Pulmonary artery hypertension is a disease with complicated pathogenesis, which is characterized by enhanced pulmonary artery constriction and arterial wall remodeling, leading to progressive increase of pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary artery pressure, then resulting in right heart failure.Many studies have shown that transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1) plays an important role in the development of various diseases, especially in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.TGF-β1 is involved in multiple cellular responses including cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and apoptosis.TGF-β1 participates in pulmonary artery hypertension mainly via promoting the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells as well as inducing the deposition of extracellular matrix and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition(EndMT) through many signaling, which is mainly dominated by pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and pulmonary artery endothelial cells.This review mainly introduces the role of TGF-β1 in pulmonary artery hypertension in order to provide potential drug targets and therapeutic strategies for pulmonary artery hypertension.

BACKGROUND:At present, scholars general y believe that the physical and chemical properties of titanium mesh are fine as easy plastic, easy cutting, good corrosion resistance and wear resistance, non-magnetic, less effect on CT or MRI results, good histocompatibility and resistance to stress. The titanium mesh is regarded as an ideal material for cranioplasty. ＜br> OBJECTIVE:To explore the clinical feasibility of primary reconstruction of comminuted and open skul fracture with titanium mesh. ＜br> METHODS:Sixty-two cases of comminuted and open skul fracture were analyzed retrospectively, including 49 males and 13 females, aged 7-69 years. Among these 62 patients, 30 patients underwent debridement and then after 6-12 months, they received titanium mesh reconstruction, serving as control group. Another 32 cases underwent debridement and titanium mesh reconstruction in the same time as observation group. Al the cases were fol owed-up for 1-2 years to observe wound healing, complications and hospitalization cost. ＜br> RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:During the fol ow-up, no wound infection and intracranial infection occurred in the two groups. The incidence of intracranial hematoma, epilepsy, and other complications was higher in the control group than the observation group (P＜0.05), and the hospitalization cost was also higher in the control group than the observation group (P＜0.05). These findings indicate that primary reconstruction with titanium mesh is feasible in the treatment of comminuted and open skul fracture and can significantly reduce the incidence of complications and hospitalization costs.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of intracranial pressure monitoring in ventricular puncture for patients with posttraumatic diffuse brain swelling under guidance of real-time intraoperative ultrasound. Methods Sixty-seven patients with posttraumatic diffuse brain swelling, admitted to and accepted intracranial pressure monitoring in ventricular puncture under real-time intraoperative ultrasound in our hospital from January 2015 to December 2017, were chosen as experimental group; and other 71 patients with posttraumatic diffuse brain swelling, admitted to and accepted traditional intracranial pressure monitoring in ventricular puncture in our hospital from January 2012 to June 2014, were chosen as control group. The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed, and the success rate of primary puncture and complications were compared between the two groups. Results The success rate of primary puncture in the experimental group was 100％ (67/67), and that in the control group was 77.5％ (55/71), with significant difference (P<0.05). No catheter-related infection was noted in either group. Only one patient in study group had puncture tract bleeding, while 9 patients in the control group had puncture tract bleeding; abnormal puncture location was noted in 8 patients of the control group, including 5 failing to be punctured in the ventricle, one puncturing to the contralateral ventricle, and two having excessive puncture depth; occurrence of postoperative complications in study group was significantly lower than that in control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Real-time intraoperative ultrasound-guided puncture ventricle drainage is superior to conventional bind-puncture in traumatic patients with diffuse brain swelling, and can be widely used in clinical practice.

Objective: To compare the prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease in patients with end-stage renal disease treated with maintenance hemodialysis with that in healthy controls and to investigate the relationship between end-stage renal disease, dental caries and periodontal disease. Methods : A total of 82 maintenance hemodialysis patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected as the case group, and 86 healthy persons who underwent oral examination in the physical examination center were selected as the control group. Dental caries and periodontal conditions were examined in the two groups. The dental caries examination was conducted by determining the number of decayed-missing-filled teeth, which was recorded as recommended by the World Health Organization. The periodontal condition parameters included the plaque index, calculus index, bleeding on probing, periodontal pocket depth and clinical attachment loss. Results: The prevalence of dental caries in the case group and healthy control group was 87.8% and 81.4%, respectively, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The periodontal indexes, including the plaque index, calculus index, probe bleeding index, periodontal pocket depth and clinical attachment level, in the case group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and the prevalence of periodontitis in the case group was significantly higher than that in the control group (97.6% vs 88.4%, P < 0.05). Conclusion The dental caries conditions were comparable between the case group and the control group, but the prevalence and severity of periodontitis were significantly higher in the case group than in the control group.