Association Between Nadir Hematocrit and Severe Acute Kidney Injury After Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study Based on the MIMIC-IV Database.

BACKGROUND We aimed to evaluate the association between postoperative nadir hematocrit (Hct) and severe acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (OPCABG) surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data of patients who received OPCABG were extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. A generalized additive model was applied to explore the relationship between nadir Hct and severe AKI. Patients were divided into 4 groups by quartiles of postoperative nadir Hct, with the lowest group (Hct <25%) as reference. We conducted multivariate logistic regression models to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI and evaluate trend among the 4 groups. RESULTS In total, 1783 OPCABG patients were included. A nonlinear association between nadir Hct and severe AKI was identified. After adjusting for potential confounders, nadir Hct was negatively associated with risk of severe AKI when Hct was less than 31%; there was no statistical significance between highest Hct group (Hct ≥31%) and control group (Hct <25%; P>0.05). Tests for trend were significant (P<0.05). Subgroup analyses showed each 1% increase in postoperative nadir Hct was associated with a 23% decrease in risk of severe AKI (OR, 0.77; P=0.002) in lower BMI group (<30 kg/m²). CONCLUSIONS The association between postoperative nadir Hct and severe AKI in patients after OPCABG was nonlinear. Lower nadir Hct may be associated with increased risk of severe AKI when Hct values are less than 31%. However, no statistical significance was found between the highest Hct group and control group.

Comparison of bleomycin polidocanol foam vs electrochemotherapy combined with polidocanol foam for treatment of venous malformations.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the difference in safety and efficacy between two treatments for venous malformations (VMs), electrochemotherapy combined with polidocanol foam (ECP) and bleomycin polidocanol foam (BPF), providing alternative therapies for VMs. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 152 patients with VMs treated with ECP and BPF. Pre- and post-treatment magnetic resonance images (MRIs) were collected, and clinical follow-up assessments were performed. Imaging results were used to calculate lesion volume changes. Clinical outcomes included changes in pain and improvements in perceived swelling. Patients were followed up at 1 week and 6 months after surgery. All emerging complications were documented in detail. RESULTS: Of the 152 patients, 87 (57.2%) received BPF treatment, and 65 (42.8%) received ECP treatment. The most common location of VMs was the lower extremities (92/152; 60.2%), and the most common symptom was pain (108/152; 71.1%). Forty-three patients had previously undergone therapy in the BPF group (43/87; 49.4%), whereas 30 patients had received prior treatment in the ECP group (30/65; 46.2%). The study found that the percentage of lesion volume reduction in the BPF group was not significantly different from that in the ECP group (75.00% ± 17.85% vs 74.69% ± 8.48%; P = .899). ECP was more effective when the initial lesion volume was greater than 30 mL (67.66% ± 12.34% vs 73.47% ± 8.00%; P = .048). Patients treated with BPF had significantly less posttreatment pain than those treated with ECP, in different baseline lesion size. In the overall sample, pain relief was significantly higher in the BPF group than in the ECP group (4.21 ± 1.19 vs 3.57 ± 0.76; P = .002). However, there was no difference in pain relief between the two groups for the treatment of initially large VMs (4.20 ± 0.94 vs 3.70 ± 0.87; P = .113). The ECP group was significantly more likely to develop hyperpigmentation (5/87; 5.75% vs 11/65; 16.92%; P = .026) and swelling (9/87; 10.34% vs 16/65; 24.62%; P = .019) 1 week after surgery than the BPF group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that both BPF and ECP are effective treatments for VMs, with BPF being a safer option. ECP is a better choice for patients with the initial lesion volume greater than 30 mL, but it is more likely to lead to early swelling and hyperpigmentation.

Untargeted plasma metabolome identifies biomarkers in patients with extracranial arteriovenous malformations.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the plasma metabolic profile of patients with extracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVM). Method: Plasma samples were collected from 32 AVM patients and 30 healthy controls (HC). Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) was employed to analyze the metabolic profiles of both groups. Metabolic pathway enrichment analysis was performed through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database and MetaboAnalyst. Additionally, machine learning algorithms such as Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and random forest (RF) were conducted to screen characteristic metabolites. The effectiveness of the serum biomarkers for AVM was evaluated using a receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Result: In total, 184 differential metabolites were screened in this study, with 110 metabolites in positive ion mode and 74 metabolites in negative mode. Lipids and lipid-like molecules were the predominant metabolites detected in both positive and negative ion modes. Several significant metabolic pathways were enriched in AVMs, including lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and protein translation. Through machine learning algorithms, nine metabolites were identify as characteristic metabolites, including hydroxy-proline, L-2-Amino-4-methylenepentanedioic acid, piperettine, 20-hydroxy-PGF2a, 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-6-(1-oxobutyl)-1,3,5-cyclohexanetrione, DL-tryptophan, 9-oxoODE, alpha-Linolenic acid, and dihydrojasmonic acid. Conclusion: Patients with extracranial AVMs exhibited significantly altered metabolic patterns compared to healthy controls, which could be identified using plasma metabolomics. These findings suggest that metabolomic profiling can aid in the understanding of AVM pathophysiology and potentially inform clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Efficacy and safety of glucocorticoids in treatment of COVID-19: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Novel coronavirus pneumonia is a novel kind of highly contagious disease without any specific drugs. Considering the successful experience of antiviral therapy combined with glucocorticoids (GCs) in severe acute respiratory syndrome, this study was designed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of GCs in treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: A cohort of 42 patients with COVID-19 admitted to The First Hospital of Jiaxing from January 4, 2020, to February 16, 2020, were included and grouped into a test group (n=20) and control group (n=22) based on their therapeutic regimens. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between patients in the two groups. Conventional treatment (antiviral therapy) was given to patients in both groups, while an additional hormone drug (GCs) was used in patients in the test group. Indices including body temperature, blood routine indices [white blood cell (WBC), lymphocyte, monocyte, and C-reactive protein (CRP)], blood biochemical indices [alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)], and complications were recorded during the treatment. Time to achieve negative virus nucleic acid (nCoV-RNA) testing, and hospital stays were also observed and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: All included patients completed the trial. After treatment, superior therapeutic efficacy was achieved in patients in the test group, with body temperature dropping more significantly with a much shorter recovery time compared to the control group (P=0.0412). Simultaneously, the percentage of patients with abnormal blood routine indices (WBC), monocyte, and (CRP) in the test group was reduced more sharply, while no noticeable difference was observed in the number of patients who developed abnormal blood biochemical indices during treatment between the two groups. Additionally, a shorter duration of hospital stays was found in the test group relative to the control group (14.84±8.76 vs. 18.25±7.42 days, P>0.05). Patients who received GCs had a shorter recovery time for body temperature and inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Hormonotherapy with GCs can accelerate the recovery time for body temperature as well as inflammation in patients with COVID-19. It deserves promotion and application in the clinical treatment of coronavirus disease as a form of adjuvant medicine. The ongoing focus of research is on long-term adverse events in GCs.

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and risk of venous thromboembolism: A Mendelian randomization study.

Introduction: Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) have been associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in multiple observational studies. However, a direct causally relation between IMIDs and VTE remains unclear to date. Here, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate causal associations between IMIDs and VTE. Methods: We collected genetic data from published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for six common IMIDs, specifically inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis (PSO), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); and summary-level data for VTE, pulmonary embolism (PE), and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) from the FinnGen database. Two-sample MR analysis using inverse variance weighting (IVW) was performed to identify causal associations between IMIDs and VTE/DVT/PE, and sensitivity analyses were implemented for robustness. Results: IVW analysis showed a causal relationship between genetically predicted UC (one type of IBD) and the risk of VTE (OR = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.013-1.073, p = 0.004) and DVT (OR = 1.088, 95% CI: 1.043-1.136, p < 0.001), but we found no evidence of causality between UC and PE (OR = 1.029, 95% CI: 0.986-1.074, p = 0.19). In addition, no associations were observed between total IBD, CD, RA, SLE, or PSO and VTE/DVT/PE. Sensitivity analysis found no evidence for horizontal pleiotropy. Conclusion: This MR study provides new genetic evidence for the causal relationship between IMIDs and the risk of VTE. Our findings highlight the importance of active intervention and monitoring to mitigate VTE risk in patients with IBD, in particular those presenting with UC.

Development and Validation of a Seven-Gene Signature for Predicting the Prognosis of Lung Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Prognosis is a main factor affecting the survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), yet no robust prognostic model of high effectiveness has been developed. This study is aimed at constructing a stable and practicable gene signature-based model via bioinformatics methods for predicting the prognosis of LUAD sufferers. METHODS: The mRNA expression data were accessed from the TCGA-LUAD dataset, and paired clinical information was collected from the GDC website. R package "edgeR" was employed to select the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were then used for the construction of a gene signature-based model via univariate COX, Lasso, and multivariate COX regression analyses. Kaplan-Meier and ROC survival analyses were conducted to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the model in predicting LUAD prognosis, and an independent dataset GSE26939 was accessed for further validation. RESULTS: Totally, 1,655 DEGs were obtained, and a 7-gene signature-based risk score was developed and formulated as risk_score = 0.000245∗NTSR1 + (7.13E - 05)∗RHOV + 0.000505∗KLK8 + (7.01E - 05)∗TNS4 + 0.000288∗C1QTNF6 + 0.00044∗IVL + 0.000161∗B4GALNT2. Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that the survival rate of patients in the high-risk group was lower in both the TCGA-LUAD dataset and GSE26939 relative to that of patients in the low-risk group. The relationship between the risk score and clinical characteristics was further investigated, finding that the model was effective in prognosis prediction in the patients with different age (age > 65, age < 65) and TNM stage (N0&N1, T1&T2, and tumor stage I/II). In sum, our study provides a robust predictive model for LUAD prognosis, which boosts the clinical research on LUAD and helps to explore the mechanism underlying the occurrence and progression of LUAD.

Knockdown of FOXO6 Inhibits Glycolysis and Reduces Cell Resistance to Paclitaxel in HCC Cells via PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway.

PURPOSE: Previous studies have reported that FOXO6 is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and is associated with the prognosis of HCC patients. However, little research has been carried out to explore the role of FOXO6 in glycolysis of HCC cells and paclitaxel resistance. Today, along with the increasing incidence and mortality of HCC, chemotherapy resistance of HCC also poses a serious challenge. Therefore, this study was set out to investigate the effect of FOXO6 on glycolysis and cytotoxicity of paclitaxel in HCC cells and its potential mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The levels of FOXO6 mRNA and protein were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. In addition, paclitaxel-resistant cell lines of HCC cells were established, whose activity was assessed by CCK-8 assay, among which the invasion ability was assessed by Transwell and the apoptosis rate by flow cytometry. What is more, glycolysis levels were evaluated by measuring glucose consumption and lactic acid production, and the protein levels of p-PI3K and p-protein kinase B (Akt) were determined by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with normal human hepatocytes, FOXO6 was highly expressed in HCC cells, which was of high real value for HCC. FOXO6 knockdown inhibited the proliferation and invasion and induced apoptosis of HCC cells. In addition, FOXO6 knockdown suppressed glycolysis, reversed resistance to chemotherapy in Hep3B/PTX cells and inactivated PI3K and Akt proteins, thus inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Furthermore, it was found that when activated by 740Y-P, PI3K/Akt signaling pathway could resist the effects of FOXO6 knockdown on the cytotoxicity and glycolysis of paclitaxel in HCC cells. Vice versa, inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway by LY294002 could resist the effect of FOXO6 overexpression on chemotherapy, cytotoxicity and glycolysis of HCC cells. CONCLUSION: FOXO6 knockdown can inhibit glycolysis of HCC cells and reduce their resistance to chemotherapy by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which may be a new target for the treatment of HCC.