BACKGROUND:Toxic effects of excessive thyroid hormone on myocardium can not be ignored with the increased incidence of hyperthyroidism. As a quantitative marker of heart failure, brain natriuretic peptide has a good application prospect to estimate the changes of cardiac function and myocardial damage in hyperthyroid cardiomyopathy. OBJECTIVE:To explore the correlation of brain natriuretic peptide and cardiac function of rabbits with hyperthyroid cardiomyopathy exhibiting different left ventricular geometries. METHODS:Twenty New Zealand purebred rabbits were used in this study. Hyperthyroidism model was established by intraperitoneal injection of levothyroxine (45 μg/kg) for 4 weeks. The success of establishing model is defined upon the appearance of irritation, decreased body weight and increased appetite. Totaly 18 rats were successfuly established. The left ventricular data of hyperthyroidism rabbits were measured by conventional echocardiography. According to the classification of Ganauet al, the 18 hyperthyroidism rabbits were divided into two groups: concentric hypertrophy (n=7) and eccentric hypertrophy (n=11). In addition, ten rats, receiving intraperitoneal injection of 5 mL saline per day, were taken as the control group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Plasma brain natriuretic peptide level of rabbits in the concentric hypertrophy and eccentric hypertrophy groups was obviously higher than that of the control group (alP < 0.01), and the level in the eccentric hypertrophy group was obviously higher than in the concentric hypertrophy group (P< 0.01). Compared with the control group, the average peak diastolic velocity of mitral ring was significantly lower in the concentric hypertrophy and eccentric hypertrophy groups (alP< 0.01), the average peak systolic velocity of mitral ring was also lower in the eccentric hypertrophy group (P < 0.01). The peak systolic and diastolic velocity had a negative correlation with brain natriuretic peptide (alP < 0.01). Experimental findings indicate that brain natriuretic peptide is a sensitive indicator to reflect the cardiac function and myocardial damage in rabbits with hyperthyroid cardiomyopathy, exhibiting different left ventricular geomeies.

Objective To establish a rat model of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)through single-prolonged stress(SPS)and to observe the effect of social isolation on the behavior of the SPS model rats. Methods A total of 36 rats were randomly divided into the normal group, SPS model group and SPS combined with social isolation group. The rats in both SPS model group and SPS combined with social isolation group were modeled by single-prolonged stress,and the rats in the SPS combined with social isolation group were raised separately after modelling. The weight gaining,the total movement distance in open field test,the frequency of grid crossing,the single maximum movement distance,and the freezing frequency and time durations in the freezing behavior test were measured after 7 days of modeling. Results Compared with the normal group,the weight gaining and the single maximum movement distance of the rats in the SPS model group were significantly decreased(P < 0.01),as well as the total movement distance and the frequency of grid crossing(P < 0.05),while the freezing frequency and time in the freezing behavior test were significantly increased(P < 0.01). Compared with the normal group,the weight gaining and crossing times of the rats in the SPS combined with social isolation group was decreased(P <0.05),and the freezing frequency and time durations in the freezing behavior test were increased(P < 0.05). In addition, compared with the SPS model group,the total movement distance in the open field test,the frequency of grid crossing and the single maximum movement distance of the rats in the SPS combined with social isolation group were increased(P < 0.05). Conclusions The rat model of post-traumatic stress disorder is successfully established by single-prolonged stress, and 7 days of social isolation may alleviate the anxiety state of SPS model rats.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of the Mini-Mental State Scale (MMSE) versus the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) in screening cognitive impairment in patients with a lacunar cerebral infarction. Methods:138 eligible patients who received treatment in the Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Datong University from January 2018 to October 2019 were recruited for this study. They received cognitive function evaluation by the MMSE and MoCA. These patients were grouped according to the median number of age or the median number of years of education. The sensitivity and consistency of the MMSE versus MoCA in screening cognitive impairment in patients with a lacunar cerebral infarction were analyzed using the χ2 test. The total cognitive scores of the MMSE and MoCA, and the scores of each cognitive domain such as memory, execution, visual space, attention, language, and orientation, were compared between groups using multiple linear regression analysis. Results:The sensitivity of MoCA in screening for cognitive impairment in low-age, high-age, low-year-education, and high-year-education groups and the whole population of patients with a lacunar cerebral infarction was 76.5%, 75.7%, 74.2%, 77.8%, 76.1%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of MMSE (44.1%, 65.7%, 60.6%, 50.0%, 55.1%, χ2 = 12.17, 13.13, 9.33, 15.75, 23.86, all P < 0.01). The Kappa coefficients of low-age, high-age, low-year-education and high-year-education groups were 0.336, 0.391, 0.358, 0.389, and 0.373, respectively, all of which were less than 0.4 (all P < 0.01). These findings suggest that the consistency of the two scales in screening cognitive impairment is poor. The cognitive impairment detection rate by the MMSE was significantly higher in the high-age group than in the low-age group (65.7% vs. 44.1%, χ2 = 6.50, P < 0.05). The total cognitive scores of MMSE and MoCA and the scores of memory, execution, visual space, attention, language, and orientation in patients with a lacunar cerebral infarction were significantly lower in the high-age group or low-year-education group than in the low-age group ( tMMSE = 3.61, 2.49, 3.12, 4.26, 1.70, 3.69, 2.24, all P < 0.01; tMoCA = 3.83, 1.75, 3.28, 3.80, 2.21, 4.08, 2.52, all P < 0.05) or high-year-education group ( tMMSE = -2.87, -2.32, -0.85, -2.54, -0.73, -2.57, -2.96, all P < 0.01; tMoCA = -2.95, -1.12, -3.39, -1.54, -1.52, -3.09, -3.02, all P < 0.05). Conclusion:Combined application of MMSE and MoCA has a high clinical value in screening cognitive impairment in patients with a lacunar cerebral infarction. High-age patients with a lacunar cerebral infarction who receive low-year education have memory, execution, visual space, attention, language, and orientation impairments.

Objective:To investigate the characteristic of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the adults aged 48 years and over in a coal mine community, and to analyze its associated risk factors.Methods:From July to October 2019, a questionnaire survey for basic information was conducted among 180 middle-aged and elderly adults who met the inclusion criteria in the Datong coal mine community. The cognitive function was evaluated by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The effects of gender, age, years of education, sleep, living alone, physical exercise, social activities, smoking and drinking status, body mass index and chronic diseases on cognitive level were analyzed by single factor stratification and multiple linear regression.Results:There was no significant difference in the positive rate of MCI screened by MMSE and MoCA in the age groups of 48-<64, 64-<72 and 72-90 (original and corrected P>0.05); The positive rate of MCI in MoCA screening (64.4%, 66.7%, 60.9%) was significantly higher than that in MMSE (35.6%, 45.6%, 28.1%) (all P<0.05); MMSE was positively correlated with MoCA score ( r=0.762, P<0.001). With the increase of age, the scores of memory, execution and visual space detected by MoCA decreased significantly (all P<0.05), while the scores of attention, language and orientation did not change significantly (all P>0.05). Univariate stratification showed that the significant influencing factors of MMSE or MoCA scores were gender, age, years of education and sleep status (all P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that gender ( βMMSE=-0.192; βMoCA=-0.140), years of education ( βMMSE=0.209; βMoCA=0.328) and sleep status( βMMSE=-0.162; βMoCA=-0.136) were risk factors affecting MMSE and MoCA scores ( P<0.05). Conclusions:More middle-aged and elderly adults with MCI might be observed in a coal mine community, and the main characteristics of MCI are impaired memory, executive function and visual space. To prevent and reduce the occurrence of dementia, early interventions of MCI should be carried out among the adults with female, old age, low years of education and poor sleep quality.