OBJECTIVETo explore the therapeutic effect of Pushen capsule (PSC) in treating primary hyperlipidemia.

METHODSTwo hundred and forty patients with primary hyperlipidemia were randomly divided into two groups, the 120 patients in the treated group treated with PSC (4 capsules, tid) and the 120 patients in the control group treated with Zhibituo tablet (3 tablets, tid), and they were administered at the same time with Zhibituo placebo. The therapeutic course for both groups was 4 weeks. The therapeutic effect and the effects on blood lipids and viscosity were observed.

RESULTSThe effective rate in the treated group was 76.3%, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (48.7%, P < 0.01). PSC showed a significant lowering effect on TC, TG and LDL-C and raising effect on HDL-C, and the effect in lowering TG was significantly better than that of Zhibituo (P < 0.01). PSC also showed a certain effect in decreasing whole blood viscosity of both high-sheared and low-sheared viscosity.

CONCLUSIONPushen capsule has promising blood lipid regulating effect in patients with hyperlipidemia, and some effects in lowering the blood viscosity.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Viscosity ; Capsules ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; drug therapy ; Hypolipidemic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Prospective Studies ; Triglycerides ; blood

D ue to the negative autopsy and w ithout cardiac structural abnorm alities, unexpected sudden cardiac death (U SC D ) is alw ays a tough issue for forensic pathological expertise. U SC D m ay be asso-ciated w ith parts of fatal arrhythm ic diseases. T hese arrhythm ic diseases m ay be caused by disorders of cardiac ion channels or channel-related proteins. C aveolin can com bine w ith m ultiple m yocardial ion channel proteins through its scaffolding regions and plays an im portant role in m aintaining the depolar-ization and repolarization of cardiac action potential. W hen the structure and function of caveolin are af-fected by gene m utations or abnorm al protein expression, the functions of the regulated ion channels are correspondingly im paired, w hich leads to the occurrence of m ultiple channelopathies, arrhythm ia or even sudden cardiac death. It is im portant to study the effects of caveolin on the functions of ion channels for exploring the m echanism s of m alignant arrhythm ia and sudden cardiac death.

Objective T o explore the genetic variation sites of caveolin (C A V ) and their correlation w ith sudden unexplained death (SU D ).Methods The blood sam ples w ere collected from SU D group (71 cases), coronary artery disease (C A D ) group (62 cases) and control group (60 cases), respectively. T he genom e D N A w ere extracted and sequencing w as perform ed directly by am plifying gene coding region and exon-intron splicing region of CAV1 and CAV3 using PC R . T he type of heritable variation of CVA w as con-firm ed and statistical analysis w as perform ed. Results A total of 4 variation sites that m aybe significa-tive w ere identified in SU D group, and tw o w ere new found w hich w ere CAV1: c.45C>T (T 15T ) and CAV1:c.512G>A (R 171H ), and tw o w ere SN P loci w hich w ere CAV1:c.246C>T (rs35242077) and CAV3:c.99C>T (rs1008642) and had significant difference (P<0.05) in allele and genotype frequencies betw een SU D and control groups. Forem entioned variation sites w ere not found in C A D group. Conclu-sion T he variants of CAV1 and CAV3 m ay be correlated w ith a part of SU D group.

OBJECTIVETo explore the risk factors for Guillain-Barre syndrome.

METHODSCase-control study design was used in 51 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, and 51 matched controls. All of the 51 cases in this study had been examined by electrophysiology. Serum IgG antibodies specific for C. jejuni were determined in all the subjects by ELISA. Each case and control were interviewed using an ad hoc questionnaire, including his/her demographic information, onset of the illness, their personal hygiene and so on.

RESULTSThe study showed that Guillain-Barre syndrome was associated with a few factors, such as polio vaccine immunization before onset of illness (OR=7.27), no hand washing after defecation and before meals (OR=6.15). Infection of C. jejuni was strongly associated with the illness (OR=9.5, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONIt is suggested that occurrence of Guillain-Barre syndrome may correlate to infection of C. jejuni and poor personal hygiene in children.

Adolescent ; Campylobacter Infections ; complications ; Campylobacter jejuni ; pathogenicity ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome ; epidemiology ; etiology ; microbiology ; Hand Disinfection ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; analysis ; Infant ; Male ; Poliovirus Vaccines ; adverse effects ; Risk Factors

Objective: To investigate the safety and efficacy of pulmonary vein deployment technique for percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects (ASD) solely under echocardiography guidance. Methods: A total of 38 ASD patients received pulmonary vein deployment in our hospital from 2012-10 to 2016-09 since the conventional method could not deliver the occluder to correct place. The patients were with the mean age at (16.0±15.6) years, body weight at (37.2±22.9) kg and ASD diameter at (17.1±4.2) mm. Operative effect was assessed by echocardiography. Follow-up study was conducted at 1, 3, 6, 12 months post-operation and at each year thereafter. Results: 37 patients were successfully finished pulmonary vein deployment for percutaneous closure of ASD solely under echocardiography guidance. One patient was successfully treated by a controlled steerable sheath. The mean operative time was (25.2±5.1) min and mean diameter of ASD occluder was (22.9±5.6) mm. 2 patients had trivial residual shunt at the early post-operative stage. No peripheral vascular injury, pulmonary vein and cardiac perforation occurred. All 38 patients were recovered and discharged. The average in-hospital time was (2.9±0.7) days. The patients were followed-up for (23.9±15.4) months, without complications of residual shunt, pericardial effusion, aortic regurgitation and pulmonary vein stenosis. Conclusion: Pulmonary vein deployment technique for percutaneous closure of ASD solely under echocardiography guidance was safe and effective; it can avoid radiation damage and provided a simple and practical method for ASD patients who failed to conventional method under echocardiography guidance.

This study aimed to explore the anti-depressant components of Rehmanniae Radix and its action mechanism based on network pharmacology combined with molecular docking. The main components of Rehmanniae Radix were identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS), and the related targets were predicted using SwissTargetPrediction. Following the collection of depression-related targets from GeneCards, OMIM and TTD, a protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was constructed using STRING. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was performed by Metascape. Cytoscape 3.7.2 was used to construct the networks of "components-targets-disease" and "components-targets-pathways", based on which the key targets and their corresponding components were obtained and then preliminarily verified by molecular docking. Rehmanniae Radix contained 85 components including iridoids, ionones, and phenylethanoid glycosides. The results of network analysis showed that the main anti-depressant components of Rehmanniae Radix were catalpol, melittoside, genameside C, gardoside, 6-O-p-coumaroyl ajugol, genipin-1-gentiobioside, jiocarotenoside A1, neo-rehmannioside, rehmannioside C, jionoside C, jionoside D, verbascoside, rehmannioside, cistanoside F, and leucosceptoside A, corresponding to the following 16 core anti-depression targets: AKT1, ALB, IL6, APP, MAPK1, CXCL8, VEGFA, TNF, HSP90 AA1, SIRT1, CNR1, CTNNB1, OPRM1, DRD2, ESR1, and SLC6 A4. As revealed by molecular docking, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobicity might be the main action forms. The key anti-depression targets of Rehmanniae Radix were concentrated in 24 signaling pathways, including neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, neurodegenerative disease-multiple diseases pathway, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway, serotonergic synapse, and Alzheimer's disease.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Network Pharmacology ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Plant Extracts ; Rehmannia

Objective: To investigate the relationship of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) activity and long noncoding RNA H19 gene expression in the urine of coke oven workers. Methods: In September 2019, in a coking plant in Taiyuan City, 146 male workers who had worked in coke oven operations for one year were selected through a completely random sampling method, and their basic personal information was collected by questionnaire survey, and blood and urine samples were collected. The levels of 4 PAHs metabolites 2-hydroxfluorene (2-FLU), 2- hydroxynaphthalene (2-NAP), 9-hydroxyphenanthren (9-PHE), and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in urine were detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) -fluorescence detection method. HPLC-UV detection method was used to detect the content of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) in plasma, and the SAHH activity value was obtained by calculating the ratio. Reverse transcription PCR method was used to determine the H19 gene expression level. Urine levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP, 9-PHE, and 1-OHP were divided into Q(1), Q(2), Q(3), and Q(4) groups according to quartiles (P(25), P(50), P(75)). Regression, trend test and restricted cubic splines were used to analyze the relationship among PAHs metabolites, SAHH activity, H19 gene expression and their dose-response. Results: The median age of coke oven workers was 39.60 years old, the median length of service was 20.38 years, and the urinary levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP, 9- PHE, and 1-OHP were 0.29, 0.74, 0.09, and 0.06 μg/mmol Cr, respectively. The levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP and 9-PHE in the urine of workers were significantly different between groups with different 1-OHP levels (P<0.05). After adjusting for age, length of service, smoking, drinking, and levels of 2-FLU, 2-NAP and 9-PHE, SAHH activity decreased with the increase of urinary 1-OHP level (OR=0.63, 95%CI: 0.41-0.98, P=0.038), showing a nonlinear relationship (P(nonlinear)= 0.030). H19 gene expression increased with the increase of urinary 1- OHP level (OR=1.51, 95%CI: 1.03-2.19, P=0.033), there was a linear relationship (P(trend)= 0.058). The relationship between the other three metabolites in urine and SAHH activity and H19 gene expression was not statistically significant (P>0.05) . Conclusion: Urinary 1-OHP level may be a risk factor for decreased SAHH activity and increased H19 gene expression in coke oven workers.
Humans ; Adult ; Coke/analysis* ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons/analysis* ; Occupational Exposure/analysis* ; Pyrenes/analysis* ; Smoking/urine*

Due to the negative autopsy and without cardiac structural abnormalities, unexpected sudden cardiac death （USCD） is always a tough issue for forensic pathological expertise. USCD may be associated with parts of fatal arrhythmic diseases. These arrhythmic diseases may be caused by disorders of cardiac ion channels or channel-related proteins. Caveolin can combine with multiple myocardial ion channel proteins through its scaffolding regions and plays an important role in maintaining the depolarization and repolarization of cardiac action potential. When the structure and function of caveolin are affected by gene mutations or abnormal protein expression, the functions of the regulated ion channels are correspondingly impaired, which leads to the occurrence of multiple channelopathies, arrhythmia or even sudden cardiac death. It is important to study the effects of caveolin on the functions of ion channels for exploring the mechanisms of malignant arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/physiopathology* ; Autopsy ; Caveolins/metabolism* ; Channelopathies/genetics* ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac/pathology* ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; Ion Channels/metabolism* ; Mutation ; Myocardium

OBJECTIVES: To explore the genetic variation sites of caveolin （CAV） and their correlation with sudden unexplained death （SUD）. METHODS: The blood samples were collected from SUD group （71 cases）, coronary artery disease （CAD） group （62 cases） and control group （60 cases）, respectively. The genome DNA were extracted and sequencing was performed directly by amplifying gene coding region and exon-intron splicing region of CAV1 and CAV3 using PCR. The type of heritable variation of CVA was confirmed and statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 4 variation sites that maybe significative were identified in SUD group, and two were newfound which were CAV1： c.45C>T （T15T） and CAV1：c.512G>A （R171H）, and two were SNP loci which were CAV1：c.246C>T （rs35242077） and CAV3：c.99C>T （rs1008642） and had significant difference （P<0.05） in allele and genotype frequencies between SUD and control groups. Forementioned variation sites were not found in CAD group. CONCLUSIONS The variants of CAV1 and CAV3 may be correlated with a part of SUD group.
Caveolins/genetics* ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Death, Sudden/etiology* ; Exons ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide