Association of Thyroid Autoantibodies with Diabetic Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most common and severe complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Thyroid dysfunction has been associated with diabetes and its complications but the relationship between thyroid autoantibodies and T2DM-DN remains unclear. Objective: The study aims to investigate the association between thyroid autoantibodies and diabetic nephropathy in patients with T2DM and analyze the expression of serum thyroid hormone levels in T2DM-DN patients and its prognostic value. Methods: 117 patients with T2DM who visited our hospital from December 2020 to December 2022 were recruited and assigned to group A (65 patients with T2DM-DN) and group B (52 patients with T2DM without DN). Serum TH levels of patients with DN and normal diabetic patients were analyzed, and the prognosis of patients was evaluated. Results: The results demonstrated that compared to group B, group A had higher serum cystatin C (cysC), serum creatinine (SCr), thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), and urinary microalbumin/creatinine (UACR) levels, while the levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3), albumin (ALB), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were lower (P < .05). FT3 in group A2 was inferior to that in group A0 and group A1 (P < .05). After correction, the results demonstrated that the level of thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) in group A1 was superior to that in group A0 (P < .05). The positive rates of TPOAb (20%) and TgAb (23.08%) in patients with T2DM-DN were drastically superior to those in patients with T2DM without DN. Among the independent risk factors for DN, the OR of positive TPOAb was 8.125. Conclusion: The level and positive rate of thyroid autoantibodies in patients with T2DM-DN were high and TPOAb positivity might be a risk factor for the occurrence of T2DM-DN.

The role of mindfulness and dysexecutive functioning in the association between depression and COVID-19-related stress: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Background: Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the severity of college student's mental health has increased, with depression being the most prominent. This study's primary purpose was to explore (1) whether the perceived stress of COVID-19 was associated with depression through sequential mediation of mindfulness and dysexecutive function and also (2) the temporal association among mindfulness, dysexecutive function and depression.Methods: We performed two studies to evaluate dysexecutive function as a mechanism through which mindfulness impacts depression under the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 1 used a sequential mediation model to test the mediating role of mindfulness and dysexecutive function between the perceived stress of COVID-19 and depression based on 1,665 emerging adults. Study 2 used a random-effect, cross-lagged panel model (RE-CLPM) to test the directionality among mindfulness, dysexecutive function, and depression based on 370 emerging adults.Results: The cross-sectional study showed that perceived stress of COVID-19 was positively associated with depression through the sequential mediation of mindfulness and dysexecutive function (effect: 0.08, 95%CI = [0.07, 0.10]), also through the mediation of mindfulness (effect: 0.05, 95%CI = [0.03, 0.06]) and dysexecutive function (effect: 0.08, 95%CI = [0.06, 0.10]) separately. The RE-CLPM study indicated that dysexecutive function mediates the reciprocal relation between mindfulness and depression at the within-person level.Conclusion: These results suggest that dysexecutive function is an intermediate psychological mechanism that exacerbates depression under pandemic-related stress. Mindfulness can predict dysexecutive function and subsequently improve depression. As depression under pandemic-related stress can weaken the mindful state, long-term mindfulness practices are needed to maintain mental health during COVID-19.

Dysexecutive function is a potential cognitive risk factor of depression under pandemic stress using cross-sectional data.The random effect cross-lagged panel model (RE-CLPM) demonstrated temporal association among mindfulness, dysexecutive functions, and depression.Long-term mindfulness practices are needed to maintain mental health under COVID-19 stress.

[Treatment of Chronic Endometritis by Penning Granule: a Clinical Randomized Controlled Trial].

Objective To observe the mechanism of Penning Granule ( PG) for treating chronic endometritis (CE). Methods Totally 38 CE patients in line with inclusive criteria were assigned to the PG group (23 cases) and the control group (15 cases) according to random digit table. PG (consisting of sargentgloryvine stem, Herba Patriniae, Hedyotis Diffusa, red peony root, Angelica Sinensis, prepared mastiche, prepared myrrh, common burreed tuber, zedoary root, Spina Gleditsiae, Danshen root, Radix Bupleuri, asarum , Astragalus, Pangolin) was administered to patients in the PG group, 105 g each time, twice per day for 4 successive weeks. Those in the control group took Levofloxacin (0.5 g, once per day) and Metronidazole Tablet (0. 5 g, twice daily for 1 successive week). They were followed-up for half a year after ending treatment. The morphological changes of uterine endometrium were observed by hyst- eroscopy before and after treatment, and endometrium biopsy performed at fixed position. The expres- sions of mucin-1 (MUC-1 ) and hypoxia induced facter-1 α (HIF-1α) in inflammatory endometrium were analyzed. The clinical effects were compared between PG and antibiotics from improvement of clinical symptoms, hysteroscopic manifestations, pathological analyses, and molecular levels. Results The markedly effective rate of clinical symptoms in the PG group was 91. 3% (21/23) , higher than that of the control group [60. 0% (9/15) ; P <-0. 05]. The plasma cell CD38 infiltration in endometrial stroma of the PG group were significantly decreased, showing better effect than antibiotics in the control group (P < 0.05). The positive expression of MUC-1 was increased and the expression of HIF-1 α was decreased in the PG group, showing better effect than antibiotics in the control group (P <0. 05). Conclusion PG showed obvious effects for treating chronic endometritis , and it was superior to that of antibiotics alone.