Objective Recently, increasing epidemiological evidence has shown that there is a correlation between serum uric acid level (SUA) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). This paper explored the relationship between them through meta-analysis. Methods PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched to obtain literature. The keywords used to retrieve the literature were carotid intima thickness, intima-media thickness, carotid atherosclerosis, carotid stenosis, carotid artery, uric acid, blood uric acid, and hyperuricaemia. The retrieval time was from the establishment of the database through July 2020. Stata15.0 and RevMan5.3 software were used for statistical analysis. The standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated by a random effect model to estimate the correlation. Publication bias was assessed using the Begg and Egger tests. The stability of these results was evaluated using sensitivity analyses. Results Fifteen studies were included with a total sample size of 11382, including 7597 participants in the high uric acid group and 3785 in the control group, on the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. According to the evaluation of the JBI scale, the literature was of high quality. The average age ranged from 42 to 74. Meta-analysis showed that CIMT in the high uric acid group was significantly higher than that in the control group (SMD = 0.53, 95% CI: [0.38, 0.68]), and the difference was significant (z = 6.98, P < 0.00001). The heterogeneity among the 15 articles was obvious (I2 = 89%, P < 0.00001). Subgroup analysis by disease status illustrated a positive relationship between SUA and CIMT in healthy people and people with diseases. SUA was shown to be positively correlated with CIMT in people aged 45–60 years and ≥60 years by subgroup analysis by age. SUA was also found to be positively correlated with CIMT in a population with BMI>24 kg/m2 by subgroup analysis by BMI. In addition, subgroup analysis of other risk factors for CIMT, including TC, SBP, DBP, triglycerides, and LDL-C, all showed a positive correlation between SUA and CIMT. Conclusions There is a significant correlation between serum uric acid level and carotid intima-media thickness, and a high concentration of serum uric acid is related to carotid artery intima-media thickness.

Background The study aimed to explore the factors influencing protective behavior and its association with factors during the post-COVID-19 period in China based on the risk perception emotion model and the protective action decision model (PADM). Methods A total of 2830 valid questionnaires were collected as data for empirical analysis via network sampling in China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to explore the relationships between the latent variables. Results SEM indicated that social emotion significantly positively affected protective behavior and intention. Protective behavioral intention had significant direct effects on protective behavior, and the direct effects were also the largest. Government trust did not have a significant effect on protective behavior but did have a significant indirect effect. Moreover, it was found that government trust had the greatest direct effect on social emotion. In addition, we found that excessive risk perception level may directly reduce people’s intention and frequency of engaging in protective behavior, which was not conducive to positive, protective behavior. Conclusion In the post-COVID-19 period, theoretical framework constructed in this study can be used to evaluate people’s protective behavior. The government should strengthen its information-sharing and interaction with the public, enhance people’s trust in the government, create a positive social mood, appropriately regulate people's risk perception, and, finally, maintain a positive attitude and intent of protection.

BackgroundAcupuncture and moxibustion has been widely applied to hyperlipidemia treatment in clinical practice in China, serving as an alternative treatment to statins. Warm-needling acupuncture and medicinal cake-separated moxibustion have been separately reported with potential therapeutic effects on hyperlipidemia treatment in several studies but with limitations in study methodology. Combining these two modalities may provide a more advantageous strategy in treating hyperlipidemia. Therefore, a strict evaluation through well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCT) is necessary to determine their efficacy and safety on hyperlipidemia.MethodsThe study a multicenter, open-label, randomized, stratified, active-controlled, noninferiority trial with two parallel groups. Subjects with hyperlipidemia will be stratified into different groups by risk levels of heart diseases. They then will be instructed to the Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) diet. Those who have not reached the target lipid level will be randomly assigned to the treatments of either acupuncture and moxibustion or simvastatin with a 1:1 allocation. One hundred and thirty subjects are aimed to be recruited. The duration of intervention for this study will be 12 weeks, followed by another 4 weeks for post-treatment assessment. The primary outcome is percentage change from baseline to the end of the study in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Other indicators in lipid change, safety and adherence will also be assessed secondarily. The repeated measures, linear mixed-effects model will be applied to the analysis.DiscussionAcupuncture and moxibustion could be a potentially effective treatment alternative for hyperlipidemia. A study with careful design is developed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combined acupuncture and moxibustion, by integrating the traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) regimens with the standardized Western medicine appraisal approach.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02269046. Registered on 26 September 2014.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-2029-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Incretin contains two peptides named glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Drug therapy using incretin has become a new strategy for diabetic treatments due to its significant effects on improving insulin receptors and promoting insulinotropic secretion. Considering the fact that diabetes millitus is a key risk factor for almost all age-related diseases, the extensive protective roles of incretin in chronic diseases have received great attention. Based on the evidence from animal experiments, where incretin can protect against the pathophysiological processes of neurodegenerative diseases, clinical trials for the treatments of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients are currently ongoing. Moreover, the protective effect of incretin on heart has been observed in cardiac myocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells of vessels. Meanwhile, incretin can also inhibit the proliferation of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells, which can induce atherosclerogenesis. Incretin is also beneficial for diabetic microvascular complications, including nephropathy, retinopathy and gastric ulcer, as well as the hepatic-related diseases such as NAFLD and NASH. Besides, the anti-tumor properties of incretin have been proven in diverse cancers including ovarian cancer, pancreas cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer.

No abstract

No abstract

Objective: Uric acid is thought to be associated with the occurrence of atherosclerosis, which is closely related to cardio-cerebrovascular disease. However, the present study examined serum uric acid (SUA) and its correlation with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), which is a major issue. The purpose of this paper is to examine serum uric acid concentration and its correlation with carotid artery atherosclerosis according to age and sex groups.Methods: Individuals who underwent physical examinations at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from 2016 to 2020 were selected. The physical examination information of the subjects was recorded, and biochemical indexes such as blood uric acid levels were collected. The intima media thickness of the carotid artery was measured by ultrasound. Using traditional atherosclerosis risk factors as adjustment variables, the association between blood uric acid levels and atherosclerosis was assessed by logistic regression analysis.Results: A total of 15,843 subjects (73.90% male) were included, with an average age of 52±12 (20-92) years. The prevalence of CIMT thickened was 9.51%, and the plaque prevalence was 28.59%. Univariate analysis results showed that there were significant differences in CIMT thickening and plaque occurrence among different SUA level groups in both men and women (P<0.0001). After adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors, increased SUA levels were significantly associated with an increased risk of CIMT thickening (male: ≤220 μmol/L as the reference group, 220-290 μmol/L: OR=1.591, 95% CI: 1.069-2.367; 290-360 μmol/L: OR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.127-2.415;360-430 μmol/L: OR=1.634, 95% CI: 1.116-2.393; >430 μmol/L: OR=1.857, 95% CI: 1.264-2.73;P < 0.05. female: ≤210 μmol/L as the reference group, 260-310 μmol/L: OR=1.419, 95% CI: 1.059-1.901; 310-360 μmol/L: OR=1.432, 95% CI: 1.048-1.957; >360 μmol/L: OR=1.557, 95% CI: 1.113-2.177; P < 0.05). Correlation analysis in each age subgroup showed that CIMT was significantly associated with SUA in men ≥60 years old and women 45-60 years old and ≥60 years old (male: ≤220 μmol/L as the reference group, >430 μmol/L: OR=1.972, 95% CI: [1.2,3.238]. female: ≤210 μmol/L as the reference group, >360 μmol/L (45-60 years old): OR=1.77, 95% CI:[1.107,2.832]; > 360 μmol/L (≥60 years old), OR = 1.65, 95% CI: [1.067, 2.551]. P < 0.05).Conclusions: In both men and women, increased SUA levels are closely associated with thickened CIMT, which is associated with a higher risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease. The age at which this association was observed in women was lower than in men, and whether this result is due to changes in hormone levels before and after menopause remains to be prospectively studied.

No abstract