Background: Health literacy is an increasingly important public health concern. However, little is known about the health literacy of general public in China. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of low health literacy and demographic associations in Shanghai, China. Methods: This study was a community-based cross-sectional health survey utilizing a multi-stage random sampling design. The sample consisted of 1360 individuals aged 15–69 years with the total community-dwelling Chinese as the sample frame. Health literacy was measured by a questionnaire developed on the basis of a national health literacy manual released by the Chinese Ministry of Health. Multiple logistic regression models were used to identify whether common socio-demographic features were associated with health literacy level. Results: The prevalence of low health literacy was 84.49% (95% CI, 82.56% to 86.41%). The prevalence of low health literacy was negatively associated with the level of education, occupation, and annual household income, but was not associated with gender, age, or the presence of non-communicable chronic disease. Conclusions: Simplifying health services, enhancing health education, and promoting interventions to improve health literacy in high-risk populations should be considered as part of the strategies in the making of health policy in China.

More effective vaccine candidates against variants of concern as a booster dose are needed in people primed with two-dose inactivated COVID-19 vaccines. This randomised, double-blinded, investigator-initiated phase 2 trial aims to evaluate immunogenicity, durability, and safety of an mRNA vaccine candidate (RQ3013) and three other platform vaccines (an adenovirus-vectored vaccine candidate [ChAdTS-S], a recombinant protein vaccine candidate [ZR202-CoV], and an inactivated vaccine [CoronaVac]) as a booster. 250 eligible volunteers, who had received a prime two-dose CoronaVac (3 to 5 weeks apart) vaccination 100-270 days before, were randomly assigned in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio to receive a third dose of RQ3013 (30 μg mRNA per 0.15 mL), ChAdTS-S (5×10¹⁰ viral particles per 0.5 mL), ZR202-CoV (25 μg prefusion-stabilized Spike ectodomain trimer per 0.5 mL), CoronaVac (3 μg inactivated CN02 strain of SARS-CoV-2 per 0.5 mL) or placebo (0.5 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride solution) via intramuscular injection into the upper arm at a single clinical site in Kunming, China. Participants, investigators, and immunogenicity laboratory were masked to group assignment. The primary immunogenicity outcomes were geometric mean titres (GMTs) of neutralising antibodies against live SARS-CoV-2 (wild-type, delta and omicron) virus at day 0 (before vaccination), day 7, day 14 and day 28 after vaccination, as analysed in a modified intention-to-treat (mITT) population (all participants who completed their booster doses and had at least one post-dose immunogenicity data). Secondary outcomes include T cell responses against the wild-type and omicron SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. The primary safety outcome was incidence of adverse events within 14 days after the booster vaccination. This trial is registered with ChiCTR.org.cn, ChiCTR2200057758. Between January 1, 2022, and February 28, 2022, 235 eligible participants were enrolled and vaccinated, and the primary analysis included 234 participants. At baseline, neutralising antibodies against wild-type virus, the delta, or omicron variants were low or undetectable in all groups. After the booster vaccination, GMTs of neutralising antibodies ranged from 75.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 61.4-92.5) in CoronaVac to 950.1 (95% CI 785.4-1149.3) in RQ3013 against live wild-type SARS-CoV-2, and from 8.1 (95% CI: 6.1-10.7) in CoronaVac to 247.0 (95% CI 194.1-314.3) in RQ3013 against the omicron variant at day 14. Immunogenicities of all heterologous regimens were superior to that of homologous regimen in neutralisation against all tested SARS-CoV-2 strains, with RQ3013 showing the highest geometric mean ratios (GMRs) of 12.6, 14.7, and 31.3 against the wild-type, the delta variant and the omicron variant compared to CoronaVac at day 14 post-vaccination, respectively. Durability analysis at day 90 showed that >90% of participants in RQ3013 and ZR202-CoV were seropositive for the omicron variant while ZR202-CoV with adjuvants containing CpG showed a slightly better durability than RQ3013. T cell responses specific to the omicron variant were similar to that of the wild-type, with RQ3013 showing the highest boosting effect. Any solicited injection site or systemic adverse events reported within 14 days after vaccination were most commonly observed in RQ3013 (47/47, 100%), followed by ZR202-CoV (46/47, 97.9%) and ChAdTS-S (43/48, 89.6%), and then CoronaVac (37/46, 80.4%) and placebo (21/47, 44.7%). More than 90% of the adverse events were grade 1 (mild) or 2 (moderate) with a typical resolution time of 3 days. No grade 4 adverse events or serious adverse events were reported by study vaccines. Although all study vaccines boosted neutralising antibodies with no safety concerns, RQ3013 showed much stronger cross-neutralisation and cellular responses, adding more effective vaccine candidates against the omicron variant. Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department China (202102AA100051 and 202003AC100010), the Double First-class University funding to Yunnan University, National Natural Science Foundation of China (81960116, 82060368 and 82170711), Yunnan Natural Science Foundation (202001AT070085), High-level Health Technical Personnel Project of Yunnan Province (H-2018102) and Spring City Plan: The High-level Talent Promotion and Training Project of Kunming.

The present study aimed to investigate the mechanism underlying the effects of minocycline on diabetic retinopathy‑associated cellular apoptosis. A total of 40 Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were used as a diabetic retinopathy model following injection with streptozotocin. Among the 34 rats in which the diabetes model was successfully established, 24 rats were divided into two experimental groups: I and II (T1 and T2, respectively), and orally administered with various doses of minocycline. The remaining 10 rats served as the diabetic retinopathy control group. An additional group of 10 healthy SD rats with comparable weight served as normal controls. The rats in T1 and T2 groups were treated daily for eight consecutive weeks with minocycline at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg, respectively. The mRNA expression levels of poly (ADP‑ribose) polymerase‑1 (PARP‑1) were subsequently measured by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and the protein expression levels of poly‑ADP‑ribose were measured by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Retinal morphology was observed following hematoxylin and eosin staining, and retinal cell apoptosis was measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling and caspase‑3 activity assays. The amplitudes of the electroretinogram (ERG) b‑wave and oscillary potentials (OPs) were measured using visual electrophysiology, and compared among the four groups. The results of the present study demonstrated that in the diabetic rats, retinal PARP‑1 gene expression was markedly upregulated, the number of apoptotic cells and the activity levels of caspase‑3 were increased, and the amplitude of the ERG b‑wave and the OPs were markedly lower as compared with the normal rats. Following treatment with minocycline, the abnormal expression of PARP‑1 in the retina was inhibited, and cellular apoptosis was decreased. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that PARP‑1 is involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy, and minocycline is able to inhibit PARP‑1 expression and decrease cellular apoptosis, suggesting that minocycline may prove to be a promising drug for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy.