2024年 · 第104卷第15期

The human brain and its development have unique characteristics. To date, brain organoids can only be derived from pluripotent stem cells, but the translation of these remarkable endogenous brain features into long-term extended 3D in vitro models has not been completed. This study proved that small fragments derived from human fetal brain tissue can be expanded into organoids for a long time under defined culture conditions, which is called fetal brain in vitro self-organizes into organoids (FeBOs), and established a brand-new organoid model for studying brain development to explore the intrinsic characteristics of natural tissues and the endogenous characteristics of cell specialization.

Calcified aortic valve disease (CAVD) is the most common heart valve disease, and its global prevalence is rising rapidly. In 2017, the prevalence rate of people ≥70 years old reached 1.84%. Aortic valve calcification (AVC) leads to increased leaflet stiffness and deposition of calcium salts, which promotes the development of CAVD. However, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of AVC remain unclear.

Different types of beverages may have different health effects depending on the amount of sugar and other ingredients, which has been well documented. However, the relationship between personal beverage consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and mortality in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is unclear. The study prospectively investigated the association between personal beverage consumption before and after diagnosis of T2DM and concomitant CVD risk and mortality in adult patients with T2DM who participated in the American Nurses Health Study, Health Professionals Follow-up Study, while also evaluating the association between replacing one beverage with another and CVD risk and mortality.

The pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by neurofibrillary tangles of amyloid-beta (A β) deposited in the brain parenchyma and blood vessels [such as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)] and hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein (tau). Researchers found that some individuals who had been treated with cadaveric pituitary growth hormone (c-hGH) in childhood and died of iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (iCJD) developed brain A β deposits, and in some archived batches of c-hGH A β and tau were detected, and these hormones can still transmit symptoms to mice. Several autopsy reports on iatrogenic A β transmission caused by c-hGH have also been published one after another, but there is no clinical description of iatrogenic diseases caused by A β transmission in c-hGH recipients.