The effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on health-related quality of life, anxiety, depression, illness perception, and in atrial fibrillation patients: a six-month longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) often leads to an impaired Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in many patients. Moreover, psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, and illness perception have been found to significantly correlate with HRQoL. This study aims to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in enhancing HRQoL and mitigating psychological distress among AF patients. METHODS: Employing a prospective, open design with pseudo-randomization, this study encompassed pre-tests, post-treatment evaluations, and a 6-month follow-up. A total of 102 consecutive patients diagnosed with paroxysmal AF were initially enrolled. Out of these, 90 were assigned to two groups; one to receive a 10-week CBT treatment specifically focusing on anxiety, and the other to receive standard care. Outcome measures were evaluated using tools such as the Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), University of Toronto Atrial Fibrillation Severity Scale (AFSS), and Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ). These assessments were conducted at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at the 6-month follow-up mark. We explored the effectiveness of CBT using Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE). RESULTS: Our analysis revealed a notable improvement in the CBT group relative to the control group. All metrics displayed consistent improvement across a 6-month duration. At the 6-month checkpoint, the CBT group exhibited a more favorable SF-12 Mental Component Score (MCS) (50.261 ± 0.758 vs. 45.208 ± 0.887, p < 0.001), reduced GAD-7 (4.150 ± 0.347 vs. 8.022 ± 0.423, p < 0.001), BIPQ (34.700 ± 0.432 vs. 38.026 ± 0.318, p < 0.001), and AFSS (9.890 ± 0.217 vs. 10.928 ± 0.218, p = 0.001) scores when compared to the TAU group. Conversely, the SF-12 PCS (44.212 ± 0.816 vs. 47.489 ± 0.960, p = 0.139) and PHQ-9 scores (8.419 ± 0.713 vs. 10.409 ± 0.741, p = 0.794) manifested no significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that CBT is effective in improving HRQoL and reducing psychological distress among patients with AF at 6 month follow-up. This highlights the potential benefits of integrating CBT into the therapeutic regimen for AF patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05716828). The date of registration : 5 June 2023.

Excess Oxygen Supply for Different Time Periods Affect Energy Metabolism in Rat Alveolar Epithelial Type Ⅱ Cells / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To observe the effect of excess oxygen supply for different time periods on the mitochondrial energy metabolism in alveolar epithelial type Ⅱ cells. Methods Rat RLE-6TN cells were assigned into a control group (21% O2 for 4 h) and excess oxygen supply groups (95% O2 for 1,2,3,and 4 h,res-pectively).The content of adenosine triphosphate (ATP),the activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex V,and the mitochondrial membrane potential were determined by luciferase assay,micro-assay,and fluorescent probe JC-1,respectively.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was employed to determine the mRNA levels of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1),cytochrome b (Cytb),cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COXI),and adenosine triphosphatase 6 (ATPase6) in the core subunits of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes Ⅰ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ,and Ⅴ,respectively. Results Compared with the control group,excess oxygen supply for 1,2,3,and 4 h down-regulated the mRNA levels of ND1 (q=24.800,P<0.001;q=13.650,P<0.001;q=9.869,P<0.001;q=20.700,P<0.001),COXI (q=16.750,P<0.001;q=10.120,P<0.001;q=8.476,P<0.001;q=14.060,P<0.001),and ATPase6 (q=22.770,P<0.001;q=15.540,P<0.001;q=12.870,P<0.001;q=18.160,P<0.001).Moreover,excess oxygen supply for 1 h and 4 h decreased the ATPase activity (q=9.435,P<0.001;q=11.230,P<0.001) and ATP content (q=5.615,P=0.007;q=5.029,P=0.005).The excess oxygen supply for 2 h and 3 h did not cause significant changes in ATPase activity (q=0.156,P=0.914;q=3.197,P=0.116) and ATP content (q=0.859,P=0.557;q=1.273,P=0.652).There was no significant difference in mitochondrial membrane potential among the groups (F=0.303,P=0.869). Conclusion Short-term excess oxygen supply down-regulates the expression of the core subunits of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes and reduces the activity of ATPase,leading to the energy metabolism disorder of alveolar epithelial type Ⅱ cells.

Positive effect of Balint group on burnout and self-efficacy of head nurses in China: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Burnout is common among nurses and can lead to negative outcomes of medical care. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of Balint groups to reduce burnout in head nurses in a Chinese hospital. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial with a pre- and post-test. A total of 80 head nurses were randomly assigned to either a Balint group (n = 40) or a control group (n = 40). Participants participated in Balint group for a period of 3 months. Participants in both groups completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey and the General Self-Efficacy Scale at the beginning and end of the study. Balint group members also completed the Group Climate Questionnaire-Short Form. Results: In the Balint group, 33 participants attended all Balint groups, while the 40 participants in the control group had no intervention. Analysis of variance with repeated measures demonstrated a statistically significant difference on the Maslach Burnout Inventory subscale of sense of personal achievement (F = 9.598, p = 0.003) between the Balint and control groups. However, there were no significant differences between the groups on the subscales of emotional exhaustion (F = 0.110, p = 0.740) and depersonalization (F = 0.75, p = 0.387), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (F = 0.709, p = 0.403). Conclusions: Balint groups helped reduce burnout among head nurses in terms of personal achievement.

Effects of Cognitive Behavior Therapy on Depression, Illness Perception, and Quality of Life in Atrial Fibrillation Patients.

Background: AF Patients with depression resulted in a markedly reduced quality of life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Methods: It was A longitudinal randomized controlled trial with a pre and 12-weeks post-test. Ninety persons were randomly assigned to either a CBT group (CBT) (n = 45) or a treatment as usual (TAU) group (n = 45). The outcome were changes in the HRQoL [12-item Short Form Health Survey, SF12, divided into two domains: the physical component summary (PCS) and the mental component summary (MCS)], changes in psychological distress [Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)], and Illness Perception [Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ)]. Results: There were statistically significant differences in score reduction for PHQ-9 (t = 3.186, P = 0.002), HAMD (t = 2.611, P = 0.011), BIPQ (t = 7.660, P < 0.001), and MCS (t = 4.301, P < 0.001) between CBT group and TAU group. Conclusions: CBT improved HRQoL, Illness Perception and reduced Depressive symptoms in atrial fibrillation.

Validity and reliability of the depression and somatic symptoms scale for screening depression among patients with coronary heart disease / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To assess the validity and reliability of the depression and somatic symptoms scale among patients with coronary heart disease.Methods:Totally 246 patients with coronary heart disease were assessed with depression and somatic symptoms scale (DSSS), Hamilton depression rating scale for depression (HAMD) and patients’ health questionnaire depression scale-9 item (PHQ-9). The structural validity was evaluated with exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The validity as a screening tool was evaluated with the gold standard diagnosed by psychiatrists who were trained with the mini international neuropsychological interview (MINI) according to ICD-10. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to identify cutoff scores for depression. Cronbach α coefficient was used to evaluate the internal consistency.Results:Exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors: depression factor and somatic factor, and the cumulative variance was 51.8%. The fitting indexes of confirmatory factor analysis were as follows: χ2/ df=3.636, RMR=0.077, RMSEA=0.104, IFI=0.804, TLI=0.781, CFI=0.802. The intraclass correlation coefficient of DSSS and HAMD was 0.54. The area under ROC curve (AUC) was 0.828, and the best boundary value was 17 points (sensitivity and specificity: 81% and 75%, respectively). The total scores and subscale scores for internal consistency of DSSS were higher in the depression group than those in the non-depression group ( P<0.01). Cronbach α coefficient for internal consistency of DSSS was 0.917. Conclusion:The DSSS has good validity and reliability among patients with coronary heart disease for screening depression, and can be used to screen depression among patients with coronary heart disease in general hospital.

2, 2', 4, 4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) induces mitochondrial dysfunction and related liver injury via eliciting miR-34a-5p-mediated mitophagy impairment.

2,2',4,4'-Tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) is associated with various adverse human health effects; however, the knowledge of its toxicity is still very limited. Mitochondrial injury has been observed in liver cells exposed to BDE-47 in vitro. Mitophagy impairment causes the accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria, contributing to the pathological mechanisms of liver injury. The aim of this study was to investigate whether BDE-47 impairs mitophagy to trigger mitochondrial dysfunction-related liver injury and the underlying mechanisms. This study revealed that BDE-47 elicited mitochondrial dysfunction and related oxidative liver injury by impairing mitophagy. Moreover, our results showed that NAD+ insufficiency is responsible for BDE-47-mediated mitophagy defect and mitochondrial dysfunction in mouse livers, which was associated with suppression of Sirt3/FoxO3a/PINK1 signaling. Furthermore, our results indicated a potential role of miR-34a-5p in the hepatotoxicity of BDE-47. Mechanistically, BDE-47 dramatically upregulated miR-34a-5p expression in mouse livers. The data from AAV-sponge-mediated miR-34a-5p inhibition suggested that miR-34a-5p diminished NAD+ level by directly targeting NAMPT expression in BDE-47-treated mouse livers, which was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. Consequently, miR-34a-5p markedly abated Sirt3/FoxO3a/PINK1 signaling-mediated mitophagy to promote mitochondrial dysfunction in BDE-47-treated mouse livers. The present study provided in vivo evidence to reveal a potential mechanism for BDE-47-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and related liver injury and indicated that miR-34a-5p-mediated mitophagy impairment might be a therapeutic target for BDE-47 toxicity.

Practice of Interest Teaching of Meridians and Acupoints Science / 上海针灸杂志

Meridians and Acupoints Science is a basic course and important component of acupuncture and Tuina science. This course contains considerable theoretical and basic knowledge to be memorized, which causes some difficulties for students to study and inevitably influences the learning effect. In view of that, the authors implemented reforms in interest teaching practice in teaching of Meridians and Acupoints Science. Reforms including the use of interesting memory method, string comparison of acupoints, interspersed discussion of cases, presentation of famous doctors' experience in acupoint application and development of the second class activities have achieved some success. That has aroused the students' enthusiasm for learning and improved the quality of teaching.

Effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on regional homogeneity changes in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:To determine the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on resting-state brain functional changes in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Methods:Participants including 10 adults with ADHD aged 18-65 years,diagnosed with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fourth Edition (DSM-Ⅳ) and 12 age-and gender-matched healthy controls.The ADHD symptoms and executives functions were assessed using the ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) respectively and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were acquired before and after 12-session,CBT for ADHD patients.The healthy controls were also scanned.We used the regional homogeneity (ReHo) to capture the changes of regional brain function between pre-and post-CBT in ADHD for measuring the effects of CBT.Results:After CBT,the total scores of ADHD-RS [(43 ± 7) vs.(31 ± 7),P ＜ 0.01],the subscale of inattention and subscale of hyperactivity/impulsivity were decreased in ADHD adults.As for the executive functions,the subs cales of monitor [(15 ± 2) vs.(11 ± 2),P ＜ 0.01] and organization [(19 ± 5) vs.(14 ± 4),P ＜ 0.01] in BRIEF were reduced significantly in adults with ADHD after CBT training.The ReHo was increased in the regions involved in default mode network and fronto-parietal network,i.e.,right parahippocampa gyrus,fight precentral gyms,fight postcentral gyms and left postcentral gyrus (Voxels with P ＜ 0.05 and cluster size ＞3051mm3,which resulted in a corrected threshold of P ＜ 0.01 determined by AlphaSim).Conclusion:These findings support that CBT could selectively modulate the regional brain function in the default mode network and fronto-parietal network which may contribute to the improvement of ADHD symptoms and executive functions.

Diagnostic test of screening depressive disorders in general hospital with the Patient Health Questionnaire / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:Using a diagnostic test research,to explore the reliability and validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)on screening of depressive disorders in general hospital,and to determine the cut points for depressions with different severities.Methods:Three hundred and nineteen help-seekers (n =319)con-sulting the outpatient department of psychiatry in a general hospital were collected continuously.Among them,80 were people without any psychiatric diagnosis,239 were patients with mental disorders.All of subjects were asked to fulfill PHQ-9,and were assessed by psychiatrist with Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) and Hamilton rating scale for depression.M.I.N.I.was gold standard to diagnose depressive disorder,HRSD was used to assess the illness severity.Result:Factor analysis showed good structure validity of PHQ-9.46 patients were diagnosed depressive disorders.The area under the receiver operator characteristic analysis (ROC)of PHQ-9 was 0.94 (95%CI:0.91 -0.97)for depressive disorders.With 15 as the critical value for depression screening,the sen-sitivity was 0.83 and specificity was 0.90,respectively.By the result of HRSD as the standard to rank different lev-els of depression,the cut points of PHQ-9 for mild,moderate,and severe depression was 6,12,and 15.The consis-tency between results of PHQ-9 (with cut points of 6,12,15)and HRSD was moderate (with kappa =0.49).The kappa between results of PHQ-9 (with recommended cut points of 5,10,and 15)and HRSD was 0.46.Cronbach αcoefficient of PHQ-9 was 0.892.Conclusion:It suggests that PHQ-9 has satisfying reliability and validity,and is applicable for screening depression and assessment of its severity of outpatients in general hospital.The recommen-ded cut points of PHQ-9 are applicable to depressive outpatients in general hospital in China.

Association of polymorphisms in FLT3, EGFR, ALOX5, and NEIL3 with glioblastoma in the Han Chinese population.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the highest-grade glioma in astrocytoma. Patients often have poor prognosis due to therapeutic resistance and tumor recurrence. Identification of the genetic factors of GBM could be important contribution to early prevention of this disease. We genotyped 17 tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (tSNPs) from nine genes in this study, including 72 cases and 302 controls. SNP genotyping was conducted using Sequenom MassARRAY RS1000. Statistical analysis of the association between tSNPs and GBM was performed using the χ (2) test and SNPStats software. The rs3829382 in FLT3 was associated with increased odds of developing GBM using the χ (2) test. When we analyzed tSNPs under different inheritance models, we found rs9642393 in EGFR increased odds of developing GBM in the dominant model. After stratification by gender, we found that rs12645561 in NEIL3 and rs2291427 in ALOX5 were associated with developing GBM. Polymorphisms within FLT3, EGFR, NEIL3, and ALOX5 may contribute to the occurrence of GBM in the Han Chinese population. However, the functional significance of these polymorphisms needs further investigation.

RTEL1 and TERT polymorphisms are associated with astrocytoma risk in the Chinese Han population.

Common variants of multiple genes play a role in glioma onset. However, research related to astrocytoma, the most common primary brain neoplasm, is rare. In this study, we chose 21 tagging SNPs (tSNPs), previously reported to be associated with glioma risk in a Chinese case-control study from Xi'an, China, and identified their contributions to astrocytoma susceptibility. We found an association with astrocytoma susceptibility for two tSNPs (rs6010620 and rs2853676) in two different genes: regulator of telomere elongation helicase 1 (RTEL1) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), respectively. We confirmed our results using recessive, dominant, and additive models. In the recessive model, we found two tSNPs (rs2297440 and rs6010620) associated with increased astrocytoma risk. In the dominant model, we found that rs2853676 was associated with increased astrocytoma risk. In the additive model, all three tSNPs (rs2297440, rs2853676, and rs6010620) were associated with increased astrocytoma risk. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the potential roles of RTEL1 and TERT in astrocytoma development.

Effects of pomegranate flowers polyphenols on liver PON expression of diabetes combining non-alcoholic fat liver diseases rats / 药学学报

To investigate the protective effects and possible mechanism of pomegranate flowers polyphenols (PFP) on liver function of rats with diabetes combining non-alcoholic fat liver diseases, diabetes combining nonalcoholic fat liver disease model rats were established with high calorie feeding and small dose intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Model rats were randomly divided into: model group, metformin group, pomegranate flowers polyphenols low, medium and high dose group (75, 150 and 300 mg x kg(-1)). After four weeks treatment, the levels of FPG, blood fat profiles and serum insulin, ALT, AST levels, SOD and MDA in the liver and serum separately were analyzed with biochemical methods. Paraoxonase (PON1 and PON3) mRNA and protein expression in liver were checked by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical method. Pathological changes of the liver were observed. FPG, IRI, non-HDL-C and transaminase significantly reduced and HDL-C raised in the each PFP dose group; Furthermore, compared with model group, fat drops in liver cells significantly reduced, antioxidant ability enhanced, PON1 mRNA and protein expression level in liver increased significantly. The protective effects of PFP against diabetes combining non-alcoholic fat liver diseases rats might through the increase liver PON1 mRNA and protein expression further enhanced the body antioxidant capacity and reduced IRI so as to ameliorate the rat hepatic steatosis.

Acupuncturist ZENG Tian-zhi and his Scientific Acupuncture Therapeutics / 中国针灸

Mr. ZENG Tian-zhi, one of the first generation students of CHENG Dan-an in Chengjiang School of acupuncture and Moxibustion, integrated traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine even if just began to study medicine from his mid-life. He has practiced medicine in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hong Kong. He founded the Medical School of Science Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Hong Kong to teach students, impart professional knowledge, write and publish monographs, and carried forward acupuncture with all his life. The medical learning way, medical ethics, medical achievement and experience of Mr. ZENG, and the Scientific Acupuncture Therapeutics will bring a light to the inheritance and development of Chengjiang School and can be reference for the modern medical physicians.

Development of biomedical publications on ametropia research in PubMed from 1845 to 2010: a bibliometric analysis.

AIM: We have carried out a bibliometric analysis on the development of ametropia literature to determine its growth rule and tendency, and to provide the basis for the problems related to ametropia research. METHODS: Literatures that contained the descriptors of ametropia in title or paper published before Nov. 10, 2010 in PubMed databases (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Pubmed) were selected. As bibliometric indicators of ametropia, biomedical journals referring to ophthalmology by ISSN were calculated. The principal bibliometric indicators: Price's and Bradford's laws were applied on the increase or dispersion of scientific literature, the participation index of languages and the journals. By means of manual coding, literatures were classified according to documents study and statistical analysis. RESULTS: The literatures cited in ametropia, astigmatism, myopia and hypermetropia had accumulated to 26475, which consists of Review (n=1560), Randomized Controlled Trial (n=776), Practice Guideline (n=10), Meta-Analysis (n=23), Letter (n=1222), Editorial (n=328), Clinical Trial (n=1726) and Others (n=20830), and Humans (n=23073), Animals(n=1434) and others (n=1968). 1136 literatures were included in PubMed Central, 22384 in MEDLINE and 2955 in others. The ametropia literatures rose every 5 years which of the ametropia-year cumulated amount of the literatures had three periods: before 1900, slowly increasing from 1901 to 1950, rapidly rising from 1951 to 2010 (increased approximate exponentiation exponent). Sixty kinds of languages listed in PubMed databases, of which English is dominant for aborting to ametropia research documents before 2010 (77.32%, 20471/26475). The document languages of top eight account for 95.58% (English, German, French, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Chinese), and others for 4.42% (1171/26475). The SCI database includes 48 ophthalmologic journals and the impact factor of 39 journals is ≥1 on Thomson-Reuters in 2010. Of 48 ophthalmologic journals, there were 14785 documents (55.85%) of ametropia, astigmatism, myopia, and hypermetropia. Others were without exception. CONCLUSION: The bibliometric analysis results show that ametropia literature are increased progressively, approximate exponentiation exponent during 1951-2010. In addition, ametropia research has become more popular since nearly half century.