Objective To observe the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) on anemia and erythropoietin (EPO) requirements in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Methods Ninety maintenance hemodialysis patients with hypertension and anemia were divided into 2 groups by random digits table, observation group (45 cases, using ACEI as antihypertensive treatment), control group [45 cases,using calcium channel blocker (CCB) as antihypertensive treatment]. The follow-up period after starting ACEI or CCB therapy was one year. The hemoglobin concentration, serum EPO, EPO requirements were compared after 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 months' treatment. Results In response to ACEI, the mean hemoglobin value in observation group decreased progressively, reaching statistical significance after 6 months, and it had significant difference compared with that in control group [6 months: (94.21±9.20) g/Lvs. (105.55±9.16) g/L,12 months: (95.90±6.75) g/L vs. (105.81±4.45) g/L,P <0.05]. The EPO requirements experienced a progressive increase in observation group and reached statistical significance after 8 months, compared with those in control group [8 months: ( 10 090.75±1918.35) U/week vs. (7010.32±1600.15) U/week, 12 months: (11 586.39±2009.76) U/week vs. (7068.48±1615.35) U/week,P<0.05].Serum erythropoietin concentration remained stable during the study in two groups. Conclusion ACEI can worsen anemia and reduce the efficacy of EPO in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

To survey the serum uric acid (SUA) levels and associated risk factors of hyperuricemia among youth and middle-aged residents in Guangzhou.A total of 1420 subjects,aged from 20 to 60 years,receiving health check-up at our hospital in 2010 were enrolled.The total prevalence of hyperuricemia was 22.04％,32.01％ in males and 14.07％ in females.The average SUA was (388 ±78) μmol/L in males and (288 ± 63) μ mol/L in females.The prevalence of hyperuricemia in males was 30.11％ before 40 years of age and 33.81％ between 40 and 60 years of age.The average level of SUA in males was significantly higher than that of females.logistic regression analysis showed that BUN,body mass index (BMI) and hypertriglyceridemia were the independent risk factors of disease while HDL-C and gender (females) the protective factors.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the side effects of intensity modulated radiotherapy(IMRT) and conventional radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHOD: Sixty nine cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were random selected by stages,with 32 cases in IMRT group and 37 cases in conventional radiotherapy group. The target areas in IMRT group were nasopharyngeal carcinoma, parapharyngeal space and neck lymphatic area with the fractional dose of 2.00-2.12 Gy per time, for 33-35 times. The cases in conventional radiotherapy group were given facio-cervical field radiation, DT 40-60 Gy per time, for 20-30 times. The reinforcing dosage in lateral facial field increased to DT 70 Gy in the nasopharyngeal area. The prophylactic irradiation dose of the neck was DT 50-55 Gy. RESULT: The incidence of dry mouth one year after radiotherapy in the IMRT and conventional radiotherapy groups were 9.38% (3/32) and 94.59% (35/37) respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01). The incidence of difficulty in opening mouth in the IMRT and conventional radiotherapy groups were 6.25% (2/32) and 72.97% (27/37) respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups(P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Compared with the conventional radiotherapy, IMRT may improve the control rate and obviously de creases the side effects. It could be recommended for the radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Adult ; Carcinoma ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; radiotherapy ; Radiotherapy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; adverse effects

Objective:To compare the therapeutic effect of polysaccharide iron complex capsule and Shengxuening tablet on renal anemia in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients.Methods:Patients who received MHD treatment from April to June 2016 in our dialysis center and met the criteria for iron deficiency anemia were block-randomly divided into two groups: the polysaccharide-iron complex group and the Shengxuening group. Blood routine, iron metabolism biomarkers and biochemical exams were measured before treatment and at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd months after treatment, and the incidence of adverse reactions were recorded. The compliance rate of the two groups was observed and compared, and the block-randomized-statistical methods were used to compare the clinical data of the two groups before and after treatment, and cost-benefit analysis was also conducted.Results:Thirty patients in each group completed follow-up. After three months of treatment, the blood routine and iron metabolism indicators of the two groups were improved. Compared with the Shengxuening group, the polysaccharide iron complex group had higher therapeutic efficiency, and the levels of hemoglobin, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin were higher, and lower use of recombinant human erythropoietin ( P<0.05). The other indexes such as red blood cell (RBC), hematocrit (HCT) levels and the effective rate of anemia correction, the effective rate of iron therapy, the effective rate of iron therapy between the two groups were similar. Cost-benefit analysis suggested that the use of polysaccharide iron complexes to treat anemia has lower costs and higher benefits ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Polysaccharide iron complex capsule can better correct anemia and improve iron metabolism, and has low cost-effectiveness, which can effectively reduce medical insurance expenditure. It is a good iron supplementing method in addition to intravenous iron supplement.

Objective:To investigate the application value of ultrasound-guided multimodal examinations in the diagnosis of lymph node mycobacterial infection.Methods:The clinical data of 42 patients with suspected lymph node mycobacterial infection who were initially diagnosed at the Affiliated Hospital of Shaoxing University from January 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent an ultrasound-guided lymph node-negative pressure puncture. Acid-fast staining, bacterial culture, pathological examination or their combination were used to screen lymph nodes for mycobacterial infection. The results were compared with those of acid-fast staining and bacterial culture of sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid smears.Results:The combined application of acid fast staining, bacterial culture, and pathological examination for the puncture fluid smear showed a positive rate of 71.4% (30/42), which was significantly higher than the positive rate [26.2% (11/42)] for acid fast staining of the puncture fluid smear, the positive rate [42.9% (18/42)] for bacterial culture of the puncture fluid, and the positive rate [50.0% (21/42)] of pathological examination ( χ2 = 17.20, 7.00, 4.04, P < 0.001, P < 0.01, P = 0.040). The positive rate for sputum smear and bacterial culture was 21.4% (9/33). The positive rate for acid fast staining and bacterial culture of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was 28.6% (12/30). The differences were statistically significant ( χ2 = 21.11, 15.43, both P < 0.001). Conclusion:Ultrasound-guided negative pressure aspiration and puncture biopsy of lymph nodes combined with acid fast staining, bacterial culture, and pathological examinations can markedly increase the detection rate and diagnostic rate of mycobacterial infection.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparo-scopic lower anterior resection (LAR) of rectal cancer, and the application value of its risk assess-ment scoring model.Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinico-pathological data of 539 patients who underwent laparoscopic LAR of rectal cancer in 13 medical centers, including 248 cases in Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 35 cases in Ningbo First Hospital, 35 cases in Changzhou Second People's Hospital, 32 cases in the First People's Hospital of Nantong, 32 cases in Linyi People's Hospital, 31 cases in Changzhou Wujin People's Hospital, 28 cases in Jiading District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 27 cases in the First Hospital of Taizhou, 26 cases in Shanghai Pudong Gongli Hospital, 21 cases in the People's Hospital of Rugao, 11 cases in Central Hospital of Fengxian District, 7 cases in Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Hospital and 6 cases in Jiangsu jianhu People's Hospital, from January 2016 to November 2020 were collected. There were 157 males and 382 females, aged (62.7±0.5)years. Observation indicators: (1) follow-up; (2) risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR; (3) establishment of risk assessment scoring model for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. Follow-up was conducted by outpatient examination or telephone interview. Patients were followed up at 1 week after discharge or 1 month after the operation to detect the anastomotic leakage. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were represented as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. Univariate analysis was conducted using the chi-square test and multivariate analysis was conducted usong the Logistic regression model. The area under curve of receiver operating characteristic curve was used to estimate the efficiency of detecton methods. The maximum value of the Youden index was defined as the best cut-off value. Results:(1) Follow-up: 539 patients were followed up at postoperative 1 week and 1 month. During the follow-up, 79 patient had anastomotic leakage, with an incidence of 14.66%(79/539). Of the 79 patients, 39 cases were cured after conservative treatment, 40 cases were cured after reoperation (ileostomy or colostomy). (2) Risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. Results of univariate analysis showed that sex, age, body mass index, smoking and/or drinking, tumor diameter, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin, albumin, grade of American Society of Anesthesio-logists (ASA), neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, distance from anastomotic level to dentate line, the number of pelvic stapler, reinforced anastomosis, volume of intraoperative blood loss, placement of decompression tube, preservation of left colic artery, operation time and professional doctors were related factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR ( χ2=14.060, 4.387, 5.039, 4.094, 17.488, 33.485, 25.066, 28.959, 34.973, 34.207, 22.076, 13.208, 16.440, 17.708, 17.260, 4.573, 5.919, 5.389, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that male, tumor diameter ≥3.5 cm, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin <90 g/L, albumin <30 g/L, grade of ASA ≥Ⅲ, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, distance from anastomotic level to dentate line <1 cm, the number of pelvic stapler ≥3, non-reinforced anastomosis, volume of intraoperative blood loss ≥100 mL and no placement of decom-pression tube were independent risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR ( odds ratio=2.864,3.043,12.556,7.178,8.425,12.895,8.987,4.002,3.084,4.393,3.266,3.224,95% confidence interval as 1.279?6.411, 1.404?6.594, 4.469?35.274, 2.648?19.459, 2.471?28.733, 4.027?41.289, 3.702?21.777, 1.746?9.171, 1.365?6.966, 1.914?10.083, 1.434?7.441, 1.321?7.867, P<0.05). (3) Establishment of risk assessment scoring model for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. based on the results of univariate analysis, clinicopathological factors with χ2>20, χ2>10 and ≤20 or χ2≤10 were defined as scoring of 3, 2, 1, respectively. The cumulative clinicopatho-logical factors scoring ≥6 was defined as an effective evaluating indicator for postoperative anastomotic leakage. The risk assessment scoring model (6-321) for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR was established. The cumulative value ≥6 indicated high incidence of anastomotic leakage, and the cumulative value <6 indicated low incidence of anastomotic leakage. Conclusions:Male, tumor diameter ≥3.5 cm, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin <90 g/L, albumin <30 g/L, grade of ASA ≥Ⅲ, neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, distance from anastomotic level to dentate line <1 cm, the number of pelvic stapler ≥3, non-reinforced anastomosis, volume of intraoperative blood loss ≥100 mL and no placement of decompression tube are independent risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. The risk assessment scoring model (6-321) is established according to the above results.The cumulative value ≥6 indicates high incidence of anastomotic leakage and the cumulative value <6 indicates low incidence of anastomotic leakage.

Gastrointestinal mucositis is one of the most debilitating side effects of the chemotherapeutic agent irinotecan (CPT-11). Andrographolide, a natural bicyclic diterpenoid lactone, has been reported to possess anti-colitis activity. In this study, andrographolide treatment was found to significantly relieve CPT-11-induced colitis in tumor-bearing mice without decreasing the tumor suppression effect of CPT-11. CPT-11 causes DNA damage and the release of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) from the intestine, leading to cyclic-GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)‒stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-mediated colitis, which was significantly decreased by andrographolide both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistic studies revealed that andrographolide could promote homologous recombination (HR) repair and downregulate dsDNA‒cGAS‒STING signaling and contribute to the improvement of CPT-11-induced gastrointestinal mucositis. These results suggest that andrographolide may be a novel agent to relieve gastrointestinal mucositis caused by CPT-11.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.03.043.].