Objective To compare the blood high mobility group box-1 (HMGB-l) versus N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for assessment of cardiac dysfunction in the patients with severe sepsis.Methods Ninety-eight patients of both sexes,aged 18-75 yr,were divided into 3 groups according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF):non-cardiac dysfunction group (LVEF ≥ 50 ％,n =43),mild cardiac dysfunction group (30％ ≤ LVEF ＜ 50％,n =41),and severe cardiac dysfunction group (LVEF ＜ 30％,n =14).Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score was performed.Venous blood samples were obtained for determination of the concentrations of HMGB-1 and NT-proBNP.Days of hospitalization and the survival rates within 28 days after admission to hospital were recorded.Pearson correlation between blood HMGB-l,NT-proBNP concentrations and LVEF was analyzed.Results Compared with non-cardiac dysfunction group,LVEF was significantly decreased,APACHE Ⅱ score and blood HMGB-1 and NT-proBNP concentrations were increased,days of hospitalization were prolonged,and the survival rates were decreased in mild and severe cardiac dysfunction groups,and the changes in the parameters mentioned above were more obvious in severe cardiac dysfunction group.The correlation coefficient between blood HMGB-1 concentration and LVEF was -0.639 and between blood NT-proBNP concentration and LVEF was-0.521,showing significant difference.Conclusion Blood HMGB-1 concentration provides higher reliability than blood NT-proBNP concentration in assessing the degree of cardiac dysfunction in the patients with severe sepsis.

Objective:To study the association of air pollution with health service demand of the elderly and middle-age patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases,and to provide a scientific ba-sis for development of environmental protection policy and health service policy of the Chinese govern-ment.Methods:This study included survey data on self-evaluated health,outpatient service demand and inpatient service demand of the patients with hypertension,heart disease and stroke in 62 cities of 1 7 provinces from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)in 201 1 and 201 3,and com-bined it with the data on the annual concentrations of inhalable particulate matter(PM1 0 ),sulfur dioxide (SO2 )and nitrogen dioxide(NO2 )of those provinces and cities.Conditional Logistic regression was car-ried out to assess the possible effects of air pollutants on self-evaluated health and health service utiliza-tion.Results:The results showed that turning points existed in the effects of concentrations of NO2 and SO2 on the health service demand of the patients with hypertension,heart disease and stroke.The inpa-tient service demand of the hypertension patients increased with NO2 concentration when it was lower than 35.1 μg/m3 and decreased with NO2 concentration for higher value.Self-evaluated health of the patients with heart disease and stroke decreased with SO2 concentration when it was lower than 63.8 μg/m3 and increased with SO2 concentration for higher value.In addition,no evidence was found for the association between PM1 0 and health service demand.Conclusion:Air pollution may have effects on health service demand of the patients with hypertension,cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases,and different air pollutants at high or low concentration may have different health effects.

Objective To investigate disorders in calcium and phosphorus metabolism and abnormity in parathyroid function and their related factors in maintenance hemodialysis(MHD)patients.Methods We collected serum Hb,SCr,BUN,calcium,phosphorus,iPTH,high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP),albumin and calculated albumin-corrected Ca and Kt/V from 198 patients with MHD in Jing'an District Central Hospital,Shanghai from Jan.2009 to Dec.2010.The calcium and phosphorus metabolism and parathyroid function were evaluated according to the guidelines of bone metabolism and controlling of bone disease in Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative(KDOQI)recommended by National Kidney Foundation of the United States.198 patients were classified into the standard group(150-300 ng/L),lower than the standard group(＜150 ng/L)and higher than the standard group(＞ 300 ng/L)according to serum iPTH levels.Results In the 198 cases,110 cases were normal in serum Ac-Ca(55.6％); 118 cases were normal in serum phosphorus (59.6％); 143 cases were normal in Ca × P(72.3％); 39 cases were normal in iPTH(19.7％).All four items up to the standard were 28 cases(14.1％)among 198 cases.However,132(66.7％)patients showed lower than 150 ng/L in serum iPTH.The average serum iPTH gradually decreased with age.The senior patients demonstrated the highest average serum Hs-CRP,the lowest average serum phosphorus and the lowest albumin.There were no statistical significance in sex,hemodialysis duration,diabetes,blood pressure,Hb,Bun,SCr,Ac-Ca and Kt/V among three groups.Conclusion The disorders in calcium and phosphorus metabolism and abnormity in parathyroid function is common in the MHD patients.We should pay attention to hypofunction of parathyroid gland in the patients with MHD,which may be related to aging,malnutrition and potential infection.These findings need further investigation.

Objective: To screen the Hub genes associated with the occurrence and development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to analyze their biological functions by using various bioinformatics analysis tools. Methods: ESCC chip profile GSE100942 from GEO database was used as study subject; GEO2R tool was used to analyze the data and to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and the bioinformatics tools (DAVID, String, Cytoscape) were further used to construct protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and identify the key Hub genes. GO and KEGG were used for the biological function enrichment analysis. In the meanwhile, MiRDB was applied to identify the miRNAs that might regulate Hub genes and to construct Hub gene–miRNA network. Importantly, the expression of DEGs and the patient survival were verified by the GEPIA analysis tool. Results: By analyzing GSE100942 database, a total of 1229 DEGs with difference of 2 times and 223 DEGs with difference of 4 times were screened out. In addition, 20 Hub genes, which were all up-regulated in ESCC tissues, were also identified. The functional enrichment analysis showed that these DEGs were mainly enriched in cancer related pathways and involved in cell division and mitotic nuclear division. Among those 20 Hub genes, DLGAP5, BUB1B, TPX2, TTK, CDC20, CCNB2, AURKA and DEPDC1 were identified as 8 key Hub genes that related with ESCC, and involved in many important biological processes, such as cell proliferation, cell cycle and signal pathway. Five Hub genes, CEP55, ECT2, NEK2, DEPDC1 and NUSAP1, were identified to be highly regulated by the miRNA regulatory network. Conclusion: Microarray combined with bioinformatics can effectively analyze the DEGs associated with the occurrence and development of ESCC. The identification of the 20 Hub genes and the 8 key Hub genes can provide theoretical guidance for further research on the molecular mechanism and molecular marker screening of ESCC. ·

To identify the active constituents in vitro and blood-absorbed ingredients in vivo from Yin Chen Hao decoction provides scientific evidence for probing its prevention and treatment mechanism on acute liver injury. An ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS) method was applied for analysis of Yin Chen Hao decoction and the serum samples of mice with con-A induced acute liver injury after preventive oral administration for 14 days (the use of all laboratory animals in this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Naval Medical University, 19YF1459400). A total of 90 chemical constituents were identified from Yin Chen Hao decoction, mainly were flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, quinones. 5 prototype compounds were identified in the serum, including chrysophanol, deoxyrhapontin-8-O-gallate, mussaenosidic acid, herniarin, emodin. The established UPLC-QTOF/MS method could efficiently and sensitively identify the constituents in vitro and blood-absorbed ingredients of Yin Chen Hao decoction, primarily clarify the material basis of its hepatoprotective effect, and provided a scientific basis for the quality marker selection and the pharmacodynamic material basis research on the decoction.

This study aims to evaluate the clinical outcomes of endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in obese patients.Totally,153 obese patients who underwent EVH (n=81) or standard bridging technique (SBT,n=72) in CABG surgery from May 2012 to October 2014 in our hospital were enrolled in this retrospective non-randomized controlled study.The general situation of operation,postoperative complications and short medium-term outcomes were analyzed.The baseline characteristics were similar between these two groups (P＞0.05).There were no statistical differences in total operation time (226±28 min vs.224±30 min,P＞0.05),number of damaged vessels (0.12±0.05 vs.0.16±0.06,P＞0.05) and short medium-term outcomes including revascularization rate (1.25％ vs.2.78％,P＞0.05),vessel dysfunction rate (11.25％ vs.11.11％,P＞0.05) and mortality (0.00％ vs.0.00％,P＞0.05).Use of EVH was associated with significant reduction of total harvesting time (41±6 min vs.63±11min,P＜0.05),incision length (4.4±1.1 cm vs.18.2±4.5 cm,P＜0.05) and postoperative lower extremity complications (P＜0.05).EVH can reduce the risk of wound complications,whereas does not influence short-and medium-term outcomes in obese patients.It can be considered a reliable procedure of harvesting vessel conduits for obese patients undergoing CABG.

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides have been shown to have antihypertensive effects and have been utilized for physiologically functional foods and pharmaceuticals. The ACE inhibitory ability of a hydrolysate is determined by its peptide composition. However, the peptide composition of a hydrolysate depends on proteolytic enzyme and the hydrolysis conditions. In this study, the effect of process conditions on the ACE inhibitory activity of rice dregs hydrolyzed with a trypsin was investigated systematically using response surface methodology. It was shown that the ACE inhibitory activity of rice dregs hydrolysates could be controlled by regulation of five process conditions. Hydrolysis conditions for optimal ACE inhibition were defined using the response surface model of fractional factorial design (FFD), steepest ascent design, and central composite design (CCD).
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; analysis ; chemistry ; Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques ; methods ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Enzyme Activation ; Hydrolysis ; Oryza ; chemistry ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; Protein Hydrolysates ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo optimize extracting parameters of flavonoids from Humulus lupulus.

METHODBased on the single factors test on ethanol concentration, material and solvent ratio, extracting temperature and extracting time, orthogonal test was performed and the best combination was confirmed.

RESULTWith the optimized technology, the maximal extracting amount of flavonoids from H. lupulus was 78 mg x g(-1).

CONCLUSIONThe optimal techniques obtained are 45% ethanol extracting at 60 degrees C with material and solvent ratio 1:25 for 90 min.

Ethanol ; Flavonoids ; isolation & purification ; Flowers ; chemistry ; Humulus ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Technology, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Temperature ; Time

Adult ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Biopsy, Needle ; Ferritins ; blood ; Hemochromatosis ; blood ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Humans ; Jaundice ; blood ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Liver ; pathology ; Male ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the changes of the copy numbers of mtDNA in peripheral blood mono-nucle- ar cell(PBMC) and the disordered of antioxidant capacity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

METHODSThe Ficoll Hypaque method was used to isolate the PBMC from blood specimens. The ND1 gene of the mitochondrial was amplified by real-time PCR; meantime β-actin was served as a quantitative standard marker; the difference of mtDNA copy number in PBMC was compared between HCC and healthy control group. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in PBMC was determined by flow cytometry. The change of total antioxidant capacity (T- AOC) of plasma was detected by the biochemistry examination.

RESULTSThe copy numbers of ND1 gene in PBMC of HCC was 73% that of the healthy control group,which suggested a decrease of the copy numbers of mtDNA in HCC. The levels of ROS of PBMC in HCC was (417. 82 ± 110.62) and (301.82 ± 75.54) in control group, which showed that the levels of ROS of PBMC in HCC were significant higher than that in control group (P < 0.01).Plasma T-AOC in HCC was (1.30 ± 0.85), and (3.20 ± 1.62) in control. The T-AOC of plasma of HCC was significantly lower than in control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThere was a certain relationship between the decrease of the copy numbers of mtDNA and the disordered antioxidant capacity in hepatocellular carcinoma, which may be associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Actins ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; genetics ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism