Objective To provide evidence for TCM treatment according to syndrome differentiation by studying the correlation between TCM syndromes and serum gastrin (GAS), motilin (MTL), cholecystokinin (CCK) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) levels of reflux esophagitis (RE) patients. Methods A total of 120 eligible RE patients from Dongzhimen Hospital were differentiated with TCM syndromes, and blood samples were taken to test for GAS, MTL, CCK and VIP levels. Differences between the different TCM syndromes in terms of serum gastrointestinal hormones levels were analysed. Results The male patients had the most distribution of stagnation of heat in the liver and stomach syndrome, but the female patients had the most distribution of disharmony of the liver and stomach syndrome (χ2=27.994, Ps<0.001). The Grades A, B and C were mainly associated with the obstruction of phlegm syndrome, disharmony of the liver and stomach syndrome, and stagnation of heat in the liver and stomach syndrome respectively (χ2=9.951, P=0.007). For patients with the syndrome of stagnation of heat in the liver and stomach, the serum GAS level was significantly lower than the syndrome of disharmony of the liver and stomach, the syndrome of obstruction of phlegm, the syndrome of deficiency of the center and upward flow of qi, and mixture of cold and heat syndrome (P<0.01 or P<0.05). For patients with mixture of cold and heat and patients with deficiency of qi and stagnation of blood, there was a significant raise in serum CCK level, compared to the patients with stagnation of heat in the liver and stomach, patients with disharmony of the liver and stomach, or patients with deficiency of the center and upward flow of qi (P<0.01). Compared with the patients with disharmony of the liver and stomach and patients with the syndrome of obstruction of phlegm, the serum CCK level of patients with the syndrome of deficiency of the center and upward flow of qi rose significantly (P<0.01). Compared with the patients with the syndrome of stagnation of heat in the liver and stomach, the serum MTL levels of patients with obstruction of phlegm and patients with mixture of cold and heat rose significantly (P<0.01). There was a significant raise in serum MTL level of patients with the syndrome of mixture of cold and heat compared to patients with disharmony of the liver and stomach and patients with deficiency of the center and upward flow of qi (P<0.05). Conclusions The RE patients with mixture of cold and heat, and patients with deficiency of qi and stagnation of blood, and patients with deficiency of the center and upward flow of qi may be related to the rise in CCK levels. The patients with the syndrome of stagnation of heat in the liver and stomach are related to the decrease in GAS and MTL levels.

Objective:To analyze the association between air pollution, genetic susceptibility, and the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).Methods:AF patients aged between 40-69 years old registered in the United Kingdom Biobank from 2006 to 2010 were included. After excluding those lost to follow-up or with incomplete data during follow-up, 5 814 subjects were analyzed. Long-term exposure to air pollution was estimated at the geocoded residential address of each participant. Genetic risk scores for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke were constructed separately for each object to assess the corresponding genetic susceptibility. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the association between air pollution, genetic susceptibility, and the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in AF patients.Results:During a median follow-up of 12.4 years, there were 929 of all-cause mortality (15.98%) and 1 772 of cardiovascular events (30.48%). Multivariable-adjusted analyses revealed that higher exposure to PM 2.5, PM 10, NO x, and NO 2 was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke, with hazard ratios ( HRs) ranging from 1.26 to 1.48. Specifically, for each interquartile range ( IQR) increase in PM 2.5 exposure, the HRs for the outcomes mentioned above were 1.33 (95% CI: 1.14-1.54), 1.42 (95% CI: 1.31-1.54), 1.46 (95% CI: 1.30-1.64), and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.27-1.61), respectively. Both NO x and NO 2 exposures were associated with a 9% increased risk of all-cause mortality per IQR increment, with corresponding HRs of 1.09 (95% CI: 1.02-1.17) and 1.09 (95% CI: 1.01-1.17), respectively. Individuals with high genetic susceptibility to AF had a higher risk of myocardial infarction and stroke compared to those with low genetic susceptibility, with corresponding HRs of 1.39 (95% CI: 1.04-1.87) and 1.46 (95% CI: 1.09-1.95), respectively. Compared to AF patients with low air pollution exposure, those with high air pollution exposure have adjusted population attributable fractions of up to 33.57% (95% CI: 17.87%-46.26%) for cardiovascular mortality, 28.61% (95% CI: 20.67%-35.75%) for heart failure, 33.35% (95% CI: 20.97%-43.79%) for myocardial infarction, and 42.29% (95% CI: 30.05%-52.71%) for stroke. Furthermore, there was an additive interaction between PM 2.5, NO x, and NO 2 exposure and high genetic susceptibility on the incidence of myocardial infarction. An additive interaction was also observed between NO x, NO 2 exposure, and high genetic susceptibility on the incidence of heart failure (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Both air pollution and genetic susceptibility increase the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in AF patients.