Application of blood purification technology in severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to summarize the blood purification technology applied in patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in the clinical treatment effect. METHODS: The medical records of 96 patients with severe SFTS admitted to Weihai Municipal Hospital affiliated to Shandong University from May 2014 to November 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, and they were divided into survival group and death group. The differences in basic data test indexes and treatment method selection during intensive care unit (ICU) admission between the two groups were significantly analyzed, and the indexes with statistically significant differences were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis related to prognosis. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in age, sex composition, white blood cell count, platelet count, creatine kinase (CK), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), serum creatinine and hemofiltration renal replacement therapy between the survival group and the death group. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in viral load bilirubin and the treatment methods of plasma exchange (PE) or hemoperfusion (HP). Plasma exchange group (78 cases), hemofiltration group (12 cases), hemoperfusion group (6 cases), plasma exchange and hemoperfusion and other blood purification treatment of the prognosis were statistically different. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the three blood purification methods, plasmapheresis has a significant effect on virus removal, improvement of coagulation function and survival rate in patients with severe SFTS. Hemofiltration plays a role in removing inflammatory mediators, replacing renal function, maintaining electrolytes and acid-base balance, but not in removing viruses.

Overexpression of CENPF is associated with progression and poor prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma.

Background and aim: The molecular signatures of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) are not well understood. Centromere protein F (CENPF) has been shown to promote oncogenesis in many cancers; however, its role in LUAD has not been illustrated. We explored the role of CENPF in LUAD. Methods: CENPF expression level was investigated in public online database firstly, the prognosis of CENPF in LUAD were also assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Then quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed using 13 matched pairs of clinical LUAD tissue samples. Subsequently, the impact of CENPF expression on cell proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, colony formation was investigated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT), flow cytometric analysis and colony formation assay, respectively. Finally, experimental xenograft lung cancer model of nude mice armpit of right forelimb to determine the effect of CENPF on LUAD tumorigenesis. Results: CENPF mRNA expression was significantly elevated in LUAD tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor lung tissues in Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) (P < 0.001). Up-regulated CENPF was remarkably positively associated with pathological stage, relapse free survival (RFS) as well as overall survival (OS) of LUAD patients. Besides, CENPF knockdown greatly suppressed A549 cell proliferation, induced S phase arrest, promoted apoptosis and decreased colony numbers of LUAD cells. Furthermore, knockdown of CENPF significantly inhibited the tumor growth of the LUAD cells in an experimental xenograft lung cancer model of nude mice armpit of right forelimb. Conclusion: Taken together, these results demonstrated that CENPF may serve as a potential biomarker of prognostic relevance and a potential therapeutic target for LUAD.

Clinical Features for Severely and Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 in Shandong: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel pathogen, has caused an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has spread rapidly around the world. Determining the risk factors for death and the differences in clinical features between severely ill and critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia has become increasingly important. AIM: This study was intended to provide insight into the difference between severely ill and critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. METHODS: In this retrospective, multicenter cohort study, we enrolled 62 seriously ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia who had been diagnosed by March 12, 2020. Clinical data, laboratory indexes, chest images, and treatment strategies collected from routine medical records were compared between severely ill and critically ill patients. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were also conducted to identify the risk factors associated with the progression of patients with severe COVID-19. RESULTS: Of the 62 patients with severe or critical illness, including 7 who died, 30 (48%) patients had underlying diseases, of which the most common was cardiovascular disease (hypertension, 34%, and coronary heart disease, 5%). Compared to patients with severe disease, those with critical disease had distinctly higher white blood cell counts, procalcitonin levels, and D-dimer levels, and lower hemoglobin levels and lymphocyte counts. Multivariate regression showed that a lymphocyte count less than 109/L (odds ratio 20.92, 95% CI 1.76-248.18; p=0.02) at admission increased the risk of developing a critical illness. CONCLUSION: Based on multivariate regression analysis, a lower lymphocyte count (<109/L) on admission is the most critical independent factor that is closely associated with an increased risk of progression to critical illness. Age, underlying diseases, especially hypertension and coronary heart disease, elevated D-dimer, decreased hemoglobin, and SOFA score, and APACH score also need to be taken into account for predicting disease progression. Blood cell counts and procalcitonin levels for the later secondary bacterial infection have a certain reference values.

Anal swab as a potentially optimal specimen for SARS-CoV-2 detection to evaluate hospital discharge of COVID-19 patients.

Since December 2019, an outbreak of SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began in Wuhan, and has rapidly spread worldwide. Previously, discharged patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients met the criteria of China's pneumonia diagnosis and treatment program of novel coronavirus infection (trial version 7) for cure of viral infection. Nevertheless, positive detection of SARS-CoV-2 has been found again in several cured COVID-19 patients, leading to conflicts with current criteria. Here, we report clinically cured cases with positive results only in anal swabs, and investigate the clinical value of anal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Overexpression of forkhead box M1 is associated poor survival in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer.

AIMS: The association between forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) and survival of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been extensively investigated. However, the results were conflicted and inconclusive. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to precisely estimate the association between FOXM1 and survival of NSCLC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Studies were searched using the PubMed and EMBASE. The strength of the association was calculated with the hazard ratios (HRs) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Result of this meta-analysis showed that high expression of FOXM1 was significantly associated with shorter overall survival (OS) of NSCLC (HR = 1.82; 95% CI 1.45-2.29). In the stratified analysis by country, we found that the expression of FOXM1 was significantly associated with shorter OS in Chinese NSCLC patients (HR = 1.82; 95% CI 1.45-2.29). In addition, high expression of FOXM1 decreased the OS in patients with surgery (HR = 1.88; 95% CI 1.37-2.58). Furthermore, the results were still positive in both large sample size studies and small sample size studies. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis showed that overexpression of FOXM1 might be associated with shorter OS of NSCLC patients.

Hepatoprotective effects of licochalcone B on carbon tetrachloride-induced liver toxicity in mice.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the hepatoprotective effect of licochalcone B (LCB) in a mice model of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver toxicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hepatotoxicity was induced in mice by a single subcutaneous injection (SC) of CCl4. The LCB was administered orally once a day for seven days (PO) as pretreatment at three doses of 1, 5, and 25 mg/kg/day. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were analyzed by ELISA. The protein expression degrees of p38 mitogen activated protein kinases (p38) and nuclear factor-k-gene binding (NF-κB) were assayed by western blotting. RESULTS: CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity was manifested by an increase in the levels of ALT, AST, MDA, IL-6, CRP, and TNF-ɑ, and a decrease in the SOD level and GSH/GSSG ratio in the serum. The histopathological examination of the liver sections revealed necrosis and inflammatory reactions. Pretreatment with LCB decreased the levels of ALT, AST, MDA, GSSG, IL-6, CRP, TNF-ɑ, and the protein expression of p38 and NF-κB, increased the level of SOD and GSH, and normalized the hepatic histo-architecture. CONCLUSION: LCB protected the liver from CCl4-induced injury. Protection may be due to inhibition of p38 and NFκB signaling, which subsequently reduced inflammation in the liver.