Band 3, Heft 2

Objective To explore the effects of daily mean temperature (°C), average daily air pressure (hPa), humidity (%), wind speed (m/s), particulate matter (PM) 2.5 (μg/m 3 ) and PM10 (μg/m 3 ) on the admission rate of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University in Harbin and to identify the indexes and lag days that impose the most critical influence. Methods The R language Distributed Lag Nonlinear Model (DLNM), Excel, and SPSS were used to analyze the disease and meteorological data of Harbin from 01 January 2010 to 31 December 2019 according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results Meteorological factors and air pollution influence the number of hospitalizations of CKD to vary degrees in cold regions, and differ in persistence or delay. Non-optimal temperature increases the risk of admission of CKD, high temperature increases the risk of obstructive kidney disease, and low temperature increases the risk of other major types of chronic kidney disease. The greater the temperature difference is, the higher its contribution is to the risk. The non-optimal wind speed and non-optimal atmospheric pressure are associated with increased hospital admissions. PM2.5 concentrations above 40 μg/m 3 have a negative impact on the results. Conclusion Cold region meteorology and specific environment do have an impact on the number of hospital admissions for chronic kidney disease, and we can apply DLMN to describe the analysis.

Climate is one of the environmental conditions on which people live. Climate conditions impact every aspect of people’s daily life and production activities, even the survival of humankind. In recent years, human activities have adversely changed the climate. The emergence of global warming and extreme weather has prompted people to pay attention to the impact of climate on life. The adverse climate issues include reduced quality of air and food, facilitated spread of diseases and increased mortality of the population. Being more orientated to climate changes in the past, research has been less alerted to the negative impacts that climate changes could bring to human health. This could be ascribed to that after living in a region for a long time, the human body has “adapted” to climate. And after adaptation, routine health outcomes such as disease incidence and hospitalization rate become less obvious, making the habitants blind from the undesirable impacts of climate on the health status. This review article summarizes the impacts of cold climate on human development, including maternal/fetal factors, lifestyle factors, etc. , and delineates the relationship between cold climate and human health.

Extreme cold environment can threaten human health and life through increasing the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, frostbite, and hypothermia. Insufficient heat production to maintain core body temperature is a major cause of cold injury. To cope with cold stress, human and other mammals have developed the capacity of cold acclimatization to adapt to such a harsh environment. Adaptive non-shivering thermogenesis is a ubiquitous form of cold acclimatization. This review article systematically summarizes the role of three inducible thermogenic forms, including food intake, circadian rhythms, and cold exposure in mediating non-shivering thermogenesis under cold exposure and presents the potential interventions for minimizing the adverse health consequences of cold temperature.

Plateau is characterized by low oxygen, low pressure, strong radiation, cold and dryness, among which low oxygen is the main factor that affects the normal life activities of human body. Altitude hypoxia leads to significant changes in the metabolic characteristics of drugs in vivo , which in turn affects the efficacy and adverse actions of drugs. This paper summarizes the present situation of rational drug use in plateau area and pinpoints the existing problems. Meanwhile, we posit the strategies and measures for realizing rational and precise pharmacotherapy of plateau residents. First, we need to acquire a panoramic view of differential and relative pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in between plateau area and plain area by carrying out comparative studies on drug metabolisms and on comprehensive drug efficacies and mechanisms. Second, we must apply the findings from basic research to clinical practice and formulate guidelines and recommendations of drug use for plateau habitants. Finally, we should eventually achieve precise and individualized drug use for plateau habitants based on their characteristic etiology and pathogenesis.

Objective Nanoparticles (NPs) in haze are potentially hazardous to health, which is more severe in the winter. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays important roles in obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes. Though the toxicology of NPs has been intensively studied, few studies have been reported on the antagonistic effects between Silicon dioxide(SiO 2 ) NPs and cold exposure in brown adipocytes. Materials and methods We evaluated changes by quantitative real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) on metabolism genes, plasticity genes and the inflammatory responses genes in brown adipocytes in vitro . Results The expression of adipogenic genes PRDM16 , Dio2 , PGC-1α and UCP1 was upregulated upon cold exposure ( P < 0.05), but downregulated by SiO 2 NPs ( P < 0.05). The results demonstrated that there was antagonistic effect between SiO 2 NPs and cold exposure on the plasticity genes and metabolism genes in brown adipocytes, where the main effects of SiO 2 NPs or cold exposure on the plasticity genes and metabolism genes were significant ( P < 0.05). Moreover, the levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were upregulated by SiO 2 NPs or cold exposure ( P < 0.05). The factorial analysis indicated that there was also antagonistic effect between SiO 2 NPs and cold exposure on the toxic effects in brown adipocytes, in which the main effects of cold exposure and/or SiO 2 NPs on the toxic effects were significant ( P < 0.05). Conclusion SiO 2 NPs inhibit the effect of cold exposure on metabolic genes and inflammatory responses genes in brown adipocytes.

Objective In March 2022, more than 600 million cases of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and about 6 million deaths have been reported worldwide. Unfortunately, while effective antiviral therapy has not yet been available, chloroquine (CQ)/hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been considered an option for the treatment of COVID-19. While many studies have demonstrated the potential of HCQ to decrease viral load and rescue patients’ lives, controversial results have also been reported. One concern associated with HCQ in its clinical application to COVID-19 patients is the potential of causing long QT interval (LQT), an electrophysiological substrate for the induction of lethal ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Yet, the mechanisms for this cardiotoxicity of HCQ remained incompletely understood. Materials and methods Adult New Zealand white rabbits were used for investigating the effects of HCQ on cardiac electrophysiology and expression of ion channel genes. HEK-293T cells with sustained overexpression of human-ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) K + channels were used for whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of hERG K + channel current (I hERG ). Quantitative RT-PCR analysis and Western blot analysis were employed to determine the expression of various genes at mRNA and protein levels, respectively. Results electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings revealed that HCQ prolonged QT and RR intervals and slowed heart rate in rabbits. Whole-cell patch-clamp results showed that HCQ inhibited the tail current of hERG channels and slowed the reactivation process from inactivation state. HCQ suppressed the expression of hERG and hindered the formation of the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90)/hERG complex. Moreover, the expression levels of connexin 43 (CX43) and Kir2.1, the critical molecular/ionic determinants of cardiac conduction thereby ventricular arrythmias, were decreased by HCQ, while those of Cav1.2, the main Ca 2+ handling proteins, remained unchanged and SERCA2a was increased. Conclusion HCQ could induce LQT but did not induce arrhythmias, and whether it is suitable for the treatment of COVID-19 requires more rigorous investigations and validations in the future.

Objective Studies have shown that both short-term and long-term cold exposures disturb the biological process. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of intermittent cold exposure on proteomic profiles in the hypothalamus and pituitary of female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Materials and methods The rats were exposed to -10°C in a cabin for 4 h per day, and the treatment lasted for 14 days. The comparative label-free LC-MS/MS analysis was performed to investigate the changes of proteomic profiles in the hypothalamus and pituitary. ELISA analysis was used to validate the expression of differential proteins. Results 22 differential proteins in the hypothalamus and 75 differential proteins in the pituitary were identified by the label-free proteomic analysis. Gene ontology annotation and enrichment analysis indicated that cold exposure disrupted protein phosphorylation, filopodium assembly, intracellular protein transport, peripheral nervous system neuron axonogenesis, spinal cord development, Golgi organization, positive regulation of pseudopodium assembly, and cell-cell adhesion. Three proteins (Cdc42, Ptprs, and Setd7) were down-regulated in the cold exposure group. Conclusion The results indicate that intermittent cold exposure alters the proteomic profiles of hypothalamus and pituitary in female rats.

Cryotherapy is a minimally invasive treatment. With increasing rate of breast cancer detection, ablation therapy has become an alternative approach for the treatment of this pathology due to its advantages of minimally invasive, fewer complications, good efficacy, and repeatability. Preclinical and clinical studies of cryotherapy for breast cancer published through December 2022 were identified through a literature search using PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, and CNKI. This article reviews the progress of cryoablation in the treatment of breast cancer.