Background: the epidemiological characteristics of older patients with COVID-19 was far from clear. Objective: to explore the epidemiology of older patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Design: a retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting: a population-based study. Subjects: the resident older patients (>65 years) diagnosed with COVID-19. Methods: city-wide case series reported to Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 12 December 2019 to 17 March 2020 were included. The epidemic curves were constructed by dates of disease onset. Results: 14,238 confirmed COVID-19 cases were older persons. The number of male cases were slightly less than female cases (1:1.01). The attack rate of COVID-19 in the older persons was 11.49‰ in Wuhan. There was a rapid increase of disease at the early stage of the epidemic and then a gradual and steady decrease was performed. 3,723 (26.15%) and 734 (5.16%) patients were diagnosed as severe and critical cases, respectively. The attributable crude fatality ratio of COVID-19 in the older population was 222.57/100,000, and the crude fatality ratio of COVID was 19.37%. The proportion of severe and critical cases, and fatality ratio were both higher in downtown area and increased with age. Conclusions: the older persons are sensitive to COVID-19. The proportion of severe and critical cases and fatality ratio are higher than that in children and younger adults. Strengthen the protection and control strategies for the older adults are of priorities. More detailed epidemiological and clinical information should be measured in further studies.

Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Transcription factors (TFs) are essential gene expression regulators, and play critical roles in cancer development. However, the biological actions and prognostic value of TFs in GC remain unclear. In this study, we identified a risk model based on a 14-TF signature to predict recurrence-free survival in patients with GC. We further analyzed the ability of 14-TF to predict recurrence-free survival time in GC and found that a higher expression level of metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) was associated with shorter overall survival and disease-free survival time in GC. Through in vitro and in vivo experiments, we demonstrated that MTA2 significantly promotes GC growth and metastasis. Furthermore, we identified MTA2 binding to the promoter of minichromosome maintenance deficient 5 (MCM5), thereby promoting GC progression. Overall, these findings strongly support the prognostic potential of the 14-TFs signature and suggest that targeting MTA2 may be a promising strategy to treat GC.

Our previous study has reported that metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) plays essential roles in tumorigenesis and aggressiveness of gastric cancer (GC). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of MTA2-mediated GC and its upstream regulation mechanism remain elusive. In this study, we identified a novel circular RNA (circRNA) generated from the MTA2 gene (circMTA2) as a crucial regulator in GC progression. CircMTA2 was highly expressed in GC tissues and cell lines, and circMTA2 promoted the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of GC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circMTA2 interacted with ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L3 (UCHL3) to restrain MTA2 ubiquitination and stabilize MTA2 protein expression, thereby facilitating tumor progression. Moreover, circMTA2 was mainly encapsulated and transported by exosomes to promote GC cell progression. Taken together, these findings uncover that circMTA2 suppresses MTA2 degradation by interacting with UCHL3, thereby promoting GC progression. In conclusion, we identified a cancer-promoting axis (circMTA2/UCHL3/MTA2) in GC progression, which paves the way for us to design and synthesize targeted inhibitors as well as combination therapies.

Aim: This study aimed to establish robust epidemiological evidence on the association between various dimensions of health-related physical fitness (HRPF) and hypertension among older adults. Methods: We conducted a large-scale, 7-year cohort study. The baseline survey was conducted in 2015 among participants aged 65 or above from Wuhan, China. Follow-up assessments were integrated into an annual physical examination program for elderly residents in Wuhan, with outcome data collected in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively. The association between HRPF and hypertension was evaluated using chi-square tests and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Results: Hypertension status was tracked in 695 participants, with an incidence rate of 36.4%. Individuals who developed hypertension showed significantly poorer performance in the chair sit-and-reach (2.60 ± 0.89 VS 2.8 ± 1.13, P = 0.028) and the 30 s arm curl (2.13 ± 1.16 VS 2.26 ± 0.93, P = 0.024), but better performance in back scratch (3.53 ± 1.05 VS 3.74, P = 0.009). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that better performance in the 30-second chair stand test (β:-0.155, HR:0.86, 95%CI: 0.74–0.99, P < 0.05) and back scratch test (β:-0.140, HR:0.87, 95%CI: 0.77–0.97, P < 0.05) was associated with a reduced risk of hypertension, indicating that both are protective factors against the development of hypertension. Conclusions: Better lower-body muscle strength and upper-body body flexibility appear to be associated with a lower risk of hypertension. Exercise programs targeting these dimensions are recommended to reduce the incidence of hypertension among older adult.

Background: To investigate the predictive value of the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), white blood cell-lymphocyte ratio (WLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in grading the malignant potential of the gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST).Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 843 GIST patients who underwent surgery during hospitalisation from June 2016 to July 2020 and 374 unrelated healthy controls. Demographic data were collected for each participant, including age, gender, body mass index, laboratory test results, and pathological results. We compared the NLR, WLR, MLR, and PLR between GIST and healthy individuals, as well as among patients with different risk grades of GIST.Results: NLR, WLR, MLR, and PLR values of patients with GIST were significantly increased compared with those of the control group (P<0.05). These values also showed statistically significant differences among the four risk degree groups. The NLR, WLR, MLR, and PLR values of the high-risk group were significantly higher than those of the very low-risk group, low-risk group, and intermediate-risk group (p<0.001). The NLR, WLR, MLR, and PLR showed a high predictive value in the high-risk group, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.802, 0.824, 0.866, and 0.814, and a cut-off value of 2.059, 3.347, 0.221, and 141.4, respectively.Conclusion: Preoperative NLR, WLR, MLR, and PLR have a high predictive value for grading the malignant potential of GIST, especially in the high-risk group. These values provide a convenient and inexpensive way to determine preoperative chemotherapy and surgical strategies.

Background: The early spatiotemporal transmission of COVID-19 remains unclear. The community to healthcare agencies and back to community (CHC) model was tested in our study to simulate the early phase of COVID-19 transmission in Wuhan, China.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study. COVID-19 case series reported to the Municipal Notifiable Disease Report System of Wuhan from December 2019 to March 2020 from 17 communities were collected. Cases from healthcare workers (HW) and from community members (CM) were distinguished by documented occupations. Overall spatial and temporal relationships between HW and CM COVID-19 cases were visualised. The CHC model was then simulated. The turning point separating phase 1 and phase 2 was determined using a quadratic model. For phases 1 and 2, linear regression was used to quantify the relationship between HW and CM COVID-19 cases.Results: The spatial and temporal distributions of COVID-19 cases between HWs and CMs were closely correlated. The turning point was 36.85±18.37 (range 15–70). The linear model fitted well for phase 1 (mean R²=0.98) and phase 2 (mean R²=0.93). In phase 1, the estimated α ^ s were positive (from 18.03 to 94.99), with smaller β ^ s (from 2.98 to 15.14); in phase 2, the estimated α ^ s were negative (from −4.22 to −81.87), with larger β ^ s (from 5.37 to 78.12).Conclusion: Transmission of COVID-19 from the community to healthcare agencies and back to the community was confirmed in Wuhan. Prevention and control measures for COVID-19 in hospitals and among HWs are crucial and warrant further attention.