OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of Bushen Huoxue Fang (BSHXF, a traditional Chinese medicine formula) for improving recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in mice and the role of tyrosine kinase (JAK2) and transcriptional activator (STAT3) signaling pathway in its therapeutic mechanism. METHODS: Female CBA/J mice were caged with male DBA/2 mice to establish RSA mouse models, which were randomly divided into model group, dydrogesterone group and BSHXF group, with the female mice caged with male BALB/c mice as the control group (n=6). From the first day of pregnancy, the mice were subjected to daily intragastric administration of BSHXF, dydrogesterone, or distilled water (in control and model groups) for 12 days. After the treatments, serum levels of antithrombin III (AT-III), activated protein C (APC), tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), progesterone, human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), and estradiol (E2) were detected in each group using ELISA. HE staining was used to observe the morphological changes of the endometrium of the mice. Western blotting was performed to determine the expressions of p-JAK2, p-Stat3 and Bcl-2 in the placenta of the mice. RESULTS: Compared with the control mice, the mouse models of RSA showed a significantly increased embryo loss rate with decreased serum levels of AT-III, T-PA, progesterone, APC and HCG, increased placental expressions of p-JAK2, p-STAT3 and Bax, and decreased expression of Bcl-2 (P < 0.05). Treatments with BSHXF and dydrogesterone both increased serum levels of AT-III, t-PA and HCG in the mouse models; Serum APC level was significantly reduced in BSHXF group and serum progesterone level was significantly increased in dydrogesterone group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION BSHXF can improve the prethrombotic state and inhibit cell apoptosis by downregulating the JAK2/STAT3 pathway to increase the pregnancy rate in mouse models of RSA.
Animals ; Mice ; Abortion, Habitual/prevention & control* ; Signal Transduction ; Down-Regulation ; Disease Models, Animal

Chest trauma is one of the most common injuries. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) as a common complication of chest trauma seriously affects the quality of patients′ life and even leads to death. Although there are some consensus and guidelines on the prevention and treatment of VTE at home and abroad, the current literatures lack specificity considering the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of VTE in patients with chest trauma have their own characteristics, especially for those with blunt trauma. Accordingly, China Chest Injury Research Society and editorial board of Chinese Journal of Traumatology organized relevant domestic experts to jointly formulate the Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of chest trauma venous thromboembolism associated with chest trauma (2022 version). This consensus provides expert recommendations of different levels as academic guidance in terms of the characteristics, clinical manifestations, risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of chest trauma-related VTE, so as to offer a reference for clinical application.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the curative effects of injured vertebra pedicle fixation combined with vertebroplasty and short-segment pedicle screw fixation combined with vertebroplasty in treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar burst fractures. METHODS: Seventy patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar burst fractures who met the inclusion criteria were collected in the study from January 2015 to December 2017. Among them, 35 patients were treated with injured vertebra pedicle fixation combined with vertebroplasty (group A), including 20 males and 15 females, aged from 55 to 74 years with an average of (64.03± 7.82) years. Twenty-six cases were type A3 and 9 cases were type A4 according to the AO typing;another 35 patients were treated with short segment pedicle screw fixation combined with vertebroplasty (group B), including 18 males and 17 females, aged from 54 to 72 years with an average of (62.78±6.40) years. Twenty-eight cases were type A3 and 7 cases were type A4 according to AO typing. Operation length, intraoperative bleeding volume, complication, imaging parameters and clinical effects were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: All the patients were followed up for at least 12 months. There were no significant differences in gender, age, injury site, preoperative VAS, Cobb angle, and injured vertebral height before surgery. There were no significant differences in operation length, intraoperative bleeding volume between two groups. In terms of VAS scores before surgery, 1 week after surgery, and at the final follow up, group A was 5.5 ±2.5, 1.8 ±0.8, 0.9 ±0.4, group B was 5.4 ± 2.3, 1.7±0.6, 1.2±1.8, respectively;injured vertebral height was (40.4±8.8)%, (92.0±4.9)%, (87.1±3.8)% in group A, and (41.2±6.6)%, (93.2±4.6)%, (80.0±4.3)% in group B;Cobb angle was (18.4±6.9) °, (2.8±2.2) °, (4.2±2.6) ° in group A, and (16.8±7.2) °, (2.7±2.5) °, (6.0±2.4) ° in group B. There were significant differences in the 3 parameters above before the operation and at the final follow up in all groups (<0.05). There were significant differences in the Cobb angle and injured vertebral height between 1 week after operation and at the final follow up (<0.05). At the final follow up, injured vertebral height in group A was obviously better than that in group B (<0.05). Internal fixation failure occurred in 2 cases from the group A, and occurred in 4 cases from the group B. There were no neurological complications in both groups. CONCLUSION For osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral burst fractures, injured vertebra pedicle fixation combined with vertebroplasty and vertebra pedicle screw fixation combined with vertebroplasty can achieve good clinical effects. However, injured vertebra pedicle fixation combined with vertebroplasty is better at maintaining postoperative vertebral height and sagittal arrangement, and reducing internal fixation related complications. The treatment strategy is worthy of application and promotion.
Aged ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pedicle Screws ; Spinal Fractures ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; Treatment Outcome ; Vertebroplasty

Objective: To verify the health advisory for short-term exposure to phenol. Methods: The method of this validation experiment was the same as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methodology for toxicology experiments used to determine phenol drinking water equivalent level (DWEL). Pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats were administered phenol in distilled water by gavage at daily doses of 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) from implantation (the 6th day post-mating) to the day prior to the scheduled caesarean section (the 20th day of pregnancy). The following information was recorded: general behavior; body weight; number of corpus luteum, live birth, fetus, stillbirth, and implantation; fetal gender; body weight; body length; tail length; and abnormalities and pathomorphological changes in the dams. Results: In the 60 mg/kg b.w. dose group, the mortality of pregnant rats increased with increasing doses, suggesting maternal toxicity. Fetal and placental weights decreased as phenol dose increased from 30 mg/kg b.w., and were significantly different compared those in the vehicle control group, which suggested developmental toxicity in the fetuses. However, the phenol-exposed groups showed no significant change in other parameters compared with the vehicle control group ( > 0.05). Conclusion Despite using the same method as the US EPA, a different NOEAL of 15 mg/(kg·d) was obtained in this study.
Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Environmental Pollutants ; toxicity ; Female ; Fetal Development ; drug effects ; Phenol ; toxicity ; Pregnancy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Toxicity Tests, Acute

Objective: To assess the significance of DDAVP use in the diagnosis and treatment of VWD. Methods: An analysis of 15 VWD cases who referred to Hematology Division of First affiliated Hospital of Soochow University and treated with DDAVP from March 2016 to August 2018 was conducted. Efficacy and treatment response of DDAVP were monitored by observations of changes in factor Ⅷ procoagulant (FⅧ∶C) and von Willebrand Factor (VWF) related indicators before and 2 h after DDAVP injection. Results: Of 15 cases with VWD, 7 males and 8 females with a median age of 23 (6-46) years, 7 of 9 type I VWD patients achieved complete response (CR) , 1 type 2A VWD case CR, 5 type 3 VWD ones no response (NR) . The VWF multimer analysis in 5 patients combined with other plasma VWF values were in accordance with the known diagnosis. Conclusions: DDAVP was effective in most type 1 patients, and ineffective in some type 2 and almost all type 3 cases. It was helpful for diagnosis and subsequent treatment planning.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Deamino Arginine Vasopressin ; Female ; Hemostatics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; von Willebrand Diseases ; von Willebrand Factor

BACKGROUNDAtherosclerosis (AS) is an inflammatory disease. Inflammation was considered to play a role in the whole process of AS. This study aimed to analyze the relationships of inflammatory factors and risk factors with different target organ damages (TOD) in essential hypertension (EH) patients and to explore its clinical significance.

METHODSA total of 294 EH patients were selected and divided into four groups according to their conditions of TOD. Forty-eight healthy subjects were selected as control. The clinical biochemical parameters, serum amyloid A, serum tryptase, and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) in each group were detected, and the related risk factors were also statistically analyzed.

RESULTSFibrinogen (Fbg) was the most significant independent risk factor in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) group (odds ratio [OR]: 22.242, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.458-76.609, P< 0.001) with the largest absolute value of the standardized partial regression coefficient B' (b': 1.079). Lp-PLA2 was the most significant independent risk factor in stroke group (OR: 13.699, 95% CI: 5.236-35.837, P< 0.001) with b' = 0.708. Uric acid (UA) was the most significant independent risk factor in renal damage group (OR: 15.307, 95% CI: 4.022-58.250, P< 0.001) with b' = 1.026.

CONCLUSIONSFbg, Lp-PLA2, and UA are the strongest independent risk factors toward the occurrence of ACS, ischemic stroke, and renal damage in EH patients, thus exhibiting the greatest impacts on the occurrence of ACS, ischemic stroke, and renal damage in EH patients, respectively.

1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase ; Aged ; Antihypertensive Agents ; therapeutic use ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Essential Hypertension ; blood ; complications ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Risk Factors ; Serum Amyloid A Protein ; metabolism ; Stroke ; blood ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Tryptases ; blood

Objective: To explore the normal range of plasma VWF levels of healthy Chinese and to analyze the influencing factors to VWF level. Methods: To detect the levels of von Willebrand factor antigen (VWF∶Ag) , von Willebrand factor ristocetin cofactor activity (VWF∶Rco) , von Willebrand factor collagen binding activity (VWF∶CB) , and the factor Ⅷ coagulation activity (FⅧ∶C) by using fully automatic and standardized testing instruments and matching reagent in 70 healthy Chinese. The effects of age, ABO blood type, gender and region were also analyzed. Meanwhile, 8 standard plasma samples (2 normal subjects, 6 cases of type 2 VWD) confirmed by NIBSC were tested for VWF values. Results: ① In 70 cases of healthy Chinese, the mean value of plasma VWF∶Ag, VWF∶Rco and VWF∶CB were (95.4±44.9) %, (105.9±35.4) % and (89.8±28.4) %, respectively; the ratio of VWF∶Rco/VWF∶Ag and VWF∶CB/VWF∶Ag was 1.18±0.25 and 1.03±0.29, respectively. ②There was no statistical significance in plasma VWF values between the age ≥30 years and <30 years group (P>0.05) . ③The VWF∶Rco, VWF∶CB of type O blood group were lower than that of non-O group (t=2.074, P=0.042; t=3.949, P=0.001) , but there was no statistical significance in VWF∶Ag, VWF∶Rco/VWF∶Ag, VWF∶CB/VWF∶Ag between the two groups (P>0.05) . ④There was no significant difference in VWF values between male and female groups (P>0.05) . ⑤The VWF∶Ag, VWF∶CB of the northern population (North area of Huaihe River) group were higher than that of southern population (Suzhou area) group (t=4.525, P=0.001; t=3.214, P=0.002) , but VWF∶Rco/VWF∶Ag, VWF∶CB/VWF∶Ag were lower than that of southern population group (t=6.373, P=0.001; t=2.902, P=0.005) , and there was no significant difference in VWF∶Rco between the two groups (t=1.598, P=0.115) . ⑥The VWF values of 8 standard plasma samples were in accordance with the known diagnosis. Conclusions A more integrate plasma VWF levels of healthy Chinese people were obtained for the first time by using fully automatic and standardized testing instruments. It was also found that ABO blood group and region had a significant impact on the level of VWF, while the age and gender had no significant effect.

Background: Atherosclerosis (AS) is an inflammatory disease. Inflammation was considered to play a role in the whole process of AS. This study aimed to analyze the relationships of inflammatory factors and risk factors with different target organ damages (TOD) in essential hypertension (EH) patients and to explore its clinical significance. Methods: A total of 294 EH patients were selected and divided into four groups according to their conditions of TOD. Forty?eight healthy subjects were selected as control. The clinical biochemical parameters, serum amyloid A, serum tryptase, and lipoprotein?associated phospholipase A2 (Lp?PLA2) in each group were detected, and the related risk factors were also statistically analyzed. Results: Fibrinogen (Fbg) was the most significant independent risk factor in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) group (odds ratio [OR]:22.242, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.458–76.609, P < 0.001) with the largest absolute value of the standardized partial regression coefficient B''(b'': 1.079). Lp?PLA2 was the most significant independent risk factor in stroke group (OR: 13.699, 95% CI: 5.236–35.837, P < 0.001) with b'' = 0.708. Uric acid (UA) was the most significant independent risk factor in renal damage group (OR: 15.307, 95%CI: 4.022–58.250, P < 0.001) with b'' = 1.026. Conclusions: Fbg, Lp?PLA2, and UA are the strongest independent risk factors toward the occurrence of ACS, ischemic stroke, and renal damage in EH patients, thus exhibiting the greatest impacts on the occurrence of ACS, ischemic stroke, and renal damage in EH patients, respectively.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Xinfeng Capsule (XFC) on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients' symptoms and signs, serum immunoglobulin levels, peripheral blood lymphocyte autophagy protein, autophagy gene, and to explore its mechanism.

METHODSTotally 59 AS patients were assigned to the treatment group (39 cases) and the control group (20 cases) according to random digit table. Patients in the treatment group received XFC, 0.5 g each pill, three pills each time, 3 times per day, while those in the control group received sulfasalazine (SASP), 0.25 g per tablet, 4 tablets each time, twice per day. Three months consisted of one therapeutic course. Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) were statistically calculated. Serum immunoglobulins (IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgA , SIgA, and IgM) were detected using ELISA. Changes of Beclin1, LC3-II, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were detected using Western blot. Serum autophagy related genes such as Atg1, Atg5, Atg12, Atg13, and Atg17 were detected using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The correlation between immunoglobulin subtypes and autophagy gene in AS patients using Spearman correlation.

RESULTSCompared with before treatment, BASDAI, IgG1, lgG3, and IgA decreased (P < 0.01); PI3K, Akt, and mTOR protein expressions decreased (P < 0.01); ATG1, ATG12, ATG13, and ATG17 mRNA expressions decreased, ATG5 mRNA expression increased (P < 0.01) in the treatment group. But BASDAI, IgG1, and IgA levels decreased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); PI3K, Akt, and mTOR protein expressions decreased (P < 0.05); ATG1 and ATG13 mRNA expressions decreased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) in the control group. Compared with the control group, BASDAI, IgG1, and IgA levels decreased (P < 0.05); PI3K, Akt, mTOR protein expressions decreased (P < 0.01); ATG12 and ATG17 mRNA expression decreased, ATG5 mRNA expression increased (P < 0.01) in the XFC group. Correlation analysis showed AS patients' IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgA, SIgA, IgM had negative correlation with ATG17; IgG4 and ATG17 were positively correlated (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONXFC could elevate clinical efficacy of AS patients and enhance their autophagy, which might be achieved by acting on PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal, affecting autophagy gene and autophagy protein expression, taking part in the regulation of proliferation and differentiation of lymphocyte B, and strengthen humoral immunity.

Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; Autophagy ; drug effects ; Beclin-1 ; Capsules ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; blood ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Immunoglobulin M ; blood ; Lymphocytes ; drug effects ; Membrane Proteins ; metabolism ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; drug therapy ; Sulfasalazine ; therapeutic use ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism

AIM:To explore the changes and significance of Kupffer cells in the process of tree shrew chroni -cally infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV).METHODS:The animals were divided into 3 groups.Group A consists of 6 tree shrews that were identified as persistently infected with HBV;group B consists of 3 tree shrews that were suspected as persistently infected with HBV;group C consists of 4 tree shrews that were not inoculated with HBV and were applied as normal controls.Liver biopsies were collected regularly from all animals , and the Kupffer cells were isolated , purified and primarily cultured.The techniques of flow cytometry , immunohistochemistry, lysosomal fluorescent probe staining and real-time RT-PCR were applied to determine the number and function of these Kupffer cells .RESULTS: The result showed that the count and proportion of CD 163+cells in group A were significantly higher than those in group B and group C ( P<0.05).Meanwhile, the fluorescence intensity levels of lysosomal , the number of lysozyme-positive cells and the mRNA ex-pression level of TNF-αin the Kupffer cells in group A were significantly lower than those in group B and group C ( P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Kupffer cells may play a regulatory role during host’s chronic HBV infection.