Effect of Tiaojingzhixue Fang on the expression of sex hormone and endometrial tissue mRNA in perimenopausal patients with abnormal uterine bleeding.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Tiaojingzhixue decoction on the expression of sex hormone and endometrial mRNA in perimenopausal patients with abnormal uterine bleeding. For this purpose, 84 patients with perimenopausal abnormal uterine bleeding who were treated in our hospital from January 2018 to January 2019 were divided into study group and control group, the control group was treated with mifepristone for six months, the clinical efficacy, time of symptom relief and disappearance, endometrial thickness, menstrual volume, adverse events, expression of sex hormone (ER), Progesterone receptor (PR), Lutropin (LH), Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), Estradiol (e2) and Vascular endothelial growth factor in endometrial tissue were compared between the two groups. The results showed that the clinical efficacy of the study group (97.61%) was significantly higher than the control group (80.95%) (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in endometrial thickness between the two groups before treatment, but after treatment for 1 month, 3 months and 6 months, endometrial thickness was thinner in the study group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in menstrual volume between the two groups before treatment (P <0.05), but it was lower in the study group (P <0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the study group was 11.90% lower than in the control group (26.19%). The expression levels of ER, PR, LH, FSH and E2 were almost the same before treatment and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05), but they were lower in the study group after treatment (P<0.05). Before treatment, there was no significant difference in the level of VEGF between the two groups (P>0.05); after treatment, the level of Vegf in the study group was lower than the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the level of Vegf in both groups was significantly higher than before treatment (P<0.05). In general, Tiaojingzhixue decoction can decrease the level of sex hormone and increase the expression of VEGF in patients with perimenopausal abnormal uterine bleeding.

Preparation and characterization of molecularly imprinted microspheres for dibutyl phthalate recognition in aqueous environment.

Molecularly imprinted microspheres (MIMs) were prepared by suspension polymerization for the binding and recognition of dibutyl phthalate (DBP). DBP was used as the template molecule, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) as the linking agent, PVA as the dispersing agent, and Span 60 as the surfactant. The MIMs were characterized with electron microscope scanning and rebinding experiments. The Scatchard plot revealed that the template-polymer system has a two-site binding behavior with dissociation constants of 4.05 and 0.515 mmol/L. The MIMs exhibited the highest selective rebinding to DBP at 736.85 µg/g. The recoveries of the MIM-SPE column for DBP extraction was 94.75-101.9% with the RSD of 1.5-7.3%, indicating the feasibility of the prepared MIMs for DBP extraction. Finally, the method developed was used to analyze the trace levels of phthalate in aqueous environment samples.

Are unintentionally produced polychlorinated biphenyls the main source of polychlorinated biphenyl occurrence in soils?

The production of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been banned globally for decades, but PCB concentrations in environmental media remain relatively high, especially in urban areas. Emissions estimates, studies of soil gradients between urban and rural areas, and quantitative identification of regional sources of PCBs in soils are necessary for understanding the environmental behavior of PCBs. In this study, regional PCB emissions were estimated at a resolution of 10 km × 10 km, and the spatial distribution of soil PCBs from urban to rural areas was studied along the Bohai and Yellow Sea regions. Compared with rural areas, mean PCB concentrations in urban soils (20.7 ng/g) were found to be higher, and concentrations decreased with distance from the city. Across both latitude and longitude directions, high PCB emissions in urban areas matched the distribution of total PCB concentrations in soils. The concentrations of the pollutants PCB28, PCB52, PCB101, PCB118, PCB138, PCB153, and PCB180 in soils originated from 5-year emissions, and accounted for 97%, 95%, 84%, 81%, 58%, 57%, and 27% of the total emissions, respectively. Unintentionally produced PCB (UP-PCB) emissions, which are mainly derived from cement (42%), pig iron (37%), crude steel (18%), and rolled steel (3%) industries, are the major contributors to PCBs in soils. Further identification of the sources and fates of PCBs requires a combination of field, laboratory, and modeling efforts.

Cardiomyocyte progenitors in a canine pulmonary vein model of persistent atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to discover the pathogenesis of focal atrial fibrillation (AF) originating from pulmonary veins by observing the histological structure and special cells in the canine pulmonary vein model of persistent atrial fibrillation. METHODS: The pulmonary veins and the sinus node were obtained from 10 mongrel dogs (5 AF and 5 control group). Light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and immunohistochemistry were applied to transverse sections of each pulmonary vein and sinoatrial node. Morphological and distribution analyses were performed manually and automatically. RESULTS: Cardiomyocyte progenitor (CMPs) and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) showing typical features of either very immature or developing cells were found in the pulmonary vein sections of all animals subjected to experimental AF but not in the control group. The cells were mainly identified in sections with a thick muscular sleeve. A positive immunostaining of CMPs was also demonstrated; the staining characteristic was similar to that of P cells in the sinoatrial node, suggesting that these cells may function in a pacemaker capacity. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that pulmonary veins can host cardiac stem cell niches. Continuous rapid pacing can induce the differentiation of CMPs and ICCs, and CMPs may underlie the pacemaker activity of isolated pulmonary veins.

The effect of early and intensive statin therapy on ventricular premature beat or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the prognostic value of early and intensive lipid-lowering treatment on ventricular premature beat or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI], non-STEMI, and unstable angina pectoris). HYPOTHESIS: Provided that early and intensive lipid-lowering treatment can reduce ventricular premature beat or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia after ACS. METHODS: A total of 586 patients with ACS were randomly divided into 2 groups: group A (with conventional statin therapy, to receive 10 mg/day atorvastatin, n = 289) and group B (early and intensive statin therapy, 60 mg immediately and 40 mg/day atorvastatin, n = 297). The frequency of ventricular premature beat and NSVT was recorded with Holter monitoring after hospitalization (24 hours and 72 hours). RESULTS: Seventy-seven (11.8%) patients had NSVT. When compared to patients with no documented NSVT, patients with NSVT were older and more often had myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, and an ejection fraction < 40% in their history. Ventricular premature beats decreased significantly in the early and aggressive treatment group (24 hours, P < 0.01; 72 hours, P < 0.001). A significant reduction in NSVT was seen in the early and aggressive (24 hours, P < 0.01; 72 hours, P < 0.001) group. No side effects were observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Early and intensive lipid-lowering treatment can obviously decrease ventricular premature beats and NSVT.

The effect of early and intensive statin therapy on ventricular premature beat or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Our study's aim was to evaluate the prognostic value of early and intensive lipid-lowering treatment on ventricular premature beat or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) after acute coronary syndrome (STEMI, non-STEMI, and unstable angina pectoris). METHODS: Some 586 patients with acute coronary syndrome were randomly divided into two groups: Group A (with conventional statin therapy, to receive 10 mg/day atorvastatin, n = 289) and Group B (given early and intensive statin therapy, 60 mg immediately and 40 mg/day atorvastatin, n = 297). The frequency of ventricular premature beat and NSVT was recorded via Holter monitoring after hospitalization (24 h and 72 h). RESULTS: Seventy seven (11.8%) patients had NSVT. When compared to patients with no documented NSVT, patients with NSVT were older and more frequently had myocardial infarction in their history, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation and an ejection fraction < 40%. Ventricular premature beats decreased significantly in the early and aggressive treatment group (24 h, p < 0.01; 72 h, p < 0.001). A significant reduction in NSVT was seen in the early and aggressive treatment group (24 h, p < 0.01; 72 h, p < 0.001). There were no side effects observed in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Early and intensive lipid-lowering treatment can clearly decrease ventricular premature beats and NSVT.