MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous non-coding RNA molecules.They regulate negatively the expression of target genes at post-transcriptional stages by means of affecting the stability of target mRNA or interfering with the transcriptional process.Recently,there is evidence demonstrating that miRNAs play important roles in the gene expressions of thyrotoxic heart diseases.Elevated levels of thyroid hormones profoundly influence the cardiovascular system through the renin-angiotensin system (RAS).As a principal active component of RAS,angiotensin Ⅱ receptor 1 (AT1 R) interacts with miRNAs in promoting or extenuating the progress of thyrotoxic heart disease.In this article,the roles of AT1R-associated miRNAs,miR-21,miR-155,miR-208a/b,and miR-499 in thyrotoxic heart disease were reviewed.

Purpose:To evaluate the effects of thymosin ?1 (T?1) in chemotherapy of NSCLC. Methods:We have conducted a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.40 non-treated cases of stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ NSCLC were randomized into T?1 group ( chemotherapy combined with thymosin ?1) and control group (chemotherapy alone). The number of T cell subgroups, the activity of NK cell and phagocytic index of neutrophilic granulocyte in peripheral blood were detected and quality of life and changes of cancer lesions were evaluated before and after treatment. Results:After treatment,the levels of CD4 in the T?1 group was significantly higher than before treatment(P0.05). There was no significant difference of myelosuppression between the two groups. No infections or severe toxicity occurred in the T?1 group. One severe lung infection was seen in the control group.There was better quality of life for the T?1 group compared with the control group(P

The present study retrospectively analyzed 8 patients with hip dysplasia (8 hips) comprising 2 males and 6 females, aged 46 years old (range, 35-65 years old) who received treatment at the Department of Orthopedics, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University between September 2004 and November 2006. Preoperative radiographs and CT examination showed that all patients presented with sharp angle of affected hip > 45°, poor containment of femoral head, narrow joint space, and non-successive Shenton's line. Following Crowe classification, there were 5 cases (5 hips) of grade Ⅱ,and 3 cases (3 hips) of grade Ⅲ. Preoperative Harris hip score was 50 points (range, 44-62 points). Total hip arthroplasty was employed in each patient. Prosthesis was fixed by Cementless or cemented modes. Cementless fixation was applied in 6 hips and cemented fixation in 2 hips. Cementless prosthesis was used on the affected side in each patient. Replacement time, bleeding volume during surgery, hospital days post-surgery, Harris scores, and peri-operative complications were recorded.Simultaneously, post-surgery healing was observed. All 8 cases were followed up for an average period of 6 months. All patients exhibited well recovered joint function. No infection, sciatic nerve injury, dislocation of hip joint, fracture of femoral shaft, thrombosis of deep veins, or prosthesis loosening were found in any follow-up case. Six months after surgery, Harris hip score was 88 points (range, 86-94 points). Radiographs taken at 3 months post-surgery displayed the bone union of surgical region. All these findings suggest that acetabular medial wall displacement osteotomy in total hip arthroplasty produces obvious early- and middle-stage effects in treatment of hip dysplasia.

45?,poor containment of femoral head,narrow joint space,and non-successive Shenton's line.Following Crowe classification,there were 5 cases(5 hips) of grade II,and 3 cases(3 hips) of grade III.Preoperative Harris hip score was 50 points(range,44-62 points).Total hip arthroplasty was employed in each patient.Prosthesis was fixed by Cementless or cemented modes.Cementless fixation was applied in 6 hips and cemented fixation in 2 hips.Cementless prosthesis was used on the affected side in each patient.Replacement time,bleeding volume during surgery,hospital days post-surgery,Harris scores,and peri-operative complications were recorded.Simultaneously,post-surgery healing was observed.All 8 cases were followed up for an average period of 6 months.All patients exhibited well recovered joint function.No infection,sciatic nerve injury,dislocation of hip joint,fracture of femoral shaft,thrombosis of deep veins,or prosthesis loosening were found in any follow-up case.Six months after surgery,Harris hip score was 88 points(range,86-94 points).Radiographs taken at 3 months post-surgery displayed the bone union of surgical region.All these findings suggest that acetabular medial wall displacement osteotomy in total hip arthroplasty produces obvious early-and middle-stage effects in treatment of hip dysplasia.

Objective To observe polyclonal antibodies immobilized on magnetic submicron particles (MSP) as affinity adsorbents and test the reliability of predicted maximum adsorption activity of an enzyme/mutant from a cell lysate (Vs) in recognizing positive mutants.Methods Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase (ECAP) and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa arylsulfatase (PAAS) were purified by affinity chromatography to serve as immunogens for the preparation of their antisera, which after fractionation by 33％ ammonium sulfate and DEAE-cellulose chromatography yielded the respective polyclonal antibodies.After activation of COOH on MSP, polyclonal antibodies of each enzyme were immobilized to give MSP-polyAb.Activities of an adsorbed enzyme were measured with a chromogenic substrate of 4-nitrphenol by determining absorbance at 405nm after the termination of reaction by alkali.Based on the response curve of activities of the adsorbed enzyme to protein quantities of a lysate, Vs was predicted for comparison.Results The maximum adsorption quantity of ECAP or PAAS on the respective MSP-polyAb was about 2.0mg/g.Specific activity of ECAP after affinity purification was about 70-fold of that of PAAS.ECAP mutant R168K showing about 50％ activity improvement versus ECAP was recognized by comparison of Vs predicted with only 2.5μg of MSP-polyAb;with PAAS mutant G138S as the starting one, the use of 10.0μg of MSP-polyAb to predict Vs recognized the mutants bearing more than 20％ activity improvement.Conclusion With an optimized quantity of MSP-polyAb to predict Vs, weak positive mutants of an enzyme of low activity can be recognized when activities of the adsorbed enzyme/mutant are reliably measured.

Objective To report a simple formula to estimate phosphate removal by standard four-hour hemodialysis in Chinese patients.Methods A total of 165 MHD patients in Huashan Hospital were enrolled.Effluent dialysate samples were collected during treatment to estimate the total amount of phosphate removal.Pre-dialysis levels of serum phosphate,potassium (K+),hematocrit(Hct),parathyroid hormone(iPTH),carbon dioxide combining power(CO2CP),alkaline phosphatase (AKP),Kt/V,and ultrafiltration volume,age,gender,dry body weight,blood flow,phosphate clearance of dialyser,phosphate concentration of dialysate at 60 min after the start of HD were obtained.80％ observations were randomly selected for formula building by backward stepwise and the remaining 20％ observations were used to validate the formula.Results The formula was described as Tpo4 =88.6 ×C60-0.03 ×Age + 1.07 ×Gender +0.06 ×Clearance-4.59,where C60 was phosphate concentration in dialysate measured 60 min into HD and Clearance was the phosphate clearance of dialyser.Formula validation further suggested good predictive ability.Conclusion This study derives an approach to quantify phosphate removal by a simple formula,which will be helpful for clinicians to treat patient individually.

AIM:To investigate whether the opening of ATP-sensitive K+(KATP) channels protects H9c2 car-diac cells against high glucose ( HG)-induced injury and inflammation by inhibiting the Toll-like receptor 4 ( TLR4 )/nu-clear factor-κB ( NF-κB) pathway.METHODS:The protein levels of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 were determined by Western blot.The levels of interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) were detected by ELISA.The cell viabil-ity was measured by CCK-8 assay.Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was examined by rhodamine 123 (Rh 123) staining followed by photofluorography.The intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species ( ROS) were detected by 2′, 7′-
dichlorfluorescein-diacetate (DCFH-DA) staining followed by photofluorography.The number of apoptotic cells was ob-served by Hoechst 33258 nuclear staining followed by photofluorography.RESULTS: After the H9c2 cardiac cells were treated with HG (35 mmol/L glucose) for 24 h, the protein levels of TLR4 and phosphorylated NF-κB p65 ( p-NF-κB p65) were significantly increased.Pretreatment of the cells with 100 μmol/L diazoxide ( DZ, a KATP channel opener) for 30 min before exposure to HG considerably blocked the up-regulation of the TLR4 and p-NF-κB protein levels induced by HG.Moreover, co-treatment of the cells with 30 μmol/L TAK-242 (an inhibitor of TLR4) obviously inhibited the HG-in-duced up-regulation of the p-NF-κB p65 protein level.On the other hand, pretreatment of the cells with 100 μmol/L DZ had a clear myocardial protection effect, which attenuated the HG-induced cytotoxicity, inflammatory response, mitochon-drial damage, oxidative stress and apoptosis, evidenced by an increase in the cell viability, and decreases in the levels of IL-1βand TNF-α, MMP loss, ROS generation and the number of apoptotic cells.Similarly, co-treatment of H9c2 cardiac cells with 30μmol/L TAK-242 or 100μmol/L PDTC ( an inhibitor of NF-κB) and HG for 24 h also obviously reduced the above injuries and inflammation induced by HG.CONCLUSION: The opening of KATP channels protects H9c2 cardiac cells against HG-induced injury and inflammation by inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB pathway.

Objective:To investigate the effects and mechanisms of low-dose hydrocortisone on myocardial injury in early septic shock rats.Methods:Seventy-two healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into Sham group, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) model group (LPS group) and low dose hydrocortisone intervention group (LD group) according to the random number table method, with 24 rats in each group. The rat model of septic shock was produced by intravenous injection of LPS at 20 mg/kg. Sham group was injected with an equal amount of physiological saline. The LD group was injected 5 mg/kg of hydrocortisone via right femoral vein after model establishment. Sham group and LPS group were injected with an equal amount of physiological saline. Blood pressure and heart rate (HR) of rats in each group were continuously monitored. In each group, 8 rats were sacrificed for arterial blood gas analysis at 0, 3 and 6 hours after model establishment, and the level of plasma N-terminal B-type brain natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-proBNP) was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expressions of cleaved-caspase-3 and nuclear factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65) were detected by Western Blot. Myocardial tissue was harvested 6 hours after model establishment, the histopathological changes were observed by hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining, and the apoptosis rate of myocardial cells was detected by terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL).Results:After LPS injection, mean arterial pressure (MAP) decreased significantly at 1 hour, then gradually increased, and was significantly higher than Sham group at 6 hours. There was no significant change in HR, and the difference was not statistically significant compared with Sham group. Blood lactic acid (Lac), base excess (BE), plasma NT-proBNP level, myocardial tissue caspase-3 and NF-κB p65 expression increased with the extension of time, all reach the peak in 6 hours, and significantly higher than Sham group. After early treatment with low-dose hydrocortisone in septic shock, MAP showed an increasing trend and Lac, BE decreased slowly. At 6 hours, MAP, Lac and BE were significantly lower than those in the LPS group [MAP (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa): 98.6±7.5 vs. 106.1±8.5, Lac (mmol/L): 1.29±0.08 vs. 2.42±0.37, BE (mmol/L): 4.45±0.57 vs. 8.18±1.03, all P < 0.05]. The level of plasma NT-proBNP, and the expressions of caspase-3 and NF-κB p65 in myocardial tissue were significantly lower than those in LPS group at 3 hours and 6 hours after low-dose hydrocortisol treatment [NT-proBNP (ng/L): 2 740.56±97.31 vs. 4 425.60±743.32 at 3 hours, 2 638.81±205.12 vs. 4 993.01±373.78 at 6 hours; caspase-3/GAPDH: 0.567±0.045 vs. 0.841±0.162 at 3 hours, 0.496±0.071 vs. 1.116±0.172 at 6 hours; NF-κB p65/GAPDH: 0.852±0.734 vs. 1.232±0.115 at 3 hours, 0.783±0.047 vs. 1.383±0.215 at 6 hours, all P < 0.05]. HE staining results showed that myocardial cells in the LPS group were broken and inflammatory cells infiltrated. The myocardial histopathological changes in LD group were significantly less than those in LPS group. TUNEL staining showed that the apoptosis of myocardial cells in LPS group increased, and the apoptosis rate was significantly higher than that in Sham group [(82.41±1.57)% vs. (5.77±0.69)%, P < 0.05]. The apoptosis rate in LD group was significantly lower than that in LPS group [(27.82±1.77)% vs. (82.41±1.57)%, P < 0.05]. Conclusion:Low-dose hydrocortisone plays a protective role in the myocardial injury of early septic shock, and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of caspase-3 and NF-κB p65 expression, the reduction of apoptosis rate and myocardial inhibition.

Objective? ?To?analyze?the?risk?factors?of?delirium?in?patients?in?cardiac?surgery?intensive?care?unit?(CSICU).? Methods? A?prospective?observational?study?was?performed.?Patients?admitted?to?CSICU?of?Fujian?Medical?University?Union?Hospital?from?March?to?August?in?2017?were?enrolled.?The?combination?of?the?Richmond?agitation?sedation?scale?(RASS)?and?the?ICU-confusion?assessment?method?(CAM-ICU)?were?used?to?evaluate?delirium.?The?patient?was?assessed?on?the?second?day?after?CSICU?admission,?twice?a?day,?the?evaluation?was?stopped,?and?the?follow-up??observation?was?terminated?after?the?patient?was?discharged?from?CSICU.?The?patients?were?divided?into?two?groups?according?to?whether?delirium?occurred?in?CSICU.?The?general?and?clinical?treatment?data?(including?condition,?operation,?anesthesia?and?CSICU?treatment)?of?the?two?groups?were?compared.?The?related?factors?of?delirium?were?identified?by?univariate?analysis?and?multifactor?Logistic?regression?analysis.? Results? A?total?of?318?cases?were?included?in?this?study.?Among?them,?93?cases?had?delirium?and?the?incidence?of?delirium?was?29.2%.?It?was?shown?by?univariate?analysis?that?age,?history?of?hypertension,?type?of?surgery,?surgical?procedure,?American?Society?of?Anesthesiologists?(ASA)?anesthesia?classification,?usage?of?propofol,?plasma?transfusion,?red?blood?cells,?platelet?transfusion,?blood?loss,?operative?time,?cardiopulmonary?bypass?(CPB)?time,?myocardial?block?time,?acute?physiology?and?chronic?health?evaluation?Ⅱ?(APACHEⅡ),?duration?of?mechanical?ventilation,?the?length?of?intensive?care?unit?(ICU)?stay,?postoperative?usage?of?diazepam,?midazolam,?fentanyl,?morphine,?chlorpromazine,?etc.?which?were?related?to?delirium,?and?occupation?? (on-the-job?or?self-employed),?medical?insurance?(city?or?provincial?medical?insurance),?education?(primary?to?junior?high?school,?high?school?or?above)?could?reduce?the?risk?of?delirium.?Colinearity?diagnosis?was?performed?on?variables?with?statistically?significant?differences,?and?variables?with?variance?expansion?factor?(VIF)?