[Serum screening of celiac disease in Chinese adults with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome in Hubei, China].

OBJECTIVE: To screen the prevalence of celiac disease with serologic markers in the central Chinese population, specifically in patients with chronic diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS). METHODS: A total of 282 adult patients with D-IBS were selected based on ROME III criteria with 296 age and sex matched consecutive healthy individuals as controls. A gluten-free diet (GFD) was advised in subjects positive for IgA/IgG anti-htTG/DGP antibodies and the serologic antibodies were retested after the GFD. RESULTS: Among the 578 study subjects, five D-IBS patients (5/282, 1.77%) and two healthy controls (2/296, 0.68%) were positive for anti-htTG/DGP antibodies. Among the seven positive cases, one was lost to follow-up and only four were evaluated during GFD therapy for an average of 5.2 months with clinical and/or serological manifestations improved. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of celiac disease may not be uncommon in China. Compared with the healthy population, patients with D-IBS tend to be affected more. Thus, it is significantly important to conduct routine screening for celiac disease in patients with D-IBS.

COVID-19 and its effects on the digestive system.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by infection of the coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with typical respiratory symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 invades not only the respiratory system, but also other organs expressing the cell surface receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2. In particular, the digestive system is a susceptible target of SARS-CoV-2. Gastrointestinal symptoms of COVID-19 include anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and liver damage. Patients with digestive damage have a greater chance of progressing to severe or critical illness, a poorer prognosis, and a higher risk of death. This paper aims to summarize the digestive system symptoms of COVID-19 and discuss fecal-oral contagion of SARS-CoV-2. It also describes the characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and discusses precautions for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection during gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures. Improved attention to digestive system abnormalities and gastrointestinal symptoms of COVID-19 patients may aid health care providers in the process of clinical diagnosis, treatment, and epidemic prevention and control.

[Meta-analysis of association of deletion allele of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene with coronary heart disease in China].

OBJECTIVE: To qualitatively and quantitatively assess the evidence regarding the relation of ACE I/D polymorphism to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. METHODS: Medline (January 1994 to February 2005) and China Hospital Knowledge Databases (January 1994 to May 2005) were retrieved for all publications relating to case-control studies reporting a link between CHD risk factors and the ACE I/D polymorphism. All 16 association studies were identified and a meta-analysis was conducted by using the RevMan 4.2 estimate for odds ratio (OR) to determine whether the DD genotype might predict the outcome in CHD. RESULTS: Sixteen out of 48 identified studies reporting data on 1345 CHD patients and 1286 matched controls fulfilled these inclusion criteria. The overall distribution of genotypes in the control subjects was 35.88% II, 40.86% ID, and 23.26% DD. The odds ratio for CHD for DD versus ID/II genotypes across all studies was 2.56 [95% CI, 2.09 - 3.13]. The relative CHD risk appeared to be increased with the D allele (chi(Trend)(2) = 97.12, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: ACE gene I/D polymorphism should be associated with susceptivity of coronary heart disease in China. The CHD risk is increased significantly in individuals with DD genotypes. The ACE D allele should be a risk factor for CHD.

[The effects of 40 mg atorvastatin on serum lipids, inflammatory markers and clinical events in ACS patients post PCI].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and effects of 40 mg atorvastatin on serum lipids, inflammatory markers and clinical events in ACS patients post PCI. METHODS: A total of 92 patients with ACS post successful PCI were randomly divided into atorvastatin 10 mg/d (group A) and atorvastatin 40 mg/d (group B) on top of the standard medical therapy. Blood were taken at baseline, 4, 12 and 24 weeks for serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lipids, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9) measurements. The major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were also observed. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in medication withdrawn (2 vs. 3 cases) due to increased ALT (3 times higher than normal) and incidence of MACE (5 vs. 7 cases) between the groups. TC and LDL were significantly reduced in both groups 4 weeks and thereafter post medication compared to pre-treatment (P < 0.05) and the reduction was more significant in group B than that in group A at 24 weeks post medication (P < 0.05) while TG and HDL remained unchanged. hs-CRP was significantly reduced at 12 and 24 weeks in both groups compared to baseline and the reduction was more significant in group B than that in group A at 24 weeks. MMP-9 was significantly reduced in both groups 4 weeks and thereafter post medication compared to pre-treatment (P < 0.05) and the reduction was more significant in group B than that in group A at 12 weeks post medication (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Both atorvastatin doses significantly reduced TC, LDL, hs-CRP and MMP-9 in ACS patients post PCI and the reduction was more significant in high dose atorvastatin group at 24 weeks while the MACE and drug withdraw rates were similar between the groups.

E-cadherin maintains the activity of neural stem cells and inhibits the migration.

Cadherins are important adhesion molecules that mediate adhesions and communications between cells. These molecules participate in the formation and maintenance of multicellular organisms including the stem cells. E-cadherin is one of the classic cadherins which is reported to be essential for the survival and self-renewal of embryonic stem cells. Moreover, it could induce cell proliferation inhibitory signaling to regulate cell proliferation. In our study, we over-expressed and silenced E-cadherin in NSCs by lentiviral ways. Transgenic cells were confirmed by both quantitative RT-PCR and western blot. Results of MTT assay showed that over-expression of E-cadherin could enhance the cell activity. Furthermore, we performed Transwell chamber assay to analyze its role in regulation of cell migration. The results showed that the migration percent of over-expression cells was lower than control. Our results indicated that E-caherin would maintain the stemness of NSCs and reduce cells migration.