Objective: To investigate the functional changes of key gut microbiota (GM) that produce lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients and to explore their potential role in the pathogenesis of AF. Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Patients with AF admitted to Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University were enrolled from March 2016 to December 2018. Subjects with matched genetic backgrounds undergoing physical examination during the same period were selected as controls. Clinical baseline data and fecal samples were collected. Bacterial DNA was extracted and metagenomic sequencing was performed by using Illumina Novaseq. Based on metagenomic data, the relative abundances of KEGG Orthology (KO), enzymatic genes and species that harbored enzymatic genes were acquired. The key features were selected via the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis. The role of GM-derived LPS biosynthetic feature in the development of AF was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and logistic regression analysis. Results: Fifty nonvalvular AF patients (mean age: 66.0 (57.0, 71.3), 32 males(64%)) were enrolled as AF group. Fifty individuals (mean age 55.0 (50.5, 57.5), 41 males(82%)) were recruited as controls. Compared with the controls, AF patients showed a marked difference in the GM genes underlying LPS-biosynthesis, including 20 potential LPS-synthesis KO, 7 LPS-biosynthesis enzymatic genes and 89 species that were assigned as taxa harbored nine LPS-enzymatic genes. LASSO regression analysis showed that 5 KO, 3 enzymatic genes and 9 species could be selected to construct the KO, enzyme and species scoring system. Genes enriched in AF group included 2 KO (K02851 and K00972), 3 enzymatic genes (LpxH, LpxC and LpxK) and 7 species (Intestinibacter bartlettii、Ruminococcus sp. JC304、Coprococcus catus、uncultured Eubacterium sp.、Eubacterium sp. CAG:251、Anaerostipes hadrus、Dorea longicatena). ROC curve analysis revealed the predictive capacity of differential GM-derived LPS signatures to distinguish AF patients in terms of above KO, enzymatic and species scores: area under curve (AUC)=0.957, 95%CI: 0.918-0.995, AUC=0.940, 95%CI 0.889-0.991, AUC=0.972, 95%CI 0.948-0.997. PLS-SEM showed that changes in lipopolysaccharide-producing bacteria could be involved in the pathogenesis of AF. The key KO mediated 35.17% of the total effect of key bacteria on AF. After incorporating the clinical factors of AF, the KO score was positively associated with the significantly increased risk of AF (OR<0.001, 95%CI:<0.001-0.021, P<0.001). Conclusion: Microbes involved in LPS synthesis are enriched in the gut of AF patients, accompanied with up-regulated LPS synthesis function by encoding the LPS-enzymatic biosynthesis gene.
Aged ; Atrial Fibrillation/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies

Objective To explore the value of degree of cranial suture closure in forensic adult age estimation by thin-layer CT scan and establish an adult age estimation model of the Han nationality. Methods Thin-layer CT scan samples of the heads of 220 healthy Sichuan Han adults （110 males, 110 females） aged 20 to 70 were collected, of which 20 samples （10 males, 10 females） were randomly selected as test samples. The sagittal suture, coronal suture （both left and right） and lambdoid suture （both left and right） were respectively and equally divided into 2 segments, and every segment was equally divided into 10 layers and the corresponding multiplanar reformation （MPR） images were selected. The closure of cranial sutures on MPR images was classified into the grades 1-7. The correlations between cranial sutures and age were analyzed to build regression equation for age estimation. Results The degree of closure of sagittal suture, coronal suture （both left and right） and lambdoid suture （both left and right） was positively correlated with age. The coefficient of determination （R²） of regression equation was 0.419 in males, 0.589 in females, and 0.522 in all samples. The results of the verification test showed that the mean absolute error （MAE） was 6.39 years in males, 6.16 years in females, and 6.29 years in all samples. Conclusion There was a higher accuracy in adult age estimation by thin-layer CT scan of cranial sutures. The age of Han nationality adults can be estimated by the degree of cranial sutures closure.
Cranial Sutures/diagnostic imaging* ; Female ; Head ; Male ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence and possible factors influencing metabolic syndrome in people from Guizhou Province and to explore the predictive value of the fat-to-muscle ratio in diagnosing metabolic syndrome.

METHODSA multistage stratified sampling method was used in this cross-sectional study of 20-80 years old Han and Bouyei populations from Guizhou Province, southwestern China, from October-December 2012. The study included 4,553 cases of metabolic syndrome, that was defined according to 2005 International Diabetes Federation criteria. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used for determining the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive ability of the fat-to-muscle ratio for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.

RESULTSThe age-standardized prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 11.38% (men: 9.76%; women: 12.72%) for Han and 4.78% (men: 4.43%; women: 5.30%) for Bouyei populations. In Guizhou Province, the cut-off value for the men fat-to-muscle ratio was 0.34, the area under the curve was 0.95, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.94 and 0.85, respectively. The cut-off value for the women fat-to-muscle ratio was 0.55, the area under the curve was 0.91, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.93 and 0.79, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe fat-to-muscle ratio is highly predictive of metabolic syndrome in Guizhou Province, and a useful reference indicator.

Adipose Tissue ; physiology ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Composition ; genetics ; physiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Metabolic Syndrome ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiology ; Young Adult

Objective To research the effect of piperazine ferulate dispersed tablets joint clopidogrel in the treatment of coronary heart disease.Methods Patients with coronary heart disease was from January 2015 to December 2016 as the study subjects,according to random number table method they were divided into control group and treatment group,44cases in each group.Control group was treated with clopidogrel,preoperative acceptance of 75 mg clopidogrel,qd,and continuous treatment for 6 months.Treatment group was treated with piperazine ferulate dispersed tablets based on the control group,oral 100 mg of piperazine ferulate dispersed tablets,tid,continuous treatment for 1 month.Clinical effects,serum homocysteine (HCY),hypersensitive C-reactive protein (HsCRP),myeloperoxidase (MPO),ischemia modified albumin (IMA),and adverse drugs reactions(ADR) between two group was compared.Results Total effective rate of the treatment group and control group respectively were 90.90％ (40 cases/44 cases) and 72.72％ (32 cases/44 cases),the difference between groups was significant (P ＜ 0.05).After treatment,the serum HCY in treatment group and control group respectively were (12.48 ± 1.91) and (16.36 ±2.02) μmol · L-1;HsCRP in the two groups respectively were (1.34 ±0.17) and (3.82 ±0.56)mg · L-1,MPO in the two groups respectively were (17.36 ±2.88) and (23.26 ±4.26)mmol · L-1,IMA in the two groups respectively were (20.10 ± 2.44) and (24.91 ± 3.53) μg · L-1,the difference of above factors between groups was significantly (all P ＜ 0.05).Incidence of ADR in treatment group and control group respectively were 25.00％ (11 cases/44 cases) and 20.45％ (9 cases/44 cases),there was no significant difference (P ＞0.05).Conclusion Effect of piperazine ferulate dispersed tablets joint clopidogrel in the treatment of coronary heart disease is better than clopidogrel alone,which reduced serum HCY,HsCRP,MPO and IMA and slowed down the disease.

OBJECTIVETo discuss the imaging findings of stress fracture, in order to improve the ability of early diagnosis and early treatment of this disease.

METHODSThe DR, CT and MRI imaging data of 336 cases of stress fracture from January 2010 to January 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. Early diagnosis ratio in stress fractures by three methods were analyzed using²-test.

RESULTSEarly diagnosis ratio of three methods as follow: DR was 70.83%(238/332), CT was 55.93%(66/118), and MRI was 73.61%(53/72). There was statistical significance among three methods (²=10.15,=0.006), the early diagnosis ratio of DR was higher than CT (²=8.765,=0.003)and there was no statistical significance between DR and MRI (²=0.224,=0.636).

CONCLUSIONSDR and MRI have better diagnosis of stress fractures while CT is not helpful in the early diagnosis. DR examination is preferred method due to its economical and convenient. MR is the important complement means, which can improve the early diagnosis ratio and provide imaging diagnosis basis for the clinical, so that the disease get early intervention and treatment.

Objective To more effectively prevent hypertension and provide better health care for college and university teachers and staff by keeping abreast with the epidemiology of hypertension. Methods The data were extracted from the selected Chinese and English papers on epidemiology of hypertension, which was followed by a meta-analysis of the prevalence, awareness rate, cure rate, and control rate of hypertension in college and university teachers and staff of China. Results A total of 73 papers were included in this study. The total prevalence of hypertension was 23. 3% (95%CI=21. 1%-25. 6%), the prevalence of hypertension was 27. 2% (95%CI=24. 4%-30. 0%) in male hypertensive teachers and staff and was 18. 6% (95%CI=16. 6%-20. 6%) in female hypertensive teachers and staff. The prevalence of hypertension increased with the increasing age and tended to increase with the year of investigation in college and university teachers and staff of China, and was the lowest in East China followed by Central China and West China. The awareness rate, cure rate and control rate of hypertension were 68. 3% (95%CI=59 . 7%-76 . 8%) , 63 . 7% ( 95%CI=55 . 5%-71 . 9%) , and 37 . 7% ( 95%CI=28 . 0%-47 . 5%) respec-tively in college and university teachers and staff of China. Conclusion The prevalence of hypertension is different in college and university teachers and staff of China due to different sexes, ages and areas.

Based on the introduction to the clinical phenotype extraction technique,the paper conducts systematic review on the extraction of clinical phenotype from Electronic Medical Records (EMR) of diabetes by taking advantages of the clinical decision support technique,natural language processing technique and machine learning method,and indicates that the deep learning method can be used to extract clinical phenotype from the EMR data more effectively and accurately,help clinical researchers better conduct clinical tests,and improve the medical care level.

By using the software CiteSpace Ⅱ,the paper makes a quantitative analysis and interpretation of research literatures on telemedicine in SCIE of Web of Science from three perspectives,namely the research hotspots,knowledge base and research fronts.The research hotspots of telemedicine mainly include tele-diagnosis,tele-monitoring and evaluation of the application effects of telemedicine.It sets forth key literatures representing the knowledge base one by one and reveals that most of them focus on clinical applications.The analysis of burst terms indicates that more attention has been paid to tele-monitoring and distance education of chronic diseases in recent years and mobile technology is one of the greatest driving forces for the development of telemedicine at the present stage.

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of homoharringtonine (HHT) on K562 cell proliferation, apoptosis and expression of BCL-2 and NF-κB proteins. The cells proliferation was assayed with MTT method, the cell apoptosis, cell cycle and BCL-2 expression were analyzed with flow cytometry, NF-κB protein expression was detected with Western blot. The results showed that HHT concentration-dependently inhibited proliferation of K562 cells, the IC50 at 48 h was 43.89 ng/ml. Treated with HHT 10 ng/ml for 48 h, K562 cell apoptosis significantly increased, cell cycle was blocked at G0/G1, the expression level of BCL-2 and NF-κB proteins was lower than that in control group (P < 0.05). It is concluded that HHT may inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells, and down-regulating expression levels of BCL-2 and NF-κB may be one of its anti-CML mechanisms.
Flow Cytometry ; Harringtonines ; pharmacology ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism

The efficacy and safety of bevacizumab with modified irinotecan, leucovorin bolus, and 5-fluorouracil intravenous infusion (mIFL) in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) has not been well evaluated in randomized clinical trials in Chinese patients. We conducted a phrase III trial in which patients with previously untreated mCRC were randomized 2:1 to the mIFL [irinotecan (125 mg/m(2)), leucovorin (20 mg/m(2)) bolus, and 5-fluorouracil intravenous infusion (500 mg/m(2)) weekly for four weeks every six weeks] plus bevacizumab (5 mg/kg every two weeks) group and the mIFL group, respectively. Co-primary objectives were progression-free survival (PFS) and 6-month PFS rate. In total, 214 patients were enrolled. Our results showed that addition of bevacizumab to mIFL significantly improved median PFS (4.2 months in the mIFL group vs. 8.3 months in the bevacizumab plus mIFL group, P < 0.001), 6-month PFS rate (25.0% vs. 62.6%, P < 0.001), median overall survival (13.4 months vs. 18.7 months, P = 0.014), and response rate (17% vs. 35%, P = 0.013). Grades 3 and 4 adverse events included diarrhea (21% in the mIFL group and 26% in the bevacizumab plus mIFL group) and neutropenia (19% in the mIFL group and 33% in the bevacizumab plus mIFL group). No wound-healing complications or congestive heart failure occurred. Our results suggested that bevacizumab plus mIFL is effective and well tolerated as first-line treatment for Chinese patients with mCRC. Clinical benefit and safety profiles were consistent with those observed in pivotal phase III trials with mainly Caucasian patients.
Adult ; Aged ; Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Bevacizumab ; Camptothecin ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; analogs & derivatives ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Diarrhea ; chemically induced ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Leucovorin ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neutropenia ; chemically induced ; Prospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult