Association of Iron Therapy with Mortality in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction and Iron Deficiency.

Iron deficiency (ID) is common in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). It is unknown whether patients with AMI combined with ID will benefit from iron supplementation therapy. This study aimed to assess the relationship between iron therapy and mortality in AMI patients. Retrospective analysis was performed in subjects screened from the Medical Information Mart in Intensive Care-IV database. The data were obtained from ICU patients admitted to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center between 2008 and 2019. The patients were divided into two groups according to iron treatment exposure. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed in the original cohort at a 1:1 ratio. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to adjust for confounding factors. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. A total of 426 patients were included in this study. After 1:1 PSM, 208 patients were analyzed. Iron treatment was associated with a lower risk of 28-day mortality (9 deaths (8.65%) in the iron treatment group vs. 21 deaths (20.19%) in the non-iron treatment group; HR = 0.39; 95% CI = 0.17-0.89; p = 0.025) and in-hospital mortality (4 deaths (3.85%) in the iron treatment group vs. 12 deaths (11.54%) in the non-iron treatment group; OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.03-0.74; p = 0.029). Iron treatment was associated with reduced 28-day mortality in patients with AMI combined with ID. Iron treatment had no significant effect on the length of hospitalization or the length of ICU stay. Prospective studies are needed to verify this conclusion.

Preparation of bacterial fertilizer from biogas residue after anaerobic co-digestion of kitchen waste and residual sludge.

Azotobacter chroococcum and Bacillus subtilis were selected as fermentation strains, and biogas residue after anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste and residual sludge was used as fermentation substrate. A single factor optimization test was used to optimize the solid-state fermentation parameters of biogas residue with the number of viable bacteria and the number of spores as indexes. The results showed that the optimum inoculation conditions involved the following: 55% initial moisture content, 15% initial inoculation amount, 30 ℃, and 1:1 initial inoculation ratio for 13 days. Pot experiment showed that the prepared three kinds of bacterial fertilizers could not only effectively promote the growth of white clover, improve the composition of soil nutrients, but also change the structure of soil bacterial community, which is of great significance to the health of soil ecosystem in white clover.

Association between anti-SSA autoantibodies and conduction disturbances in heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Conduction disturbances play an important role in the occurrence and development of heart failure (HF). Studies suggest autoantibodies may attack the conduction system. However, whether autoantibodies are associated with conduction disturbances in patients with HF is unclear. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess whether anti-SSA, anti-Ro/Sjögren syndrome-related antigen A antibodies known for congenital atrioventricular block (AVB), is associated with conduction disturbances in patients with HF. METHODS: This retrospective observational study used data from patients with HF who were admitted to Beijing Anzhen Hospital between January 2018 and June 2022. Patients who were tested for anti-SSA and had undergone electrocardiographic examination during hospitalization were included. Conduction disturbances, including AVB, bundle branch block (BBB), and intraventricular conduction delay, were confirmed by a cardiologist blinded to anti-SSA status. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between anti-SSA and conduction disturbances. RESULTS: A total of 766 patients were included in this study, of whom 70 (9.1%) were anti-SSA positive. Subjects who were anti-SSA positive showed a higher prevalence of AVB (20% vs 10.6%) and BBB (27.3 % vs 10.9 %), including both left BBB and right BBB (all P <.05). After adjusting for known risk factors, anti-SSA was independently associated with AVB (odds ratio [OR] 2.42; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-5.43; P = .03) and BBB (OR 3.15; 95% CI 1.68-5.89; P <.001). CONCLUSION: Anti-SSA is independently associated with AVB and BBB in patients with HF. Further study of the role of autoantibodies in the development of conduction abnormalities in patients with HF to generate possible targeted treatments is required.

Association between blood pressure variability and risk of kidney function decline in hypertensive patients without chronic kidney disease: a post hoc analysis of Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial study.

BACKGROUND: Blood pressure variability (BPV) is a risk factor for poor kidney function independent of blood pressure (BP) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Little is known about the association between kidney function decline and BPV in hypertensive patients without CKD. METHODS: A post-hoc analysis of the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) was performed. BPV was measured as standard deviation (SD) and average real variability (ARV). Cox proportional hazard models were employed to explore the relationship between BPV and incident CKD and albuminuria. RESULTS: A total of 5700 patients were included, with a mean age of 66.4 years old. During a median of 3.29 years follow-up, 150 (2.6%) patients developed CKD and 222 (7.2%) patients developed albuminuria. Patients were divided into four groups according to the quartiles of BPV. Compared with SBPV Q1, the incidence of CKD was higher in SBPV Q2-Q4; hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval were 1.81 (1.07-3.04), 1.85 (1.10-3.12) and 1.90 (1.13-3.19), respectively. The association between incident CKD and albuminuria with DBPV was less significant than SBPV. Similar results were found when measuring BPV as ARV and SD. No interaction was detected in BP-lowering strategy and SBPV on incident CKD and albuminuria ( P  > 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study found that BPV was a risk factor for incident CKD and albuminuria in patients without CKD, especially SBPV. Although intensive BP control increased the risk of CKD, the association between SBPV and kidney function decline did not differ between the two treatment groups. REGISTRATION: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ , Unique identifier: NCT01206062.

A New Event-Triggered Adaptive Fixed-Time Control Design for Uncertain Nonlinear Systems.

This article investigates the problem of dynamic memory event-triggered (DMET) fixed-time tracking control within time-varying asymmetric constraints for nonaffine nonstrict-feedback uncertain nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and unknown disturbances. The existing dynamic event-triggered control methods cannot handle the nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and nonaffine inputs, which greatly limits the applicability of the strategy. To this end, a novel DMET adaptive fuzzy fixed-time control protocol is constructed based on the idea of command filtered backstepping, in which a new dynamic signal function is established to deal with the unmodeled dynamics and an improved DMET mechanism (DMETM) is designed to solve the problem of nonaffine inputs. It is proved that the newly DMET control strategy ensures the tracking error converges to an arbitrarily small compact set in a fixed time and all the signals of the closed-loop systems are bounded. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by two simulation examples.

EVPsort: An Atlas of Small ncRNA Profiling and Sorting in Extracellular Vesicles and Particles.

Extracellular vesicles and particles (EVPs) play a crucial role in mediating cell-to-cell communication by transporting various molecular cargos, with small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) holding particular significance. A thorough investigation into the abundance and sorting mechanisms of ncRNA within EVPs is imperative for advancing their clinical applications. We have developed EVPsort, which not only provides an extensive overview of ncRNA profiling in 3,162 samples across various biofluids, cell lines, and disease contexts but also seamlessly integrates 19 external databases and tools. This integration encompasses information on associations between ncRNAs and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), motifs, targets, pathways, diseases, and drugs. With its rich resources and powerful analysis tools, EVPsort extends its profiling capabilities to investigate ncRNA sorting, identify relevant RBPs and motifs, and assess functional implications. EVPsort stands as a pioneering database dedicated to comprehensively addressing both the abundance and sorting of ncRNA within EVPs. It is freely accessible at https://bioinfo.vanderbilt.edu/evpsort/.

Effect of Intensive Blood Pressure Control on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Cancer Survivors.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate whether cancer modifies the effect of intensive blood pressure control on major cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: Using data of the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial), we compared the risk of the composite outcomes of myocardial infarction, other acute coronary syndromes, stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular death in patients with and without a history of cancer. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we tested interactions between history of cancer and intensive blood pressure control on major cardiovascular outcomes. RESULTS: The study included a total of 9336 patients, with a mean age of 67.9±9.4 years, among whom 2066 (22.2%) were cancer survivors. Over a median follow-up of 3.2 years, 561 primary cardiovascular outcomes were observed. Cancer survivors had a similar risk of experiencing the primary outcome compared with patients without cancer after multivariable adjustment (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.77-1.15]). Intensive blood pressure control reduced risk of the primary cardiovascular outcome similarly for cancer survivors (hazard ratio, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.51-0.97]) and patients without cancer (HR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.63-0.93]; P for interaction 0.74). CONCLUSIONS: In SPRINT study, intensive blood pressure treatment reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events in cancer survivors to a similar extent to that of patients without cancer. Cancer history not requiring active treatment in last 2 years should not be an obstacle to intensive treatment of hypertension. This post hoc analysis should be considered as hypothesis-generating and merit further clinical trial. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01206062.

FindAdapt: A python package for fast and accurate adapter detection in small RNA sequencing.

Adapter trimming is an essential step for analyzing small RNA sequencing data, where reads are generally longer than target RNAs ranging from 18 to 30 bp. Most adapter trimming tools require adapter information as input. However, adapter information is hard to access, specified incorrectly, or not provided with publicly available datasets, hampering their reproducibility and reusability. Manual identification of adapter patterns from raw reads is labor-intensive and error-prone. Moreover, the use of randomized adapters to reduce ligation biases during library preparation makes adapter detection even more challenging. Here, we present FindAdapt, a Python package for fast and accurate detection of adapter patterns without relying on prior information. We demonstrated that FindAdapt was far superior to existing approaches. It identified adapters successfully in 180 simulation datasets with diverse read structures and 3,184 real datasets covering a variety of commercial and customized small RNA library preparation kits. FindAdapt is stand-alone software that can be easily integrated into small RNA sequencing analysis pipelines.

Body mass index, frailty, and outcomes in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

AIMS: Relationship between body mass index (BMI), frailty, and clinical adverse events remains unclear in patients with heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in different patient populations. We aimed to compare the association of BMI, frailty, and clinical adverse events between a US cohort from the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist (TOPCAT) study and a Chinese cohort from the Heart Failure Registry of Patient Outcomes (HERO) study. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used data of 1715 participants enrolled from America in the TOPCAT study and 1487 patients with HFpEF in the Chinese registry study, the HERO. We evaluated the relationship between BMI and frailty using multivariate restricted cubic spline logistic regression. Association between frailty and BMI categories and primary outcomes including HF hospitalization, aborted sudden death, and cardiovascular death, all-cause mortality, and HF hospitalization were analysed by Cox proportional hazards models. The patients' mean age was 72 ± 11 years for both study populations, with 50% and 46% female for the TOPCAT study and the HERO study, respectively. Patients in the TOPCAT study had a higher mean BMI (33.9 vs. 24 kg/m2), with 72.3% vs. 52.9% defined as moderately to severely frail (frailty index > 0.3). In the TOPCAT study, risk of frailty rose as BMI increased, but not in the HERO study. Patients with frailty were at significant higher risk for the primary composite outcomes [hazard ratio (HR) 1.84 (95% confidence interval: 1.46-2.32)], all-cause mortality [HR 1.73 (1.34-2.25)], and HF hospitalization [HR 1.83 (1.40-2.40)] in the TOPCAT study. The corresponding numbers in the HERO study were 1.26 (1.01-1.57), 2.21 (1.45-3.35), and 1.15 (0.81-1.37), respectively. The association of frailty with clinical outcomes did not vary with BMI categories in the two studies. CONCLUSIONS: BMI distribution and association between BMI and frailty risk were different between the two study populations. Frailty was associated with clinical adverse events and this association was consistent across different BMI categories in both studies.

Human Gingival Stem Cells Prevent Diabetes in NOD Mice by Reducing Follicular B Cells / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

BackgroundType 1 diabetes is caused by a chronic immune response that destroys islet beta cells， resulting in elevated blood glucose. Mesenchymal stem cells can prevent and treat the development of diabetes and its complications. However， little is known about the effects and potential mechanisms of Gingival mesenchymal stem cells （GMSCs） in preventing diabetes. The aim of this study is to investigate the mechanism of GMSCs in preventing type 1 diabetes in mice and to find targets for clinical treatment of diabetes. MethodsWe injected human GMSCs into NOD mice to observe the trend of blood glucose， observed the survival of pancreatic β-cells by immunohistochemistry， and detected the change of immune cells in the spleen of mice by flow analysis. Finally， the immune cells in NOD mice were transfused into NOD-SCID mice to observe the onset of diabetes in NOD-SCID mice. ResultsGMSCs significantly reduced the incidence of diabetes in NOD mice， with 64% of control mice developing diabetes at 27 weeks of age compared with 35% in the GMSC group， P=0.013. The percentage of Follicular B cells（FO B cell） in the spleen of GMSCs-treated mice decreased from （52.2±4.1）% to （43.2±5.3）%， P=0.008， while other types of immune cells did not change significantly. The immunohistochemical results showed that GMSCs could effectively improve the survival of pancreatic β-cells， which could continuously produce insulin to control blood glucose. Finally， we found the spleen cells transfusion could prevent the development of diabetes in NOD-SCID mice. ConclusionGMSCs can reduce diabetes in mice by reducing FO B cells in the spleen.

Cytopathological characterization of ascites for the diagnosis of serous ovarian carcinoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective: To investigate the cytomorphological and immunocytochemical features of tumor cells in the ascites of ovarian plasmacytoma (SOC). Methods: Specimens of serous cavity effusions were collected from 61 tumor patients admitted to the Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2015 to July 2021, including ascites from 32 SOC, 10 gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas, 5 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas, 6 lung adenocarcinomas, 4 benign mesothelial hyperplasia and 1 malignant mesothelioma patients, pleural effusions from 2 malignant mesothelioma patients and pericardial effusion from 1 malignant mesothelioma. Serous cavity effusion samples of all patients were collected, conventional smears were made through centrifugation, and cell paraffin blocks were made through centrifugation of remaining effusion samples. Conventional HE staining and immunocytochemical staining were applied to observe and summarize cytomorphological characteristics and immunocytochemical characteristics. The levels of serum tumor markers carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) were detected. Results: Of the 32 SOC patients, 5 had low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (LGSOC) and 27 had high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC). 29 (90.6%) SOC patients had elevated serum CA125, but the difference was not statistically significant between them and patients with non-ovarian primary lesions included in the study (P>0.05); The serum CEA was positive in 9 patients with gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma and 5 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, and the positive rate was higher than that in SOC patients (P<0.001); The serum CA19-9 was positive in 5 patients with gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma and 5 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and the positive rate was higher than that in SOC patients (P<0.05). The serum CA125, CEA and CA19-9 were within the normal range in 4 patients with benign mesothelial hyperplasia. LGSOC tumor cells were less heterogeneous and aggregated into small clusters or papillary pattern, and psammoma bodies could be observed in some LGSOC cases. The background cells were fewer and lymphocytes were predominant; the papillary structure was more obvious after making cell wax blocks. HGSOC tumor cells were highly heterogeneous, with significantly enlarged nuclei and varying sizes, which could be more than 3-fold different, and nucleoli and nuclear schizophrenia could be observed in some cases; tumor cells were mostly clustered into nested clusters, papillae and prune shapes; there were more background cells, mainly histiocytes. Immunocytochemical staining showed that AE1/AE3, CK7, PAX-8, CA125, and WT1 were diffusely positively expressed in 32 SOC cases. P53 was focally positive in all 5 LGSOCs, diffusely positive in 23 HGSOCs, and negative in the other 4 HGSOCs. Most of adenocarcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract and lung had a history of surgery, and tumor cells of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tend to form small cell nests. Immunocytochemistry can assist in the differential diagnosis of mesothelial-derived lesions with characteristic "open window" phenomenon. Conclusion: Combining the clinical manifestations of the patient, the morphological characteristics of the cells in the smear and cell block of the ascites can provide important clues for the diagnosis of SOC, and the immunocytochemical tests can further improve the accuracy of the diagnosis.

Isolation and identification of chemical constituents from aerial parts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis / 中国中药杂志

The present study investigated the chemical constituents from the aerial parts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis. The ethanol extract of the aerial parts of G. uralensis was separated and purified by different column chromatographies such as macroporous resin, silica gel, and Sephadex LH-20, and through preparative HPLC and recrystallization. Thirteen compounds were isolated and identified as(2S)-6-[(Z)-3-hydroxymethyl-2-butenyl]-5,7,3'-trihydroxy-4'-methoxy-dihydroflavanone(1),(2S)-8-[(E)-3-hydroxymethyl-2-butenyl]-5,7,3',5'-tetrahydroxy-dihydroflavanone(2), α,α'-dihydro-5,4'-dihydroxy-3-acetoxy-2-isopentenylstilbene(3), 6-prenylquercetin(4), 6-prenylquercetin-3-methyl ether(5), formononetin(6), 3,3'-dimethylquercetin(7), chrysoeriol(8), diosmetin(9),(10E,12Z,14E)-9,16-dioxooctadec-10,12,14-trienoic acid(10), 5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxy-6-prenyl-dihydroflavanone(11), naringenin(12), dibutylphthalate(13). Compounds 1-3 are new compounds, and compounds 10 and 13 are isolated from aerial parts of this plant for the first time.

Thalassemia screening and genotyping in Southwest Guizhou Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou Province / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To analyze the thalassemia screening and genotyping in Southwest Guizhou Autonomous Prefecture (referred it as Qianxinan Prefecture), this essay provides the theoretical reference for clinical diagnosis of thalassemia and suspicious cases.Methods:The pregnant women, spouses and neonates who were screened for thalassemia gene in Qian Xi Nan People's Hospital from January 2016 to December 2020 were selected as the research subjects, and peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood samples were collected to extract DNA. The gap-polymerase chain reaction (Gap-PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology were used to screen thalassemia, and ArcMap 10.8 software was adopted to map the local spatial distribution of thalassemia based on the screening data.Results:A total of 67 185 cases of people from various regions in Qianxinan Prefecture were screened, and 8 202 cases of thalassemia gene carriers were detected, with a total detection rate of 12.21%. Among them, 5 660 cases of α-thalassemia, with a detection rate of 8.42%; 2 132 cases of β-thalassemia, with a detection rate of 3.17%; 410 cases of αβ complex thalassemia, with a detection rate of 0.61%. In the detection of thalassemia genes, 27 genotypes of α-thalassemia were detected, mainly αα/-α 3.7, accounting for 41.13% (2 328/5 660); 33 genotypes of β-thalassemia were detected, mainly β CD17(A>T)/β A, accounting for 44.09% (940/2 132); 55 genotypes of αβ complex thalassemia were detected, and αα/-α 3.7 complexed β CD17(A>T)/β A dominated, accounting for 21.22% (87/410). There were high incidence areas in the spatial distribution of thalassemia, which were Wangmo County and Ceheng County, and the detection rate was 26.76% (1 438/5 374), 24.39% (1 314/5 387), respectively. Conclusions:The detection rate of thalassemia gene in Qianxinan Prefecture is relatively high, mainly αα/-α 3.7 genotype of α-thalassemia. Wangmo County and Ceheng County are high-incidence areas of thalassemia, and screening efforts should be continued.

Effect of Acute Liver Injury on Pharmacokinetics and Tissue Distribution of Baicalin Magnesium in Rats / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo establish a high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） for simultaneous determination of baicalin magnesium and baicalein in rat plasma and tissues， and to investigate the effect of acute liver injury on pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of baicalin magnesium in rats. MethodAcute liver injury rat model was induced by carbon tetrachloride （CCl4）. Normal rats and acute liver injury model rats were given an equal dose （287.31 mg·kg-1） of baicalin magnesium aqueous solution by intragastric administration， the orbital blood was collected at different time points， and HPLC was used to simultaneously determine the concentrations of baicalin magnesium and baicalein in rat plasma at each time point， the concentration-time curves were drawn， the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated with DAS 3.0， and SPSS 23.0 was used for statistical analysis. After oral administration of baicalin magnesium aqueous solution， HPLC was used to simultaneously determine the contents of baicalin magnesium and baicalein in rat liver， lung， kidney， stomach， brain and small intestine at different time points， the mobile phase was 0.1% phosphoric acid aqueous solution-methanol， and the detection wavelength was 278 nm. ResultIn the acute liver injury model group， the peak concentration （Cmax） of baicalin magnesium was 0.58 times that of the normal group， the area under concentration-time curve （AUC0-t） was 0.5 times that of the normal group （P<0.05）， the apparent volume of distribution （Vd） was 2.3 times that of the normal group （P<0.05）， and baicalein is almost undetectable in plasma. The content of baicalin magnesium in liver， stomach and brain of the acute liver injury model group was higher than that of the normal group at each time point， while the content of baicalin magnesium in the samples of lung at 8 h， kidney at 8 h and 12 h， and small intestine at 0.333 h was lower than that of the normal group. The content of baicalein in lung， stomach and small intestine of the model group was higher than that of the normal group at each time point， while the content of baicalein in the tissue samples of liver at 6， 8 h and kidney at 0.333， 4， 6 h was lower than that in the normal group， and baicalein could hardly be detected in the brain. ConclusionAfter intragastric administration of the same dose of baicalin magnesium aqueous solution， acute liver injury induced by CCl4 can affect the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution characteristics of baicalin magnesium in rats， and there is biotransformation of baicalin magnesium and baicalein in liver， lung， kidney， stomach and small intestine.

Main chemical constituents in aerial parts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis by UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS / 中国中药杂志

Chemical constituents from aerial parts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis were analyzed and identified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS). The chromatographic column of Waters Acquity UPLC BEH-C_(18)(2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 μm) was adopted, with acetonitrile-water(0.5% formic acid) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.2 mL·min~(-1). Data was collected in positive and negative modes of electrospray ionization(ESI). A total of 55 compounds, including 42 flavonoids, 9 stilbenes, 2 coumarins, 1 lignin and 1 phenolic acid, which were characterized in the aerial parts of G. uralensis based on accurate molecular mass information of molecular and product ions provided by UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS based on comparison with standard substances and references. It is an effective and accurate method to provide chemical information of constituents in aerial parts of G. uralensis, and can provide a reference for further study on pharmacodynamic material basis and resources development and utilization.

Visual analysis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) studies based on bibliometrics / 中国中药杂志

To analyze the development of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), this study systematically retrieved relevant Chinese and English literatures from both CNKI and Web of Science database platforms by bibliometric research method and CiteSpace 5.5.R2 software to obtain information and visualize relevant literatures. A total of 695 Chinese and 446 English literatures were included in this paper. Statistics showed that China had published most of the literatures and established close cooperation with the United States and the United Kingdom. Through the analysis, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology and its affiliated hospitals published the largest number of the publications. Moreover, the highly productive journals including Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and The Lancet covered eight major fields, such as medicine, medical virology, radiation medicine, infectious disease, and traditional Chinese medicine. Besides, a total of 35 special COVID-19 funds were recently established to subsidize these studies. The key words and themes analysis indicated that protein structure of COVID-19, receptor targets and mechanisms of action, integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, screening and development of antiviral drugs from traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, vaccine research as well as epidemiological characteristics and prediction are current study hotspots. This study provides a reference for researchers to rapidly master main study directions of COVID-19 and screen out relevant literatures.

The Interaction of Oxytocin and Social Support, Loneliness, and Cortisol Level in Major Depression

OBJECTIVE: Loneliness is a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior. The present study examined whether the serum oxytocin level would interact with social support and buffers loneliness and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis activity in drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). METHODS: Twenty-six patients with MDD (male:female = 3:23; mean age, 45.54 ± 12.97 years) were recruited. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale and self-reported Measurement of Support Function Questionnaire were administered. Serum oxytocin and cortisol levels were assessed using a commercial immunoassay kits. RESULTS: In MDD patients, a negative association was found between degrees of social support and loneliness (β = −0.39, p = 0.04). The interaction between social support and serum oxytocin level was negatively associated with loneliness (β = −0.50, p = 0.017) and serum cortisol level (β = −0.55, p = 0.020) after adjusting for age. Follow-up analyses showed that the association between higher social support and lower loneliness was observed only in the higher-oxytocin group (r = −0.75, p = 0.003) but not in the lower group (r = −0.19, p = 0.53). The significance remained after further adjusting for sex and depression severity. CONCLUSION: Low oxytocin level is a vulnerability factor for the buffering effect of social support for loneliness and aberrant HPA-axis activity in MDD patients.

Effect of apoptosis and proliferation of endometrial cancer HEC-1B cell by siRNA down-regulating expression of Ezrin / 中国综合临床

Objective To observe the changes of cell cycle,apoptosis and proliferation of endometrial cancer cells after the expression and down-regulation of Ezrin in endometrial cancer cells and to explore whether Ezrin may be a candidate gene for targeted therapy.Methods Endometrial cancer cells were from Shanghai Institute of Cell Research,of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in February 2017 and divided into blank control group and siEzrin group according to the intervention methods.Western blot and qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of Ezrin protein and mRNA in endometrial cell lines.Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to transfect HEC-1B cell and down-regulate Ezrin.Cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry.MTT assay was used to detect multiplication.Results Western blot showed that Ezrin protein was expressed in Ishikawa (31.742 ± 5.832)、HEC-1A (16.326 ± 3.135)、HEC-1B(17.636±4.426) and KLE(14.862±5.109) and qRT-PCR showed that mRNA was expressed in Ishikawa (2.513±0.725),HEC-1A (1.655±0.692),HEC-1B (3.237±0.411) and KLE (0.962±0.235) cell lines,and expressed highest in HEC-1B cells (F=6.173,P＜0.05;F=7.042,P＜0.05).Flow cytometry assay showed that compared with blank control group less cells stayed in G1 phase and G2 phase,more stayed in S phase (t=3.118,P＜0.05;t=5.435,P＜0.05;t=3.332,P＜0.05).The apoptotic rate of HEC-1B cells increased from (9.84 ± 2.37) ％ to (17.64 ± 5.96) ％ (t =8.963,P ＜ 0.01) after Ezrin was downregulated.MTT assay showed that the proliferation of HEC-1B cells in 72 h and 96 h siEzrin transfection group was lower than that in blank control group (t =3.209,P＜ 0.05;t =3.726,P＜ 0.05).Conclusion Down-regulating of Ezrin may promote more endometrial cancer cells stay in S phase and promote apoptosis,inhibit proliferation,Ezrin may become target candidate gene in target therapy.

Clinical analysis of 7 cases of Fanconi syndrome sencondary to Sjogren's syndrome / 中国实用内科杂志

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with Fanconi syndrome(FS)sencondary to Sjogren's syndrome(SS). METHODS: The clinical data of 7 patients with FS secondary to SS were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical manifestations, auxiliary examinations, treatment options and curative effects were analyzed. RESULTS: Besides xerostomia and xerophthalmia, fatigue, polyuria and bone pain were found in 7 patients. Osteoporosis occurred in 6 cases and renal insufficiency in 3 cases. Immunoglobulin was increased in 7 cases, including 7 with IgG increase and 4 with IgG, IgA and IgM increase. All patients showed different degrees of ionic disorder and vitamin D deficiency. Renal glycosuria and amino acid urine were found in all 7 patients. All patients were treated with glucocorticoid combined with immunosuppressive agents. At the same time,they were treated with maintenance of acid-base and electrolyte balance and supplementation of active vitamin D. The curative effect was good. CONCLUSION: FS secondary to SS is rare, and patients are more prone to osteoporosis and renal insufficiency. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential.

Effects of three aqueous extraction preprocessing methods on total coumarins extract of Angelicae dahuricae Radix / 中成药

AIM To investigate the effects of aqueous extraction at normal temperature,40 ℃,and water boiling on total coumarins extract of Angelicae dahuricae Radix.METHODS For the extracts Ⅰ-Ⅳ obtained by ethanol reflux extraction and three aqueous extraction preprocessing methods,respectively,UV and HPLC were adopted in the content determination of total coumarins and imperatorin,then the powder properties and dissolution rates were compared.RESULTS The contents of total coumarins in four extracts were 3.98％,6.03％,6.81％ and 4.46％,while those of imperatorin were 0.633％,0.540％,0.465％ and 0.155％,respectively.The angles of repose were 48.455°,42.587°,42.689° and 42.024° with the bulk densities of 0.214,0.324,0.316 and 0.354 g/cm3,respectively.Within 100 min,extract Ⅰ demonstrated higher moisture adsorption rate and equilibrium moisture absorption content than the other three extracts.The accumulative dissolution rates of various extracts were much higher than that of medicinal material fine powder within 120 min.CONCLUSION All the three aqueous extraction preprocessing methods can obviously improve the powder properties of total coumarins extract of A.dahuricae Radix and increase the dissolution rate of medicinal material fine powder.