Background: Resveratrol has shown potent antioxidant activity in ischemia models. The present study was performed to determine whether resveratrol protects against cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal and myocardial injury by interfering with mitochondrial homeostasis. Methods: Wistar rats were pretreated with resveratrol or vehicle intraperitoneally for one week and then subjected to cerebral ischemia via middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 24 h. Oxidation was evaluated by quantitating SOD activity and MDA levels. Apoptosis and autophagy were measured based on TUNEL staining and the expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax and LC3II. Mitochondrial changes were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy and by analyzing the mitochondrial membrane potential. Results: Resveratrol significantly decreased mortality, neurological deficits, infarction volume and MDA levels and increased SOD activity. Furthermore, neurocyte apoptosis was alleviated by resveratrol as indicated by the increased Bcl-2/Bax ratio, increased LC3II expression and a decreased number of TUNEL-positive neurocytes. Resveratrol preserved the mitochondria in neurons and cardiomyocytes and significantly improved cardiac function. Conclusion: Resveratrol protected brain tissues against ischemic damage by interfering with mitochondrial homeostasis and inhibiting apoptosis. Furthermore, resveratrol attenuated myocardial damage, suggesting that it may be a novel therapy for cerebral ischemia diseases.

SummaryIschemia reperfusion (IR) injury is a major issue in cardiac transplantation, and inflammatory processes play a major role in myocardial IR injury. Long pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is a member of a phylogenetically conserved group of acute-phase reactants that are involved in inflammation and innate immunity. In our study, hearts of C57Bl/6 mice were flushed and stored in cold Bretschneider solution for 8 h and then transplanted into syngeneic recipient. We found that both mRNA and protein levels of PTX3 were increased following myocardial IR injury; neutralizing antibody against PTX3 aggravated cardiomyocyte apoptosis and recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages. Troponin T (TnT) production on 24 h after myocardial IR injury was reduced by exogenous PTX3 administration and increased by PTX3 neutralization in comparison with control. Cardiac output at 60 mmHg of afterload pressure was also increased in hearts with exogenous PTX3 administration and decreased with PTX3 neutralization (PTX3: 58.4 AE 7.4 ml/min; Control: 24.5 AE 3.8 ml/min; Anti-PTX3: 11.6 AE 1.7 ml/ min; P < 0.05). Furthermore, PTX3 restricted expansion of cd T cell that was the major source of IL-17A and down-regulated expression of IL-23 and IL-17A. In conclusion, PTX3 played a protective role in cardiomyocyte IR injury. PTX3 ameliorated cardiomyocyte apoptosis and infiltration of neutrophil and macrophage and then improved hemodynamic performance. This was associated with restricted cd T-cell expansion and decreased IL-23/IL-17A expression.

Background: There is limited knowledge on the mediating role of different health risk behavior on the relationship between social capital, socioeconomic status (SES), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Chinese older adults. We conducted this study to (a) investigate the condition of health risk behaviors of the Chinese elderly, and (b) assess the relationship between SES, social capital, health risk behaviors, and HRQoL.Methods: A sample of 4,868 adults aged 60 years and older were included in this study, from the China’s Health-related Quality of Life Survey for Older Adults 2018. Participants’ demographic characteristics, SES (education level, family income), health risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, unhealthy weight, and sleep disorder) were collected. Social capital and HRQoL were assessed by the 16-item Personal Social Capital Scale (PSCS-16) and WHOQOL-Old, respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to examine the associations between variables.Results: The proportion of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, unhealthy weight, and sleep disorder were 32.1%, 36.3%, 62.5%, 45.7%, 31.8%, and 45.5%, respectively. Significant differences were observed in education level, family income, and social capital between elderly individuals with and without each of the six health risk behavior (all p-values < 0.05). Elderly individuals who reported smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, and sleep disorder had significantly lower HRQoL than those without these unhealthy behaviors (all p-values < 0.05). SEM analysis showed that SES and social capital positively associated with alcohol consumption. Social capital negatively associated with smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, and sleep disorder. SES negatively associated with smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, unhealthy weight, and sleep disorder. Smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behavior, and sleep disorder correlated with poorer HRQoL.Conclusions: Chinese older adults demonstrated a high incidence of health risk behaviors, especially for physical inactivity (62.5%) and unhealthy dietary behavior (45.7%). Social capital and SES were correlated with the elderly’s HRQoL, as well as with the health risk behaviors. Health risk behaviors played potential mediating role on the relationship between social capital, SES, and HRQoL in Chinese older adults.

Background The persistence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the efficiency of hospitals with different ownership. This article aims to compare the differences and changes in technical efficiency of public and private hospitals before and after the pandemic. Methods We collected institutional and operational data for all 519 general hospitals (including 243 public and 356 private hospitals) in Hubei province China from 2019 to 2021. Using the slacks-based measure model (SBM), we measured and compared technical efficiency. The effect of the pandemic on hospital efficiency was examined with a two-way fixed effect model and a lasso regression model. PSM, Tobit regression was used for robustness testing. Results Public hospitals were much more efficient than private hospitals both before and after the epidemic in Hubei. The mean efficiency score of public and private hospitals was 0.52 and 0.26 in 2019, 0.37 and 0.22 in 2020, 0.44 and 0.24 in 2021. The difference in efficiency between public and private hospitals was significant in 2019 and 2021(p<0.001). Public hospital efficiency showed a faster recovery in the face of the epidemic. Conclusions Public hospitals run by the administrative system have shown greater efficiency and played a major role in the fight against the pandemic. The country's public health protection network should be fortified and efforts should be made to promote the high-quality development of public hospitals. The widening of the overall gap between public and private hospitals appeared. In the post-epidemic era, private hospitals need to prioritize finding the right positioning and offering highly specific medical services in China.