock result is used as the priori information. A double weighted control is made with the consideration of the point clock performance and the measurement performance, and better measurement error suppression effect is achieved. The results of simulation experiment indicated that network clock-offset resolution result with better stability and accuracy is achieved compared with the traditional Least Squares method in different scenarios

Clock-offset computation method of space network aided by satellite clock prediction

A novel network clock-offset resolution method for space network is proposed in the paper. In the process of clock-offset resolution based on the network inter-node measurement data, the prediction of satellite clock result is used as the priori information. A double weighted control is made with the consideration of the point clock performance and the measurement performance, and better measurement error suppression effect is achieved. The results of simulation experiment indicated that network clock-offset resolution result with better stability and accuracy is achieved compared with the traditional Least Squares method in different scenarios

Designing supramolecular self-assembly nanomaterials as stimuli-responsive drug delivery platforms for cancer therapy

Summary: Stimuli-responsive nanomaterials have attracted substantial interest in cancer therapy, as they hold promise to deliver anticancer agents to tumor sites in a precise and on-demand manner. Interestingly, supramolecular chemistry is a burgeoning discipline that entails the reversible bonding between components at the molecular and nanoscale levels, and the recent advances in this area offer the possibility to design nanotherapeutics with improved controllability and functionality for cancer therapy. Herein, we provide a comprehensive summary of typical non-covalent interaction modes, which primarily include hydrophobic interaction, hydrogel bonding, host-guest interaction, π-π stacking, and electrostatic interaction. Special emphasis is placed on the implications of these interaction modes to design novel stimuli-responsive drug delivery principles and concepts, aiming to enhance the spatial, temporal, and dosage precision of drug delivery to cancer cells. Finally, future perspectives are discussed to highlight current challenges and future opportunities in self-assembly-based stimuli-responsive drug delivery nanotechnologies for cancer therapy