Respiratory virus infections and adenovirus characteristics during acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease globally, characterized by obstructive ventilatory disorder under pulmonary function tests. Recent years have witnessed a yearly increase in the prevalence of COPD. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of respiratory virus infections on patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), and to perform sequencing typing and mutation analysis of viruses with high detection rate. METHODS: A total of 1523 inpatients with AECOPD admitted to our hospital from April 1,2020 to March 30,2022 were collected and divided into two groups: the infected group (n= 532) and the non-infected group (n= 991). The related indexes between the two groups were collected and compared (including clinical characteristics and laboratory tests that blood cell count, PCT, CRP, adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, influenza A virus, influenza B virus, etc.). RESULTS: In the infected group, the proportion of patients with palpitations (49.44% VS 8.07%, P< 0.001), lipid metabolism abnormalities (18.42% VS 39.96%, P< 0.001), heart failure (39.85% VS 29.87%, P< 0.001), disease duration (17.48 ± 7.47 VS 12.45 ± 11.43 d, P< 0.001), and poor prognosis (69.55% VS 17.15%, P< 0.001) were higher than those in the non-infected group; Adenovirus (ADV) accounted for 75.94% (404/532) of all infected viruses. 31 virus strains could be categorized into 16 ADV-C1, one ADV-C5, two ADV-B3, three ADV-B7, two ADV-D17, two ADV-D19, and five ADV-D27, which were similar to the serotypes reported in severe pneumonia. Furthermore, three strains of C1 adenovirus were found to be highly homologous to the original strain AF534906 by sequencing, and the phylogenetic trees of the three main structural genes were all on the same branch as the original strain. Base mutations and amino acid variants were found in each structural gene segment. In clinical data, it's found that patients with mutations are worse than those without mutations. CONCLUSION: Respiratory viruses are common in patients with poor prognosis of AECOPD, especially adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus. Respiratory virus infections will lead to the deterioration of patients with AECOPD, accompanied by longer treatment cycles and poor prognosis.

Social capital, government guidance and contract choice in agricultural land transfer.

This study explores the impact of farm households' social capital characteristics and local government policies on the selection of farmland transfer contracts in China's rural industrial revitalization context. Utilizing field research data from 1,979 households in ethnic areas of Hunan Province, this paper constructs an econometric model to assess how farm households' social capital and local governments' involvement in rural industrial revitalization influence farmland transfer contract selections. The findings indicate that, lacking government program support, farmers' social capital significantly affects contract type and duration, but not the rent. Specifically, farmers possessing extensive social capital prefer verbal and short-term contracts (coefficients of 0.525 and 0.643, significant at the 5% level), whereas their influence on rent (coefficient of 2.418, significant at the 5% level) manifests under government program support. These results challenge the conventional theory of farmland transfer contracts and offer substantial empirical support for the development of local government policies in rural industrial revitalization, underlining the critical role of government guidance and social capital in enhancing farmland transfer.

Construction and evaluation of a phospholipid-based phase transition in situ gel system for brexpiprazole.

The objective of this study was to develop phospholipid-based injectable phase transition in situ gels (PTIGs) for the sustained release of Brexpiprazole (Brex). Phospholipid (Lipoid S100, S100) and stearic acid (SA) were used as the gel matrix which was dissolved in biocompatible solvent medium-chain triglyceride (MCT), N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP), and ethanol to obtain PTIGs solution. The Brex PTIG showed a solution condition of low viscosity in vitro and was gelatinized in situ in vivo after subcutaneous injection. Both in vitro release assay and in vivo pharmacokinetics study in SD rats displayed that Brex in PTIGs could achieve a sustained release, compared with brexpiprazole solution (Brex-Sol) or brexpiprazole suspension (Brex-Sus). The Brex-PTIGs had good degradability and biocompatibility in vivo with rare inflammation at the injection site. Among the three Brex-PTIG formulations, Brex-PTIG-3 with the SA in the formulation had the greatest gelation viscosity, the lowest initial release rate, and the most stable release profile with sustained release of up to 60 days. The above results indicated that, as a novel drug delivery system, the Brex-PTIGs offered a new option for the clinical treatment of patients with schizophrenia.

Normal reference intervals of prognostic nutritional index in healthy adults: A large multi-center observational study from Western China.

BACKGROUND: It has been widely reported that the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) played a pivotal role in nutritional assessment of surgical patients and tumor prognosis. In order to improve the accuracy of evaluation in Western China, we established reference intervals (RIs) of PNI in healthy controls. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study on healthy ethnic Han adults (18-79 years) was conducted to explore the influences of age, gender, study centers, and instruments on PNI and to establish RIs. The data came from a healthy routine examination center database and laboratory information system (LIS) of four centers in Western China, and there were 200 persons selected randomly for verification of RIs. RESULTS: Five thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine healthy candidates were enrolled. PNI showed a marked gender dependence, and males had significantly higher PNI than females across all ages (p < 0.01). We found that PNI is significantly different between age groups (p < 0.01), the value of PNI tended to decrease with age increasing. There is also an obvious influence of centers and instruments on PNI (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We established reference intervals of PNI in healthy Han Chinese population in Western China and validated successfully. Further established RIs will lead to better standardizations of PNI for clinical applications.

Genes Induced by Panax Notoginseng in a Rodent Model of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease that results in decreased blood flow. Although Panax notoginseng (PN), a Chinese herbal medicine, has been proven to promote stroke recovery, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was induced in rats with thrombi generated by thread and subsequently treated with PN. After that, staining with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride was employed to evaluate the infarcted area, and electron microscopy was used to assess ultrastructural changes of the neurovascular unit. RNA-Seq was performed to determine the differential expressed genes (DEGs) which were then verified by qPCR. In total, 817 DEGs were identified to be related to the therapeutic effect of PN on stroke recovery. Further analysis by Gene Oncology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes revealed that most of these genes were involved in the biological function of nerves and blood vessels through the regulation of neuroactive live receptor interactions of PI3K-Akt, Rap1, cAMP, and cGMP-PKG signaling, which included in the 18 pathways identified in our research, of which, 9 were reported firstly that related to PN's neuroprotective effect. This research sheds light on the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of PN on stroke recovery.

Normal Reference Intervals of Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio, Platelet-To-Lymphocyte Ratio, Lymphocyte-To-Monocyte Ratio, and Systemic Immune Inflammation Index in Healthy Adults: a Large Multi-Center Study from Western China.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that the hematological components of the systemic inflammatory response, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and the systemic immune inflammation index (SII) are efficient prognostic indicators in patients with cancers. Most of the studies did not investigate the reference intervals (RIs) of these parameters in healthy controls. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed on healthy ethnic Han population aged between 18 and 79 years of age by retrieving the data from a healthy routine examination center database and laboratory infor-mation system of four participating centers in western China. By following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), RIs of each parameter was established and validated. RESULTS: The analysis included 5,969 healthy subjects. We found that the individual's gender can significantly influence PLR, LMR, and SII (all p < 0.05), but not NLR (p > 0.05). Surprisingly, we also found that with an increase in age, the PLR, LMR, and SII tend to decrease, while NLR remained stable. PLR, LMR, and SII values were significantly higher in the young adults (18 - 64 years) than in old adults (65 - 79 years) (p < 0.001). The RIs of NLR, PLR (adults), PLR (old adults), LMR and SII were 0.88 - 4.0, 49 - 198, 42 - 187, 2.63 - 9.9, 142 x 109/L - 804 x 109/L, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study addresses possible variations and establishes consensus for the NLR, PLR, LMR, and SII RIs for healthy Han Chinese adults in western China. Further, established RIs can standardize clinical applications and promote the use of these indicators into the routine complete blood count report.