Myotubularin-related protein 6 promotes invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway / 陆军军医大学学报

Objective To explore the effect of myotubularin-related protein 6(MTMR6)on the invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 and the potential molecular mechanism.Methods By analyzing the sequencing results of liver cancer tissues and adjacent tissues in Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database,MTMR6 gene was screened out,and Spearman analysis was used to analyze the correlation of MTMR6 and pathway in the Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database.Finally,the interaction between MTMR6 and signaling pathway proteins was analyzed with Genemania database.Then the expression of MTMR6 in human normal liver cell line LO-2 and hepatoma cell lines Huh-7 and HepG2 were measured and compared among the cell lines.Then HepG2 cells was selected as the study object.After MTMR6 gene was knocked down or over-expressed in HepG2 cells,Transwell assay was employed to observe invasion ability,and Western blotting was adopted to detect the expression of MTMR6,PI3K,p-PI3K,AKT,p-AKT,mTOR,p-mTOR MMP-2 and MMP-9.Results The expression of MTMR6 was significantly higher in the hepatocellular carcinoma tissues than the paracancer tissues,and it was in a positive linear correlation with PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway(P＜0.01),showing interaction with PI3K,AKT and mTOR.The expression level of MTMR6 was significantly higher in the HepG2 cells than the LO-2 and Huh-7 cells(P＜0.01).Over-expression of MTMR6 obviously enhanced invasion ability(P＜0.01),while its knockdown decreased the ability(P＜0.01)in HepG2 cells.Knockdown of MTMR6 gene also resulted in decreased phosphorylation of PI3K,AKT and mTOR,and expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9(P＜0.01),while over-expression of MTMR6 promoted the phosphorylation of PI3K,AKT and mTOR,and up-regulated the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9(P＜0.01).In addition,LY294002(a specific PI3K inhibitor)treatment could block the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and down-regulate the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9(P＜0.01),but had no effect on MTMR6 expression.Conclusion MTMR6 may promote the invasion of hepatoma cells through activation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Experience and learning curve of single-line suspension suction rod-assisted hybrid cavity-building thyroid surgery via the oral vestibular approach / 中华内分泌外科杂志

Objective:To explore the experience and learning curve of single-line suspension suction rod-assisted hybrid cavity-building thyroid surgery via the oral vestibular approach.Methods:Clinical data of 138 patients undergoing single-line suspension suction rod-assisted hybrid cavity-building thyroid surgery via oral vestibular approach from Sep. 2019 to Dec. 2021 in the Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery of Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College were retrospectively analyzed. The cumulative sum (CUSUM) method and best-fit curve analysis were used to compare the differences in each index such as operative time, intraoperative bleeding, number of lymph nodes cleared in the central region and postoperative related complications at various stages of the learning curve.Results:All 138 patients underwent single-line suspension rod-assisted hybrid cavity-building thyroid surgery via the oral vestibular approach, and one patient was converted to open surgery due to large intraoperative bleeding in the mass. There were 14 males and 124 females, mean age (36.07±8.49) years (20-55 years), thyroid tumor size (7.74±6.49) mm (2.4-50mm), 5 cases underwent Subtotal thyroidectomy, 129 cases underwent Unilateral lobectomy + lymph node dissection in the middle region, and 4 cases total thyroidectomy + central zone lymph node dissection. The number of surgical cases corresponding to the apex of the CUSUM learning curve was 45, and the learning curve was divided into two stages: the learning improvement stage (1-45 cases) and the mastery stage (46-138 cases). The operative time, intraoperative bleeding, postoperative hospital stay, and chin numbness were all lower in the proficiency period than in the learning and training period ( P<0.05), and the number of lymph nodes cleared in the central region was larger than that in the learning and improvement stage ( P<0.05), while the differences in other indexes between the two stages were not statistically significant ( P>0.05) . Conclusion:The single-line suspension suction rod-assisted hybrid cavity-building thyroid surgery via the oral vestibular approach has clinical application value and is worth promoting, and the number of surgical cases to be accumulated to master this technique is 45.

Strategies on biosynthesis and production of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants / 中草药·英文版

Medicinal plants are a valuable source of essential medicines and herbal products for healthcare and disease therapy. Compared with chemical synthesis and extraction, the biosynthesis of natural products is a very promising alternative for the successful conservation of medicinal plants, and its rapid development will greatly facilitate the conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants. Here, we summarize the advances in strategies and methods concerning the biosynthesis and production of natural products of medicinal plants. The strategies and methods mainly include genetic engineering, plant cell culture engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology based on multiple "OMICS" technologies, with paradigms for the biosynthesis of terpenoids and alkaloids. We also highlight the biosynthetic approaches and discuss progress in the production of some valuable natural products, exemplifying compounds such as vindoline (alkaloid), artemisinin and paclitaxel (terpenoids), to illustrate the power of biotechnology in medicinal plants.

Fungal luminescence pathways: research and applications / 生物工程学报

The fungal bioluminescence pathway (FBP) is a metabolic pathway responsible for the generation of bioluminescence derived from fungi. This pathway utilizes caffeic acid as the substrate, generating a high-energy intermediate, and the decomposition of which yields green fluorescence with a wavelength of approximately 520 nm. The FBP is evolutionally conserved in luminescent fungal groups. Unlike other bioluminescent systems, the FBP is particularly suitable for engineering applications in eukaryotic organisms, especially in plants. Currently, metabolically engineered luminescent plants are able to emit visible light to illuminate its surroundings, which can be visualized clearly in the dark. The fungal bioluminescent system could be explored in various applications in molecular biology, biosensors and glowing ornamental plants, and even green lighting along city streets.

Terpinen-4-ol regulates SIRT1 /Nrf2 signaling to inhibit vascular oxidative stress injury in chronic kidney disease / 安徽医科大学学报

Objective @# To investigate the effect and signaling mechanism of terpinen-4-ol (T4O) on vascular oxida- tive stress injury in mice with chronic kidney disease ( CKD) ．@*Methods @# A CKD mice model was prepared using high phosphorus diet combined with adenine，and the normal group was given an equal volume of saline gavage．The CKD model with low expression of SIRT1 in vivo was established by tail vein injection of lentiviral SIRT1 RNAi for the study of signaling mechanism．The administration groups were given T4O at low and high doses ( 10 mg / kg and 20 mg / kg) for 6 weeks by continuous gavage．Serum was collected to detect urea nitrogen ( BUN) and creatinine ( CRE) levels，and HE staining was used to observe the morphology of blood vessels in the thoracic aorta of mice expression. @*Results @# T4O reduced serum BUN and CRE levels in CKD mice to improve renal function，improved kidney and thoracic aortic vascular morphology，reduced vascular tissue MDA content，increased SOD content，and reduced ROS levels ; T4O intervention promoted Nrf2 nuclear translocation and upregulated HO-1，NQO-1 and SIRT1 protein expression ; LV-SIRT1 RNAi + T4O group was able to inhibit the effect of T4O on CKD-induced MDA and SOD levels，partially counteracting the effect of T4O in upregulating Nrf2 nuclear translocation and the protein expression levels of SIRT1，HO-1 and NQO-1．@*Conclusion @#T4O has a protective effect against oxidative stress in- jury in the thoracic aorta of CKD mice，and its molecular signaling mechanism may be related to the level of drug- regulated SIRT1 / Nrf2 cascade signaling.

Multi-scale feature extraction and classification of motor imagery electroencephalography based on time series data enhancement / 生物医学工程学杂志

The brain-computer interface (BCI) based on motor imagery electroencephalography (MI-EEG) enables direct information interaction between the human brain and external devices. In this paper, a multi-scale EEG feature extraction convolutional neural network model based on time series data enhancement is proposed for decoding MI-EEG signals. First, an EEG signals augmentation method was proposed that could increase the information content of training samples without changing the length of the time series, while retaining its original features completely. Then, multiple holistic and detailed features of the EEG data were adaptively extracted by multi-scale convolution module, and the features were fused and filtered by parallel residual module and channel attention. Finally, classification results were output by a fully connected network. The application experimental results on the BCI Competition IV 2a and 2b datasets showed that the proposed model achieved an average classification accuracy of 91.87% and 87.85% for the motor imagery task, respectively, which had high accuracy and strong robustness compared with existing baseline models. The proposed model does not require complex signals pre-processing operations and has the advantage of multi-scale feature extraction, which has high practical application value.

Design of flexible wearable sensing systems / 生物医学工程学杂志

The aging population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases in the elderly have brought a significant economic burden to families and society. The non-invasive wearable sensing system can continuously and real-time monitor important physiological signs of the human body and evaluate health status. In addition, it can provide efficient and convenient information feedback, thereby reducing the health risks caused by chronic diseases in the elderly. A wearable system for detecting physiological and behavioral signals was developed in this study. We explored the design of flexible wearable sensing technology and its application in sensing systems. The wearable system included smart hats, smart clothes, smart gloves, and smart insoles, achieving long-term continuous monitoring of physiological and motion signals. The performance of the system was verified, and the new sensing system was compared with commercial equipment. The evaluation results demonstrated that the proposed system presented a comparable performance with the existing system. In summary, the proposed flexible sensor system provides an accurate, detachable, expandable, user-friendly and comfortable solution for physiological and motion signal monitoring. It is expected to be used in remote healthcare monitoring and provide personalized information monitoring, disease prediction, and diagnosis for doctors/patients.

Perilla frutescens: A traditional medicine and food homologous plant / 中草药·英文版

Perilla frutescens, an annual herb of the Labiatae family, has been cultivated in China for more than 2000 years. P. frutescens is the one of the first medicinal and edible plant published by the Ministry of Health. Its leaves, stems and seeds can be used as medicine and edible food. Because of the abundant nutrients and bioactive components in this plant, P. frutescens has been studied extensively in medicine, food, health care and chemical fields with great prospects for development. This paper reviews the cultivation history, chemical compositions and pharmacological activities of P. frutescens, which provides a reference for the development and utilization of P. frutescens resources.

Serum levels of soluble programmed death-1 and soluble programmed death-ligand 1 in chronic hepatitis B patients with clinical cure and their clinical features / 临床肝胆病杂志

Objective To investigate the serum levels of soluble programmed death-1 (sPD-1) and soluble programmed death-ligand 1 (sPD-L1) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with clinical cure, the correlation between programmed death-1 (PD-1) and lymphocytes by flow cytometry, and the recovery of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific immunity. Methods A total of 26 CHB patients with clinical cure, 26 treatment-naïve CHB patients, and 26 healthy controls who were diagnosed at the outpatient service of Peking University First Hospital from January to May of 2022 were enrolled, and related clinical data and peripheral blood samples were collected. ELISA was used to measure the serum levels of sPD-1 and sPD-L1, and flow cytometry was used to measure the expression of PD-1 in peripheral blood lymphocytes. CHB patients with clinical cure were compared with the treatment-naïve CHB patients and the healthy controls. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between three groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. The Pearson correlation analysis or the Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between two continuous variables. Results For the 26 CHB patients with clinical cure, the mean time of antiviral therapy was 8.33 years, with entecavir as the antiviral drug. The CHB patients with clinical cure had significantly higher levels of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 than the healthy controls ( P 0.05). Conclusion The serum levels of sPD-1 and sPD-L1 in treatment-naïve CHB patients are mainly associated with exhausted CD8 + T cells in peripheral blood, while there is no significant correlation between serum sPD-1/sPD-L1 and exhausted CD8 + T cells in peripheral blood in CHB patients with clinical cure.

Identification of pathogenic genes in a family with oculocutaneous albinism / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective:To detect mutations in a pedigree containing two brothers with oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) by whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing.Methods:Clinical data were collected from a pedigree with OCA, and DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples obtained from the proband and other family members. The whole-exome coding region of the proband was directly sequenced by whole-exome sequencing technology to identify potential pathogenic mutations, and Sanger sequencing was conducted to verify the gene mutations.Results:Both the proband and his younger brother presented with generalized white skin, golden-yellow hair, bilateral nystagmus, photophobia, translucent iris, conjunctival congestion, and refractive errors of both eyes. The proband′s parents, grandparents, maternal grandparents, and children were all phenotypically normal, and his parents′ marriage was non-consanguineous. Three heterozygous mutations were identified in the OCA2 gene of both the proband and his younger brother, including a nonsense mutation c.1290T>A, and 2 missense mutations c.1363A>G and c.1204T>C. The mutation c.1204T>C has not been previously reported, and was a novel gene mutation in the OCA2 gene. In addition, 1 heterozygous mutation c.1204T>C was identified in the OCA2 gene in the proband′s father and daughter, 2 heterozygous mutations c.1290T>A and c.1363A>G were found in the OCA2 gene in the proband′s mother, and 1 heterozygous mutation c.1290T>A was identified in the OCA2 gene in the proband′s son and the daughter of the proband′s younger brother.Conclusions:Three gene mutations were identified in the OCA2 gene in the 2 patients with OCA, and the nonsense mutation c.1290T>A may be the pathogenic mutation causing the clinical phenotype of this family. These findings expand the pathogenic mutational spectrum of the OCA gene.

Analysis on the characteristics of the NSFC distinguished young scholars in health science / 中华医学科研管理杂志

Objective:By summarizing and analyzing the data of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for distinguished young scholars in the department of health science, this paper provides support and reference for the organization and management of talent projects in related institutions to better serve the growth of young talents in medical field.Methods:Based on the data of distinguished young scholars projects approved from 2011 to 2020, this paper explored the characteristics of the projects in the department of health science. Information about the research field, institution distribution, age and gender of the principle investigator, and the situation of hosted projects were analyzed, main challenges were summarized to propose possible measurements for improvement.Results:The overall funding rate of distinguished young scholars projects in the department of health science is relatively low and more competitive. The growth of medical talents takes longer, more support and further attention is needed.Conclusions:The organization of the distinguished young scholars project in health science needs to respect the characteristics and development nature of medicine, at the same time, strengthen multi-dimensional configuration and management, and create a soft environment conducive to the growth of outstanding medical talents.

Motor imagery electroencephalogram classification based on sparse spatiotemporal decomposition and channel attention / 生物医学工程学杂志

Motor imagery electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are non-stationary time series with a low signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, the single-channel EEG analysis method is difficult to effectively describe the interaction characteristics between multi-channel signals. This paper proposed a deep learning network model based on the multi-channel attention mechanism. First, we performed time-frequency sparse decomposition on the pre-processed data, which enhanced the difference of time-frequency characteristics of EEG signals. Then we used the attention module to map the data in time and space so that the model could make full use of the data characteristics of different channels of EEG signals. Finally, the improved time-convolution network (TCN) was used for feature fusion and classification. The BCI competition IV-2a data set was used to verify the proposed algorithm. The experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm could effectively improve the classification accuracy of motor imagination EEG signals, which achieved an average accuracy of 83.03% for 9 subjects. Compared with the existing methods, the classification accuracy of EEG signals was improved. With the enhanced difference features between different motor imagery EEG data, the proposed method is important for the study of improving classifier performance.

Influencing factors for direct-acting antiviral therapy failure in treatment of hepatitis C / 临床肝胆病杂志

Objective To investigate the influencing factors for direct-acting antiviral agent (DAA) therapy failure in the treatment of hepatitis C by comparing baseline clinical data and resistance-associated substitution (RAS) in sequencing data between the patients with HCV RNA reactivation after DAA therapy and the patients with successful DAA treatment. Methods A total of 13 patients from multiple centers who failed DAA therapy from November 2019 to October 2021 were enrolled as treatment failure group, and sequencing was performed for their positive serum samples. A total of 51 patients with successful DAA treatment were enrolled as control group, and baseline clinical data and sequencing results were compared between the treatment failure group and the control group. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups; univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate odds ratio ( OR ) and investigate the influencing factors for treatment failure. Results All 12 patients with complete treatment data experienced recurrence within 1 year after the end of medication. The male patients with treatment failure had significantly higher baseline total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, and creatinine than their female counterparts ( Z =-2.517, -2.440, and -2.132, P =0.010, 0.010, and 0.038), and the patients with an age of ≤55 years ( OR =5.152, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 1.116-23.790, P =0.036) or genotype 3b ( OR =9.726, 95% CI : 1.325-71.398, P =0.025) had a higher probability of treatment failure. There were differences in the incidence rates of major RAS mutations on three gene fragments between the treatment failure group and the treatment success group, and the common RAS mutations detected in the treatment failure group were not detected in the treatment success group. Conclusion Age, genotype, and RAS in serum virus gene sequence are influencing factors for DAA treatment failure.

Virological response to direct-acting antiviral therapy and changes in liver fibrosis indices in chronic hepatitis C patients with different alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels in a real-world setting / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the virologic response to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy and the changes in liver stiffness measurement (LSM), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) after treatment in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with different alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels at baseline in a real-world setting. MethodsCHC patients who attended the outpatient service of Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, from December 2017 to May 2020 were enrolled, and virologic response rate was calculated. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare LSM, FIB-4, and APRI between groups at baseline and at 12 weeks after treatment, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. ResultsA total of 48 CHC patients were enrolled, among whom 33.3% had abnormal ALT or AST at baseline. Among these patients, the virologic response rate was 85.4% at week 4 of treatment and 100% at the end of treatment and at 12, 24, and 48 weeks after treatment, and there were significant changes from baseline to 12 weeks after treatment in LSM ［6.1 (51-12.4) kPa vs 8.6 (5.7-16.9) kPa, Z=-1.676, P=0.043］ and APRI ［0.24(0.19-0.48) vs 0.42(0.23-1.17), Z=-2.050, P=0027］. From baseline to 12 weeks after treatment, the patients with abnormal ALT or AST at baseline had significant changes in LSM ［89(5.6-13.1) kPa vs 14.4(8.0-28.2) kPa, Z=-1.679, P=0.047］ and APRI ［0.44(0.25-0.50) vs 1.29(0.99-2.09), Z=-3.427, P=0.001］. ConclusionCHC patients achieve a high sustained virologic response rate after DAA therapy, and the patients with abnormal ALT or AST at baseline tend to have more significant improvements in LSM and APRI than those without such abnormality.

Value of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine ratio for guiding the access route of double-balloon enteroscopy for small intestinal bleeding / 中华消化内镜杂志

Objective:To evaluate the value of blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/creatinine (Cr) ratio for guiding the access route of double balloon enteroscopy (DBE) for small intestinal bleeding.Methods:The clinical information was collected from 105 patients who underwent DBE for suspected small intestinal bleeding at Air Force Medical Center from January 2015 to October 2019. Patients were divided into the elevated BUN/Cr group ( n=52) and the normal BUN/Cr group ( n=53), with a cut-off value of 81. Comparison was made for the detection rate of lesions between the oral route and anal route separately in the two groups using Chi-square test. Results:Among the 105 patients with suspected small intestinal bleeding, definite causes of bleeding were identified in 79 patients by DBE, and the overall lesion detection rate was 75.24% (79/105). In the elevated BUN/Cr group, the overall lesion detection rate was 76.92% (40/52), among which 79.49% (31/39) was through oral and 47.37% (9/19) through anal enteroscopy. In the normal BUN/Cr group, the overall lesion detection rate was 73.58% (39/53), and 63.64% (21/33) was transoral and 51.43% (18/35) transanal. The lesion detection rate of transoral enteroscopy in the elevated group was significantly higher than that in the normal group ( χ2=6.576, P=0.010). There was no significant difference in the lesion detection rate of transanal enteroscopy between the two groups ( χ2=2.230, P=0.135). Conclusion:For patients with active small intestinal bleeding (active bleeding within 48 hours), the BUN/Cr ratio higher than 81 may indicate that DBE should be performed firstly via oral route.

Diagnosis application of rapid detection of group A Streptococcus antigen in group A Streptococcus infection in children / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective:To explore the clinical application value of group A Streptococcus (GAS) antigen rapid detection method in children suffering from GAS infection.Methods:A total of 44 733 children with suspected GAS infection who were admitted to the Outpatient and Inpatient Departments of Shenzhen Children′s Hospital from January 2015 to December 2019.Throat swab specimens from all children were collected, and BinaxNOW Strep A Test reagent was used for GAS antigen rapid detection.Among them, the throat swabs of 346 children were inoculated with blood culture medium for traditional bacterial culture, and then the GAS antigen rapid detection was tested.The sensitivity and specificity of the two methods were compared, and according to the result of the GAS antigen rapid detection, its age, gender and seasonal trends were analyzed.SPSS 19.0 software was applied for statistical analysis of the data.Results:Among the 346 children tested by both methods, the results of bacterial culture were adopted as the reference method, the sensitivity of the rapid detection method for GAS antigen was 89.41%(152/170 cases), and the specificity was 94.32%(166/176 cases) compared with culture methods.A total of 44 733 cases GAS antigen were tested in children in Shenzhen, of which 10 024 cases were positive, with the positive detection rate of 22.41%.The trend of GAS antigen rapid detection was consistent with the five-year trend, with the high positive rate of 3-8 years, of which 4-6 years of positive rate was the highest.The two seasonal peaks were evident each year, with peaks occurring in April-June, and November and January of next year.The detection rate ratio of male and female was 1.74∶1, and the gender difference was significant ( χ2=27.93, P<0.000 1). GAS antigen rapid detection rate in different clinical departments from high to low in order are as follows: dermatology outpatient (52.34%), emergency clinic (47.74%), internal medicine outpatient (37.36%), infectious disease area (19.71%), five-level disease area (10.27%), internal medicine area (8.63%), surgical areas (7.34%) and neonatal areas (0). Conclusions:GAS antigen rapid detection method and bacterial culture method have high coincidence rate, and high sensitivity and specificity, and can be popularized and applied in the diagnosis of GAS infectious diseases in children.GAS detection rate is higher in outpatient emergency department and dermatology clinics.There are obvious differences from seasonal and population (age and gender) in the positive detection of GAS antigen.No neonates were found.

Effect of Syncytin-1 overexpression in skeletal muscle cells on co-culture model of spinal cord anterior horn motor neurons, Schwann cells, and skeletal muscle cells / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective:To explore the effect of Syncytin-1 overexpression in the skeletal muscle cells on changes of sodium-dependent neutral amino acid transporter 1 (ASCT1), inflammatory factors and neuroprotective factors in co-culture model of spinal cord anterior horn motor neurons, Schwann cells, and skeletal muscle cells.Methods:(1) Spinal cord anterior horn motor neurons, skeletal muscle cells, and Schwann cells were primarily cultured in vitro; the expressions of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and calcium-binding protein B (S100B) in the neurons, muscle cells, and Schwann cells were detected by immunofluorescence staining, respectively. (2) Plasmids containing Syncytin-1 or control plasmids were transfected into the skeletal muscle cells, respectively; 24 h after that, these transfected skeletal muscle cells were co-cultured with spinal cord anterior horn motor neurons and Schwann cells, respectively (Syncytin-1 recombinant plasmid transfection group or control plasmid transfection group); changes of morphology and junction of co-culture cells were observed under inverted microscope. Forty-eighty h after co-culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentrations in the supernatant of co-culture cells; real-time quantitative (qRT)-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect the Syncytin-1, ASCT1, TNF-α, iNOS, and VEGF mRNA and protein expressions in the co-culture cells Results:(1) Immunofluorescent staining showed that more than 95% spinal cord anterior horn motor neurons were with positive CHAT expression, more than 95% skeletal muscle cells were with positive α-SMA expression, and more than 95% Schwann cells were with positive S100B expression; all of which were localized in the cytoplasm. (2) There were no obvious differences in number or morphology of co-culture cells between the Syncytin-1 recombinant plasmid transfection group and control plasmid transfection group. As compared with the control plasmid transfection group, Syncytin-1 recombinant plasmid transfection group had significantly increased concentrations of TNF-α, iNOS and VEGF in the supernatant of co-cultured cells, and statistically increased mRNA and protein expressions of TNF-α, iNOS, syncytin-1 and VEGF, and significantly decreased ASCT1 mRNA and protein expressions ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Syncytin-1 overexpression in the skeletal muscle cells may decrease the ASCT1 expression, induce the inflammatory factor release, and increase the neuroprotective factor VEGF expression.

Effect of hyperuricemia on the prognosis of IgA nephropathy based on propensity score matching / 中华肾脏病杂志

Objective:To investigate the effects of hyperuricemia on the prognosis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) using propensity score matching (PSM) method.Methods:IgAN patients proven by biopsy were included. PSM was used to match patients. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the effects of hyperuricemia on IgAN prognosis. Primary outcome events were defined as death, or end-stage renal disease (dialysis, transplantation), or a decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) greater than 40%. Renal outcome was defined as end-stage renal disease (dialysis, transplantation), or a decrease in eGFR greater than 40%.Results:A total of 1 454 IgAN patients were included in this study, including 850 females and 604 males. Uric acid level was (368.26±92.87) μmol/L in the males, and (277.23±92.71) μmol/L in the females. The median follow-up time was 85.00(56.10, 106.33) months. During the follow-up period, a total of 134 patients reached the primary outcome events, including 5 deaths, 24 dialysis patients, 5 kidney transplant patients, and 100 patients with eGFR decreased by more than 40%. After 1∶1 matching, 131 males and 159 females in the hyperuricemia group were successfully matched with 131 males and 159 females in the normal uric acid group, and there was no significant statistical difference in each parameter in baseline between the hyperuricemia group and normal uric acid group after matching. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that either before or after matching, the incidence of primary outcome events in male or female patients with hyperuricemia was higher than those with normal uric acid, but there was no statistically significant difference in incidence of primary outcome events between female hyperuricemia group and female normal uric acid group after matching (Log-rank test, χ2=3.586, P=0.058). Cox proportional hazard regression model showed that, in the pre-match fully adjusted model, the hazard ratio ( HR) of entering primary outcome events was 2.29-fold (95% CI 1.27-4.11, P=0.006) for men with hyperuricemia and 1.85-fold (95% CI 1.01-3.37, P=0.045) for women with hyperuricemia compared with those with normal uric acid. In the post-match fully adjusted model, the HR of entering primary outcome events was 2.41-fold (95% CI 1.18-4.93, P=0.016) for men with hyperuricemia and 1.83-fold (95% CI 0.91-3.67, P=0.091) for women with hyperuricemia compared with those with normal uric acid. In the pre-match fully adjusted model, the HR of entering renal outcome events was 2.68-fold (95% CI 1.47-4.88, P=0.001) for men with hyperuricemia and 1.81-fold (95% CI 0.99-3.33, P=0.056) for women with hyperuricemia compared with those with normal uric acid. In the post-match fully adjusted model, the HR of entering renal outcome events was 2.89-fold (95% CI 1.36-6.15, P=0.006) for men with hyperuricemia and 1.81-fold (95% CI 0.88-3.72, P=0.106) for women with hyperuricemia compared with those with normal uric acid. Conclusion:Hyperuricemia may be associated with IgAN progression, and it has a more significant effect on male IgAN patients.

Analysis of clinical characteristics of 39 children with occult pneumococcal bacteremia / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and appropriate treatment of occult pneumococcal bacteremia (OPB) in children.Methods:The clinical characteristics, drug sensitivity and antibiotic use of 39 children with OPB who met the inclusion criteria in the Pediatric Internal Medicine Ward of Shenzhen Children′s Hospital from January 2013 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:The median age of onset in OPB in children was 2 years and 4 months, and 74.4% of children(29/39 cases) were between 6 months and 3 years.The average total fever duration was 3.69 days (1-14 days), and the average hospital stay was 6.74 days.Peripheral blood white blood cell count was >15×10 9/L in 89.7% (35/39 cases) of the children, C-reactive protein was increased in 76.9% (30/39 cases) of the children, and procalcitonin > 2 mg/L in 38.9% (14/36 cases) of the children.During hospita-lization, all the children received the treatment of intravenous antibiotics.The antibiotics used initially included Cefuroxime in 11 cases (28.2%), Amoxicillin sulbactam sodium in 10 cases (25.6%), Ceftriaxone sodium in 7 cases (17.9%) and Meloxicillin sulbactam in 6 cases (15.4%). The average fever clearance time after the antibiotic therapy was 1.4 days, and the average intravenous antibiotics treatment time was 6.2 days.The results indicated that the insensitivity rate of Penicillin was 46.2%, the insensitivity rate of Amoxicillin, Ceftriaxone and Cefotaxime were 22.2%, 10.3% and 17.9%, respectively, Erythromycin resistant rate was 100.0%, and no patient was resistant to Vancomycin and Linezolid. Conclusions:OPB occurs most frequently in infants aged from 6 months to 3 years old, with low drug resistance to Amoxicillin, Ceftriaxone and Cefotaxime.Children with complete immunity have shorter fever duration and good prognosis after antibiotic treatment.

Research progress on congenital heart diseases of diminutive pulmonary blood / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Congenital heart diseases of diminutive pulmonary blood are characterized by the decrease of pulmonary blood flow accompanied with pulmonary stenosis or atresia.Diminutive pulmonary blood leads to abnormal development of lung, the formation of major aorta pulmonary collateral arteries (MAPCAs) and a complex cardiac anatomy structure in children, thereby resulting in serious clinical symptoms, poor quality of life and even life-threatening conditions.Therefore, diminutive pulmonary blood is a thorny problem in the treatment of cardiac malformation.However, the etiology and pathogenesis of this disease have not been elucidated yet.The clinical treatment plan and time depend on the disease type and MAPCAs.In this paper, the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment progress of congenital heart diseases of diminutive pulmonary blood were reviewed.