Construction of risk prediction model for hyponatremia in patients with acute decompensated heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Patients with Heart failure (HF) commonly have a water-electrolyte imbalance due to various reasons and mechanisms, and hyponatremia is one of the most common types. However, currently, there are very few local studies on hyponatremia risk assessment in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), and there is a lack of specific screening tools. The aim of this study is to identify a prediction model of hyponatremia in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and verify the prediction effect of the model. METHODS: A total of 532 patients with ADHF were enrolled from March 2014 to December 2019. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the independently associated risk factors of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF. The prediction model of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF was constructed by R software, and validation of the model was performed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration curves. RESULTS: A total of 65 patients (12.2%) had hyponatremia in patients with ADHF. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that NYHA cardiac function classification (NYHA III vs II, OR = 12.31, NYHA IV vs II, OR = 11.55), systolic blood pressure (OR = 0.978), serum urea nitrogen (OR = 1.046) and creatinine (OR = 1.006) were five independent prognostic factors for hyponatremia in patients with ADHF. The AUC was 0.757; The calibration curve was near the ideal curve, which showed that the model can accurately predict the occurrence of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF. CONCLUSIONS: The prediction model constructed in our study has good discrimination and accuracy and can be used to predict the occurrence of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF.

Inverse relationship between dietary fiber intake and environmental exposure to acrylamide.

Dietary fiber intake was thought to decrease some environmental pollutant exposure by increasing gastrointestinal excretion. While diet is considered the major source of exposure to acrylamide (AA), the impact of dietary fiber intake on acrylamide (AA) exposure is still unknown. We analyzed the associations between dietary fiber intake and AA hemoglobin biomarkers [hemoglobin adducts of acrylamide (HbAA) and glycinamide (HbGA), and sum of HbAA and HbGA (HbAA + HbGA)] among 3448 US adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2016. Multivariable linear regression and cubic spline models were conducted to estimate the associations between dietary fiber intake and AA hemoglobin biomarkers. Dietary fiber intake had a strong inverse and J-shaped association with AA hemoglobin biomarkers. In the fully adjusted linear regression model, compared with participants in the lowest dietary fiber quantile, the adjusted percent change with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in HbAA for the highest dietary fiber quantile was - 19.7% (- 26.7%, - 13.1%); for HbGA, it was - 12.2% (- 18.9%, - 4.9%), and for HbAA + HbGA, it was - 17.3% (- 23.7%, - 10.4%). Associations between higher dietary fiber intake and lower levels of environmental exposure to acrylamide hemoglobin biomarkers suggest the need to increase dietary fiber intake.

Study on the In Vitro and In Vivo Antibacterial Activity and Biocompatibility of Novel TiN/Ag Multilayers Immobilized onto Biomedical Titanium.

To determine the short- and long-term antibacterial properties of a novel biomedical titanium alloy to ensure excellent biocompatibility of the TiN/Ag multilayers loaded with different doses of Ag+. First, nanosized TiN/Ag multilayers were accumulated onto titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) substrates via multi-arc ion plating. Then, the multilayers were implanted with different doses of silver ions (1×1017 ions/cm², 1×1018 ions/cm², 5×1016 ions/cm², and 5×1017 ions/cm²). Both short- and long-term antibacterial properties against Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus were assessed via unique methods. Additionally, the response and behaviors of MC3T3-E1 and L929 cells on the different surfaces were evaluated by a variety of methods through comparison to a normal matched substrate (Ti-6Al-4V). In Vitro and In Vivo analyses revealed that the multilayers containing different doses of Ag ions effectively prevented bacterial adhesion and eliminated the majority of adhered bacteria in the initial period. In addition, the antibacterial activity of each TiN/Ag group improved with time, with the antibacterial rate (Ra) ultimately reaching 99% (antibacterial activity: 1 × 1018 ions/cm² > 5 × 1017 ions/cm² > 1 × 1017 ions/cm² > 5 × 1016 ions/cm²). All of the samples loaded with Ag+ exhibited good compatibility, as well as higher cell proliferation and lower apoptosis than the pure Ti-6Al-4V substrates. Considering both bacteriostasis and biocompatibility, 1 × 1017 ions/cm² and 5 × 1017 ions/cm² are the recommended doses for orthopedic and dental implants. The results indicate that all of the samples loaded with Ag+ possess excellent biocompatibility and antibacterial activity against common bacteria that cause implantation infection. The samples loaded with Ag+ can be implanted into soft and hard growing tissues to greatly improve the survival rate of orthopedic and dental implants.

Enhanced cell growth on 3D graphene scaffolds implanted with nitrogen ions.

One of the key challenges in engineering tissues for cell-based therapies is developing biocompatible scaffold materials to direct cell behavior. In this paper, the cytocompatibilities of a flexible three-dimensional graphene scaffold (3D-G) and the same scaffold implanted with nitrogen ions (N+/3D-G) are compared using an in vitro assay based on 3(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide. The N+/3D-G samples were prepared from low-temperature hydrothermally synthesized flexible 3D-G by ion implantation and were found to display improved adhesion and proliferation of rat osteoblast and mouse fibroblast cells. In particular, the N+/3D-G sample with a nitrogen content of ∼10% showed the highest levels of cell viability and proliferation. The flexible N+/3D-G has potential applications as a biocompatible scaffold material that provides improved surface area and hydrophilic groups for cell growth and proliferation.

Shape-Control of Three-Dimensional Self-Assembly Graphene by Hydrothermal Reaction Time and Its Biological Application.

In this paper, three-dimensional self-assembly graphene (3D-G) was prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis method, and 3D-G was designed as a suitable biological scaffold for cell growth and adhesion. The shape of 3D-G was tuned by adjusting the hydrothermal reaction time (6 h, 12 h, 18 h and 24 h). Then the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses were used to characterize the microstructure and component of 3D-G, which showed that the length, diameter, pore size and defects of 3D-G were all decreased as the reaction-time increased. In vitro cell culture experiment, the cytocompatibility of 3D-G prepared under different hydrothermal reaction time was assessed using mouse fibroblast cells (L929) via 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT). Meanwhile, the cell adhesion, growth and proliferation were also observed by SEM. These results showed that the 3D-G with the reaction time of 24 h (3D-G/24 h) had the best cytocompatibility, which could be used as tissue scaffolds for cell growth.

N+ implantation induce cytocompatibility of shape-controlled three-dimensional self-assembly graphene.

AIM: The aim of the present research was to synthesize N+ implanted 3D self-assembly graphene (N+/3D-SGHs) to overcome the weaknesses of graphene (small sizes and poor hydrophilicity) in tissue engineering scaffolds. MATERIALS & METHODS: N+/3D-SGHs was achieved by ion implantation on one-step hydrothermal synthesized 3D self-assembly graphene (3D-SGHs), and N+/3D-SGHs with different doses of nitrogen ions (1 × 1016 ions/cm2, 1 × 1018 ions/cm2 and 1 × 1020 ions/cm2), which adjusted by nitrogen ion beam intensity. RESULTS: N+/3D-SGHs, as scaffolds, provide stereo space and hydrophilic groups for mouse-fibroblast cells (L929) growth and proliferation. Notably, N+/3D-SGHs with the N+ injected quantity of 1 × 1020 ions/cm2 displayed the highest protein-adhesion strength, cell viability and proliferation, which supported its good cytocompatibility. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated N+/3D-SGHs as a promising and effective tissue scaffold that might have applications in biomedicine.

Ag+ implantation induces mechanical properties, cell adhesion and antibacterial effects of TiN/Ag multilayers in vitro.

AIM: This study aims to investigate the effect of Ag+ implantation dose on the structure, hardness, adhesion strength, friction resistance, cell adhesion and antibacterial effects of TiN/Ag multilayers. METHODS: Nanoscale TiN/Ag multilayers were deposited on Ti-6Al-4V substrates using multiarc ion plating. The multilayers were then implanted by Ag ions. RESULTS: A distinct multilayer structure and large titanium nitride grains with better (111) crystallinity were proved. The hardness and elastic modulus of the multilayer reached 32.2 and 318.9 GPa, respectively. The largest critical load was 32.5 mN, and the minimum friction coefficient was 0.092. The mechanical properties, the cell proliferation and antibacterial properties of the multilayers with Ag+ implantation were better than those without Ag+ implantation. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that a dose of 1 × 1017 ions/cm2 induced an improvement in crystallinity, mechanical properties, as well as preferable cell adhesion and antibacterial effects.