The expression profile of long non-coding RNAs in the lung tissue of mice with cecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis.

When sepsis occurs, the lungs are the first organs that are affected. Injury to the lungs involves damage to and the subsequent repair of cells and tissue. However, the mechanism of both at a molecular level remains unclear. As mice have similar physiological and pathological processes to humans, the current research adopted mice models to explore the long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) in the lung tissue of mice with cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis using gene sequencing analysis. A total of 30 mice were randomly divided into two groups, i.e., the sham group and the CLP group, respectively. Three mice were randomly selected from each group, and their lung tissue was used for gene sequencing analysis. Overall, a total of 1,110 lncRNAs were found to be significantly differentially expressed between the two groups. Among these, 658 were over-expressed, and 452 were under-expressed (fold change ≥ 2.0, P < 0.05). Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses were performed to predict the potential biological functions of these differentially expressed lncRNAs, and the top 10 over- and under-expressed lncRNAs were selected as candidates for further validation. Finally, three over-expressed lncRNAs (XLOC_025752, XLOC_086176, and XLOC_148721) and four under-expressed lncRNAs (XLOC_120813, XLOC_029657, XLOC_031620, and XLOC_096198) were validated and found to be the same as those identified by sequencing analysis. To the best of the authors's knowledge, this research is the first to explore the expression profile of lncRNAs in the lung tissue of mice with CLP-induced sepsis. The results showed different lncRNA expression profiles between the two groups, indicating that lncRNAs may contribute to the occurrence of and recovery from sepsis-induced acute lung injury through interacting with target genes.

Predictors of mechanical ventilation for COVID-19: combined data from three designated hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: Whether patients with COVID-19 require invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) is not yet clear. This article summarizes the clinical treatment process and clinical data of patients with COVID-19 and analyzes the predictive factors for mechanical ventilation for these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out from January 5, 2020, to March 23, 2020, including 98 patients with COVID-19 treated at three designated hospitals in Huangshi City, Hubei Province. Data collection included demographics, previous underlying diseases, clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, imaging examination results, diagnosis, and prognosis. This study presents a summary of the patients' overall clinical characteristics and clarifies the predictive factors for MV in patients with COVID-19. RESULTS: There were 56 males and 42 females included in this study. The mortality rate was 26.53% (26/98). Fever, cough, and chest tightness were the most common symptoms (64.3%, 37.8%, and 12.2%, respectively). Thirty cases required MV, 30.61% of the total cases, and the mortality rate was 73.33%. The univariate comparison showed that dyspnea, acute physiologic assessment, chronic health evaluation (APACHE II) score, and the ratio between arterial blood oxygen partial pressure (PaO2) and oxygen concentration (FiO2) (P/F) were statistically different between the MV group and the non-MV group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Results showed the following: dyspnea; increased white blood cell count; decreased platelets; lowered albumin levels; increased urea nitrogen; increased levels of myocardial enzymes Creatine Kinase (CK), Creatine Kinase, MB Form (CKMB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH); increased lactate, and lowered blood calcium tests. These findings may indicate that the patients have an increased probability of needing MV support. A cutoff value for the initial APACHE II score of >11.5 and the initial PaO2/FiO2 ratio of <122.17 mmHg should be considered for MV support for patients with COVID-19.