Evaluation of NaTto Red Yeast Rice on Regulating Blood Lipid (ENTRY) Study: A Multicenter, Double-Placebo, Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial in Chinese Adults.

Background: Statins are the first line of treatment for dyslipidemia, but their side effects often reduce medication compliance. Natto and red yeast rice are natural ingredients with lipid-lowering effects. However, the efficacy of Natto Red Yeast Rice (NRYR) supplement in combination with statins in regulating blood lipid levels has not been fully evaluated.

Genetic analysis of gene in Chinese patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a single-center study and systematic review of published literature.

Background: Rare variants have been implicated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but their prevalence and clinical significance remain poorly understood, particularly across different ethnic populations.

Methods: We performed genetic screening of in 1627 Chinese ALS patients using whole-exome sequencing. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature were conducted to evaluate the global frequency of variants and their clinical correlations.

AlphaFold 3 modeling of DNA nanomotifs: is it reliable?

Being able to accurately predict structures is highly desirable for nanoengineering with DNA and other biomolecules. The newly launched AlphaFold 3 (AF3) provides a potential platform for this purpose. In this work, we have used AF3 to model a list of commonly used DNA nanomotifs and compared the AF3 structures with the experimentally observed structures reported in the literature.

Unveiling Cellular Responses and Underlying Immune Effects Induced by Boron Neutron Capture Therapy.

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an emerging modality for cancer treatment. Although its concept was proposed in the last century, progress has been relatively slow because limitations in neutron source technology and boron compounds. In recent years, with the increased availability of neutron devices and improvements in boron compounds, the radiobiological effects of BNCT have been investigated more deeply, leading to a surge of research findings in the field.

Long-term Fine Particulate Matter Exposure and Coronary Artery Disease: Unraveling Cardiometabolic Pathways and Modification of Genetic Susceptibility.

Aims: Which cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) primarily mediate the association between long-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and coronary artery disease (CAD) incidence, and whether participants with high genetic risks of CMRFs are more susceptible remains unclear.

Methods: This study was based on the project of Prediction for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk in China.

Associations of phenols, parabens, and phthalates with biological aging: stratified analyses by chronological age and lifestyle in NHANES 2005-2010.

Humans are widely exposed to phenols, parabens, and phthalates with health risks, while the effects of these chemicals on biological aging remain unclear. Among 3,441 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2010, phenol, paraben, and phthalate concentrations were measured and phenotypic age acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel) was calculated. Linear regression and weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression were used to evaluate the associations of single and mixed chemicals with PhenoAgeAccel.

Associations of the hs-CRP/HDL-C ratio with cardiovascular disease among US adults: Evidence from NHANES 2015-2018.

Background And Aims: Inflammation, lipid signaling, and their interplay are involved in the pathogenesis and development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), while the relationships of composite indices combining inflammation and lipids with CVD remained inexplicit.

Methods And Results: Our study enrolled 8581 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018. Logistic regression model was applied to assess the associations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio with CVD prevalence.

Associations of aldehyde exposure with serum uric acid and hyperuricemia among U.S. adults from NHANES 2013-2014.

Background: Aldehyde is a kind of important environmental pollutant, which has been demonstrated to be associated with increased risks of various chronic diseases with the economic and social development. However, the effects of aldehydes on serum uric acid (SUA) and hyperuricemia remained inexplicit, and the potential mediating pathways for this relationship needed to be addressed.

Methods: This study investigated the associations of individual and mixed aldehydes with SUA and hyperuricemia among 1588 U S.

Association between NT-proBNP levels and risk of atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Background And Aims: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a well-established biomarker in clinical practice, particularly for heart failure, but its role in predicting atrial fibrillation (AF) risk is not fully understood. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between NT-proBNP levels and AF incidence, and to explore the potential of NT-proBNP in enhancing AF risk prediction models.

Methods: We systematically searched databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Scopus) up to August 2024 for prospective studies that reported associations between baseline NT-proBNP levels and incident AF.

AlphaFold 3 - Aided Design of DNA Motifs To Assemble into Triangles.

Self-assembly of biomolecules provides a powerful tool for a wide range of applications in nanomedicine, biosensing and imaging, vaccines, computation, nanophotonics, etc. The key is to rationally design building blocks and the intermolecule interactions. Along this line, structural DNA nanotechnology has rapidly developed by limiting DNA secondary structures to primarily well-established, B-form DNA duplexes, which can be readily and reliably predicted.

A connectome-based model of delusion in schizophrenia using functional connectivity under working memory task.

Delusion is an important feature of schizophrenia, which may stem from cognitive biases. Working memory (WM) is the core foundation of cognition, closely related to delusion. However, the knowledge of neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between WM and delusion in schizophrenia is poorly investigated.

Wearable device-measured moderate to vigorous physical activity and risk of degenerative aortic valve stenosis.

Background And Aims: Physical activity has proven effective in preventing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, but its role in preventing degenerative valvular heart disease (VHD) remains uncertain. This study aimed to explore the dose-response association between moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) volume and the risk of degenerative VHD among middle-aged adults.

Methods: A full week of accelerometer-derived MVPA data from 87 248 UK Biobank participants (median age 63.

Multimodal neuroimaging exploration of the mechanisms of sleep quality deterioration after SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection.

Background: To evaluate the neurological alterations induced by Omicron infection, to compare brain changes in chronic insomnia with those in exacerbated chronic insomnia in Omicron patients, and to examine individuals without insomnia alongside those with new-onset insomnia.

Methods: In this study, a total of 135 participants were recruited between January 11 and May 4, 2023, including 26 patients with chronic insomnia without exacerbation, 24 patients with chronic insomnia with exacerbation, 40 patients with no sleep disorder, and 30 patients with new-onset insomnia after infection with Omicron (a total of 120 participants with different sleep statuses after infection), as well as 15 healthy controls who were never infected with Omicron. Neuropsychiatric data, clinical symptoms, and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging data were collected.

Clinical and genetic characteristics of 1672 cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in China: a single-center retrospective study.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease. In recent years, continuous discoveries of new ALS-causing genes have enhanced the understanding of the genotype-phenotype relationship in ALS, aiding in disease progression prediction and providing a more comprehensive basis for genetic diagnosis.

Methods: A total of 1672 ALS patients who visited the Neurology Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital between January 2014 and December 2022 and met the revised El Escorial diagnostic criteria were included.

Molecular and structural basis of an ATPase-nuclease dual-enzyme anti-phage defense complex.

Coupling distinct enzymatic effectors emerges as an efficient strategy for defense against phage infection in bacterial immune responses, such as the widely studied nuclease and cyclase activities in the type III CRISPR-Cas system. However, concerted enzymatic activities in other bacterial defense systems are poorly understood. Here, we biochemically and structurally characterize a two-component defense system DUF4297-HerA, demonstrating that DUF4297-HerA confers resistance against phage infection by cooperatively cleaving dsDNA and hydrolyzing ATP.

The neural compensation phenomenon in schizophrenia with mild attention deficits during working memory task.

Background: Working memory (WM) and attention are essential cognitive processes, and their interplay is critical for efficient information processing. Schizophrenia often exhibits deficits in both WM and attention, contributing to function impairments. This study aims to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between WM impairments and attention deficits in schizophrenia.

Structure-function analysis of the ATPase domain of African swine fever virus topoisomerase.

Unlabelled: Type II topoisomerase utilizes the energy from ATP hydrolysis to alter DNA topology during genome replication and transcription. The ATPase domain of this enzyme is required for ATP hydrolysis and plays a crucial role in coupling DNA binding and ATP turnover with the DNA strand passage reaction. The African swine fever virus (ASFV) specifically encodes a topoisomerase II (topo II), which is critical for viral replication and an attractive target for antiviral development.

Altered orientation dispersion index of white matter in individuals with insomnia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A study combining neuroimaging technique and Mendelian randomization.

Study Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can lead to insomnia. However, associations between COVID-19-caused insomnia and white matter (WM) changes are unclear.

Methods: All subjects had ever been infected with COVID-19.

Discovery of a selective TC-PTP degrader for cancer immunotherapy.

T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TC-PTP), encoded by PTPN2, has emerged as a promising target for cancer immunotherapy. TC-PTP deletion in B16 melanoma cells promotes tumor cell antigen presentation, while loss of TC-PTP in T-cells enhances T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling and stimulates cell proliferation and activation. Therefore, there is keen interest in developing TC-PTP inhibitors as novel immunotherapeutic agents.

Cryo-EM structures of African swine fever virus topoisomerase.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly contagious virus that causes lethal hemorrhagic diseases known as African swine fever (ASF) with a case fatality rate of 100%. There is an urgent need to develop anti-ASFV drugs. We determine the first high-resolution structures of viral topoisomerase ASFV P1192R in both the closed and open C-gate forms.

Development of Molecular Dynamics and Research Progress in the Study of Slag.

Molecular dynamics is a method of studying microstructure and properties by calculating and simulating the movement and interaction of molecules. The molecular dynamics simulation method has become an important method for studying the structural and dynamic characteristics of slag systems and can make up for the shortcomings of existing detection methods and experiments. Firstly, this paper analyzes the development process and application fields of molecular dynamics, summarizes the general simulation steps and software algorithms of molecular dynamics simulation methods, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the algorithms and the common functions of the software.

Polygenic risk for schizophrenia and the language network: Putative compensatory reorganization in unaffected siblings.

Language-related symptoms, such as disorganized, impoverished speech and communicative behaviors, are one of the core features of schizophrenia. These features most strongly correlate with cognitive deficits and polygenic risk among various symptom dimensions of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, unaffected siblings with genetic high-risk fail to show consistent deficits in language network (LN), indicating that either (1) polygenic risk has no notable effect on LN and/or (2) siblings show compensatory changes in opposing direction to patients.