Objective To investigate the influence of high-level of glucose on the expression of ghrelin in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Methods After 12 h glucose free culturing, the effects of different concentrations of glucose and different incubation times on expressions of ghrelin were observed in HUVECs. ( 1) The cells were treated with 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 mmol/L glucose for 2 h, then ghrelin mRNA expression levels were detected by RT-PCR, and the protein levels of ghrelin were detected by ELISA. (2) The cells were treated with 10 mmol/L glucose for 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 6, 12 hours, ghrelin mRNA and protein levels were detected respectively. Results (1) The expression levels of ghrelin mRNA and protein decreased along with increased glucose concentrations, which showed no obvious changes when the glucose was above 15 mmol/L. (2) The expression levels of ghrelin mRNA and protein decreased with the prolonged incubation time. But more than 6 h culturing time showed no further effect on reducing the expression level of ghrelin. Conclusion High levels of glucose can inhibit the expression level of ghrelin, which may be one of the mechanisms of atherosclerosis.

Objective:To evaluate the prognostic value of Karnofsky performance scores (KPS) in elderly patients with sepsis, so as provide a basis for clinical evaluation of the condition, prognosis and corresponding treatment measures.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to collect the general information, clinical data, and follow-up data of limb motor function status and self-care ability of elderly patients with sepsis who were hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of our hospital from January 2018 to June 2021. Patients were divided into the survival group and death group according to whether they survived the hospitalization. Statistical analysis was performed using t-test, chi-square test, and Mann-Whitney test. The KPS score before admission, disease severity scores (APACHEⅡ and SOFA), serum procalcitonin (PCT), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and arterial blood lactate level on admission were compared between the two groups. Then, the factors with significance in univariate analysis were analyzed by Logistic regression method, the independent risk factors for predicting in-hospital mortality were determined, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the prognostic value of KPS score in elderly patients with sepsis.Results:A total of 135 patients were collected. There were 85 males and 50 females, 60 died and 75 survived during hospitalization, with a mortality rate of 44.4%. The preadmission KPS score of elderly patients with sepsis in the death group was significantly lower than that in the survival group [30 (30, 40) vs. 70 (50, 90), P<0.001]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that KPS score ( OR=0.938, 95% CI: 0.914-0.963, P<0.001), SOFA score ( OR=1.255, 95% CI: 1.066-1.451, P=0.002) and arterial blood lactate ( OR=1.219, 95% CI: 1.059-1.404, P=0.006) were independent risk factors for predicting the prognosis during hospitalization. ROC curve analysis of mortality showed that compared with SOFA score and blood lactate, the area under the curve of KPS score was the largest, with AUC of 0.830 (95% CI: 0.756-0.890, P<0.001). In addition, the combination of KPS, SOFA and blood lactate had a greater predictive value for the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis than that of the single index, with an AUC of 0.883 (95% CI: 0.826-0.940, P<0.001). Conclusions:The lower the KPS score, the worse the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis. The KPS score can be used as a clinical indicator to predict the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis.

Objective:To investigate the prognostic value of cardiac ultrasound left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) on admission in patients with septic cardiomyopathy.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The patients with septic cardiomyopathy hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Zhoupu Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Health College from January 2019 to March 2023 were enrolled. The general information including gender and age, LVEF on admission, severity of illness scores within 24 hours after admission [acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHEⅡ) score and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score], procalcitonin (PCT), cardiac biomarkers [N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), cardiac troponin T (cTnT), and MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CK-MB)], mitochondria related indicators [aspartate aminotransferase (AST), AST/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio], blood lactate (Lac), the usage of vasoactive drugs and mechanical ventilation, and the prognosis during hospitalization were collected. The differences in above clinical data between the two groups were compared. The variables with statistically significant differences in univariate analysis were incorporated into multivariate Logistic regression analysis to analyze the independent risk factors for death during hospitalization in patients with septic cardiomyopathy. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to evaluate the prognostic value of LVEF by echocardiography on admission in patients with septic cardiomyopathy during hospitalization.Results:A total of 62 patients were enrolled, including 36 males and 26 females. Thirty-nine cases died and 23 cases survived during hospitalization, and the mortality was 62.90%. Compared with the survival group, the LVEF of patients on admission was lower in the death group [0.51 (0.40, 0.57) vs. 0.56 (0.51, 0.63), P < 0.01], APACHEⅡ score, SOFA score, Lac, NT-proBNP, CK-MB within 24 hours after admission were higher [APACHEⅡ score: 22.18±8.38 vs. 17.39±8.22, SOFA score: 9.90±3.87 vs. 7.09±3.27, Lac (mmol/L): 5.10 (2.63, 11.50) vs. 2.00 (1.40, 5.00), NT-proBNP (μg/L): 5.24 (2.84, 11.29) vs. 2.53 (0.35, 6.63), CK-MB (U/L): 1.88 (0.21, 5.33) vs. 0.17 (0.02, 1.62), all P < 0.05], and the proportion of vasoactive drug application was higher (82.05% vs. 47.83%, P < 0.01). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that LVEF on admission was an independent risk factor for predicting the prognosis of patients with septic cardiomyopathy during hospitalization [odds ratio ( OR) = 0.920, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.855-0.990, P = 0.025]. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of LVEF on admission for predicting the death of patients with septic cardiomyopathy was 0.715 (95% CI was 0.585-0.845, P = 0.005). When LVEF ≤ 0.52, the sensitivity was 73.9%, and the specificity was 61.5%. Conclusions:The lower cardiac ultrasound LVEF on admission, the worse the prognosis of patients with septic cardiomyopathy. The cardiac ultrasound LVEF on admission can be used as a clinical index to evaluate the severity of the condition and predict the prognosis of patients with septic cardiomyopathy.