BackgroundSuicide is a serious cause of mortality worldwide and is considered as a psychiatric emergency. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) have higher rates of suicidal behavior than the general population. This study assessed the prevalence and verified the syndemic effect of psychosocial health conditions on suicidal ideation among PLWHA in China.MethodsAn institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August 2016 in Nanjing, China, using a self-report questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics, infection status, psychosocial variables and suicide ideation reports of participants were collected. Logistic regressions were used to identify potential factors associated with suicidal ideation and to verify the syndemic effect of psychosocial factors. Additionally, odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were computed.ResultsIn total, four hundred sixty-five PLWHA participated, 31.6% (n = 147) of whom had suicidal ideation. The results from univariate analysis showed that older age, low education level, being married, having children, and psychosocial variables (high perceived stigma, depression, low self-esteem, social support and resilience) were significantly associated with increased suicidal ideation. Multiple logistic regression models revealed that depression (OR = 2.70, 95%CI = 1.62–4.51), perceived stigma (OR = 1.97, 95%CI = 1.17–3.32), and low social support (OR = 1.85, 95%CI = 1.08–3.20) and self-esteem (OR = 4.11, 95%CI = 2.06–8.16) were statistically significant. PLWHA with at least two psychosocial health problems were nearly 5 times more likely (OR = 4.72, 95% CI 3.11–7.17) to have had suicidal ideation.ConclusionsSuicidal ideation is frequent among PLWHA in China and is consistent with prevalence estimates from abroad. Psychosocial health problems were the determining factors associated with suicidal ideation, and a syndemic effect of psychosocial health conditions was confirmed in predicting suicidal ideation. Therefore, early screening of high-risk groups for suicidal ideation and more psychosocial health care among PLWHA are needed.

Aberrant activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in colonic macrophages strongly associates with the occurrence and progression of ulcerative colitis. Although targeting NLRP3 inflammasome has been considered to be a potential therapy, the underlying mechanism through which pathway the intestinal inflammation is modulated remains controversial. By focusing on the flavonoid lonicerin, one of the most abundant constituents existed in a long historical anti-inflammatory and anti-infectious herb Lonicera japonica Thunb., here we report its therapeutic effect on intestinal inflammation by binding directly to enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) histone methyltransferase. EZH2-mediated modification of H3K27me3 promotes the expression of autophagy-related protein 5, which in turn leads to enhanced autophagy and accelerates autolysosome-mediated NLRP3 degradation. Mutations of EZH2 residues (His129 and Arg685) indicated by the dynamic simulation study have found to greatly diminish the protective effect of lonicerin. More importantly, in vivo studies verify that lonicerin dose-dependently disrupts the NLRP3–ASC–pro-caspase-1 complex assembly and alleviates colitis, which is compromised by administration of EZH2 overexpression plasmid. Thus, these findings together put forth the stage for further considering lonicerin as an anti-inflammatory epigenetic agent and suggesting EZH2/ATG5/NLRP3 axis may serve as a novel strategy to prevent ulcerative colitis as well as other inflammatory diseases.

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Our objective was to investigate the genetic polymorphisms of the glutathione S-transferase M1, T1, and P1 genes (GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1) and to assess the oxidative damage in infertile men with varicoceles from northwestern China. A total of 65 infertile men with varicoceles and 30 controls were included in the study. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses were used to identify the genotypes. Sperm DNA damage was assessed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL). The levels of 8-hydroxy-29-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The activities of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO), and the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were detected by spectroscopic analysis, and sperm characteristics were measured using computer-assisted semen analysis. The frequencies of the GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 genotypes were not significantly different between the control and patient groups (P . .05). The percentage of TUNEL-positive sperm and the levels of 8-OH-dG, MDA, and NO were higher but the sperm concentration and motility and the TAC were lower in the patients with the GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTM1/T1 null genotypes than those in the patients with the GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTM1/T1 present genotypes (P , .05). However, no significant differences were observed between the GSTP1 A/A and A/G+G/G genotypes (P . .05). Our results suggest that the GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes may predispose sperm to increased oxidative damage in infertile men with varicoceles; however, GSTP1 allelic variation was not significantly different between the patient and control groups in this study.