Therapeutic effect of Qinghuayin against chronic atrophic gastritis through the inhibition of toll or interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor inducing interferon-ß signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy of Qinghuayin (, QHY) in rat chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) models and explored the molecular mechanism of QHY in treating CAG. METHODS: In total, 65 Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control (= 10) and CAG groups ( = 55). CAG model rats were further divided into five groups: model ( = 10), vitacoenzyme ( = 10), low-dose QHY ( = 10), medium-dose QHY ( = 10), and high-dose QHY groups ( = 10). We analyzed histopathological changes using hematoxylin and eosin staining and measured interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 levels in serum using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Boster Bio, Pleasanton, USA). In addition, gastrin (GAS), pepsinogen I (PGI), and PGII expressions were evaluated using ELISA. The protein and mRNA expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and toll or interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor inducing interferon-ß (TRIF) was detected by Western blotting and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. RESULTS: Our results revealed that histopathological changes in CAG model rates could be restored by low-, medium-, and high-dose QHY. The changes in GAS and PGI/II expression demonstrated that QHY improved CAG. Serum IL-6 and IL-levels were decreased by QHY administration. TLR4 and TRIF were upregulated at the mRNA and protein levels in the model group but downregulated by QHY administration. CONCLUSION: We concluded that QHY could effectively improve the histopathological changes of the gastric mucosa induced by CAG in rats. The therapeutic mechanism of QHY may be related to inhibition of the inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-8 and suppression of TLR4/TRIF mRNA and protein expression.

Alteration of lipid profile and value of lipids in the prediction of the length of hospital stay in COVID-19 pneumonia patients.

To observe lipid profiles and their alterations in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (NCP) and evaluate the value of lipids for the prediction of the length of hospital stay (LOS), a total of 248 patients aged 18 years or older were enrolled in this retrospective study. At admission, the median levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in all patients were 1.11, 4.00, 0.89, and 2.11 mmol/L, respectively. Compared with common cases (n = 174), severe cases (n = 74) exhibited higher TG and HDL-C, and lower LDL-C. Levels of TC and LDL-C were negatively correlated with LOS. In 68 severe cases, serum lipids were followed up during hospitalization, and the median LOS was 29 days. The average levels of serum lipids were lowest at admission and gradually increased during hospitalization. Compared with the LOS ≤ 29 days group, serum levels of TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C were significantly lower in the LOS > 29 days group at admission; this lower trend was found in the subsequent tests for TC and LDL-C but not for HDL-C or TG. Multiple-variant COX regression showed that levels of TC or LDL-C at admission were independent risk of LOS prolongation. Together, these findings suggest that in patients with NCP, levels of TC and LDL-C at admission were negatively correlated with LOS. In severe cases, the gradual increase in TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C during hospitalization might indicate gradual recovery. TC < 3.75 mmol/L or LDL-C < 1.7 mmol/L at admission may act as an independent predictor of prolonged LOS.