Objective To investigate prevalence of associated diseases in patients with gout as well as their diagnoses and treatment. Methods Two hundreds out-patients diagnosed with gout from April to October 2008 were investigated at Peking University People's Hospital, and information collected included their general characteristics, associated diseases, diagnoses and treatment, as well as blood lipid profiles, serum creatinine, uric acid, results of routine urine tests and glomerular filtration rate estimated by MDRD formula in the past three months. Results Among patients with gout, prevalence of associated hypertension, obesity, renal calculi, coronary heart disease, cerebral infarction and diabetes were 54.5% (109/200), 23.2% (42/181), 20.0% (40/200), 12.0% (24/200), 8.0% (16/200) and 7.0% (14/200), respectively, and 53.7% (101/188) of them associated with hypertriglyceridemia, 63.7% (114/179) with impaired renal function and 15.1% (27/179) with chronic kidney disease. In acute attack of gout, 124 (62.0%) of them were treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NASID), 72 (36.0%) with colchicines, 12 (6.0%) with corticosteroid and 30 (15.0%) with urate-lowering drugs, respectively, and during its intermittent period, 69. 8% (81/116) of them received urate-lowering therapy with indications generally accepted internationally, but serum level of uric acid could be maintained below 0.06 g/L in only 8.6% (10/116) of them. And 73.8% (48/65) of the patients with no therapy indications also were treated with urate-lowering drugs. Conclusions The most commonly associated diseases in gout patients are hypertension, hyperlipidemia and obesity, followed by renal calculi, chronic kidney disease and coronary heart disease, and so on. At present, oral NSAID is the first choice of drugs for its acute attack. Indications for urate-lowering therapy in this hospital usually are not consistent with those by generally international acceptance, with lower therapeutic effectiveness achieved.

Objective To discuss the value of ischemia modified albumin (IMA) in the early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods The IMA,cTnI, CK-MB and ECG were detected in 103 patients with suspected ACS (45 cases of NICP and 58 cases of ACS) within 5 hours of acute chest pain onset respectively. 30 healthy subjects were served as normal controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the optimal cutoff of this assay for identifying individuals with ACS from non-ischemic individuals (nonischemic chest pain, NICP). Results of IMA,cTnI,CK-MB and ECG were correlated with the final diagnosis and their diagnostic sensitivities for ACS were evaluated. Results The results suggested that acute phase IMA values between those with ACS and NICP were (89.66 ± 25.82) U/ml, (46.79 ± 17.20) U/ml respectively and showed significant difference. Area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC was 0.935. As the Cut-off point was 71.6 U/ml, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of IMA were 90.6%, 71.4% , 82.8% and 83.3%, respectively. The simutanious positive rate of IMA for ischemia origin were 29.3% of cTnI,27.6% of CK-MB and 48.3% of ECG(P＜ 0.01). Conclusions Plasma IMA assessment is valuable for early diagnosis of acute coronary ischemia, and will improve the early diagnostic sensitivity of ACS significantly.

To confirm the etiology of a dead case for a 6 year-old female Ailurus fulgens,one strain of the predominant bacteria from pathologic tissues(heart,liver,spleen,lung and other samples) of the dead Ailurus fulgens were examined and isolated.The isolate was named R1 and no other bacteria were isolated.The bacterial etiological examination(morphological characteristics,biochemical characteristics and 16S rDNA gene detection)of R1 showed that it was identifed as K.peneumoniae.Artificial infection to mice about R1 was also conducted in this study.R1 had strong pathogenicity to mice and the LD50 is 6.5 × 104 CFU/mL.Moreover,the clinical and pathological features of the dead mice were consistent with that of the Ailurus fulgens.To find effective therapeutic drugs of curing other Ailurus fulgens,antibiotic sensitivity test of R1 was conducted,and the results revealed that R1 was highly sensitive to cefotaxime et al,moderately sensitive to amikacin and resistant to penicillin.These data showed that K.peneumoniae was bacterial pathogen leading to death of the Ailurus fulgens and it had strong resistance to penicillins,macrolides and virginiamycin and it had broad drug resistance spectrum.However,R1 is sensitive to cephalosporins and aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Aim To observe the antifibrogenic effect of resveratrol on mice with schistosomiasis japonica and its effect on Th1 and Th2 responses .Methods Forty-five mice infected with S.japonicum cercariae for 3 weeks were randomly divided into three groups named as infection group ( A) , resveratrol group ( B) and praz-iquantel group ( C) .Fifteen normal mice were taken as normal control group ( D) .In the 13th week post-infec-tion, all mice were sacrificed and the liver tissues were removed.Histopathological changes were observed in the liver of all groups .Splenocytes were prepared from spleens of mice with S.japonicum infection and the proportions of Th1 and Th2 cells in T cells were deter-mined by FACS respectively .RT-PCR was used to de-tect the relative IFN-γ,IL-13,TGF-βmRNA levels in liver tissue .Results After treatment , the degrees of liver fibrosis in groups B and C decreased in the 13th week post-infection ( P <0.01 ) .Compared to group A, the proportions of Th1 cells in group B significantly increased ( P<0.05 ) and the proportions of Th 2 cells in group B decreased significantly ( P <0.01 ) .The level of anti-SWA IgG 2 a in group B was significantly higher ( P<0.05) , while the anti-SEA IgG1 level in group B was lower ( P <0.01 ) than that in group A . The hepatic expression of IFN-γmRNA level in group B was higher than that in group A ( P<0.05 ) , and IL-13 ,TGF-βmRNA levels in group B were lower than in group A ( P<0.01 ) .Conclusion Resveratrol has an antifibrogenic effect through upregulating Th 1 cell re-sponse and downregulating Th 2 cell response in mice infected with Schistosoma japonicum.

Objective:To observe and analyze the clinical characteristics and correlation between the eye and nervous system in children with infantile gangliosideosis.Methods:From November 2018 to January 2021, 3 children with infantile ganglion lipidosis diagnosed by genetic examination in the Department of Ophthalmology and Neurology, Beijing Children's Hospital of Capital Medical University, and through China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang database and The National Library of Medicine of the United States (PubMed) were searched, and 53 cases of Chinese infantile gangliosideosis diagnosed by gene, enzyme activity or pathological examination were selected and a total of 56 cases were included in the study. The searching time was from the establishment of the database to February 2021, and the search keywords are"gangliosideosis", "cherry-spot" macula and "Chinese". The demographic characteristics of 56 cases of children and other system manifestations were analyzed such as eyes, nervous system, skin, bones. According to the presence or absence of cherry-spot (CS) on the fundus examination, the children were divided into a fundus CS group (group A) and a fundus without CS group (group B), with 20 and 27 cases, respectively. The age of onset, gender, different types and neurological manifestations of the two groups of children were compared and analyzed. The non-parametric rank sum test was used for age comparison between groups; the χ2 test or Fisher's exact test were used for the comparison of gender, disease type and incidence between groups. Results:Among the 56 children, 27 were males and 29 were females; the median age of onset was 7.0 months. There were 33 and 23 cases of GM1 and GM2, respectively. Among 44 children with visual function examination records, 41 cases (93.2%, 41/44) were unable to follow the visual object. Of 47 children who underwent ocular fundus examination, 20 cases (42.6%, 20/47) had CS on the fundus. The main manifestations of the nervous system are neuromotor development regression or retardation (100%, 56/56), convulsions (58.1%, 25/43), and "startle" phenomena (89.7%, 26/29). Among 42 patients with brain magnetic resonance imaging examination records, 39 cases (92.9%) were abnormal. The incidence of "startle" and seizures in group A was higher than that in group B, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=5.815, 6.182, P=0.021, 0.013). Conclusios:Chinese infantile gangliosideosis is more common in GM1 type. Ocular visual impairment is the visual object as the main manifestation, the incidence of fundus CS is 42.6%, and the symptoms of neurological damage in children with CS are more severe.

Objective To investigate the value of ischemia modified albumin (IMA) detection in preliminary diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Methods The levels and variations of IMA,cTnI and CK-MB in 103 patients with acute chest pain were measured continuously at 0,4,6,12,24 hours after admission respectively.Thirty healthy subjects were observed as normal controls.Results Twenty three patients were diagnosed as AMI in the end,the sensitivity and specificity rates right after admission were 89.3％ and91.3％ for IMA,48.4％ and 92.3％ for CK-MB,30.6％ and 93.7％ for cTnI respectively.The sensitivity values at the 6th hours after admission were 91.3％ for IMA,52.2％ for CTnI and 34.8％ for CK-MB respectively.The specificity was 100.0％ when the IMA was detected in combination with CK-MB or cTnI.The sensitivity of co-detection was significantly higher than that any single detection at sixth hours after admission (x2 =15.99,P ＜ 0.01 ).Conclusion Plasma IMA assessment is helpful for early diagnosis of AMI,and will significantly improve the sensitivity early diagnosis of AMI.The co-detection of IMA and CK-MB or cTnI obviously surpasses any single detection,and has extremely vital clinical significance.

Objective To evaluate the role of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-p38 mitogen-assoliated protein kinase (p38MAPK)-nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway in sevoflurane-induced decrease in cognitive function of aged rats.Methods Sixty SPF healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats,aged 20 months,weighing 550-750 g,were divided into 5 groups (n =12 each) using a random number table method:control group (C group),sevoflurane group (S group),TAK242 plus sevoflurane group (TS group),SB202190 plus sevoflurane group (SS group),and PDTC plus sevoflurane group (PS group).All the rats were intubated after anesthesia and connected to an animal ventilator.TAK242,SB202190 and PDTC 10 μl were injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle in TS,SS and PS groups,respectively,and normal saline containing the equal volume of DMSO was given in C and S groups.Starting from 10 min after lateral cerebral ventricle injection,4％ sevoflurane was inhaled for 6 h via the tracheal tube,with the inhaled oxygen concentration 30％ and oxygen flow rate 2 L/min.The mixture of air and oxygen was inhaled in C group.The learning and memory ability was assessed by Morris water maze test at 7 days after the end of sevoflurane anesthesia,and the escape latency and swimming distance were recorded.Animals were sacrificed after the end of Morris water maze test,and brains were removed and hippocampi were isolated for determination of neural apoptosis (by TUNEL),contents of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) in hippocampal tissues (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay),and expression of caspase-3,phosphorylated p38MAPK (p-p38MAPK),total p38MAPK (t-p38MAPK) and NF-κB in nucleus (by Western blot).The apoptosis rate and p-p38MAPK/t-p38MAPK ratio were calculated.Results Compared with C group,the escape latency and swimming distance were significantly prolonged at each time point,the apoptosis rate and contents of TNF-oα and IL-1β were increased,the expression of caspase-3,p-p38MAPK and NF-κB was up-regulated,and p-p38MAPK/t-p38MAPK ratio was increased in the other four groups (P＜0.05).Compared with S group,the escape latency and swimming distance were significantly shortened at each time point,the apoptosis rate and contents of TNF-α and IL-1β were decreased,and the expression of caspase-3 was down-regulated in TS,SS and PS groups,the expression of NF-κB was significantly down-regulated in TS and SS groups,and the expression of p-p38MAPK was significantly down-regulated,and p-p38MAPK/t-p38MAPK ratio was decreased in TS group (P＜0.05).Compared with TS group,the escape latency and swimming distance were significantly prolonged at each time point,the apoptosis rate and contents of TNF-α and IL-1β were increased,the expression of caspase-3 and p-p38MAPK was up-regulated,and p-p38MAPK/t-p38MAPK ratio was increased in SS and PS groups,and the expression of NF-κB was significantly up-regulated in PS group (P＜0.05).The expression of NF-κB was significantly up-regulated in PS group when compared with SS group (P＜0.05).Conclusion TLR4-p38MAPKNF-κB signaling pathway is involved in sevoflurane-induced decrease in cognitive function of aged rats.

Objective To evaluate the role of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway in sevoflurane anesthesia-induced cognitive dysfunction in aged rats.Methods Twenty-seven SPF healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats,aged 20 months,weighing 550-750 g,were divided into 3 groups (n =9 each) using a random number table:control group (C group),sevoflurane anesthesia group (S group) and TLR4 antagonist plus sevoflurane anesthesia group (TS group).TLR4 monoclonal antibody 30 μl was injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle in group TS,and the equal volume of serum containing no antibody was injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle in C and S groups.At 10 min after completion of injection,S and TS groups inhaled the mixture of 4％ sevoflurane and 30％ oxygen for 6 h,and group C only inhaled the mixture of air and oxygen.Morris water maze test was performed at 24 h after the end of sevoflurane anesthesia.The animals were sacrificed after completion of Morris water maze test,brains were removed and hippocampi were isolated for determination of nerve cell apoptosis (using TUNEL) and expression of activated caspase-3 (using immunofluorescent staining).Nerve cell apoptosis rate was calculated.The expression of high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) mRNA in hippocampi was measured by Northern blot assay at 6 h after the end of sevoflurane anesthesia.The expression of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and amyloid beta protein (Aβ) in hippocampi was assessed by Western blot at 24 h after the end of sevoflurane anesthesia.Results Compared with C group,the escape latency was significantly prolonged,nerve cell apoptosis rate was increased,the expression of activated caspase-3,HMGB1 mRNA,APP and Aβ was up-regulated in group S,and nerve cell apoptosis rate was increased,the expression of activated caspase-3,HMGB1 mRNA,APP and Aβ was up-regulated (P＜0.05),and no significant change was found in the escape latency in group TS (P＞0.05).Compared with S group,the escape latency was significantly shortened,nerve cell apoptosis rate was decreased,and the expression of activated caspase-3,HMGB1 mRNA,APP and Aβ was down-regulated in group TS (P＜0.05).Conclusion Activation of TLR4 signaling pathway is involved in the mechanism of sevoflurane anesthesia-induced cognitive dysfunction in aged rats.

Objective To explore the effect of erythropoietin (EPO) attenuating apoptosis in old rat hippocampal neuronal cells exposed to sevoflurane and the role of toll like receptor 4.Methods Twenty months old SD rats,male,550-750 g,in accordance with the random number table,were divided into 3 groups (n =9):control group (group C),sevoflurane treatment (group S),and sevoflurane plus EPO treatment (group ES).The rats in group S and ES were subjected to inhale 4％ sevoflurane for 6 h,but the rats in group C were inhaled air-oxygen only.The rats in group ES were injected with EPO into caudal vein at 24 h,48 h,and 72 h after sevoflurane exposure.The cognitive ability was assessed by Morris water maze test;the effects of hippocampal apoptosis were assessed by TUNEL assays;the expressions of TLR4 mRNA was measured by RT-PCR assay;mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was assessed by JC-1 fluorescence;the expressions of APP and Aβ were assessed by western blot.Results Compared with group C,there were significant increases of escape latency period,neuronal apoptosis,TLR4 mRNA,and APP and Aβ expression,but a decrease of MMP in group S (P＜0.05).Compared with group S,there were significant decreases of escape latency period,neuronal apoptosis,TLR4 mRNA,and APP and Aβ expression,but a increase of MMP in group ES (P＜0.05).Conclusion The attenuation of rat hippocampal neuronal apoptosis induced by EPO could be associated with inhibition of TLR4,improvement of MMP,as well as inhibition of APP and Aβ activity.

Objective To evaluate the role of mitochondrial ATP sensitive potassium ( mito-KATP ) channel in dexmedetomidine-induced inhibition of subarachnoid hemorrhage ( SAH )-caused programmed cell death ( PCD) in cardiomyocytes of rats. Methods On hundred and twenty clean-grade healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 9-10 weeks, weighing 350-400 g, were divided into 5 groups ( n=24 each) using a random number table method: sham operation group ( group Sham ) , SAH group, SAH plus dexmedetomidine group ( group SD) , 5-HD plus SAH and dexmedetomidine group ( group HSD) and 5-HD plus SAH group ( group HS) . The rats were subjected to SAH by intracranial vascular puncture after being anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium. Dexmedetomidine 5 μg∕kg was infused for 10 min via the jugular vein starting from the time point after intracranial vascular puncture, followed by a continuous infusion of 5μg·kg-1 ·h-1 for 1 h in SD and HSD groups. 5-HD 30 mg∕kg was intraperitoneally injected at 1 h before intracranial vascular puncture in HSD and HS groups. Blood samples were collected from the abdominal aor-ta at 24 h after intracranial vascular puncture for determination of serum cardiac troponin I ( cTnI) concen-trations. The animals were then sacrificed, and myocardial specimens were collected for determination of PCD rate ( by TUNEL) , reactive oxygen species ( ROS) activity ( by DCFH-DA assay) , and expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-1 and interleukin-1beta ( IL-1β) ( by Western blot) . Results Com-pared with group Sham, the serum concentrations of cTnI, PCD rate and ROS activity were significantly in-creased, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-1 and IL-1βwas up-regulated in SAH, SD, HSD and HS groups ( P<0. 05) . Compared with group SAH, the serum concentrations of cTnI, PCD rate and ROS activity were significantly decreased, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-1 and IL-1βwas down-regulated in group SD, and the serum concentrations of cTnI, PCD rate and ROS activity were significantly increased, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-1 and IL-1βwas up-regulated in group HS ( P<0. 05) . Compared with group SD, the serum concentrations of cT-nI, PCD rate and ROS activity were significantly increased, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-1 and IL-1β was up-regulated in group HSD ( P<0. 05) . Compared with group HSD, the serum concentrations of cTnI, PCD rate and ROS activity were significantly increased, and the expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-1 and IL-1βwas up-regulated in group HS ( P<0. 05) . Conclusion mito-KATP channel is involved in dexmedetomidine-induced inhibition of PCD in cardiomyocytes of rats with SAH.