Abstract Background As a progressive cerebrovascular disease, Moyamoya Disease (MMD) is a common cause of stroke in children and adults. However, the early biomarkers and pathogenesis of MMD remain poorly understood. Methods and material This study was conducted using plasma exosome samples from MMD patients. Next-generation high-throughput sequencing, real-time quantitative PCR, gene ontology analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis of ideal exosomal miRNAs that could be used as potential biomarkers of MMD were performed. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of biomarkers for predicting events. Results Exosomes were successfully isolated and miRNA-sequence analysis yielded 1,002 differentially expressed miRNAs. Functional analysis revealed that they were mainly enriched in axon guidance, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and the MAPK signaling pathway. Furthermore, 10 miRNAs (miR-1306-5p, miR-196b-5p, miR-19a-3p, miR-22-3p, miR-320b, miR-34a-5p, miR-485-3p, miR-489-3p, miR-501-3p, and miR-487-3p) were found to be associated with the most sensitive and specific pathways for MMD prediction. Conclusions Several plasma secretory miRNAs closely related to the development of MMD have been identified, which can be used as biomarkers of MMD and contribute to differentiating MMD from non-MMD patients before digital subtraction angiography.

ABSTRACT Background: Different from the traditional right ventricular pacing, the left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) is accomplished with deeper lead implantation and more attempts. However, myocardial damage is unclear in LBBAP. Objective: The objective of the study was to observe the change of troponin T and explore possible factors associated with greater myocardial damage in LBBAP. Methods: Patients with an indication for pacemaker implantation underwent attempts for LBBAP by transventricular septal method. Levels of troponin T were determined before operation, 12 h and 1 week after the operation. Parameters of intraoperation and follow-up were recorded and analyzed. Results: In total, successful LBBAP was achieved in 126 patients. The levels of troponin T increased significantly at 12 h after the operation compared with those before operation (96.45 ± 11.07 [69.06] vs. 16.59 ± 1.84 [11.92] ng/L, p < 0.001), while there were no significant differences between pre- and post-operative levels at 1 week. Correlation and regression analysis showed that only the number of attempts was an independent factor related to the change of troponin T. During 1 year of follow-up, LBBAP was safe and feasible with few complications. Conclusions: Myocardial damage of LBBAP was clinically significant. The number of attempts was an independent factor related to the myocardial damage.

In this work, alginate-whey protein was used as wall materials for encapsulating Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus). The characteristics of encapsulated and free L. bulgaricus showed that the free L. bulgaricus lost viability after 1 min exposure to simulated gastric fluid (SGF) at pH 2.0 and 2.5. However, the viability of encapsulated L. bulgaricus did not decrease in SGF at pH 2.5 for 2 h incubation. The viable numbers of encapsulated L. bulgaricus decreased less than 1.0 log unit for 2 h incubation in SGF at pH 2.0. For bile stability, only 1.2 log units and 2.0 log units viability of the encapsulated L. bulgaricus was lost in 1 and 2% bile for 1 h exposure, respectively, compared with no survival of free L. bulgaricus under the same conditions. Encapsulated L. bulgaricus was completely released from the microspheres in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF, pH 6.8) in 3 h. The viability of the encapsulated L. bulgaricus retained more 8.0 log CFU/g after stored at 4°C for four weeks. However, for free L. bulgaricus, only around 3.0 log CFU/mL was found at the same storage conditions. Results showed that the encapsulation could improve the stability of L. bulgaricus.