Objective To explore the relationship between interleukin-18 (IL-18) and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),and between SLE and early atherosclerosis.Method A total of 59 female patients with SLE were divided into three groups according to the level of IL-18:＜2× 107g/L (A group,19 cases),2.0-3.2 × 107 g/L (B group,22 cases),≥ 3.2 × 107 g/L (C group,18 cases).The cardiovascular risk factors including body mass index (BMI),systolic blood pressure (SBP),diastolic blood pressure (DBP),fasting insulin and glucose,plasma glucose,plasma lipid,brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(baPWV) and plasma homocysteine (Hcy) were determined in all patients.Result Plasma levels of insulin,triglyceride,homocysteine and values of homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA IR) in SLE patients with IL-18 ≥3.2×107 g/L were significant higher than patients with IL-1＜2× 107 g/L or 2-3.2 × 107 g/L (F =15.61,4.06,11.18,8.49;P ＜ 0.01 or P ＜ 0.05).About 72.88％ patient had hyperhomocysteinaemia which lead to significantly increase the level of IL-18 (P＜0.05).The level of IL-18 of patients in A,B and C groups were (208.75 ± 23.21),(261.20± 17.82) and (339.05 ± 32.54),and it increased significantly as IL-18 increase (P＜0.05).The level of IL-18 was increased as risk factors of SLE including baPWV,level of insulin and IR increased (P =0.019,0.002,0.000).Conclusion The synergistic effects of hyperinsulinaemia,insulin resistance,hyperhomocysteinaemia and vascular stiffness most likely contribute to the elevation of plasma IL-18 concentrations in patients with SLE.

Objective:To explore whether the phospholipidoproteinaceous material deposit within the alveoli by a high-ifeld 3T MRI has signal characters and its application for diagnosing pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.Methods:A total of 11 patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis previously diagnosed by ifberoptic bronchoscope lung biopsy underwent 64-slice helical CT scans and 3T MRI scans, and the CT scans and the MRI scans were compared.
Results:hTe phospholipidoproteinaceous material deposit within the alveoli presented longer or equal T1 relaxation time and longer T2 relaxation time, without characters of fatty or deposits of protein-like substance signals and enhancement. The distribution, form, number and size of the lesions at T2WI were almost the same as those at CT, the lesions were irregular in morphology, and there was a clear boundary between the lesions and the adjacent normal lung tissues. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI showed thickened pulmonary arteriolae and venulae in the lesions with more obviously thickened pulmonary venulae, which were in conformity with the pulmonary artery and venule enhancement. CT scan in 1 out of the 11 cases showed lesions in both lungs mainly consisted of stripe-shaped and reticular structures, and no obvious sign of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis residue was found. MRI scan detected alveolar proteinosis that failed to be shown by CT scan.
Conclusion:3T MRI T2WI can easily detect the lesions of long T2 signals formed by the lipoproteinaceous material deposit within the alveoli. In the lesions, geographic appearance was presented, and the crazy paving pattern was dimly visualized. MRI can relfect the morphological characters of PAP like CT and it is slightly better compared with CT in such aspects as evaluating the theraputic effect of lung lavage. As supplement to CT, high-field 3T MRI can serve as an important examination for lung diseases.

Objective: To observe the impact of cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) on myocardial remodeling in rabbit model of chronic heart failure (CHF) with its possible mechanism. Methods: Rabbit HF model was established by ascending aortic root ligation; the animals were divided into 3 groups: Sham group, the animals received thoracotomy without aortic ligation, HF group and HF+CCM group, the HF animals received CCM treatment for 4 weeks. n=10 in each group. Cardiac function was measured by echocardiography at 12 and 16 weeks in each group respectively; myocardial tissue fibrosis and pathological changes were examined by Masson staining; plasma BNP level was assessed by ELISA; protein expressions of collagen I, collagen II, MMP2,MMP9, TIMP1 and galectin-3 in myocardial tissue were determined by Western blot analysis. Results: ① By echocardiography: with 12 weeks treatment, compared with Sham group, HF group and HF+CCM group had increased LVESD, LVEDD and decreased LVFS, LVEF, all P<0.05; with 16 weeks treatment, compared with HF group, HF+CCM group had improved LVESD, LVEDD, LVEF and LVFS, all P<0.05. ② Pathological changes:compared with Sham group, HF group showed increased collagen content in myocardial tissue, P<0.05; CCM treatment could partially decrease collagen accumulation, P<0.05. ③ After 12 weeks treatment, compared with Sham group, HF group and HF+CCM group presented elevated plasma BNP level, P<0.05; after 16 weeks treatment, compared with HF group, HF+CCM group presented reduced plasma BNP, while it was still higher than that in Sham group, P<0.05. ④ By Western blot analysis: compared with Sham group, HF group demonstrated increased protein expressions of collagen I, collagen II, MMP2, MMP9, TIMP1 and galectin-3 in myocardial tissue; the above indexes were much lower in HF+CCM group while still higher than those in Sham group, all P<0.05. Conclusion: CCM could improve myocardial remodeling in rabbit model of CHF which might be related to down-regulated protein expressions of collagen I, collagen III, MMP2, MMP9, TIMP1 and galectin3 in myocardial tissue.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of methylprednisolone on RMPP combined bacterial infection. Methods Sixty cases of children with ARMPP combined bacterial infection were selected and were divide into experi-mental group and the control group. The control group was given anti-infection treatment and support therapy,and the experimental group was given methylprednisolone early in addition. The duration of typical symptoms,the time of ima-geological change and the length of hospital stay were compared. Results The duration of typical symptoms of experi-mental group was significantly shorter than the control group,imaging findings improved significantly,and the average hospital day of experimental group was shorter than that of control group. Conclusion Methylprednisolone has remark-able curative effect on RMPP combined bacterial infection,it is worth to promote in the clinical practice.

Objective:To investigate the effect of Xuanbai Chengqi Decoction (XBCQT) on lung-gut injury and intestinal function, and analyze its effect on intestinal flora in sepsis mice.Methods:C57 male mice were randomly divided into three groups with 12 mice in each group: control group, model group and treatment group. The sepsis model was prepared by intra-peritoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 5 mg/kg. XBCQT was administered by gavage 24 h before, 0.5 h after and 12 h after modeling. The lung, colon and blood samples were collected at 24 h after modeling. The pulmonary and intestinal inflammatory cytokine content of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1) was measured by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. HE staining was used to evaluate the structural damage and changes of lung and gut, and Western blot and Immunohistochemistry methods were used to analyze the expression of occludin and claudin-1 in intestinal epithelium. Finally, the plasma endotoxin content of each group was tested by Limulus test kit. Fecal DNA of mice was extracted and the changes of intestinal flora in sepsis mice were detected by 16S rDNA quantitative PCR. The measurement data among the three groups were compared by one-way analysis of variance.Results:(1) XBCQT significantly reduced the pulmonary inflammatory cytokine IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and MCP-1 expression (all P<0.05), and attenuated lung injury. (2) Compared to the model group, the treatment group exhibited a reduction in intestinal damage and a decrease in the intestinal inflammatory cytokines (all P<0.05). XBCQT increased the expression of epithelial tight junction and mucin of colon, and improved the intestinal epithelium barrier function. (3) XBCQT treatment decreased the content of endotoxin in plasma of sepsis mice ( P<0.05), promoted the growth of beneficial bacteria Akkermansia muciniphila and reduced the expression of Enterococcus in the intestine of sepsis mice (all P<0.05). Conclusions:XBCQT can significantly improve the intestinal inflammatory injury, regulate the intestine epithelium barrier and improve the intestinal function in sepsis mice.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of endoscopic histoacryl injection in cirrhotic patients with newly-developed esophagogastric varices (EGV) who have previously undergone splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization.Methods:From January 2015 to January 2020, 125 cirrhotic patients with EGV treated with endoscopic histoacryl injection at the Department of Gastroenterology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, were included in the retrospective analysis. There were 45 patients in the group of splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization (splenectomy group for short) and 80 patients in the non-splenectomy group. The efficacy of endoscopic treatment, postoperative variceal improvement, rebleeding rate, and complications were analyzed between the two groups.Results:Endoscopic histoacryl injection was successfully completed in all 125 patients, and the median volume of histoacryl was 4.5 mL. The overall effective rate in splenectomy and non-splenectomy group was 80.0% (36/45) and 57.5% (46/80), respectively. The difference in the number of significantly effective, effective, and ineffective cases between the two groups was statistically significant (16, 20, 9 cases, and 20, 26, 34 cases, respectively, χ 2=6.469, P=0.039). Two and 14 patients developed rebleeding in the splenectomy group and non-splenectomy group, respectively; and the difference in the rebleeding rate between the two groups was statistically significant (4.4% VS 17.5%, Log-rank P=0.039). No patient died within 1 year in either group, and no serious complications such as ectopic embolism occurred. Conclusion:After splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization in cirrhotic patients with EGV and hypersplenism, the application of histoacryl has better short-term efficacy and can significantly reduce the rebleeding rate compared with the non-splenectomy group.

ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of omental wrapping technique for pancreaticojejunal anastomosis in preventing complications after pancreaticoduodenectomy. MethodsThis study was conducted according to the PRISMA guideline. English and Chinese databases including CNKI， Wanfang Data， VIP， CBM， the Cochrane Library， PubMed， Embase， and Web of Science were searched for clinical studies on omental wrapping technique for pancreaticojejunal anastomosis in preventing complications after pancreaticoduodenectomy published up to November 2022， and Stata 16 and Review Manager 5.4 were used to perform the meta-analysis. ResultsA total of 15 studies with 1 830 patients were included in this study. The meta-analysis showed that the omental wrapping group had a significantly lower overall incidence rate of postoperative pancreatic fistula （POPF） than the non-omental wrapping group （odds ratio ［OR］=0.30， 95% confidence interval ［CI］： 0.22‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.41， P<0.001）， and the subgroup analysis showed that the omental wrapping group had a significantly lower incidence rate of grade B/C POPF than the non-omental wrapping group （OR=0.29， 95%CI： 0.21‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.39， P<0.001）. Compared with the non-omental wrapping group， the omental wrapping group had significantly lower incidence rates of postoperative bile leakage （OR=0.30， 95%CI： 0.16‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.56， P<0.001）， postoperative hemorrhage （OR=0.35， 95%CI： 0.24‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.53， P<0.001）， delayed gastric emptying （OR=0.45， 95%CI： 0.31‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.64， P<0.001）， abdominal infection （OR=0.55， 95%CI： 0.40‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.75， P<0.001）， reoperation （OR=0.31， 95%CI： 0.18‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.54， P<0.001）， and death within 30 days after surgery （OR=0.42， 95%CI： 0.22‍ ‍—‍ ‍0.80， P=0.009）， a significantly earlier time to diet （mean difference ［MD］=-0.98， 95%CI： -1.84 to -0.11， P=0.03）， and a significantly shorter length of postoperative hospital stay （MD=-2.44， 95%CI： -4.10 to -0.77， P=0.004）. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the time of operation （MD=-13.68， 95%CI： -28.31 to -0.95， P=0.07） and intraoperative blood loss （MD=-17.26， 95%CI： -57.55 to -23.03， P=0.40）. ConclusionOmental wrapping can reduce the incidence rates of postoperative complications such as pancreatic fistula， bile leakage， postoperative hemorrhage， abdominal infection， and delayed gastric emptying， improve the prognosis of patients， and shorten the length of hospital stay， without increasing surgical difficulty or time of operation.

Patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) are often accompanied by various complications such as sarcopenia and cachexia including lipopenia, and it was believed in the past that such status was associated with malnutrition, while recent studies have shown that myostatin (MSTN) is associated with the progression of ESLD. MSTN can lead to sarcopenia and cachexia by affecting the metabolism of glucose, fat, and protein and the number of myocytes, and it can be used as a screening indicator for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and an indicator for disease progression. Intervention via the MSTN pathway might be an effective method for controlling sarcopenia and cachexia in patients with ESLD, and MSTN may be an effective indicator for predicting the progression of liver cirrhosis to HCC.