Objective: To investigate the efifcacy and safety of low dose erythropoietin (EPO) for treating the patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention procedure.
Methods: A total of 80 patients of acute STEMI with successful PCI were randomized into 2 groups. EPO group, the patients received intravenous EPO 6000 IU in 100 ml of normal saline at immediately and 2, 4 days after PCI. Control group, the patients received 100 ml of normal saline at the same time points. n=40 in each group. The patients were followed-up for 6 months for routine blood test, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI), left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI), the size of infarction, and plasma levels of BNP, hemoglobin. The major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and EPO related side effects were compared between 2 groups.
Results: The baseline condition was similar between 2 groups. With 6 months of treatment, EPO group showed obviously improved LVEF at 4 days after PCI, and decreased size of infarction, all P<0.05, while those indexes were similar in Control group, all P>0.05. In EPO group, with 6 months of treatment, LVESVI decreased from (49.76±32.65 ) ml/m2 to (34.78±19.98)
ml/m2, LVEDVI decreased from (92.23±27.65) ml/m2 to (84.52±25.76) ml/m2, all P>0.05, and in Control group, LVEDVI increased from (91.78±41.67) ml/m2 to (93.71±31.25) ml/m2, P>0.05. The incidence of MACE and EPO related side effects were similar between 2 groups, P>0.05.
Conclusion: Low dose EPO administration was effective and safe for treating AMI patients after PCI procedure.

BACKGROUND:The mechanism and effect of glycogen synthase kinase 3β(GSK-3β) in the differentiation of cardiac stem cel s into cardiomyocytes are stil unclear, although GSK-3βis closely related to the life activities of cel s.
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the changes of GSK-3βexpression in the treatment of myocardial infarction in rats undergoing cardiac stem cel transplantation.
METHODS:The isolation and culture of cardiac stem cel s were performed in 10 neonatal rats. Lentivirus overexpressing GSK-3βor LacZ (control) was constructed and transferred into cardiac stem cel s. Animal model of myocardial infarction was made in 30 Sprague-Dawley rats. Six weeks after model preparation, rat models were assigned into GSK-3β, LacZ or PBS group. GSK-3βor LacZ overexpressing cardiac stem cel solution or PBS in equal volume was injected into the rat myocardium, respectively. Four weeks after transplantation, the cardiac function and myocardial col agen production in rats were detected and compared.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the other two groups, the left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly higher, and the left ventricular end diastolic diameter was significantly lower in the GSK-3βgroup (P<0.05). Hydroxyproline content, type I col agen mRNA, and type III col agen mRNA expression were significantly lower in the GSK-3βgroup than the other two groups (P<0.05). Findings from Masson staining showed that the content of blue-stained col agen was significantly lower in the GSK-3βgroup than the LacZ group. Moreover, lowest myocardial infarction size was found in the GSK-3βgroup (P<0.05). Al these experimental findings show that GSK-3 overexpression plays a positive role in promoting the therapeutic effect of cardiac stem cel transplantation.

OBJECTIVE:To compare anticoagulant efficacy and safety of dabigatran etexilate and warfarin in the treatment of non-valvular atrial fibrillation(NVAF). METHODS:In retrospective analysis,360 NVAF patients were divided into control group (180 cases)and observation group(180 cases)according to therapy plan. Control group was given Warfarin sodium tablet with ini-tial dose of 2.5 mg orally,once a day,adjusted dosage according to INR. Observation group was given Dabigatran etexilate cap-sule 150 mg with warm water,twice a day,during or after meal. The levels of ALT,AST and INR,the occurrence of ADR were observed in 2 groups before treatment and 1,3 month after treatment. RESULTS:There was no statistical significance in the levels of ALT or AST between 2 groups before and after treatment (P>0.05). Before treatment,there was no statistical significance in INR between 2 groups (P>0.05),1,3 months after treatment,INR in control group was significantly higher than before treat-ment,with statistical significance(P<0.05);there was no statistical significance in the INR of observation group before and after treatment(P>0.05);but INR of 2 groups ranged were in normal range. There was no statistical significance in the incidence of ADR between 2 groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Anticoagnlant efficacy of dabigatran etexilate is significantly better than war-farin for NVAF. Both have similar safety.

Objective To investigate the significance of blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) and ambulatory urodynamics monitoring (AUM) to find the cause of primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE) in children.Methods Thirty-seven children with PMNE (20 males and 17 females) were selected,with a mean age of (11.3 ±4.1) years old.A clinical management tool,3-day urination record,daytime BOLD-fMRI scan,conventional urodynamics (CUD) and AUM were performed respectively.Thirty-seven gender-age matched children(19 males,18 females) who would receive surgery treatment because of upper urinary tract disease and were confirmed to have no lower urinary tract dysfunction by CUD were enrolled as controls,with a mean age of (11.1 ± 2.9) years old,and 13 cases underwent BOLD-fMRI scanning.Results It was found that the ALFF value of the left middle frontal gyrus of PMNE was decreased and the ReHo value of the left superior occipital gyrus was increased compared with the control group by the resting BOLD-fMRI.The maximum voiding volume of PNME children was (303.11 ± 87.48) mL,the total urine volume at night was (568.65 ± 208.48) mL,and the nighttime bladder volume was (217.43 ± 81.53) mL.The incidence of maximum voiding volume reduction,nocturnal polyuria and decreased nocturnal bladder volume were 24.32％ and 56.76％,and 64.86％,respectively.However,AUM results showed that maximum detrusor pressure in the PMNE group was (39.22 ± 7.78) cmH2O (1 cmH2O =0.098 kPa),which was statistically significantly higher than that in CUD (32.22 ±9.00) cmH2O,and the difference was statistically significant (P ＜0.05).In PMNE group,29 cases (78.37％) had detrusor overactivity (DO),which was significantly higher than that in CUD group [16 cases (43.24％)],and the difference was statistically significant(t =-3.047,P =0.004).CUD and AUM were all detected in children with DO,the frequency of DO detected by AUM was significantly higher than that detected by CUD[(2.00 ±0.55 times/h) vs.(1.38 ±0.50) times/h,P ＜0.05],and the maximum amplitude of detrusor pressure when DO occurring was significantly higher in AUM than in CUD [(19.56 ± 6.01) cmH2O vs.(14.38 ± 3.07) cmH2O],and the differences were statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05);however,there was no significant difference in bladder compliance detected by AUM or CUD (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The abnormal functions of the left middle frontal gyrus and left superior occipital gyrus,nighttime DO and the decrease of bladder capacity at night are considered to be key causes of enuresis in children with PMNE.AUM and resting state BOLD-fMRI evaluations are helpful in differentiating the pathogenesis of PMNE.