Debates persist regarding the efficacy and safety of azvudine, particularly its real-world outcomes. This study involved patients aged ≥60 years who were admitted to 25 hospitals in mainland China with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between December 1, 2022, and February 28, 2023. Efficacy outcomes were all-cause mortality during hospitalization, the proportion of patients discharged with recovery, time to nucleic acid-negative conversion (T _NANC), time to symptom improvement (T _SI), and time of hospital stay (T _HS). Safety was also assessed. Among the 5884 participants identified, 1999 received azvudine, and 1999 matched controls were included after exclusion and propensity score matching. Azvudine recipients exhibited lower all-cause mortality compared with controls in the overall population (13.3% vs. 17.1%, RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.90; P = 0.001) and in the severe subgroup (25.7% vs. 33.7%; RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.66-0.88; P < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients discharged with recovery, and a shorter T _NANC were associated with azvudine recipients, especially in the severe subgroup. The incidence of adverse events in azvudine recipients was comparable to that in the control group (2.3% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.170). In conclusion, azvudine showed efficacy and safety in older patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the SARS-CoV-2 omicron wave in China.

Objective:To investigate the value of peripheral blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels for predicting the occurrence of radiation pneumonia (RP) in small cell lung cancer.Methods:A total of 84 patients with small cell lung cancer who received image-guided radiotherapy in Xuzhou Cancer Hospital between September 2019 and September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into an RP group ( n = 25) and a non-RP group ( n = 59) according to whether RP occurred. Peripheral blood NLR and PLR and serum LDH levels were compared between the two groups before and after radiotherapy. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was used to analyze the value of peripheral blood NLR, PLR, and serum LDH levels for the diagnosis of RP in small cell lung cancer. Results:Before radiotherapy, there were no significant differences in peripheral blood NLR and PLR between the two groups (both P > 0.05). After radiotherapy, peripheral blood NLR and PLR in the RP group were (3.39 ± 0.81) and (129.06 ± 24.90), respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the non-RP group [(2.54 ± 0.71), (104.76 ± 26.26), t = 3.61, 3.83, both P < 0.05]. The NLR (2.86 ± 0.30) and PLR (110.07 ± 10.05) were the lowest in patients with grade 2 RP and they were highest in patients with grade 4 RP [(4.49 ± 0.63), (168.88 ± 14.11)]. The grade of RP was positively correlated with peripheral blood NLR and PLR. The sensitivity of peripheral blood NLR in the diagnosis of RP was 88.0%, the specificity was 66.1%, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.791. The sensitivity of PLR in the diagnosis of RP was 48.0%, the specificity was 94.9%, and the AUC was 0.735. The sensitivity of NLR combined with PLR in the diagnosis of RP was 92.0%, the specificity was 59.3%, and the AUC was 0.801. There was no significant difference in serum LDH levels between the two groups before and after radiotherapy (both P > 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that NLR and PLR were risk factors for RP in patients with small cell lung cancer ( OR = 2.309, 1.037; 95% CI: 1.061-5.024, 1.004-1.071). Conclusion:In patients with small cell lung cancer who develop RP, peripheral blood NLR, and PLR are markedly elevated compared with those in patients who do not develop RP, and combined detection of peripheral blood NLR and PLR has a high value for early diagnosis of RP in patients with small cell lung cancer.

AIM:To investigate the effects of sodium hydrosulfide(NaHS)on hexokinase 2(HK2)-nucleo-tide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)-gasdermin D(GSDMD)pathway and pyroptosis in-duced by lung ischemia/reperfusion(I/R)in rats.METHODS:Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups:control group,control+NaHS group,I/R group,low-dose NaHS+I/R(L+I/R)group,medium-dose NaHS+I/R(M+I/R)group,and high-dose NaHS+I/R(H+I/R)group,with 6 rats in each group.The NaHS was administered via intraperi-toneal injection at 1.5 mL,30 min before modeling.The left lung tissues were collected 30 min after ischemia and 1 h af-ter reperfusion,and the wet/dry weight ratio and total lung water content were recorded.Hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining was used to examine lung tissue morphological changes.The levels of malondialdehyde(MDA),myeloperoxidase(MPO)and lactate in lung tissues were measured with test kits.ELISA was employed to determine the levels of interleukin-1β(IL-1β)and IL-18.The expression of glycolysis-and pyroptosis-related indicators was analyzed by Western blot,qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining.RESULTS:Compared with control group,the rats in NaHS group showed no signifi-cant differences in all laboratory tests(P>0.05).The rats in I/R group exhibited significant lung injury,oxidative stress,increased lactate level,and up-regulated glycolysis and pyroptosis(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Compared with I/R group,the indicators in L+I/R group showed a downward trend(P<0.01)or no difference(P>0.05),while those in M+I/R group dis-played a significant reduction(P<0.05 or P<0.01).However,the indexes in H+I/R group exhibited no significant dif-ferences in these tests(all P>0.05).CONCLUSION:A moderate dose(56 μmol·L-1·kg-1)of NaHS mitigated the oc-currence of pyroptosis by inhibiting the HK2-NLRP3-GSDMD pathway,thus contributing to the attenuation of lung I/R in-jury in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a child with mental retardation. METHODS: Whole exome sequencing was carried out for the child. Candidate variant was screened based on his clinical features and verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: The child was found to harbor a c.995_1002delAGACAAAA(p.Asp332AlafsTer84) frameshift variant in the SYNGAP1 gene. Bioinformatic analysis suggested it to be pathogenic. The same variant was not detected in either parent. CONCLUSION The c.995_1002delAGACAAAA(p.Asp332AlafsTer84) frameshift variant of the SYNGAP1 gene probably underlay the mental retardation in this child. Above finding has expanded the spectrum of SYNGAP1 gene variants and provided a basis for the diagnosis and treatment for this child.
Child ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability/genetics* ; Frameshift Mutation ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Computational Biology ; Heterozygote ; Mutation ; ras GTPase-Activating Proteins/genetics*

Objective To evaluate the effect of sevoflurane anesthesia on cognitive impairment in rats with traumatic brain injury. Methods One hundred and and twenty healthy male Wistar rats, aged 2-3 months, weighing 190-220 g, were assigned into 4 groups ( n=30 each) using a random number table method: control group ( group C) , traumatic brain injury group ( group T) , sevoflurane anesthesia group ( group S) , and traumatic brain injury plus sevoflurane anesthesia group ( group T+S) . A 40 g hammer was freely dropped onto the left parietal bone window from a height of 20 cm to establish the traumatic brain inju-ry model in T and T+S groups. Twelve days later, S and T+S groups inhaled 3％ sevoflurane for 3 h, and C and T groups inhaled pure oxygen for 3 h. On 1 day before anesthesia and 3 and 7 days after anesthesia, 10 rats in each group were randomly selected for performing Morris water maze test. Rats were sacrificed af-ter the end of Morris water maze test, and the hippocampal tissues were obtained for determination of the apoptosis rate of hippocampal neurons, cytoplasmic calcium concentration [Ca2+]i (by flow cytometry), expression of glucose-regulated protein 78 ( GRP78) and CCAAT∕enhancer-binding protein homologous pro-tein ( CHOP ) ( by immunohistochemistry ) , and expression of caspase-3 and caspase-12 ( by Western blot) . Results Compared with group C, the escape latency was significantly prolonged, the number of crossing platform was decreased, the apoptosis rate of hippocampal neurons and [ Ca2+] i were increased, and the expression of caspase-3, caspase-12, GRP78 and CHOP in hippocampal tissues was up-regulated in S, T and T+S groups ( P<0. 05) . Compared with T and S groups, the escape latency was significantly prolonged, the number of crossing platform was decreased, the apoptosis rate of hippocampal neurons and [ Ca2+] i were increased, and the expression of caspase-3, caspase-12, GRP78 and CHOP in hippocampal tissues was up-regulated in group T+S ( P<0. 05 ) . Conclusion Sevoflurane anesthesia can accentuate cognitive impairment in rats with traumatic brain injury, and the mechanism may be related to aggravating the degree of endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced calcium overload and increasing the apoptosis rate of hip-pocampal neurons.

Objective: To investigate the short-term efficacy and toxicity of bevacizumab combined with DP or rh-endostatin（recombinant human vascular endostatin injection）combined with DP in locally advanced EGFR wild-type non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Seventy-two patients with treatment of locally advanced EGFR wild-type NSCLC admitted to the Department of Respiratory Medicine of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Guangdong Medical University from January 2014 to January 2017 were divided into bevacizumab group (34 cases) and rh-endostatin group (38 cases) according to the random number method. The former group was treated with bevacizumab combined with docetaxel and cisplatin, while the latter was treated with rh-endostatin combined with docetaxel and cisplatin. According to RECISIT 1.1 standard, the changes of lesion size before and after treatment in two groups were evaluated. Serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 21-1 fragment (CYFRA21-1), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) were measured. The adverse reactions during treatment were also evaluated. Results: In bevacizumab group, patients with CR, PR, SD, PD, DCR and ORR were 2 cases, 12 cases, 15 cases, 5 cases, 41.18% and 85.29%, respectively. In rh-endostatin group, patients with CR, PR, SD, PD, DCR, ORR were 2 cases, 16 cases, 14 cases, 6 cases, 47.37% and 84.21%, respectively. The DCR in rh-endostatin group was significantly higher than that in bevacizumab group (P<0.05).The serum levels of VEGF and CEAin rh-endostatin group decreased more obvious than those in bevacizumab group (all P<0.05). The incidence of gastrointestinal reaction, skin reaction and cardiac toxicity in rh-endostatin group was higher than that in bevacizumab group, while the incidence of bleeding in bevacizumab group was higher than that in rh-endostatin group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: In patients with locally advanced EGFR wild-type NSCLC, rh-endostatin combined with DP regimen is better than bevacizumab combined with DPregimen. In clinical practice, corresponding treatment regimen can be selected according to different characteristics of patients, so as to minimize the toxic reaction during treatment and avoid clinical risk.

Objective To observe the effects of Yiqi Huoxue Tongluo Jiedu fang (YHTJF) on pneumocyte apoptosis after lung ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury (LIRI) in mice and to investigate whether c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) is involved in the mechanism of apoptosis.Methods Seventy C57BL/6J male mice were randomly divided into seven groups:normal control group (C group),carboxyl methyl cellulose-Na+normal control group (CMC-Na+C group),CMC-Na+sham group (CMC-Na+S group),CMC-Na+I/R group (CMC-Na+I/R group) and CMC-Na+YHTJF-low,-middle,-high dose groups (CMC-Na+YL,CMC-Na+YM,CMC-Na+YH groups).C group did not undergo any processing;in CMC-Na+S group,only was chest opened without clipping the lung hilum;in the rest of the four groups,they all underwent opening of the chest and clipping the lung hilum for 30 minutes,then the clipping of artery was relieved and left lung reperfusion was carried out for 3 hours.After operation,the mice were sacrificed,the lung tissues were harvested.Under light and electron microscopes,the lung morphological and ultra-structural changes were observed,and the changes of index of quantitative evaluation for alveolar damage (IQA) were determined.The terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) was applied to evaluate the apoptosis index (AI) of the lung tissues.The protein and mRNA expressions of JNK and glucose regulating protein 78 (GRP78) in lung tissues were detected by Western Blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR);the correlations between lung AI and the expressions of mRNA and protein of JNK and GRP78,IQA were analyzed.Results Compared with CMC-Na+S group,IQA,AI and mRNA and the protein expressions of JNK and GRP78 in CMC-Na+I/R group were obviously higher [IQA:(74.00 ± 7.31)％ vs.(7.00 ± 1.23)％,AI:(64.40 ± 11.97)％ vs.(5.60 ± 1.14)％,JNK mRNA (gray value):1.143 ± 0.284 vs.0.152 ± 0.128,GRP78 mRNA (gray value):0.897 ± 0.129 vs.0.284 ± 0.044,JNK protein (A value):0.428 ± 0.074 vs.0.073 ± 0.052,GRP78 protein (A value):1.075 ± 0.145 vs.0.589 ± 0.060].Compared with CMC-Na+I/R group,the IQA,AI,protein and mRNA expressions of JNK and GRP78 in CMC-Na+YL,CMC-Na+YM,CMC-Na+YH groups were all lower,and the degree of reduction in group CMC-Na+YM was the most remarkable,greater than that in CMC-Na+YL or CMC-Na+YH group [IQA:(26.20 ± 3.35)％ vs.(34.00±5.34)％,(41.20±9.18)％,AI:(29.40±3.05)％ vs.(48.20±3.83)％,(39.20±6.14)％,JNK mRNA (gray value):0.681 ± 0.130 vs.0.804 ± 0.153,0.938 ± 0.11,GRP78 mRNA (gray value):0.450 ± 0.105 vs.0.747 ± 0.231,0.566 ± 0.115,JNK protein (A value):0.188 ± 0.049 vs.0.261 ± 0.065,0.209 ± 0.063,all P ＜ 0.01],compared with the CMC-Na+I/R group,the expression of GRP78 protein was obviously higher in CMC-Na+YH,CMC-Na+YL,CMC-Na+YM groups and the most remarkably high was in CMC-Na+YH group (A value:1.429 ±0.226 vs.1.130±0.169,1.128 ±0.177,all P ＜ 0.01).The apoptosis of each group was mainly in the pulmonary vascular endothelial cells and alveolar epithelial cells,and brown particles were positive cells under light microscope.Under transmission electron microscope:nuclear pyknosis and margination under the nuclear membrane,cytoplasm condensed,lamellar bodies decreased and emptying increased,cell membrane microvilli decreased or disappeared,mitochondria swelling,inflammatory cells increased in alveolar septum and adhering onto the capillary walls could be seen in CMC-Na+I/R group.Compared with CMC-Na+I/R group,the lung tissue ultrastructural damage alleviated,ultrastructure of alveoli clearly seen,nuclear chromatin relatively uniform,cytoplasm increased,type Ⅱ alveolar epithelial cell surface microvilli relatively plenty,lamellar corpuscle number increased,mitochondria swelling ameliorated in CMC-Na+YH,CMC-Na+YL,CMC-Na+YM groups and the most remarkable one was CMC-Na+YM group.AI was significantly positive correlated with the mRNA and protein expressions of JNK,GRP78 and IQA (r =0.907,0.928,0.880,0.712,0.911,all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions YHTJF may effectively alleviate the cell apoptosis in mice LIRI,and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of JNK pathway.

Objective:To observe the specific killing effect on tumor cells of the spleen cells in mice immunized with three tandem repeats of CEA minigene DNA vaccine pcDNA-triCEA625-667 and to evaluate the safety of the vaccine. Methods: The BALB/c mice were randomly divided into blank vector group ( pcDNA3. 0 ) , haploid vaccine group ( pcDNA-CEA625-667 ) and tandem repeats vaccine group (pcDNA-triCEA625-667). The mice received a total of 4 intramuscular immunization every 10 days once. The changes of body weight,survival state were recorded and the levels of serum ALT and serum creatinine were detected. The specific CTL killing activity of spleen cells in accinated mice on mouse hepatoma cells(H22-CEA+),gastric cancer cells(MFC-CEA+),colorectal cancer cells ( CT26-CEA+) with high expression of CEA and mouse hepatoma cells ( H22-CEA-) without expression of CEA was detected. Results:The two vaccines had strong killing activity on CEA positive liver cancer,gastric cancer and colon cancer cells,and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0. 01 ) compared with the PcDNA3. 0 group. And they had almost no effect on CEA negative tumor cells (H22-CEA-). The killing activity on liver cancer cell(H22-CEA+) and gastric cancer cell(MFC-CEA+) induced by pcDNA-triCEA625-667 was stronger than that induced by pcDNA-triCEA625-667(P<0. 05). The survival status,change of body weight and function of liver and kidney of the mice were not affected by the vaccine. Conclusion:There was no adverse reaction in the course of vaccine immunization. The minigene DNA vaccine derived from CEA can induce tumor specific CTL effect and the immune response level elicited by three tandem repeats of minigene DNA vaccine was superior to that elicited by haploid vaccine.

Objective To observe and identify the impact of a type of macro?pore bone block bioactive glass on osteo?blast in vitro. Methods Extract fluid of new bioactive glass was prepared withα?MEM culture medium as the bioactive medium group. And the concentrations of different ions were detected with Inductively Coupled Plasma?Atomic Emission Spectrometry in bioactive medium group andα?MEM medium group. MC3T3?E1 cells cultured in bioactive medium group were considered as ex?perimental group and cells cultured inα?MEM medium as control group. Giemsa and immunofluorescence staining was performed to detect the cell numbers, the karyoplasmic ratio and the average fluorescence intensity per cell. Cell proliferation and viability in different groups were detected by cell cycle analysis, MTT assay and BrdU assay, respectively. Total RNAs of cells in different groups were extracted and the expressions of ALP, OCN and collagenⅠwere measured by quantitative real time PCR. ALP stain?ing and alizarin red staining were performed to assess the differentiation and mineralization of MC3TC?E1 cells in different groups. Results The concentrations of Si and F were 40.02 ± 0.67 mg/L and 0.02 ± 0.001 mg/L in bioactive medium group, higher than 2.02±0.01 mg/L and 0.00 mg/L inα?MEM solution, and the concentration of Ca was lower than that inα?MEM solution. The con?centration of P and Na had no difference. In Giemsa staining, the cell number in 400 times field under a microscope was 106.0 ± 6.025 in bioactive medium group and 40.20 ± 3.639 inα?MEM medium group. In the immunofluorescence of vinculin, the karyo?plasmic ratio and the expression of vinculin were higher in bioactive medium group (40.85±5.720, 0.050 88±0.021 78) than inα? MEM medium group (21.93 ± 4.137, 0.023 60 ± 0.003 18). In cell cycle analysis, the proportion of cells retained in S and G2/M phase in the bioactive medium group was more than that in theα?MEM medium group after 72 hours of cell culture. In the BrdU and MTT assay, MC3T3?E1 cells in bioactive medium group both showed a higher proliferation rate with statistical significance. In MC3T3?E1 cells cultured with the bioactive medium, the expressions of osteogenesis?related genes were higher than those cultured with ordinaryα?MEM solution;in the ALP staining and alizarin red staining, the expression of ALP and the mineralization rate were higher in bioactive medium group (1.328%±0.015 36%, 2.953%±0.536 3%) than inα?MEM medium group (0.979%±0.030 59%, 1.000%±0.208 1%). Conclusion The bioactive medium promotes cell proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3?E1 cells, and has much more Si ions, which indicates that macro?pore bone block bioactive glass can promote cell proliferation and dif?ferentiation and has promising bioactivity.

Aged ; Coronary Artery Disease ; diagnosis ; Coronary Vessel Anomalies ; diagnosis ; Coronary Vessels ; pathology ; Humans ; Male