Objective To assess the efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) combined with prednisone in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) patients with positive serum phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) antibody.Methods An open prospective study was performed on twenty-four biopsy-proven IMN patients with positive serum PLA2R antibody in Guangzhou First People''s Hospital from June 2012 to June 2016.The 24 patients were divided into two groups: MMF group in which MMF combined with prednisone was given for 12 months and CTX group in which intravenous cyclophosphamide (CTX) was monthly given combined with oral prednisone.Results After 6 months of immunosuppressive therapy,complete remission and partial remission rates were 25.0% vs.16.7% and 25.0% vs.25.0% in the MMF group and CTX group,respectively (P>0.05).In the MMF group and CTX group,serum PLA2R antibody in the same amount (8/12,66.7%) of patients turned negative.At the end of twelve-month treatment,all patients with negative PLA2R antibodies achieved complete or partial remission.Clinical remission (including complete and partial remission) rates in the MMF group and CTX group were both 66.7%.After immunosuppressive therapy,the levels of proteinuria and serum albumin in the two groups were significantly improved,but no significant difference were found between the two groups (proteinuria:F within-grouP=98.688,P<0.01;F between-grouP=0.133,P=0.719;F cross-grouP=1.223,P=0.304;serum albumin:F within-grouP=30.629,P<0.01;F between-grouP=0.137,P=0.715;F cros-grouP=0.455,P=0.565).At the end of six and twelve months of treatment,the proteinuria (after six months,MMF group: (2 893±2 515) mg/g vs.(6 236±2 117) mg/g,t=-3.522,P=0.002;CTX group: (2 690±2 254) mg/g vs.(5 386±2 447) mg/g,t=-2.808,P=0.010;after twelve months,MMF group:1 025(99-4 635) mg/g vs.(6 236±2 117) mg/g,Z=-3.291,P<0.0005;CTX group: (775(41-3 517) mg/g vs.(5 386±2 447) mg/g,Z=-3.118,P=0.001) and serum albumin levels (after six months,MMF group: (28.5±9.7) g/L vs.(19.8±4.4) g/L,t=2.841,P=0.012;CTX group: (29.0±7.6) g/L vs.(22.3±4.1) g/L,t=2.690,P=0.016;at the end of twelve months of treatment,,MMF group: (32.4±8.5) g/L vs.(19.8±4.4) g/L,t=4.570,P<0.0005;TX group: (32.2±7.9) g/L vs.(22.3±4.1) g/L,t=3.862,P=0.001) of the two groups were better than those prior to treatment.Conclusion For the IMN patients with positive serum PLA2R antibody,MMF combined with prednisone was as effective as conventional CTX combined with prednisone in the negative conversion of PLA2R antibody and the remission.The negative conversion of PLA2R antibody after 6 months of immunosuppressive treatment was an important indicator of predicting the remission.

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficiency of transcatheter anastomotic leakage closure after surgical procedures for non-infected ascending aortic pathology with different occlusion devices. Methods From Dec. 2013 to Sep. 2015, six cases received interventional therapy for anastomotic leakage after surgical procedures for non-infected ascending aortic pathology using occluders. Four cases were with proximal graft-vessel anastomotic leakage, including two pseudoaneurysms at the site of aortic roots and two ascending aorta to right atrium shunts. The other two cases were with artificial grafts to intraoperative stent anastomotic leakage leading to endoleak type Ib. The anastomotic leakage was totally occluded by single ADOⅡrespectively in four cases. Two detachable coils were implanted in one case with artificial graft to intraoperative stent anastomotic leakage, but mild residual shunt to false lumen was detected by DSA and follow-up CTA. The second interventional procedure was carried out one month later, and one ADO Ⅱ was used to close the residual leakage totally. One PDA occluder was implanted along arteriovenous guide-wire track via aortic root to right atrium fistula in one case. Results All the anastomotic leakages of the six cases were totally excluded by different occlude devices percutaneously. The technical success rate was 100%. Follow-up time was from 1 month to 4 years. The patients' clinical condition improved obviously. Follow-up CTA showed no recurrence of anastomotic leakage. Complete thrombosis and marked shrinkage of the pseudoaneurysm were achieved in two cases, and the partial thrombosis and shrinkage of the false lumen were achieved in 2 cases. Conclusion Trans-catheter closure is an alternative treatment for ascending aortic surgical anastomotic leakage, which may achieve satisfactory short-and mid-term results.

Coronary Artery Disease ; therapy ; Fistula ; therapy ; Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Objective: To investigate the effect of emergency thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) in patients with acute traumatic thoracic aortic injury. Method: From January 2014 to December 2016, a total of 35 patients with acute traumatic thoracic aortic injuries were treated with emergency TEVAR in our hospital, their clinical data were analyzed retrospectively in this study. Results: The patients were 42 (34, 55) years old,and there were 31 males.All cases were diagnosed by emergency aorta computed tomography angiography (CTA),and 5 cases were diagnosed as aortic transaction, 13 cases were diagnosed as aortic pseudoaneurysm, 7 cases were diagnosed as aortic dissection, and 10 cases were diagnosed as aortic intramural hematoma combined hemothorax.The concomitant injuries included cerebral contusion (3 cases, 8.6%), pulmonary contusion with rib fracture (31 cases, 88.5%), long bone fracture (7 cases, 22.5%), contusion of viscera or internal organs (3 cases, 8.6%).Emergency TEVAR were performed with vascular suture system preset under local anesthesia after diagnosis,and combined injury was treated in related departments.CTA was repeated after 1, 3 and 6 months and yearly thereafter. One patient died before transferring to catheter room,and 34 (97.1%) patients underwent TEVAR procedure successfully.Time from door to operating room was (88.6±26.6) minutes,and the procedure time was (52.0±9.4) minutes. A total of 69 Perclose Proglide vascular suture system were used,and 2 cases underwent surgical suture because of hematoma and pseudoaneurysm formation in femoral arteries.The involved length of thoracic aorta was (44.5±7.4)mm. A total of 46 stent-grafts were implanted, the length of stent-graft was (164.3±15.2)mm,and the proximal oversize rate was (22.3±8.6)%. The follow-up time was 24 (12,24) months, and there were no procedure related complication such as endoleak and paraplegia. Complete aortic remodeling was observed in 14 cases. Fully thrombolization at stent segments were observed in 7 cases. Fully thrombalization of pseudoaneurysms were observed in 13 cases. One patient complained mild left upper limb weakness due to left subclavian artery occlusion. Conclusion Emergency TEVAR is safe and effective procedure for the treatment of patients with acute traumatic thoracic aortic injury.

Objective To investigate the role of miR-155 in diabetic nephropathy(DN)and its mecha-nism. Methods MiR-155 expression level in kidney was detected by real-time PCR and in situ hybridization. The target gene of miR-155 was predicted by bioinformatics and verified by Western Blot and double luciferase reporter activity. Western Blot was used to detect the related marker proteins of mesangial cells proliferation and mesangial matrix. Results (1)The expression of miR-155 increased in DN renal tissue and high glucose-stimulated renal cells.(2)MiR-155 was related to the regulation of Smad5 gene expression.(3)MiR-155 promoted the mesangial cells proliferation and increased extracellular matrix by down-regulating Smad5 expression. Conclusions MiR-155 can promote the mesangial cells proliferation and renal fibrosis by regulating Smad5 gene,providing a basis for further understanding the pathogenesis of DN.

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus combined with prednisone for treat-ment of refractory idiopathic membranous nephropathy(IMN)patients whose serum anti-phospholipase A2receptor (PLA2R)antibody titers were persistent high. Methods An open prospective study of 12 refractory IMN patients was performed in Guangzhou First People's Hospital between June of 2012 and June 2016.The 12 patients failed to re-spond after a standard course of 6 months in a conventional immunosuppressive therapy(cyclophosphamide,myco-phenolate mofetil or cyclosporine A)combined with prednisone and the patients'serum anti-PLA2R antibody titers were persistent high. They were divided into two groups:The tacrolimus group received tacrolimus combined with prednisone for 12 months and the control group received the same or another conventional immunosuppressive therapy for 6 months.Results At the end of the sixth month after enrollment,proteinuria and serum albumin levels in the ta-crolimus group were significantly improved as compared with those in the control group(P<0.01),and eGFR was higher in the tacrolimus group than in the control group(P<0.05).Severe proteinuria and hypoalbuminemia still re-mained in the control group,and eGFR in the control group declined significantly prior to enrollment(P<0.01).Af-ter 6-month treatment,none of the control group became negative for serum anti-PLA2R antibody,and achieved clini-cal remission. Five patients(83.3%)in the tacrolimus group became negative for serum anti-PLA2R antibody and achieved clinical remission(complete remission in two patients and partial remission in three).After 12-month treat-ment,complete remission was achieved in four patients(66.7%)in the tacrolimus group.Conclusions Persistent high serum anti-PLA2R antibody titers may be a cause of no response to a conventional immunosuppressive therapy in refractory IMN patients.For these patients,tacrolimus combined with prednisone may be an effective alternative treat-ment for disappearance of anti-PLA2R antibody and remission.

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) for treatment of stenosis of autogenous arteriovenous fistulas in maintenance hemdialysis patients. Methods From September 2016 to August 2017, thirty patients with autologous arteriovenous fistula (AVF) stenosis diagnosed in Guangzhou First People′s Hospital underwent PTA under the guidance of ultrasound for the first time. The vascular diameter of AVF stenosis and the blood flow of AVF before and after operation were evaluated. During the follow-up period,the patency time and complications were recorded. Results In 93. 3%( 28/30) patients, primary ultrasound-guided PTA procedures were successfully performed. The internal diameter of the stenosis increased from (1. 62±0. 30) mm preoperatively to (3. 61±0. 66) mm postoperatively (t＝18. 205,P＜0. 001),and the natural blood flow increased from (270. 0±36. 5) ml/min preoperatively to (611. 4±46. 6) ml/min postoperatively (t＝50. 221,P＜0. 001). The post-intervention primary patency rates at 90 and 180 d were 96. 4%(27/28) and 85. 7%(24/28), respectively. There was no rupture of the vein,or other severe complication during the PTA procedure. One patient had perilesional swelling,and one patient had extravasation after the PTA procedure. Conclusion Ultrasound-guided PTA is a safe and effective method for treatment of stenosis of autogenous arteriovenous fistulas in maintenance hemdialysis patients.

The high-content image-based assay is commonly leveraged for identifying the pheno-typic impact of genetic perturbations in biology field.However,a persistent issue remains unsolved during experiments:the interferential technical noises caused by systematic errors(e.g.,tempera-ture,reagent concentration,and well location)are always mixed up with the real biological signals,leading to misinterpretation of any conclusion drawn.Here,we reported a mean teacher-based deep learning model(DeepNoise)that can disentangle biological signals from the experimental noises.Specifically,we aimed to classify the phenotypic impact of 1108 different genetic perturbations screened from 125,510 fluorescent microscopy images,which were totally unrecognizable by the human eye.We validated our model by participating in the Recursion Cellular Image Classification Challenge,and DeepNoise achieved an extremely high classification score(accuracy:99.596％),ranking the 2nd place among 866 participating groups.This promising result indicates the success-ful separation of biological and technical factors,which might help decrease the cost of treatment development and expedite the drug discovery process.The source code of DeepNoise is available at https://github.com/Scu-sen/Recursion-Cellular-Image-Classification-Challenge.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of transcatheter closure of anastomotic leakage after aortic surgery using Amplatzer Vascular Plug Ⅲ (AVP Ⅲ). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in 5 patients with anastomotic leakage after aortic surgery, who underwent transcatheter closure in our hospital from January to June 2017 using AVP Ⅲ. Surgeries were performed in 3 cases of Standford type A dissection, 1 case of ascending aortic aneurysm and 1 case of persistent truncus.There were 3 males,and age was (43.8±13.1) years old. Anastomotic leakages located at the ascending aorta in 4 patients, and the other one located between the aortic arch and the stent-graft.Three of them had aorta-right atrium fistula and patients suffered from progressive heart failure. False aneurysm between aorta and pulmonary artery was formed in 1 patient, and patent aortic false lumenwas found in the other patient. All the AVP Ⅲ were deployed based on a femoral arteriosus loop. Patients were followed up after transcatheter closure to observe the clinical results. Results: Six AVP Ⅲ were successfully implanted in the 5 patients. Trivial residual shunt was seen in 1 patient after closure. The patients were followed up 6 (1, 6) months. The cardiac function improved from NYHA class Ⅱ-Ⅳ to class Ⅰ-Ⅱ after the procedure in 3 congestive heart failure patients.The right atrium systolic pressure was significantly reduced after the procedure((8.7±1.8) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) vs. (24.3±2.3) mmHg, P=0.03). The diameter of the false aneurysm reduced in 1 patient after the procedure. Complete thrombosis formation of the thoracic false lumen was observed in 1 patient. Conclusion Transcatheter closure of anastomotic leakage after aortic surgery using AVP Ⅲ is feasible and effective according to our primary experience.