Association of hemoglobin with arterial stiffness evaluated by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity among Chinese adults.

OBJECTIVE: Increased hemoglobin (Hb) levels are known to be associated with increased cardiovascular events and mortalities. Therefore, we assumed that high Hb levels were associated with arterial stiffness. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a simple and noninvasive method for measuring arterial stiffness to assess cardiovascular disease in general populations. Accordingly, we conducted a cross-sectional study to explore the association of Hb with PWV. METHODS: A total of 6642 adults aged 54.5 ± 11.2 years undergoing physical examinations were enrolled, 71.7% of whom were males. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV). Multivariable regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between Hb and increased cfPWV. RESULTS: In this study, the mean Hb (per 10 g/L increase) was 144.7 ± 13.9 g/L, and the mean cfPWV was 15.1 ± 3.1 m/s. cfPWV was significantly higher in high hemoglobin groups ≥15.4 g/L (Quartile 4) than in the lowest hemoglobin group (Quartile 1 ≤ 13.6 g/L; P < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that Hb positively correlated with cfPWV (ß = 0.16, P < 0.01). Univariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that Hb was associated with increased cfPWV, with an odd ratio (OR) of 1.46 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39-1.54). After adjusting for potential confounders, Hb and the highest Hb quartile group were also independently associated with increased cfPWV, with a fully adjusted OR of 1.11 (95% CI, 1.02-1.20) and 1.45 (95% CI, 1.01-2.08), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that Hb levels significantly correlate with increased cfPWV.

Anesthetic constituents of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.: A pharmacokinetic study.

A sensitive and selective ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was established and validated for the simultaneous determination of hydroxy-α-sanshool, hydroxy-ß-sanshool, and hydroxy-γ-sanshool in rat plasma after the subcutaneous and intravenous administration of an extract of the pericarp of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. Piperine was used as the internal standard. The analytes were extracted from rat plasma by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and separated on a Thermo Hypersil GOLD C18 column (2.1 mm × 50 mm, 1.9 µm) with a gradient elution system at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile/0.05% formic acid in water and the total analysis time was 4 min. Positive electrospray ionization was performed using multiple reaction monitoring mode for the analytes. The calibration curves of the three analytes were linear over the tested concentration range. The intra- and interday precision was no more than 13.6%. Extraction recovery, matrix effect, and stability were satisfactory in rat plasma. The developed and validated method was suitable for the quantification of hydroxy-α-sanshool, hydroxy-ß-sanshool, and hydroxy-γ-sanshool and successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of these analytes after subcutaneous and intravenous administration to rats.

[Clinical significance of toll-like receptor 4 expression on the surface of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in uremic patients].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical significance of toll-like receptor 4 expression on the surface of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in uremic patients and observe the effect of ultrapure dialysate on the PBMC expression of TLR4 in these patients. METHODS: Eighty patients on maintenance dialysis were randomly divided into two groups: conventional dialysate group (CD, n=40), ultrapure dialysate group (UPD, n=40) and 40 uremic patients without dialysis in NHD group. The blood cells from all patients and 40 healthy controls were stained with FITC labeling anti-TLR4 monoclonal antibodies. Samples were collected and analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The expression of TLR4 was significantly lower in CD group (18.1±3.7) than in NHD group (24.5±4.6, P<0.05) and healthy control group (31.6±5.8, P<0.01). And marked difference existed between CD group (18.1±3.7) and UPD group (23.1±3.2, P<0.05) at Month 6 post-dialysis. In CD group the expression of TLR4 became significantly smaller as the duration of dialysis increased (P<0.05) while in UPD group although the expression of TLR4 became smaller as the duration of dialysis became longer. But the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The PBMC expression of TLR4 becomes down-regulated in uremic patients with or without dialysis and its expression is smaller in conventional dialysate group than in ultrapure dialysate group. The conventional dialysate may suppress the expression of TLR4 while the phenomenon is absent in ultrapure dialysate group.