An epidemiological survey of age-related dementia among community residents of an urban of Beijing was conducted in 1986. Initial screening of 1331 subjects aged 60 and above was made using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) with a cutoff point of 17. All suspected cases of dementia and 5.5% of all others were then given a full clinical examination, with subjects being diagnosed and classified according to DSM-III criteria. The MMSE was found to have satisfactory sensitivity, although scores were significantly correlated with education. Prevalence rates of moderate and severe dementia were 1.28% for those aged 60 and above and 1.82% for those aged 65 and above. Rates for multi-infarct dementia were higher than those for primary degenerative dementia; females had higher rates than males and rates increased sharply with age. All the dementia cases were cared for in their own homes, by relatives. There is a need for increased knowledge and services for elderly people in the community.

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Objective. To identify susceptibility modules and genes for cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients using weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA). Methods. The raw data of GSE13760 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) website. Genes with a false discovery rate<0.05 and a log2 fold change≥0.5 were included in the analysis. WGCNA was used to build a gene coexpression network, screen important modules, and filter the hub genes. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed for the genes in modules with clinical interest. Genes with a significance over 0.2 and a module membership over 0.8 were used as hub genes. Subsequently, we screened these hub genes in the published genome-wide SNP data of cardiovascular disease. The overlapped genes were defined as key genes. Results. Fourteen gene coexpression modules were constructed via WGCNA analysis. Module greenyellow was mostly significantly correlated with diabetes. The GO analysis showed that genes in the module greenyellow were mainly enriched in extracellular matrix organization, extracellular exosome, and calcium ion binding. The KEGG analysis showed that the genes in the module greenyellow were mainly enriched in antigen processing and presentation, phagosome. Fifteen genes were identified as hub genes. Finally, HLA-DRB1, LRP1, and MMP2 were identified as key genes. Conclusion. This was the first study that used the WGCNA method to construct a coexpression network to explore diabetes-associated susceptibility modules and genes for cardiovascular disease. Our study identified a module and several key genes that acted as essential components in the etiology of diabetes-associated cardiovascular disease, which may enhance our fundamental knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease.

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Our investigation demonstrated that there is a Th17/Treg functional imbalance in patients with unstable carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Th17 cells may promote atherogenesis, while Treg cells may have a protective role against atherosclerosis plaques. An imbalance of Th17/Treg cells may offer a new direction for the treatment of atherosclerosis.

BackgroundPrevious studies have demonstrated that secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) is associated with impaired glucose and triglyceride metabolism in patients with stable coronary artery disease. In the present study, we investigated human epicardial adipose tissue (EAT)-derived and circulating SFRP4 levels in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).MethodsPlasma samples and adipose biopsies from EAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were collected from patients with CAD (n = 40) and without CAD (non-CAD, n = 30) during elective cardiac surgery. The presence of CAD was identified by coronary angiography. SFRP4 mRNA and protein expression levels in adipose tissue were detected by quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Plasma SFRP4 concentrations were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis were used to determine the association of SFRP4 expression with atherosclerosis as well as clinical risk factors.ResultsSFRP4 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly lower in EAT than in paired SAT in patients with and without CAD (all P < 0.05). Compared to non-CAD patients, CAD patients had higher SFRP4 expression levels in EAT (both mRNA and protein levels) and in plasma. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that CAD was an independent predictor of SFRP4 expression levels in EAT (beta = 0.442, 95% CI 0.030–0.814; P = 0.036) and in plasma (beta = 0.300, 95% CI 0.056–0.545; P = 0.017). SAT-derived SFRP4 mRNA levels were independently associated with fasting insulin levels (beta = 0.382, 95% CI 0.008–0.756; P = 0.045). In addition, plasma SFRP4 levels were positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.259, P = 0.030), fasting insulin levels (r = 0.306, P = 0.010) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) values (r = 0.331, P = 0.005).ConclusionsEAT-derived and circulating SFRP4 expression levels were increased in patients with CAD. EAT SFRP4 mRNA levels and plasma SFRP4 concentrations were independently associated with the presence of CAD.