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Aims Multiple sclerosis (MS) still maintains increasing prevalence and poor prognosis, while glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor (GLP‐1R) agonists show excellent neuroprotective capacities recently. Thus, we aim to evaluate whether the GLP‐1R agonist liraglutide (Lira) could ameliorate central nervous system demyelination and inflammation. Methods The therapeutic effect of Lira was tested on experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) in vivo and a microglia cell line BV2 in vitro. Results Lira administration could ameliorate the disease score of EAE mice, delay the disease onset, ameliorate pathological demyelination and inflammation score in lumbar spinal cord, reduce pathogenic T helper cell transcription in spleen, restore phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase (pAMPK) level, autophagy level, and inhibit pyroptosis‐related NLR family, pyrin domain‐containing protein 3 (NLRP3) pathway in lumbar spinal cord. Additionally, cell viability test, lactate dehydrogenase release test, and dead/live cell staining test for BV2 cells showed Lira could not salvage BV2 from nigericin‐induced pyroptosis significantly. Conclusion Lira has anti‐inflammation and anti‐demyelination effect on EAE mice, and the protective effect of Lira in the EAE model may be related to regulation of pAMPK pathway, autophagy, and NLRP3 pathway. However, Lira treatment cannot significantly inhibit pyroptosis of BV2 cells in vitro. Our study provides Lira as a potential candidate for Multiple Sclerosis treatment.

Porous graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite as scaffold has attracted increasing attention in bone tissue engineering recently. In this study, GO nanosheets was modified by 2,2′-(ethylenedioxy)-diethnethiol (EDDET), and dithiol-modified GO (DT-GO) nanosheets were obtained. The results confirmed that GO nanosheets were cross-linked by EDDET, meanwhile, the distance between GO layers reduced after modification. Next, DT-GO nanosheets were further incorporated into alginate hydrogels to fabricate DT-GO/alginate (DT-GA) nanocomposite as scaffold. The prepared DT-GA nanocomposite behaved the laminar network morphology with interconnected porous structure confirmed by SEM analysis. In addition, the DT-GA nanocomposite with the concentration of DT-GO nanosheets at 16.7% showed the highest porosity value and lowest compressive strength. Furthermore, the bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) showed a good proliferation on DT-GA nanocomposite, demonstrated that prepared nanocomposite had a good cytocompatibility, which was identified by CCK-8 assay and fluorescent microscopy images. Lastly, ALP activity analysis certified that BMSCs seeded on DT-GA nanocomposite could differentiate into osteoblastic phenotype. Above results suggest that the dithiol-modified GO/alginate nanocomposite has the potential to be applied in bone tissue engineering.

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The present study provided the first in vivo evidence that Ses pretreatment potentially represents a novel and pragmatic therapeutic strategy to protect the cardiovascular system from damage via its anti-ferroptosis activity.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the relationship between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and sex steroids in children (6-11 years old) and adolescents (12-19 years old) in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2015–2016.MethodsParticipants between the ages of 6-19 have 24-hour dietary intake data, serum sex hormones [total testosterone (TT), estradiol (E2)], and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) available data (n = 1382). The free androgen index (FAI) is calculated as TT divided by SHBG and the ratio of TT to E2 (TT/E2). The constructed puberty state is defined as high levels of steroid hormones (TT≥50 ng/dL in men, E2≥20 pg/ml in women) or onset of menarche. Multiple linear regression analysis was stratified by gender-age and gender-pubertal status groups to evaluate the association between DII and sex hormone levels.ResultsAfter adjusting for covariates, the association between consecutive DII and sex hormone indicators by gender and age group. In male adolescents, DII was always negatively associated with TT (P-trend = 0.09), FAI (P-trend = 0.03) and E2 (P-trend = 0.01), and monotonically positively associated with SHBG (P-trend = 0.02).In female adolescents, with the increase of DII, a significant positive correlation with SHBG was observed (β 0.017, 95%CI: 0.009,0.053) (Table 3). Among female adolescents, a significant negative association between DII and TT and a significant positive association between SHBG were observed in this group. Moreover, DII was positively associated with SHBG of prepubertal males and negatively associated with FAI of prepubertal females.ConclusionsDII was associated with decreased levels of certain sex steroid hormones (TT, FAI, and E2) and increased levels of SHBG in adolescents or pubertal individuals, with the associations presenting somewhat sex-dependent pattern. However, there is little evidence that there is a significant association in children or prepubertal children. Further research needs to be carried out to verify our results.

Background. PD patients present high incidence of pain with unknown pathogenesis. Objective. We investigated the relation of COMT polymorphisms rs4633 and rs6267 with PD pain. Subjects and Methods. One hundred PD patients and 105 controls were evaluated with simplified Mc GILL pain scale and VAS scale. PD patients were assessed with H&Y grade, UPDRS score, and HAMD scale. Polymorphisms rs4633 and rs6267 were detected by PCR and direct sequencing. Results. Fifty-seven percent of PD patients experienced pain, consisting of PD-related pain (64.91%) (the majority was dystonia pain) and non-PD-related pain (35.09%) (psychogenic pain was most frequent). The frequency of rs6267 genotype “GT/TT” and allele “T” was higher in PD pain. No difference was observed in frequencies of rs4633 between PD pain and without pain. UPDRS and depression score were higher in PD pain. The onset age was earlier in PD-related pain (57.43 ± 19.71) than non-PD-related pain (63.36 ± 6.88). Conclusion. PD patients possess a high prevalence of pain. Dystonia pain was the most frequent type of PD-related pain. COMT gene rs6267 allele “T” associated with PD pain. PD pain was influenced by disease severity and depression. PD onsets earlier in patients with PD-related pain than non-PD-related pain.

AimsSesamin, the main lignin constituent of sesame, plays a pivotal role in regulating physical state. Some studies have evidenced that the supplementation of sesamin may decrease cardiovascular disease risk. The goal of this systematic review was to summarize evidence of the effects of sesamin supplementation on obesity, blood pressure, and lipid profile in humans by performing a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Data SynthesisFive databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus) were searched electronically from inception to July 2021 to identify randomized controlled trials that assessed the impact of sesamin on obesity, blood pressure, and lipid profile. Weighted mean difference (WMD) and standard deviation (SD) were used to present the major outcomes.ConclusionsSeven trials (n = 212 participants) were included in the overall analysis. Results showed that sesamin supplementation caused a great reduction in TC (WMD: -10.893 mg/dl, 95% CI: −19.745 to −2.041, p = 0.016), LDL-c (WMD: -8.429 mg/dl, 95% CI: −16.086 to −0.771, p = 0.031), and SBP (WMD: −3.662 mmHg, 95% CI: −6.220 to −1.105, p = 0.005), whereas it had no effect on HDL-c, TG, DBP, or weight. Subgroup analysis showed that duration, parallel design, and unhealthy status can affect TC, LDL-c, and SBP evidently. We did not discover a strong link between indicators’ changes and duration of supplementation. Sesamin can be used as an obtainable dietary supplement to improve blood pressure and blood lipids, and further as a health product to prevent cardiovascular diseases.