Needle of longitudinally polarized light using the circular Airy beam.

An optical needle is created using a radially polarized circular Airy beam with a conical angle, stemmed from the auto-focusing property of light beams. The utilization of the angular spectrum representation serves to illustrate the field distributions of the optical needle, and an explicit formula is provided to describe the angular spectrum of the light beam. The findings suggest that the optical needle exhibits a long depth of focus and well uniformity, and the full width at half maximum of the transverse field distribution is approximately 0.38 λ beyond the diffraction limit. The uniformity of the optical needle can be tailored by adjusting the width of the primary ring, the decay parameter, and the conical angle. Additionally, the depth of focus of the optical needle significantly improves as the radius of the primary ring increases while still maintaining well uniformity. It may find applications in high-resolution optical imaging and optical manipulation.

Cellulose acetate-based electrospun nanofiber aerogel with excellent resilience and hydrophobicity for efficient removal of drug residues and oil contaminations from wastewater.

Cellulose acetate (CA)-based electrospun nanofiber aerogel (ENA) has drawn extensive attention for wastewater remediation due to its unique separation, inherent porosity and biodegradability. However, the low mechanical strength, poor durability, and limited adsorption ability hinder its further applications. We herein propose using silane-modified ENA, namely T-CA@Si@ZIF-67 (T-ENA), with enhanced resilience, hydrophobicity, durability and hetero-catalysis to remediate a complex wastewater containing oil and drug residues. The robust T-ENA was fabricated by pre-doping tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and ligand in its spinning precursors, followed by in-situ anchoring of porous ZIF-67 on the electrospun nanofibers (ENFs) via seeding method before freeze-drying and thermal curing (T). Results show that the T-ENA displays enhanced mechanical stability/resilience and hydrophobicity without compromise of its high porosity (>98 %) and low density (10 mg/cm3) due to the silane cross-linking. As a result, the hydrophobic T-ENA shows over 99 % separation efficiency towards different oil-water solutions. Meanwhile, thanks to the enhanced adsorption-catalytic ability and the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) from the porous ZIF-67, fast degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ) residue in the wastewater can be achieved within 20 min. This work might provide a novel strategy for developing CA aerogels to remove organic pollutants.

Precisely constructing hybrid nanogap arrays via wet-transfer of dielectric metasurfaces onto a plasmonic mirror.

We propose a new method for fabricating hybrid metasurfaces by combining Mie and plasmonic resonances. Our approach involves obtaining an ultrasmooth gold film and separately structuring monocrystalline silicon (c-Si) nanoantenna arrays, which are then wet-transferred and finally immobilized onto the gold film. The experimental and simulation analysis reveals the importance of the native oxide layer of Si and demonstrates fascinating dispersion curves with nanogap resonances and bound states in the continuum. The localized field enhancements in the nanogap cavities result from the coupling between multipolar Mie resonances and their mirror images in the gold film. This effective method improves our understanding of hybrid modes and offers opportunities for developing active metasurfaces, such as depositing c-Si nanoantenna arrays onto stretchable polydimethylsiloxane substrates or electro-optic and piezoelectric sensitive lithium niobate films for potential applications in MEMS, LiDAR, and beyond.

Dual Control of Enhanced Quasi-Bound States in the Continuum Emission from Resonant c-Si Metasurfaces.

Optical bound states in the continuum (BICs) offer strong interactions with quantum emitters and have been extensively studied for manipulating spontaneous emission, lasing, and polariton Bose-Einstein condensation. However, the out-coupling efficiency of quasi-BIC emission, crucial for practical light-emitting devices, has received less attention. Here, we report an adaptable approach for enhancing quasi-BIC emission from a resonant monocrystalline silicon (c-Si) metasurface through lattice and multipolar engineering. We identify dual-BICs originating from electric quadrupoles (EQ) and out-of-plane magnetic dipoles, with EQ quasi-BICs exhibiting concentrated near-fields near the c-Si nanodisks. The enhanced fractional radiative local density of states of EQ quasi-BICs overlaps spatially with the emitters, promoting efficient out-coupling. Furthermore, coupling the EQ quasi-BICs with Rayleigh anomalies enhances directional emission intensity, and we observe inherent opposite topological charges in the multipolarly controlled dual-BICs. These findings provide valuable insights for developing efficient nanophotonic devices based on quasi-BICs.

Identification of novel rare copy number variants associated with sporadic tetralogy of Fallot and clinical implications.

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the most common cyanotic congenital heart disease. Highly penetrant copy number variants (CNVs) and genes related to the etiology of TOF likely exist with differences among populations. We aimed to identify CNV contributions to sporadic TOF cases in Han Chinese. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood in 605 subjects (303 sporadic TOF and 302 unaffected Han Chinese [Control] from cardiac centers in China) and analyzed by genome-wide association study (GWAS). The GWAS results were compared with existing Database of Genetic Variants. These CNVs were further validated by qPCR. Bioinformatics analyses were performed with protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and KEGG pathway enrichment. Across all chromosomes 119 novel "TOF-specific CNVs" were identified with prevalence of CNVs of 21.5% in chromosomes 1-20 and 37.0% including Chr21/22. In chromosomes 1-20, CNVs on 11q25 (encompasses genes ACAD8, B3GAT1, GLB1L2, GLB1L3, IGSF9B, JAM3, LOC100128239, LOC283177, MIR4697, MIR4697HG, NCAPD3, OPCML, SPATA19, THYN1, and VPS26B) and 14q32.33 (encompasses genes THYN1, OPCML, and NCAPD3) encompass genes most likely to be associated with TOF. Specific CNVs found on the chromosome 21 (6.3%) and 22(11.9%) were also identified in details. PPI network analysis identified the genes covering the specific CNVs related to TOF and the signaling pathways. This study for first time identified novel TOF-specific CNVs in the Han Chinese with higher frequency than in Caucasians and with 11q25 and 14q32.33 not reported in TOF of Caucasians. These novel CNVs identify new candidate genes for TOF and provide new insights into genetic basis of TOF.

Study on the expression level of NF-κB and clinical evaluations in spinal tuberculosis patients.

Spinal tuberculosis or tuberculous spondylitis is one of the most common types of skeletal tuberculosis. Complications of the spine and spinal cord tuberculosis include destruction of the vertebrae, deformity, and paraplegia. Since in some patients, the clinical manifestations of tuberculosis are unusual and timely diagnosis and treatment of this disease can prevent its serious consequences, so in the present study, some cases of rare manifestations of tuberculosis were investigated. The expression of the NF-κB gene in these patients was also evaluated. In this regard, 36 patients with spinal tuberculosis and 30 healthy individuals (as a control group) were assessed. Clinical symptoms, imaging, laboratory tests, pathology, and response to treatment related to patients with spinal tuberculosis and spinal cord tuberculosis were evaluated. NF-κB expression was also evaluated using the PCR technique in peripheral white blood cell samples. The obtained results were analyzed using SPSS ver. 16, χ2 and T-test statistical methods. Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests were used to analyze non-parametric data. The results showed that out of 36 cases of spinal tuberculosis, 29 cases had spinal tuberculosis, five cases had tuberculous radiculomyelitis, one case had spinal intramedullary tuberculoma, and one case had syringomyelia. 52.78% of patients were male, and 70% of cases were observed between the ages of 35 and 55 years. Fever and back pain were seen in more than 80% of cases. The study of NF-κB expression in the control and case groups showed that the NF-κB expression in the case group increased compared to the control group. This increase was statistically significant (P = 0.0071). In general, in the present study, the methods of clinical diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis were evaluated. Also, the amount of NF-κB transcription factor was evaluated as an effective genetic factor in the diagnosis of this disease.

Enhanced transverse optical gradient force on Rayleigh particles in two plane waves.

Based on the full wave simulation and the Maxwell stress tensor theory, we demonstrate an enhanced transverse optical gradient force acting on Rayleigh particles immersed in a simple optical field formed by two linearly polarized plane waves. The optical gradient force acting on a conventional dielectric particle can be enhanced by two orders of magnitude via coating an extremely thin silver shell, whose thickness is only about one-tenth of the dielectric core. The analytical results based on the multipole expansion theory reveal that the enhanced optical gradient force comes mostly from the interaction between the incident field and the electric quadrupole excited in the core-shell particle. It is worth noting that the force expression within the dipole approximation commonly used for Rayleigh particles is invalid in our situation, even the particle is within the Rayleigh regime. In addition, both the optical potential energy and the optical trapping stiffness for the core-shell particle exhibit a great enhancement by two orders of magnitude stronger than a conventional dielectric particle and thus is favorable to a stable optical trapping. These results may extend the application range of optical tweezers and enrich optical manipulation techniques.

Anomalously enhanced transverse optical torque on a dipolar plasmonic nanoparticle in two-wave interference.

Based on the multipole expansion theory, we show that a transverse optical torque acting on a dipolar plasmonic spherical nanoparticle can be anomalously enhanced in two plane waves with linear polarization. Compared with a homogeneous Au nanoparticle, the transverse optical torque acting on an Au-Ag core-shell nanoparticle with an ultra-thin shell thickness can be dramatically enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude. Such enhanced transverse optical torque is dominated by the interaction between the incident optical field and the electric quadrupole excited in the dipolar core-shell nanoparticle. It is thus noted that the torque expression based on the dipole approximation usually used for dipolar particles is not available even in our dipolar case. These findings deepen the physical understanding of the optical torque (OT) and may have applications in optically driven rotation of plasmonic microparticles.

Circ_0004872 promotes platelet-derived growth factor-BB-induced proliferation, migration and dedifferentiation in HA-VSMCs via miR-513a-5p/TXNIP axis.

The proliferation, migration and dedifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) exert crucial roles in atherosclerosis (AS) progression. The aim of our study was to explore the influences of circular RNA 0004872 (circ_0004872) in platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)-induced AS cell model and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was implemented for the expression detection of circ_0004872, mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1) messenger RNA (mRNA), microRNA-513a-5p (miR-513a-5p) and thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP). Cell proliferation was analyzed via Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK8) assay. Cell migration was assessed via wound healing assay and transwell migration assay. Western blot assay was used to measure the expression of alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), osteopontin (OPN), calponin and TXNIP. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA-pull down assay were used for confirmation of interaction between miR-513a-5p and circ_0004872 or TXNIP. Circ_0004872 expression was elevated in PDGF-BB-induced human aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (HA-VSMCs) and carotid plaque tissues. Circ_0004872 silencing alleviated PDGF-BB-induced proliferation, migration and dedifferentiation in HA-VSMCs. MiR-513a-5p bound to circ_0004872, and circ_0004872 knockdown-induced effects in PDGF-BB-treated HA-VSMCs were largely attenuated by the silencing of miR-513a-5p. MiR-513a-5p bound to the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of TXNIP, and miR-513a-5p overexpression-mediated effects were counteracted by the transfection of pcDNA-TXNIP in PDGF-BB-induced HA-VSMCs. TXNIP was modulated by circ_0004872/miR-513a-5p signaling cascade in HA-VSMCs. Circ_0004872 accelerated PDGF-BB-induced proliferation, migration and dedifferentiation in HA-VSMCs through enhancing TXNIP level via sponging miR-513a-5p.

Cellulose-based electrospun nanofiber membrane with core-sheath structure and robust photocatalytic activity for simultaneous and efficient oil emulsions separation, dye degradation and Cr(VI) reduction.

Electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) shows great advantage and potential in wastewater treatment due to its unique properties. However, exploring a green and efficient ENM for remediation of complex wastewater, such as simultaneous containing oils, dyes and heavy metal ion, remains challenging. In this work, a cellulose-based photocatalytic ENM, is constructed for this purpose. The hybrid ENM is prepared via electrospinning deacetylated cellulose acetate/polyvinyl pyrrolidone (CeP) nanofibers as skeleton cores and in-situ synthesis of beta hydroxyl oxidize iron decorated iron-based MOF (ß-FeOOH@MIL-100(Fe)) heterojunctions as photocatalytic sheaths. The core-sheath structured ENM has ultrahigh MIL-100(Fe) loading (78 wt%), large surface areas (1105 m2/g) and well-dispersed ß-FeOOH nanorods. Thanks to these porous and hydrophilic MIL-100(Fe), along with a robust photocatalysis-Fenton synergy from ß-FeOOH@MIL-100(Fe), the as-prepared ENM shows outstanding performances with simultaneous high removal efficiency for oils (99.5 %), dyes (99.4 %) and chromium ion (Cr(VI)) (99.7 %). Additionally, the photocatalytic ENM can achieve a long-term reuse owing to its inherent self-cleaning function.

A self-cleaning and photocatalytic cellulose-fiber- supported "Ag@AgCl@MOF- cloth'' membrane for complex wastewater remediation.

Membrane technology is one of the most promising technologies for wastewater remedy. However, it remains challenging to prepare high-performance membrane matrix for complex pollutants, e.g. containing both oil and organic dye. In this work, we facilely fabricate a cellulose-fiber-supported MOF photocatalytic membrane, namely Ag@AgCl@MIL-100(Fe)/CCF, which was prepared via carboxymethylation of cotton fabric (CCF) as scaffold and in-situ synthesis of MOF derivative as photocatalyst. The carboxymethylation significantly improves the hydrophilicity of cotton fabric and the deposition amount of MIL-100(Fe). The high hydrophilicity of modified CCF and porous MIL-100(Fe) further enable the membrane with an efficient adsorption capacity of dyes and underwater oleophobicity against oils. The photocatalysts Ag@AgCl nanoparticles anchored onto MIL-100(Fe) promote the photocatalytic activity. As a result, the membrane shows simultaneous high removal efficiency towards dyes (97.3 %) and oils (99.64 %). Additionally, thanks to the good photocatalytic activity against organic pollutants, the membrane exhibits excellent self-cleaning and a long-term reuse capacity.

Lateral Optical Force due to the Breaking of Electric-Magnetic Symmetry.

Lateral optical forces in a direction perpendicular to light propagation have attracted increasing interest in recent years. Up to now, all lateral forces can be attributed to the symmetry breaking in the lateral directions caused by either the morphology of the scatterer geometry or the optical fields impinging on the scatterer. Here we demonstrate, both numerically and analytically, that when an isotropic scatterer breaks the electric-magnetic symmetry, a new type of anomalous lateral force can be induced along the direction of translational invariance where the illumination striking the scatterer has no propagation, field gradient, or spin density vortex (Belinfante's spin momentum). Our analytical results are rigorous for an arbitrary size scatterer, ensuring the universality of our conclusion. Furthermore, the electric-magnetic symmetry-breaking-induced lateral force is comparable in magnitude to other components of the optical force and reversible in direction for different polarizations of the illuminating light, rendering it capable of practical optical manipulation as well as enriching the understanding of light-matter interaction.

A Large Isolated Congenital Left Circumflex Artery-to-Right Atrial Fistula in a 9-Year-Old Child.

Isolated congenital coronary artery fistula (ICCAF) is an exceedingly rare anomaly in which there is a direct abnormal connection between a coronary artery and other cardiac chambers or any of great vessels. The left circumflex artery (LCX) is the least common source of ICCAF. Here we reported a rare case of large ICCAF originated from the LCX in a 9-year-old boy. He presented fatigability, murmurs and NYHA class II. Echocardiography and cardiac CT revealed that an aneurysmal dilatation of the LCX along with the dilated coronary sinus entered into the right atrium (RA) through the great cardiac vein. However, it showed that the dilated LCX directly drained into the RA by coronary angiography, which was confirmed by the surgery. During the surgical procedure, the LCX fistula was identified in a 3*3 cm bulbous structure, the aneurysmal dilation of RA tissue. The end of fistula was located in the lower-middle interatrial septum, which was near the coronary sinus and above the opening of inferior vena cava (IVC). Transcardiac chamber closure with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was successfully performed for the correction of the fistula. It indicated that preoperative angiography is essential to define the details of large ICCAF with aneurysmal dilation. Moreover, transcardiac chamber closure with CPB is the optimal procedure for the treatment of large ICCAF, while interventional catheterization is not feasible due to the presence of aneurysmal dilation of the LCX. The description of this rare case might have great value for the diagnosis and treatment of large ICCAF originated from the LCX.

Facile synthesis of Ag NPs@ MIL-100(Fe)/ guar gum hybrid hydrogel as a versatile photocatalyst for wastewater remediation: Photocatalytic degradation, water/oil separation and bacterial inactivation.

3D Hydrogel is one of the most popular adsorbents for water remediation due to its excellent concentration/ adsorption capacity. However, it remains a challenge to use the hydrogel alone for treating complex wastewater. In this work, we designed and fabricated a versatile bio-based hybrid hydrogel consisting of Ag NPs@ MIL-100(Fe) photocatalysts and guar gum (GG) via facile blending and self-crosslinking. The hybrid hydrogel integrated with multifunctions of dye adsorption and degradation, oil/water separation and antibacterial properties, thus enabling its applications in complex wastewater remediation process. The presence of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) not only enhanced the photocatalytic activity of MIL-100(Fe), but also imparted the antibacterial activity of Ag NPs@MIL-100(Fe)/ GG hydrogel. Particularly, the bio-based GG hydrogel scaffold showed excellent injectable, remodeling, and self-healing properties, which enabled an effective oil/water separation ability (silicone oil, cyclohexane and canola oil) and facilitated the recyclability/sustainability of the nano-photocatalyst powders. This novel multifunctional 3D hybrid hydrogel provides new opportunities for wastewater remediation purpose.

Carbohydrates-rich corncobs supported metal-organic frameworks as versatile biosorbents for dye removal and microbial inactivation.

In this work, biodegradable cellulose-based biosorbents (MOFs/OCBs) with dual function of dye removal and microbial inactivation were fabricated by in situ anchoring metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on the TEMPO oxidized corncobs (OCBs). Results showed that delignification and oxidation can develop the OCBs with more cellulose content, carboxyl groups and specific surface area, thus facilitating the deposition of MOFs. The porous and carbohydrate-rich OCBs can serve as supports and stabilizers for MOFs, allowing for enhanced stability and recyclability of MOFs powders. The MOFs, namely HKUST-1 and ZIF-8, can endow the OCBs multiple functions of good adsorption capacity to methyl orange (from 8% of OCBs to 55% of HKUST-1/OCBs and 84% of ZIF-8/OCBs) and excellent antibacterial activity (from 0 of OCBs to 90.2% of HKUST-1/OCBs and 44.8% of ZIF-8/OCBs). Such a concept may offer a new pathway for preparing economical and efficient biosorbents for environmental remedy purposes.

Light-weight Gadolinium Hydroxide@polypyrrole Rare-Earth Nanocomposites with Tunable and Broadband Electromagnetic Wave Absorption.

Light-weight and highly efficient nanocomposite absorbing materials are gaining tremendous interest in recent years. Because of the unique electronic structure characteristics, nanoscale rare-earth materials are of great significance in the development of advanced functional materials. Herein, gadolinium hydroxide/polypyrrole (Gd(OH)3@PPy) nanocomposites were synthesized by a facial chemical solution route. The composites could achieve an absorbing performance of -51.4 dB at 16.2 GHz with a bandwidth of 4.8 GHz, covering the entire Ku band at a thickness of only 2.2 mm. Furthermore, the absorption intensity and bandwidth can be effectively tuned by adjusting the concentration of Gd(OH)3 in the composite. Because of the improvement of impedance matching, dual-loss mechanism, and the synergistic effect of rare-earth hydroxides and conductive polymers, light-weight gadolinium hydroxide@polypyrrole composites are considered as promising candidates for strong and broadband electromagnetic wave absorption.

Atolypenes, Tricyclic Bacterial Sesterterpenes Discovered Using a Multiplexed In Vitro Cas9-TAR Gene Cluster Refactoring Approach.

Most natural product biosynthetic gene clusters identified in bacterial genomic and metagenomic sequencing efforts are silent under laboratory growth conditions. Here, we describe a scalable biosynthetic gene cluster activation method wherein the gene clusters are disassembled at interoperonic regions in vitro using CRISPR/Cas9 and then reassembled with PCR-amplified, short DNAs, carrying synthetic promoters, using transformation assisted recombination (TAR) in yeast. This simple, cost-effective, and scalable method allows for the simultaneous generation of combinatorial libraries of refactored gene clusters, eliminating the need to understand the transcriptional hierarchy of the silent genes. In two test cases, this in vitro disassembly-TAR reassembly method was used to create collections of promoter-replaced gene clusters that were tested in parallel to identify versions that enabled secondary metabolite production. Activation of the atolypene ( ato) gene cluster led to the characterization of two unprecedented bacterial cyclic sesterterpenes, atolypene A (1) and B (2), which are moderately cytotoxic to human cancer cell lines. This streamlined in vitro disassembly- in vivo reassembly method offers a simplified approach for silent gene cluster refactoring that should facilitate the discovery of natural products from silent gene clusters cloned from either metagenomes or cultured bacteria.

Global and pathway-specific transcriptional regulations of pactamycin biosynthesis in Streptomyces pactum.

Pactamycin, a structurally unique aminocyclitol natural product isolated from Streptomyces pactum, has potent antibacterial, antitumor, and anti-protozoa activities. However, its production yields under currently used culture conditions are generally low. To understand how pactamycin biosynthesis is regulated and explore the possibility of improving pactamycin production in S. pactum, we investigated the transcription regulations of pactamycin biosynthesis. In vivo inactivation of two putative pathway-specific regulatory genes, ptmE and ptmF, resulted in mutant strains that are not able to produce pactamycin. Genetic complementation using a cassette containing ptmE and ptmF integrated into the S. pactum chromosome rescued the production of pactamycin. Transcriptional analysis of the ΔptmE and ΔptmF strains suggests that both genes control the expression of the whole pactamycin biosynthetic gene cluster. However, attempts to overexpress these regulatory genes by introducing a second copy of the genes in S. pactum did not improve the production yield of pactamycin. We discovered that pactamycin biosynthesis is sensitive to phosphate regulation. Concentration of inorganic phosphate higher than 2 mM abolished both the transcription of the biosynthetic genes and the production of the antibiotic. Draft genome sequencing of S. pactum and bioinformatics studies revealed the existence of global regulatory genes, e.g., genes that encode a two-component PhoR-PhoP system, which are commonly involved in secondary metabolism. Inactivation of phoP did not show any significant effect to pactamycin production. However, in the phoP::aac(3)IV mutant, pactamycin biosynthesis is not affected by external inorganic phosphate concentration.

Egr1 deficiency disrupts dynamic equilibrium of chondrocyte extracellular matrix through PPARγ/RUNX2 signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND: This study is to investigate the effect of Egr1 on the mineralization and accumulation of chondrocyte extracellular matrix. METHODS: The femoral heads of patients of various heights were collected. Egr1 knockout mice were used. Their limb lengtha nd body weight were assessed. The bone characteristics were detected by micro-CT scan and histological staining. Immature murine articular chondrocytes (iMACs) were isolated. Gross morphology was observed by histological staining. Relevant mRNA and protein expression were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. the related proteins were observed by immunohistochemical staining and immunofluorescence assay. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and reporter gene assay were also used. TUNEL was used to detect apoptosis. RESULTS: It was found that shorter patients had reduced Egr1 expression levels in the hypertrophic cartilage zone of the femoral head. In addition, Egr1 knockout mice exhibited reduced body size. Micro-CT analysis showed that these mice also had reduced bone volume. Safranin-O staining showed that the extracellular matrix of these mice exhibited a relatively limited degree of mineralization, and TUNEL staining showed reduced cell apoptosis levels. After transfecting the iMACs with dominant-negative Egr1 adenoviruses to inhibit Egr1, the enzymes of Adamst4, Adamst5, Mmp3 and Mmp13 were significantly upregulated. ChIP and luciferase assays revealed that Egr1 might regulate the chondrocyte extracellular matrix by the PPARγ/RUNX2 signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: Egr1 has an important regulatory effect on the dynamic equilibrium of the chondrocyte extracellular matrix, which may be achieved through the PPARγ/RUNX2 signaling pathways.

High preoperative serum leptin level is an independent risk factor for deep vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty in osteoarthritis patients: A prospective and cross-sectional study.

It suggests that a high leptin level may increase the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in animal studies. However, clinical studies in this field are still largely unexplored. Our objective was to evaluate the relationship between the preoperative serum leptin levels and postoperative VTE incidence in osteoarthritis (OA) patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) at our institute.We conducted a prospective and cross-sectional study in these OA patients from March 2014 to March 2016. Preoperative leptin levels were analyzed by Luminex assays. VTE was assessed preoperatively and on postoperative day 5 and 7. The potential risk factors for VTE were also documented.We enrolled 203 OA patients. No PE was detected and DVT was diagnosed in 34 patients postoperatively. There were significant differences between the median leptin levels in DVT group and non-DVT group [25.13 ng/mL (interquartile range, 14.51-44.31) vs 18.71 ng/mL (8.26-28.99), P = .007]. The relative risk of DVT significantly increased with natural logarithm (ln) leptin (per SD increase) (OR 2.37, 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.29-4.33, P = .005). Multivariate analyses adjusted for potential confounders showed ln leptin (per SD increase) was significantly associated with the relative risk of DVT (OR 2.17, 95% CI, 1.01-4.64, P = .046). When patients were subdivided into tertiles according to their leptin values, the OR for DVT increased with increasing tertiles of serum leptin (OR 1.03, 95% CI, 1.01-1.06, P for trend = .023).In the present study, our results indicate that a high preoperative leptin level may be an independent risk factor for postoperative DVT.