Enhancing Oral Mucosal Barrier, Mitigating Microinflammation, and Addressing Malnutrition in Dialysis Patients: The Impact of Tangerine Peel Lemon Glycerin.

Objective: This study investigates the efficacy of tangerine peel lemon glycerin extract oral spray in improving oral mucosal barrier, reducing microinflammation, and addressing malnutrition in maintenance dialysis (MHD) patients. Methods: Tangerine peel and dry lemon underwent glycerin extraction. From January 2021 to June 2022, 72 MHD patients with thirst were prospectively chosen at Sinopharm Gezhouba Central Hospital. Randomization divided them into an observation group (n=36) and a control group (n=36). Both received routine maintenance dialysis and chronic kidney disease management. Oral conditions were assessed using OHIP-14, a homemade visual thirst score scale, SFR, sAA, and saliva pH. Microinflammatory indexes (CRP, TNF-α, IL-6) and nutritional status indicators (Alb, PA, Hb) were measured. The observation group used 1ml of tangerine peel lemon glycerin extract with a pH value of 5.9~6.1 q6h, while the control group used 1ml of purified water q6h. Results: After 3 months, the observation group showed significant improvement in OHIP-14 and visual thirst score scale (P < .01). Saliva pH, CRP, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels decreased, and SAA activity, SFR, Alb, PA, and Hb levels increased significantly in the observation group compared to the control group (P < .01). Conclusions: Tangerine peel lemon glycerin spray demonstrates promise in improving the oral mucosal barrier, exhibiting antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that mitigate microinflammation and malnutrition. This finding suggests a connection between oral health, systemic pathology, psychological state, and social adaptability.

Mn(II) Promoted Divergent-Convergent Domino Reaction Giving Dinuclear Tetrasubstituted Pyrrole Complex.

Domino reaction of benzo[d]thiazole-2-methylamine (S1) has been developed in the presence of MnCl2 ⋅ 4H2O, leading to tetrasubstituted pyrrole coordinated dinuclear Mn(II) complex 1 ([MnClP]2, P-=2,3,4,5-tetrakis(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)pyrrol-1-ide). The reaction process has been studied by assigning a series of intermediates based on time-dependent mass spectrometry, control experiments, crystallography, and density functional theory (DFT) theoretical calculation. A plausible mechanism involving an unprecedented divergent-convergent domino sequence has been proposed. Compound S1 could be activated by MnCl2 ⋅ 4H2O via coordination, which divergently produces two intermediates imine II (1-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-N-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-ylmethyl)methanimine) and alkene C (1,2-bis(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)ethene) through oxidative self-condensation and free radical coupling followed by elimination, respectively. They could then react with each other convergently via formal [3+2] cycloaddition to give deprotonated tetrasubstituted pyrrole coordinated intermediate [MnClP] after aromatization. Dimerization of [MnClP] produces the final product 1. Three C-C bonds and one C-N bond are formed through this six-step domino sequence. The corresponding organic skeleton (HP: 2,2',2'',2'''-(1H-pyrrole-2,3,4,5-tetrayl)tetrakis(benzo[d]thiazole)) has been obtained from 1 and shows a higher fluorescent quantum yield (52 %) than the reported 3,4-diphenyl substituted analogue 2,2'-(3,4-diphenyl-1H-pyrrole-2,5-diyl)bis(benzo[d]thiazole) (DPB) (42 %).

Clinical characteristics of catheter-related infection in patients with chronic renal failure End Stage Renal failure undergoing semi-permanent catheter placement during maintenance hemodialysis through tunnelled cuffed hemodialysis catheter.

Objective: To analysis the relevant infections and risk factors of patients undergoing hemodialysis semi-permanent catheter (tunneled cuffed) placement during for maintenance hemodialysis. Methods: A total of 158 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) End stage renal failure (ESRF) treated in our hospital from September 2018 to September 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. All the patients underwent semi-permanent catheter placement during maintenance hemodialysis. The occurrence of catheter-related infections in the patients were recorded. The patients with catheter-related infections were included in the infection group, and the others without infection in the non-infection group. The differences in hypertension, gender, diabetes, age, catheter indwelling time and dialysis time between the two groups were analyzed, and the distribution of pathogens in the patients with infections was analyzed. Results: The patients were followed up for 13 to 36 months, with an average of (22.18 ± 6.09) months. Among the 158 patients who underwent going semi-permanent catheter placement, 42 (26.58%) presented semi-permanent catheter-related infections, including four cases of catheter-related bacteremia, 16 cases of tunnel infection and 22 cases of catheter exit-site infection. Among total of 42 strains of pathogens were isolated from the 42 patients with catheter-related infections, including 243 strains of Gram-positive cocci were identified in 24/42(57.14%), and 163 strains of Gram-negative bacilli were identified 16/42(38.10%) and one starin of fungus was identified in 2/42 patients. Statistically significant differences were found in dialysis duration time, hypoalbuminemia, average mean age, diabetes and catheter indwelling time between patients with and without catheter-related infections (P < 0.05). Hypoalbuminemia, catheter indwelling time and diabetes were risk factors for catheter-related infections (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Patients with ESRF CRF are at risk and prone to catheter-related infections during hemodialysis using catheter, mainly tunnel infection and catheter exit-site infection. Gram-positive cocci are the main pathogens. Hypoalbuminemia, too long catheter indwelling time and diabetes are the risk factors for infections.

Social media exposure during COVID-19 lockdowns could lead to emotional overeating via anxiety: The moderating role of neuroticism.

China was a major hotspot during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several studies have reported changes in residents' eating behaviors and appetite during city wide lockdowns and home confinements. However, few have investigated how neuroticism interacts with the impact of COVID-19 to influence eating behaviors during city lockdowns. Thus, the current study aims to establish a pathway model to understand social media exposure, negative affect, neuroticism, and their interaction with eating behaviors during the COVID-19 lockdowns. We present data from 1,128 participants (Mage = 24.34 ± 10.48 years) who completed an online survey between February 17 and 27, 2020. The extent of respondents' social media exposure, negative affect, eating behaviors, and desire for high-calorie food during city lockdowns, as well as the personality trait of neuroticism, were measured. Results show that city lockdowns and home confinements had a negative impact on residents' eating behaviors and appetite. Forty-eight percent of respondents showed moderate to constant emotional overeating, and respondents' desire for high-calorie food significantly increased. Correlation analysis showed that emotional overeating is positively associated with social media exposure, neuroticism, and anxiety. Then, a moderated mediation model was established, showing that heavy social media exposure could lead to emotional overeating through anxiety, and the association between social media exposure and anxiety varies depending on the extent of neuroticism. The current study provides novel insight into how the interaction of a personality trait and the stressful situation of COVID-19 influence people's negative emotions and eating behaviors.

The Ratio of NT-proBNP to CysC1.53 Predicts Heart Failure in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: The N-terminal pro B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is important for prognosis of heart failure in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the NT-proBNP level is easily affected by renal insufficiency, which limits its clinical use. Methods: This study included 396 patients with CKD. Plasma levels of NT-proBNP and cystatin C (CysC) were measured during hospitalization. The echocardiographic parameters were also detected. Patients were divided into the heart failure group and control group according to the European Society of Cardiology Guideline on Chronic Heart Failure 2021. Multiple modeling analysis of the values of NT-proBNP and CysC, including NT-proBNP/Cyscn and NT-proBNP/nCysC was performed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, combined with the cardiac function, was used to determine the formula with the best diagnostic efficiency. Then, the sensitivity and specificity of new predictors for cardiac insufficiency in CKD patients were calculated. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between new predictors and the NT-proBNP level. The clinical data of CKD patients from another local hospital were used to validate the new predictors and the cut-off values. Results: An elevated NT-proBNP/CysC1.53 ratio was an independent risk factor for cardiac dysfunction in CKD and the best predictor derived from multiple modeling analysis. There was no correlation between the NT-proBNP/CysC1.53 ratio and the NT-proBNP level (r = 0.376, p = 6.909). The area under the ROC curve for the NT-proBNP/CysC1.53 ratio was 0.815 (95% confidence interval: 0.772-0.858), and for a cut-off point of 847.964, this ratio had a sensitivity of 78.24%, and a specificity of 69.44%. When applied to the data of CKD patients from another local hospital, the NT-proBNP to CysC1.53 ratio had a sensitivity of 70.27% and a specificity of 67.74%. Conclusion: The NT-proBNP to CysC1.53 ratio was superior to NT-proBNP alone for predicting cardiac dysfunction in patients with CKD.

Fructose vs glucose decreased liking/wanting and subsequent intake of high-energy foods in young women.

Recent research on the health impacts of added sugar has prompted the comparison of the effects of its 2 major components: glucose and fructose. Fructose was identified as a risk factor for obesity and metabolic syndrome. However, because of the differences in metabolic responses and responsivity of reward circuitry to palatable food, it is unknown if glucose and fructose induce similar appetite-related responses in humans with varying weights. This study compared the behavioral responses to food in young women of a healthy weight (n = 31) and with excess weight (n = 28). We hypothesized that (1) the inhibitory effect of glucose (vs fructose) on food-related responses would be greater in subjects of a healthy weight than in those with overweight/obesity and (2) subjects with overweight/obesity would exhibit a stronger preference for food than subjects with a healthy weight. After an overnight fast, the subjects ingested a glucose or equienergetic fructose beverage on 2 separate days, respectively. Then, they completed liking and wanting ratings and 2 decision-making tasks followed by ad libitum food intake. The results revealed that fructose reduced both liking and wanting for food in subjects with overweight/obesity and also decreased energy intake in all subjects. Relative to the healthy-weight group, subjects with overweight/obesity preferred the immediate reward. Moreover, only in the healthy-weight group were liking and wanting scores for food positively associated with actual food consumption. Overall, fructose (vs glucose) showed an acute inhibitory effect on appetite-related responses in subjects with excess weight.

A biopsychosocial-cultural model for understanding oral-health-related quality of life among adolescent orthodontic patients.

BACKGROUND: Based on previous theoretical oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) models and most recently framework, as well as sociocultural model of body image dissatisfaction, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of individual (dental aesthetics and dental appearance social comparison) and sociocultural factors (social reinforcement from parents, peers and mass media on dental aesthetics) as well as their interaction on psychosocial dimension of OHRQoL among adolescent orthodontic patients. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study comprising 427 adolescent orthodontic patients (151 boys and 276 girls) aged between 11 and 16 years old, the psychosocial dimension of OHRQoL was measured by Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire. Individual predictor of dental aesthetics was defined by the Aesthetic Component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need, and dental appearance social comparison was assessed by four items adapted from Physical Appearance Comparison Scale. Sociocultural predictor of social reinforcement was measured by six items adapted from Perceived Sociocultural Pressure Scale. Spearman correlations, path analyses, and structural equation modeling were used to build up several predictive models. RESULTS: As hypothesized, two direct pathways were observed that patients' dental aesthetics and all three sources of social reinforcement directly predicted the psychosocial dimension of OHRQoL. Meanwhile, we observed one indirect pathway, that three sources of social reinforcement predicted the psychosocial dimension of OHRQoL, in part, through dental appearance social comparison. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence indicating that dental aesthetics, social reinforcement and dental appearance comparison are reliable predictors of psychosocial dimension of OHRQoL among adolescent orthodontic patients.

Food cue recruits increased reward processing and decreased inhibitory control processing in the obese/overweight: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

INTRODUCTION: Growing researches have shown that obese/overweight and healthy weight individuals exhibit different neural responses to food-related stimuli. Accordingly, researchers proposed several theories to explain these differences. Hereon, meta-analyses were conducted using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) to verify these theories and specify the reason of overeating from two aspects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pubmed, Web of Science and Neurosynth were searched for the current study and screened according to inclusion criteria. Firstly, neural responses to visual food cues versus non-food images were compared between obese/overweight and healthy weight individuals. Then, neural activation to high-calorie food images versus low-calorie food/non-food visual stimuli was further investigated among the two populations. Coordinates in included studies were recorded and analysed by Ginger ALE software under threshold at uncorrected p < 0.001 with cluster-level p < 0.05 (cFWE). RESULTS: Eleven and seven studies were found in the first and second set of meta-analysis, respectively. The first meta-analysis showed that obese/overweight have hyper-responsivity in reward area and hypo-responsivity in both gustatory processing and inhibitory control area. The second meta-analysis indicated that the reward responsivity in the obese/overweight individuals was amplified and healthy weight individuals had higher activation in areas associated with gustatory processing in response to high-calorie food images. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that the obese/overweight exhibit hyper-responsivity in brain regions involved in reward processing for visual food cue which provide strong support for incentive-sensitization theory of obesity and healthy weight individuals showed higher response in inhibitory control region which support the inhibitory control deficit theory of obesity.

Histamine H4 receptor gene polymorphisms: a potential predictor of oral H1 antihistamine efficacy for allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND: Our study aimed to investigate the associations between Histamine H4 receptor (HRH4) gene polymorphisms (rs77485247, rs74604924, and rs77041280) and oral H1 antihistamine efficacy for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) patients. METHODS: A total of 142 AR patients were selected as a case group and 160 healthy individuals were recruited as a control group. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the HRH4 gene were detected using direct sequencing. Serum immunoglobulin E (IgE), specific IgE, and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Clinical efficacy was evaluated by the visual analogue scale (VAS). The occurrence of adverse reaction was recorded. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the distribution frequencies of mutant genotype (TA + AA) and A allele of rs77485247, mutant genotype (AT + TT) and T allele of rs74604924, and mutant genotype (AT + TT) and T allele of rs77041280 between the case and control groups. AR patients with mutant genotype (TA + AA) of rs77485247 and AR patients with mutant genotype (AT + TT) of rs77041280 had higher specific IgE, ECP levels, and VAS scores after treatment and lower incidence of adverse reactions and total effective rate than those with TT genotype and those with AA genotype, respectively. However, for rs74604924, there were no differences was found between AR patients with mutant genotype (AT + TT) and those with AA genotype. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide evidence that HRH4 rs77485247 and rs77041280 polymorphisms may be associated with the risk of AR and the efficacy of H1 antihistamines for the treatment of AR patients.

Impact of different surgical and postoperative adjuvant treatment modalities on survival of sinonasal malignant melanoma.

BACKGROUND: The role of postoperative adjuvant treatment for sinonasal malignant melanoma remains unclear. This study evaluates the impact of three different surgical and postoperative adjuvant treatment modalities: surgery alone(open and endoscopic approaches), surgery plus radiotherapy and surgery, radiotherapy plus chemotherapy on survival of patients with primary sinonasal malignant melanoma (SMM). METHODS: The data of 69 patients who underwent primary surgical treatments at Eye & ENT hospital of Fudan University between January 1st, 2000 and December 31st, 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Survival comparison of different surgical and postoperative adjuvant treatment modalities (surgery alone, surgery plus radiotherapy and surgery, radiotherapy plus chemotherapy), as well as survival comparison between open and endoscopic surgical approaches were performed. Curves depicting survival were performed using Kaplan-Meier method. Statistical analysis was performed using log-rank test software SPSS19 and p < .05 is considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The median overall survival time was found to be 18 months for surgery alone (27 cases), 32 months for surgery plus radiotherapy (24 cases), 42 months for surgery, radiotherapy plus chemotherapy (18 cases). The 3 and 5 year survival rates for groups mentioned above were 14.8% and 5.6%, 45.1% and 31.6%, 55% and 32.1%, respectively. Statistical significances were found not only between surgery alone and surgery plus radiotherapy treatment group (P = 0.012), but also surgery alone and surgery, radiotherapy plus chemotherapy group (P = 0.002). There was no statistically significant survival difference found between the two different surgical approaches (41 cases for open approach and 28 cases for endoscopic approach). CONCLUSIONS: Sinonasal malignant melanoma is a disease with a poor prognosis. Patients who underwent surgery plus radiotherapy or surgery, radiotherapy plus chemotherapy had better survival outcomes than those underwent surgery alone. Endoscopic approach provided similar survival outcome as an open approach.

A feasibility study for determining ablative margin with 3D-CEUS-CT/MR image fusion after radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To explore the feasibility and value of 3D-CEUS-CT/MR image fusion in evaluating ablative margin (AM) after radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: There were 49 HCC in 41 patients enrolled in our prospective study. The AM were evaluated with 3D-CEUS-CT/MR image fusion, the results were divided into two groups: in group A, the tumor was completely ablated with a 5 mm AM; in group B, the tumor was completely ablated, but a 5 mm AM was not obtained. The time used in US-CT/MR image fusion and 3 D image post-processing, the technical success rate of 3D-CEUS-CT/MR image fusion and the relation between LTP and AM were observed. RESULTS: The time taken for US-CT/MR image fusion and 3 D image post-processing was 9.2 ±â€Š2.1 min (6 - 12 min), 14.6 ±â€Š2.6 min (9 - 20 min), respectively. The technical success rate of 3D-CEUS-CT/MR image fusion was 81.6 % (40/49). 27 HCC had sufficient AM (group A) and 13 HCC had insufficient AM (group B). The LTP rates in groups A and B were 0/27 and 4/13, respectively. There was a significant difference between groups A and B (P = 0.002). There was a significant negative correlation between LTP and AM (r = -1.000, P< 0.001), and the locations of LTP and insufficient AM were concordant. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that 3D-CEUS-CT/MR image fusion is feasible and useful in evaluating the AM after HCC ablation.