To explore the clinical significance of changes in maximal expiratory flow in 50％ and 25％ vital capacity (Vmax50％ & Vmax25％) before and after bronchodilator reversibility testing in patients with asthma.Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1),Vmax50％ and Vmax25％ were measured before and after bronchodilator reversibility testing in 118 patients with asthma and 82 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).The rate of positive reversibility in Vmax50％ was significantly higher than that in FEV1 in 118 asthmatics (x2 =7.995,P =0.007).The rates of positive reversibility in Vmax50％ and Vmax25％ were significantly higher in asthmatics than those in COPD patients (x2 =9.335,P =0.009).

Plasma level of N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was measured for 362 elderly patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), including 97 of AECOPD complicated with left-heart failure and 265 of isolated AECOPD.Results indicated that there was significant difference in plasma level of NT-proBNP between the two groups ( P = 0.000).With a cut-off value of 1643.5 ng/L NT-proBNP, its sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for identifying AECOPD complicated with left-heart failure in the elderly were 84.4%, 85.3% and 85.1%, respectively.It is suggested that assay for plasma NT-proBNP may be helpful to identify left-heart failure in elderly patients with AECOPD.

Objective To investigate clinical significance of small airway function and eosinophil (Eos) percentage,levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and IL-5 in induced sputum among patients with clinically controlled asthma. Methods Sixty-two patients with clinically controlled asthma were selected for the study. Lung function was performed and percentage of Eos, levels of ECP and IL-5 in induced sputum were measured by Wrights' stain, fluorescence immuno-CAP system and ELISA,respectively. Thirty patients of asthma at acute exacerbation period and 20 healthy subjects were selected as controls. Results In 62 patients with clinically controlled asthma, 43 (69. 4% ) showed abnormal small airway function and 19(30. 6% ) normal one. Percentage of Eos [(5. 6 ±2. 9)%], levels of ECP [( 129 ±100) μg/L] and IL-5 [(21± 12) μg/L] in induced sputum were significantly lower in patients with clinically controlled asthma than those of asthma at acute exacerbation period [( 16. 2 ± 9. 7 ) %, ( 362 ±182) μg/L and IL-5(51 ±26) μg/L, respectively] (all P ＜0. 01 ), but significantly higher than those in healthy controls ( all P ＜ 0. 01 ). Percentage of Eos, levels of ECP and IL-5 in induced sputum were significantly higher in patients with clinically controlled asthma with abnormal small airway function than those with normal ane [(6.9±3.1)% vs. (2.0±1.1)%, (148±90) μg/Lvs. (54±29) μg/L and (24 ±12) μg/L vs. ( 13 ± 5 ) μg/L, respectively] ( all P ＜ 0. 01 ). Conclusions Abnormal small airway function and airway inflammation persistently exist in patients with clinically controlled asthma and it may be helpful to guild treatment during clinical control to determine small airway function and inflammatory markers in their induced sputum.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the effects of 3 kinds of serum containing blood-activating and stasis-eliminating TCM compound formulas on aggressive behavior,Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transduction and transcriptional activator (STAT) pathway of glioma U251 cells. METHODS:Rats were randomly divided into normal saline group (5 mL/kg),Taohong Siwu decoction group(5.7 g/kg),Xuefu Zhuyu decoction(8.5 g/kg)and Didang decoction(2.8 g/kg),calculated by crude drug,intragastrically administrated once a day,for 10 d. 10% drug-containing serum culture medium was prepared after 2 h of last administration. After 10% drug-containing serum culture medium intervening U251 cells for 1 week,Transwell method was conducted to detect the cell invasion rate, Western blot was adopted to detect the metal matrix protease 2 (MMP-2), MMP-9, phosphorylated JAK2 (p-JAK2),phosphorylated STAT3(p-STAT3)protein expression;and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction method was used to detect MMP-2,MMP-9 mRNA expression. RESULTS:Compared with blank serum,Xuefu Zhuyu decoction drug-containing serum can reduce cell invasion rate (P<0.05),decrease the MMP-2,MMP-9 mRNA and its protein expression, and p-JAK2,p-STAT3 protein expression in cells (P<0.05 or P<0.01),while there was no significant difference in above-men-tioned indexes in Taohong Siwu decoction drug-containing serum group and Didang drug-containing serum group(P>0.05). CON-CLUSIONS:In the 3 kinds of blood-activating and stasis-eliminating TCM compound formulas,Xuefu Zhuyu decoction shows sig-nificant invasive effect on inhibiting U251 cells;the mechanism may be related to inhibiting the activation of JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway and decreasing MMP-2,MMP-9 gene and protein expressions.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of miRNA-204 in patients with NPC and to analyze the as- sociation of the expression with the cIinicopathologicaI features and prognosis. METHOD: The expression levels of miRNA-204 in 50 patients with NPC and 40 patients with nasopharyngeal chronic inflammation were detected by using stem-loop real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction RT-PCR. Analysis of the relationship between microRNA and prognosis by Kaplan-Meier method. RESULT: Expression levels of miRNA-204 were down- regulated in patients with NPC as compared with patients with nasopharyngeal chronic inflammation (P < 0.05). The expression of miRNA-204 was associated with EBV infection, differentiation, lymphatic metastasis and TNM stages (P < 0.05). Low miRNA-204 expression was significantly correlated with shorter overall survival (P < 0.05) of NPC. CONCLUSION The downregulation of miRNA-204 expression has related with disease progression and miRNA-204 can serve as a potential therapeutic target for NPC.
Carcinoma ; Disease Progression ; Down-Regulation ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; MicroRNAs ; metabolism ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Nasopharynx ; Prognosis ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Objective : To examine the association between dietary patterns during pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), so as to provide the evidence for guiding the establishment of healthy and balanced dietary patterns and reducing the prevalence of GDM. Methods: Pregnant women who underwent oral glucose tolerance tests in Hangzhou Obstetrics and Gynecological Hospital from 2020 to 2021 were enrolled, and their demographic information were collected using questionnaires. Pregnant women's diets during the past three months were collected using Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs), and dietary patterns were extracted using principal component analysis. In addition, the association between dietary patterns and risk of GDM was examined using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 1 689 pregnant women were included, with a median age of 28.53 (interquartile range, 2.47) years and a median gestational age of 26.00 (interquartile range, 2.00) weeks. Five dietary patterns were identified according to pregnant women's types of diets, including meat-based diets, dessert-fruit-refined grain diets, plant-based diets, eggs-milk-nut diets and whole-grain diets, with a cumulative contribution rate of 58.76%. The prevalence of GDM was 24.57% (415 cases) among the study subjects. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that pregnant women with scores in the highest quartile (Q4) of the meat-based diets had an increased risk of GDM (OR=1.372, 95%CI: 1.043-2.055) relative to those with scores in the lowest quartile (Q1), and pregnant women with Q4 scores of the dessert-fruit-refined grain diets had an increased risk of GDM (OR=1.743, 95%CI: 1.397-2.432) relative to those with Q1 scores, while pregnant women with Q4 scores of the plant-based diets had a reduced risk of GDM (OR=0.382, 95%CI: 0.346-0.613) relative to those with Q1 scores. Conclusion A plant-based dietary pattern may reduce the risk of GDM, while meat-based and dessert-fruit-refined grain dietary patterns may increase the risk of GDM.

Intraocular pressure detection has a great significance for understanding the status of eye health, prevention and treatment of diseases such as glaucoma. Traditional intraocular pressure detection needs to be held in the hospital. It is not only time-consuming to doctors and patients, but also difficult to achieve 24 hour-continuous detection. Microminiaturization of the intraocular pressure sensor and wearing it as a contact lens, which is convenient, comfortable and noninvasive, can solve this problem because the soft contact lens with an embedded micro fabricated strain gauge allows the measurement of changes in corneal curvature to correlate to variations of intraocular pressure. We fabricated a strain gauge using micro-electron mechanical systems, and integrated with the contact lens made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using injection molding. The experimental results showed that the sensitivity was 100. 7 µV/µm. When attached to the corneal surface, the average sensitivity of sensor response of intraocular pressure can be 125.8 µV/mm Hg under the ideal condition.
Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic ; Dimethylpolysiloxanes ; Glaucoma ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Tonometry, Ocular ; instrumentation

Objective To explore the effectiveness and adverse effect of high frequency oscillation ventilation (HFOV) combined with Sildenafil (SIL) treatment on newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN).Methods A total of 89 cases of PPHN infants collected from Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital from Sep.2010 to Sep.2012 were randomly divided into HFOV group,constant mechanical ventilation (CMV) group,HFOV combined SIL group (HFOV + SIL group) and CMV combined with SIL group (CMV + SIL group).The arterial blood gas,pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and adverse reactions were monitored before and 3 days after treatment.SNK multiple comparison method andx2 test were performed for data before and after treatment among groups for continuous variables and categorical variables,respectively.Results The levels of pa (O2) [(79.1 ± 13.7) mmHg (1 mmHg =0.133 kPa),(77.9 ±14.6) mmHg,(85.4 ±15.2) mmHg],Sa(O2) [(87.8 ±13.4)％,(88.4±15.6)％,(96.1±15.9)％],pa(CO2)[(42.5±11.3) mmHg,(40.2 ±10.5) mmHg,(35.6 ±8.7) mmHg] and PAP [(31.1 ± 8.1) mmHg,(30.4 ± 9.5) mmHg,(25.8 ± 7.3) mmHg] were all improved significantly in CMV + SIL group,HFOV group and HFOV + SIL group compared with those in CMV group[(69.9 ± 12.3) mmHg,(81.1 ± 14.9)％,(48.1 ±9.5) mmHg,(35.6 ±8.9) mmHg] (F =4.629 3,3.673 2,5.865 3,4.849 5,P ＜0.05),especially for HFOV + SIL group(P ＜ 0.05).No significant difference in such indicators was observed between CMV + SIL group and HFOV group (P ＞ 0.05).The effective rate in HFOV + SIL group (90％) was the highest among the 4 groups (x2 =7.938,P ＜ 0.05).During the treatment,all neonates have no adverse reaction.Conclusion The combined use of SIL and HFOV might be a more effective and safer method in the treatment of PPHN of neonate.

Objective To investigate the relationship between inflammation and blood coagulation function in the patients with acute exacerbation of chronic cor pulmonale (AECCP) and discuss the potential mechanism and influence on the patients. Methods The present study was based on 30 healthy controls and 141 cases of AECCP in our hospital from January 2011 to June 2014.Levels of white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil (NEUT), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP, Complement 3 (C3), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB) and thrombin time (TT) in the patients were determined. Results Compared with the healthy controls, the patients had higher levels of WBC, NEUT, hs-CRP, PT, APTT, FIB, TT (all P < 0.001) and lower level of C3 (P < 0.001). Significant positive correlations were found between the levels of WBC, NEUT and FIB (r = 0.196 and r = 0.199, both P < 0.05); hs-CRP and APTT, FIB(r = 0.234, P < 0.01 and r = 0.466, P < 0.001); C3 and FIB(r = 0.466, P < 0.001), and significant negative correlations were observed between the levels of C3 and PT, APTT, TT (r=-0.258, P<0.01;r=-0.279, P < 0.01 and r = -0.168, P < 0.05, respectively). Compared with the survival patients, the cases of death had higher levels of WBC and NEUT (both P < 0.01). The area under receiver operating characteristic curve of WBC and NEUT, predicting the prognosis, was 0.666 (95% CI 0.552, 0.780; P < 0.01) and 0.695 (95% CI 0.558, 0.801; P = 0.001) respectively. Conclusions Inflammation and blood coagulation function disorder usually coexist in the patients with AECCP, and are closely associated with the severity. Levels of both WBC and NEUT can be used as prognosis predictors for the patients.

PURPOSE: Recent evidence suggests that B cells can both promote and inhibit the development and progression of allergic disease. However, the characteristics of B cell subsets in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) have not been well documented. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of B cell subsets in the peripheral blood of AR patients. METHODS: Forty-seven AR patients and 54 healthy controls were enrolled in this study, and the B cell subsets in peripheral blood of all subjects were analyzed by flow cytometry. Moreover, the serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and IgE concentrations secreted into the cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: We found the peripheral blood of AR patients contained higher percentages of memory B cells, plasma cells, and CD19+CD24hiCD27+ regulatory B cells (Bregs) than those of age-matched healthy controls (P < 0.05), while the percentages of naïve B cells and CD19+CD24hiCD38hi Bregs were significantly lower in AR patients than in healthy individuals (P < 0.05). In addition, the serum total IgE and IgE concentrations secreted into the cultured PBMCs were elevated in AR patients than in the healthy controls (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that AR patients were characterized by increase in terminally differentiated memory B cells or plasma cells and decreases in CD19+CD24hiCD38hi Breg cells in the peripheral blood.
B-Lymphocyte Subsets* ; B-Lymphocytes ; B-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulins ; Memory ; Plasma Cells ; Rhinitis, Allergic*