Clinical effect and changes of ET-1, FMD and NO levels in the treatment of acute cerebral infarction with acanthopanax injection.

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical efficacy of acanthopanax injection for the treatment of acute cerebral infarction and its effect on the changes in endothelin-1 (ET-1), flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) and nitric oxide (NO) levels. METHODS: A total of 120 patients with acute cerebral infarction were selected for prospective study. The patients with conventional treatment regimen were the control group while the observation group was treated acanthopanax injection in addition to the treatment given to the control group. Both groups contained 60 patients. After 14 days of treatment, we observed the clinical effects and measured ET-1, NO, FMD, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS), Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in both groups. RESULTS: The total effective rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P=0.020). The improvement of ET-1, FMD, NO, CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 in the observation group was superior to that of the control group (P<0.05). The scores of NIHSS, MMSE and MoCA in the observation group were better than those of the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The treatment of acute cerebral infarction with acanthopanax injection may enhance the clinical efficacy, improve vascular endothelial function, reduce inflammation and nerve damage, and improve cognitive function.

Circ_WWC3 overexpression decelerates the progression of osteosarcoma by regulating miR-421/PDE7B axis.

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence has shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are vital regulators in osteosarcoma (OS) progression. However, the effects of circ_WWC3 in OS have not been explored. In this research, the functions and mechanisms of circ_WWC3 in OS were investigated. METHODS: Quantitative reverse trancription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was adopted to determine the levels of circ_WWC3, WW and WWC3 mRNA, miR-421, and phosphodiesterase 7B (PDE7B) mRNA. RNase R assay was used to determine the characteristic of circ_WWC3. Colony formation assay and 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay were applied for cell growth. Transwell assay was performed for cell migration and invasion. Flow cytometry analysis was utilized for cell apoptosis. Western blot assay was conducted for the levels of apoptosis-related proteins and PDE7B protein. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was carried out to analyze the targeting relationship between miR-421 and circ_WWC3 or PDE7B. The murine xenograft model was established to explore the effect of circ_WWC3 in vivo. RESULTS: Compared to normal tissues and cells, circ_WWC3 and PDE7B were downregulated in OS tissues and cells. Overexpression of circ_WWC3 or PDE7B suppressed OS cell growth, migration, and invasion and promoted apoptosis in vitro. Regarding the mechanism analysis, circ_WWC3 positively modulated PDE7B expression by targeting miR-421. MiR-421 overexpression restored the impacts of circ_WWC3 on OS cell growth, metastasis, and apoptosis. Inhibition of miR-421 repressed the malignant behaviors of OS cells by targeting PDE7B. In addition, circ_WWC3 inhibited the tumorigenicity of OS in vivo. CONCLUSION: Circ_WWC3 overexpression slowed the development of OS by elevating PDE7B via sponging miR-421.

Effect of hydrocortisone on the 28-day mortality of patients with septic acute kidney injury.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of hydrocortisone in patients with septic acute kidney injury (SAKI).Methods: This retrospective cohort study consisted of all consecutive patients with SAKI who were admitted to the Taizhou First People's Hospital from March 2016 to February 2018. The patients who were treated with usual care including antibiotics, fluid resuscitation, and blood glucose control were regarded as the control group, and those received add-on hydrocortisone by the clinicians' discretion was considered in the intervention group. Hydrocortisone was administered as a 50 mg intravenous bolus every six hours for seven days. To adjust the potential baseline differences between the hydrocortisone and control groups, a 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to identify a matched control subject for each patient in the hydrocortisone group.Results: In the propensity-matched cohort, the 28-day mortality was significantly lower for patients in the hydrocortisone group (p = .04). Both Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores were significantly lower at day 7 in the hydrocortisone group (both p < .01). Serum IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α concentrations significantly decreased for hydrocortisone group at day 7 (all p < .01). The levels of serum creatinine (SCr), Cystatin C (CysC), and procalcitonin (PCT) were significantly lower, while the levels of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and urine volume were significantly higher for hydrocortisone group at day 7 (all p < .01).Conclusions: Glucocorticoid supplementation may improve renal function and reduce the 28-day mortality of patients with SAKI.

Predictive value of apelin-12 in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction with different renal function: a prospective observational study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate factors predicting the onset of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) . BACKGROUND: Apelin-12 plays an essential role in cardiovascular homoeostasis. However, current knowledge of its predictive prognostic value is limited. METHODS: 464 patients with STEMI (63.0±11.9 years, 355 men) who underwent successful pPCI were enrolled and followed for 2.5 years. Multivariate cox regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to determine the factors predicting MACEs. RESULTS: 118 patients (25.4%) experienced MACEs in the follow-up period. Multivariate cox regression analysis found low apelin-12 (HR=0.132, 95% CI 0.060 to 0.292, P<0.001), low left ventricular ejection fraction (HR=0.965, 95% CI 0.941 to 0.991, P=0.007), low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (HR=0.985, 95% CI 0.977 to 0.993, P<0.001), Killip's classification>I (HR=0.610, 95% CI 0.408 to 0.912, P=0.016) and pathological Q-wave (HR=1.536, 95% CI 1.058 to 2.230, P=0.024) were independent predictors of MACEs in the 2.5 year follow-up period. Low apelin-12 also predicted poorer in-hospital prognosis and MACEs in the 2.5 years follow-up period compared with Δapelin-12 (P=0.0115) and eGFR (P=0.0071) among patients with eGFR>90 mL/min×1.73 m2. Further analysis showed Δapelin-12 <20% was associated with MACEs in patients whose apelin-12 was below 0.76 ng/mL (P=0.0075) on admission. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with STEMI receiving pPCI with lower apelin-12 are more likely to suffer MACEs in hospital and 2.5 years postprocedure, particularly in those with normal eGFR levels.