β-Endorphin Mediates the Development and Instability of Atherosclerotic Plaques by Taisuke Okano, Kengo Sato, Remina Shirai, Tomomi Seki, Koichiro Shibata, Tomoyuki Yamashita, Ayaka Koide, Hitomi Tezuka, Yusaku Mori, Tsutomu Hirano, Takuya Watanabe

“…β-Endorphin, an endogenous opioid peptide, and its μ-opioid receptor are expressed in brain, liver, and peripheral tissues. β-Endorphin induces endothelial dysfunction and is related to insulin resistance. …”
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Left ventricular remodeling and its association with mineral and bone disorder in kidney transplant recipients by Li Sun, Dongliang Zhang, Jiawen Liu, Xiang Gao, Chuanjian Suo, Shuang Fei, Zhengkai Huang, Zijie Wang, Hao Chen, Jun Tao, Zhijian Han, Xiaobing Ju, Zengjun Wang, Min Gu, Ruoyun Tan

“…ΔLVMI was positively associated with preoperative type-I collagen N-terminal peptide and postoperative iPTH. LVEF was negatively associated with postoperative phosphorous. …”
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Distinct clinical outcomes based on multiple serum cytokine and chemokine profiles rather than autoantibody profiles and ultrasound findings in rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective... by Yukitaka Ueki, Tom W J Huizinga, René E M Toes, Shoichi Fukui, Tomoki Origuchi, Takahiro Maeda, Atsushi Kawakami, Tomohiro Koga, Naoki Matsuoka, Toshihiko Hidaka, Naoki Iwamoto, Mami Tamai, Shin-ya Kawashiri, Akitomo Okada, Ayako Nishino, Tamami Yoshitama, Takahisa Suzuki, Toshimasa Shimizu, Shimpei Morimoto, Tomomi Tsuru, Karin A J van Schie, Masahiro Ayano, Remi Sumiyoshi, Yushiro Endo, Tohru Michitsuji, Kaori Furukawa, Masataka Umeda, Nobutaka Eiraku, Hiroaki Hamada

“…Their serum levels of multiple cytokines and chemokines, rheumatoid factors, and serum autoantibodies (anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide-2 (anti-CCP2) and anti-carbamylated protein antibodies) were measured at baseline, 3 months and 12 months.Results Dimensionality reduction using 38 cytokines and chemokines demonstrated four distinct clusters that differed significantly regarding the frequencies of remission defined by clinical composite measures and ultrasound evaluations. …”
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Body mass index and B‐lines on lung ultrasonography in chronic and acute heart failure by Philip Brainin, Brian Claggett, Eldrin F. Lewis, Kristin H. Dwyer, Allison A. Merz, Montane B. Silverman, Varsha Swamy, Tor Biering‐Sørensen, Jose Rivero, Susan Cheng, John J.V. McMurray, Scott D. Solomon, Elke Platz

“…Abstract Aims Increased body mass index (BMI) is common in heart failure (HF) patients and is associated with lower levels of N‐terminal pro‐brain natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP). We evaluated the influence of BMI on lung ultrasonography (LUS) findings indicative of pulmonary congestion (i.e. …”
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Liraglutide alleviates high-fat diet-induced kidney injury in mice by regulating the CaMKKβ/AMPK pathway by Yingli Xuan, Ting-ting Ding, Xiao-lei Mao, Shiqing Pang, Ruibin He, Li Qin, Jiang zi Yuan

“…Objective Liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, has been shown to regulate blood sugar and control body weight, but its ability to treat obesity-related nephropathy has been poorly studied. …”
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Increased Interleukin-11 Levels Are Correlated with Cardiac Events in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure by Jing Ye, Zhen Wang, Di Ye, Yuan Wang, Menglong Wang, Qingwei Ji, Ying Huang, Ling Liu, Ying Shi, Lei Shi, Tao Zeng, Yao Xu, Jianfang Liu, Huimin Jiang, Yingzhong Lin, Jun Wan

“…The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve revealed that the predictive role of IL-11 in HF is not as good as N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), although IL-11 has a certain value in predicting cardiac events. …”
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Porphyromonas gingivalis associates with the presence of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, but not with the onset of arthritis: studies in an at-risk population by Helga Westerlind, Linda Mathsson-Alm, Alexandra Circiumaru, Aase Hensvold, Karin Lundberg, Jan Potempa, Yogan Kisten, Charlotte De Vries, Marina Dehara, Barbara Potempa

“…Here, we investigated whether antibodies against the Pg virulence factor arginine gingipain (Rgp) are associated with the RA-risk phase and development of arthritis.Methods At-risk individuals were included in a prospective study (Risk-RA) based on a positive anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide 2 (CCP2) antibody test, and having musculoskeletal complaints but no signs of arthritis. …”
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Creation of a recombinant Komagataella phaffii strain, a producer of proteinase K from Tritirachium album by A. B. Beklemishev, M. B. Pykhtina, Ya. M. Kulikov, T. N. Goryachkovskaya, D. V. Bochkov, S. V. Sergeeva, A. R. Vasileva, V. P. Romanov, D. S. Novikova, S. E. Peltek

“…The proteinase K gene was inserted into pPICZα-A in such a way that – at a subsequent stage of transfection into yeast cells – it was efficiently expressed under the control of the promoter and terminator of the AOX1 gene, and the product of the exogenous gene contained the signal peptide of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae a-factor to ensure the protein’s secretion into the culture medium. …”
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Genomic characterization of three marine fungi, including Emericellopsis atlantica sp. nov. with signatures of a generalist lifestyle and marine biomass degradation by Ole Christian Hagestad, Lingwei Hou, Jeanette H. Andersen, Espen H. Hansen, Bjørn Altermark, Chun Li, Eric Kuhnert, Russell J. Cox, Pedro W. Crous, Joseph W. Spatafora, Kathleen Lail, Mojgan Amirebrahimi, Anna Lipzen, Jasmyn Pangilinan, William Andreopoulos, Richard D. Hayes, Vivian Ng, Igor V. Grigoriev, Stephen A. Jackson, Thomas D. S. Sutton, Alan D. W. Dobson, Teppo Rämä

“…FungiSMASH analysis revealed the presence of 35 BGCs including, eight non-ribosomal peptide synthases (NRPSs), six NRPS-like, six polyketide synthases, nine terpenes and six hybrid, mixed or other clusters. …”
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Inhibition Mechanism of Pleurotus citrinipileatus Sing. Ergothioneine on Pancreatic Lipase Activity by Zhangchen XIA, Xiaohui MENG, Ru FANG, Yanqing MAO, Junwen CHENG, Yanbin WANG, Juan XU, Liang HE

“…The UV spectrum indicated there was a π→π* transition produced by the peptide bond C=O group of PL as the mass concentration of PCEGT increased, which could reflect the reinforcement of polarity and hydrophilicity. …”
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Mutational Analysis of KCNQ1 Gene in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Case-control Study by Ankush Ganjewar, Ishwar B Bagoji, Sharan Badiger, Rudragouda B Bulagouda, Gurushnatappa Kadakol

“…KCNQ1 is also associated with impaired insulin secretion in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), suggesting that this impairment might underlie the diabetes susceptibility conferred by rs151290, which is associated with 30-min C-peptide levels during an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) and first-phase insulin secretion. …”
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Echocardiographic phenotypes of diabetic myocardial disorder: evolution over 15 months follow-up in the ARISE-HF trial by Thomas H. Marwick, Carolyn Lam, Yuxi Liu, Stefano Del Prato, Julio Rosenstock, Javed Butler, Justin Ezekowitz, Nasrien E. Ibrahim, W. H. Wilson Tang, Faiez Zannad, Riccardo Perfetti, James L. Januzzi

“…The 1858 potential participants (age 67 ± 7 years; 50% women) were screened for SBHF based on abnormal echocardiography or biomarkers (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide ≥ 40 ng/L or high sensitivity cardiac troponin T ≥ 10 ng/L [women] and ≥ 16 ng/L [men]). …”
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Influence of injection technique, drug formulation and tumor microenvironment on intratumoral immunotherapy delivery and efficacy by Patrick Hwu, Ravi Murthy, Aung Naing, Sapna P. Patel, Simon Young, Alda Tam, Nina M. Muñoz, Malea Williams, Katherine Dixon, Crystal Dupuis, Amanda McWatters, Rony Avritscher, Soraya Zorro Manrique, Kevin McHugh, David Leach, Jeffrey D. Hartgerink, Punit Prakash, Rahul A. Sheth

“…Likewise, delivery of a STING agonist through a multiside hole needle led to significantly increased expression of type I interferon-associated genes and ‘inflammatory’ dendritic cell gene signatures relative to end-hole STING agonist delivery. A multidomain peptide-based hydrogel embedded with a STING agonist led to substantial improvements in intratumoral deposition; however, the hydrogel was noted to generate a strong immune response against itself within the target tumor. …”
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The Long-Term Immunity of a Microneedle Array Patch of a SARS-CoV-2 S1 Protein Subunit Vaccine Irradiated by Gamma Rays in Mice by Eun Kim, Muhammad S. Khan, Juyeop Shin, Shaohua Huang, Alessandro Ferrari, Donghoon Han, Eunjin An, Thomas W. Kenniston, Irene Cassaniti, Fausto Baldanti, Dohyeon Jeong, Andrea Gambotto

“…This study evaluates the immunogenicity, stability, and scalability of a dissolved microneedle array patch (MAP) delivering the rS1RS09 subunit vaccine, comprising the SARS-CoV-2 S1 monomer and RS09, a TLR-4 agonist peptide. Methods: The rS1RS09 vaccine was administered via MAP or intramuscular injection in murine models. …”
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Deep eutectic solvent enhances antibacterial activity of a modular lytic enzyme against Acinetobacter baumannii by Aleksandra Maria Kocot, Tomasz Swebocki, Karolina Ciemińska, Adrianna Łupkowska, Małgorzata Kapusta, Dennis Grimon, Ewa Laskowska, Anna-Karina Kaczorowska, Tadeusz Kaczorowski, Rabah Boukherroub, Yves Briers, Magdalena Plotka

“…The bioinformatic analysis allowed us to determine the spatial architecture of MLE-15, whose components were bactericidal peptide cecropin A connected via a flexible linker to the cell wall binding domain (CBD) of mesophilic 201ϕ2 − 1 endolysin and catalytic domain (EAD) of highly thermostable Ph2119 endolysin. …”
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Stable Gastric Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 as Therapy After Surgical Detachment of the Quadriceps Muscle from Its Attachments for Muscle-to-Bone Reattachment in Rats by Danijel Matek, Irena Matek, Eva Staresinic, Mladen Japjec, Ivan Bojanic, Alenka Boban Blagaic, Lidija Beketic Oreskovic, Ivana Oreskovic, Tihomil Ziger, Tomislav Novinscak, Ivan Krezic, Sanja Strbe, Martin Drinkovic, Filip Brkic, Jelena Popic, Anita Skrtic, Sven Seiwerth, Mario Staresinic, Predrag Sikiric, Ivica Brizic

“…Background: This is a novel rat study using native peptide therapy, focused on reversing quadriceps muscle-to-bone detachment to reattachment and stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 per-oral therapy for shared muscle healing and function restoration. …”
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Phenotypic Trajectories From Acute to Stable Phase in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: Insights From the PURSUIT‐HFpEF Study by Yuki Matsuoka, Yohei Sotomi, Daisaku Nakatani, Katsuki Okada, Akihiro Sunaga, Hirota Kida, Taiki Sato, Daisuke Sakamoto, Tetsuhisa Kitamura, Sho Komukai, Masahiro Seo, Masamichi Yano, Takaharu Hayashi, Akito Nakagawa, Yusuke Nakagawa, Shunsuke Tamaki, Yoshio Yasumura, Takahisa Yamada, Shungo Hikoso, Yasushi Sakata

“…All patients were subclassified into 5 phenogroups as follows: Phenotype 1, characterized by better renal function and lower NT‐proBNP (N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide) level [N=325 (29.5%)]; Phenotype 2, higher blood pressure, sinus rhythm, and poor renal function. …”
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Soluble ST2 protein as a new biomarker in patientswith precapillary pulmonary hypertension by Marta Banaszkiewicz, Arkadiusz Pietrasik, Szymon Darocha, Michał Piłka, Michał Florczyk, Anna Dobosiewicz, Piotr Kędzierski, Ewa Pędzich-Placha, Janusz Kochman, Grzegorz Opolski, Adam Torbicki, Marcin Kurzyna

“…All patients were evaluated for World Health Organization (WHO) functional class (FC), N-terminal prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), troponin T (TnT), and hemodynamics. …”
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Advanced Machine Learning to Predict Coronary Artery Disease Severity in Patients with Premature Myocardial Infarction by Yu-Hang Wang, Chang-Ping Li, Jing-Xian Wang, Zhuang Cui, Yu Zhou, An-Ran Jing, Miao-Miao Liang, Yin Liu, Jing Gao

“…Results: Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), angina, apolipoprotein B (ApoB), total bile acid (TBA), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), D-dimer, and fibrinogen (Fg) were associated with the severity of lesions. …”
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Shorter Digestion Times of Donor Islets Is Associated With Better Islet Graft Function After Islet Transplantation by Chia-Hao Wang, Christopher Orr, Jeannette Hacker-Stratton, Mohamed El-Shahawy, Keiko Omori, Meirigeng Qi, Fouad Kandeel

“…The PIR and GFI at 3 months were calculated using patients’ baseline insulin intake, posttransplant 2-h postprandial blood glucose, and glucagon-stimulated C-peptide. Thirteen transplants that resulted in progressive decline in patients’ weekly averaged insulin intake over the initial weeks after transplant (assuming constant glucose level) with available 3-month PIR and GFI data were chosen for the investigation. …”
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