Objective To evaluate the association of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 protein expressions in tissue with liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infections.Methods Liver biopsy was performed to determine the liver fibrosis grades in 131 cases of chronic HBV infections.Immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative analysis were applied to detect the expression of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 proteins in liver tissues.Results Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 were detected mainly in fibrous septum,portal areas,myofibroblasts,sinus and cytoplasm in the liver tissue.The expression of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 was increased with the development of fibrosis ( r =0.81,0.58and 0.68,P =0.000),and a strong positive correlation was observed among three proteins (r =0.75,0.87and 0.84,P =0.000).Conclusion The expression of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 is correlated with liver fibrosis in chronic HBV infection,which suggests that the up-regulation of Smad proteins may be involved in the progression of liver fibrosis.

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of volunteer blood donors with regular apheresis platelets in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide insights into recruitment of regular blood donors. Methods: Gender, age, occupation, educational level, and volume and times of blood donation were collected from volunteer blood donors with apheresis platelets in Zhoushan Central Blood Station during the period from 2019 to 2021 through the Zhejiang Provincial Blood Management Information System BIS version 3.0, and the willingness of blood donation, routes for acquiring blood donation knowledge and cause of blood donation were collected from volunteer blood donors with regular apheresis platelets using questionnaire surveys. The factors affecting regular apheresis platelets were identified among volunteer blood donors using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: Totally 236 volunteer blood donors participated in regular apheresis platelets in Zhoushan City from 2019 to 2021, accounting for 51.08% of all volunteer blood donors with regular apheresis platelets, and there were 1 488 blood donations, accounting for 71.23% of all volunteer blood donations with apheresis platelets. A total of 2 086.00 U platelets were donated, accounting for 71.82% of all volumes of volunteer blood donations with apheresis platelets. The volunteer blood donors included 160 men (67.80%) and 76 women (32.20%) and had an age of 35 (17) years. There were 63 employees (26.69%) and 111 with a bachelor degree and above (47.03%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed a high proportion of regular blood donations among participants at ages of 31 to 60 years (OR:1.767-3.257, 95%CI: 1.010-6.250), university students (OR=2.598, 95%CI: 1.238-5.450) and civil servants (OR=2.733, 95%CI: 1.193-6.263). There were 228 participants with willingness to continue to participate in volunteer blood donation with regular apheresis platelets (96.61%), and 215 participants with a history of participating in volunteer blood donation surveys (91.10%). Internet was the predominant route for acquiring knowledge about apheresis platelet donation (41.10%), and “think that blood donation is a meaningful thing” was the predominant cause of participating in volunteer apheresis platelet donation (33.05%). Conclusions There is a high proportion of regular blood donation among civil servants and university students.

This study aims to investigate the effect of total flavones of Fructus Chorspondiatis (TFFC) on the mRNA and protein expression of collagen type I and III of rat cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) induced by angiotensin II (Ang II), and explore its anti-myocardial fibrosis molecular mechanism. Neonatal rat CFs were prepared from Sprague-Dawley rats (1-3 d after birth). The expression of collagen type I and III mRNA and protein were measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The study showed that stimulation of neonatal rat CFs with 100 nmol.L-1 of Ang II for 72 h resulted in a significant increase of the expression of collagen type I and III mRNA and protein. The changes on the expression level were blocked by TFFC. The results demonstrated that TFFC can inhibit myocardial fibrosis induced by Ang II in rats, which is probably associated with the collagen type I and III mRNA and protein levels up-regulated by Ang II, and TFFC was shown to decrease the expression levels of collagen type I and III mRNA and protein.

Objective : To investigate the awareness of nutritional health knowledge regular unpaid blood donors in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide insights into nutrition and health education among unpaid blood donors. Methods: The regular unpaid blood donors were sampled using a convenient sampling method from Zhoushan Central Blood Station from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. The nutritional health knowledge was investigated using the Chinese Nutrition Health Knowledge Questionnaire for Adults compiled by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the awareness and source of nutritional health knowledge was descriptively analyzed. Results: Totally 526 questionnaires were allocated, and 502 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an effective recovery rate of 95.44%. The respondents included 240 men (47.81%) and 262 women (52.19%), and included 343 individuals at ages of 18 to 44 years (68.33%), and 159 individuals at ages of 45 years and older (31.67%). The overall awareness of nutritional health knowledge was 14.54% among regular unpaid blood donors in Zhoushan City, and a higher awareness was seen among female regular unpaid blood donors (17.56%) than among males (11.25%) (P<0.05), while the awareness of nutritional health knowledge was significantly higher among respondents at ages of 18 to 44 years than among those at ages of 45 years and older (16.91% vs. 9.43%, P<0.05). The awareness of nutritional health knowledge was significantly higher among respondents with an educational level of junior college and above than among those with an educational level of high school/technical secondary school/technical school (17.24% vs. 12.22%, P<0.05), and the awareness was significantly higher among respondents with healthcare-related occupations than among those with other occupations (16.44% vs. 14.22%, P<0.05). Wechat, Weibo, Tik Tok and Kuaishou were main routes to obtain nutritional health knowledge (83.86%). Conclusions The awareness of nutritional health knowledge is low among regular unpaid blood donors in Zhoushan City. Men, middle-aged and elderly residents and residents with a low educational level are targets that should be given a high priority for nutritional health education, and new media may be fully utilized for nutritional health education.

BACKGROUND:Studies have shown that cardiomyocyte apoptosis is closely related to cardiac decompensation and the cardiac aging process.Appropriate exercise can alter heart pump function in patients with heart failure as well as attenuate aging-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis,hypertrophy,and fibrotic damage. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of long-term aerobic exercise on cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the thioredoxin system in aging rats. METHODS:Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were selected and divided into three age groups:3-month-old young group,9-month-old middle-aged group,and 18-month-old elderly group,with 12 rats in each group.Within each age group,rats were randomly assigned to sedentary and exercise subgroups(n=6 per group).The sedentary groups did not undergo any exercise intervention.The exercise groups were acclimated to a treadmill environment and subsequently subjected to treadmill exercise for 45 minutes per day,at a speed of 15 m/min,5 days per week for 10 weeks in total.At 24 hours after the final intervention,ELISA was employed to measure serum levels of cardiac troponin I and creatine kinase-MB in rats.TUNEL assay was utilized to detect cardiomyocyte apoptosis,while western blot assay was employed to assess the protein expression of Bax,Bcl-2,Caspase 3,thioredoxin-1,thioredoxin-2,thioredoxin reductase-1,thioredoxin reductase-2,thioredoxin-interacting protein,apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1,and P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in rat myocardial tissue. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Serum levels of cardiac troponin I and creatine kinase-MB in the elderly sedentary group were significantly higher than those in the young and middle-aged sedentary groups and elderly exercise group(P<0.01).Serum levels of cardiac troponin I and creatine kinase-MB in the elderly sedentary group were significantly higher than those in the young and middle-aged exercise groups and elderly exercise group(P<0.01).Positive apoptotic cells in rat myocardial tissue,along with increased protein expression of Bax and Caspase 3,exhibited an age-related upward trend,while Bcl-2 protein expression showed a declining trend.In comparison with the sedentary groups within each age category,the number of apoptotic cardiomyocytes and the expression of Bax and Caspase 3 proteins were reduced to different degrees,and the expression of Bcl-2 protein was increased to different degrees in the corresponding exercise groups.Compared with the young sedentary group,middle-aged sedentary group and elderly exercise group,elderly sedentary rats showed a significant decrease in the expression of myocardial thioredoxin 1,thioredoxin 2,thioredoxin reductase 1,and thioredoxin reductase 2 proteins(P<0.05,P<0.01).The expression of myocardial thioredoxin 1,thioredoxin 2,and thioredoxin reductase 2 proteins was lower in the elderly exercise group than in the young exercise group(P<0.05,P<0.01),while the expression of thioredoxin reductase 1 and thioredoxin reductase 2 proteins was lower in the elderly exercise group than in the middle-aged exercise group(P<0.01).The protein expression of thioredoxin-interacting protein,apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1,and P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in rat myocardium was significantly higher in the elderly sedentary group than the young sedentary group,middle-aged sedentary group and elderly exercise group(P<0.01).The protein expression of thioredoxin-interacting protein,apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1,and P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in rat myocardium was significantly higher in the elderly exercise group than the young exercise group and middle-aged exercise group(P<0.01).To conclude,aerobic exercise may enhance the anti-apoptotic effects of thioredoxin by down-regulating the expression of thioredoxin-interacting protein in aging rat hearts,leading to the downregulation of apoptosis signal-regulated kinase 1 and P38 mitogen-activated kinase protein,thereby alleviating myocardial cell apoptosis in aging rat hearts.

Objective:To evaluate the prognostic effects of gradient boosting machine (GBM) model on the short-term effects of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation.Methods:Clinical data and outcomes of 475 patients who underwent PELD surgery for single-segment lumbar disc herniation from October 2016 to March 2018 were retrospectively collected. The lumbar JOA score was used as a reference for the evaluation of curative effects. The improvement rate ≥50% was considered as good curative effects, while <50% was considered as poor curative effects. GBM model and multivariate Logistic regression model were utilized to screen out the influencing factors of the short-term clinical effects of PELD. Prognostic models were established, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn and compared. Sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were compared to evaluate the predictive performance of GBM model.Results:A total of 395 patients were followed up effectively for 24 months. There were 347 patients (87.8%) with good curative effects. However, forty-eight patients (12.2%) had poor curative effects. There were statistically differences in the lumbar JOA score improvement rates between the groups in regards to age, location and type of herniated disc, degeneration level of intervertebral disc and facet joint in surgical segment, sagittal diameter of the protrusion and whether or not there was calcification, onset time to the surgery time period and degeneration level of intervertebral disc in adjacent segment ( P<0.05). The results of multivariate analysis showed that patients with age ≥60 [ OR=9.15, 95% CI(4.04, 20.73), P<0.001] and with larger sagittal diameter of the protrusion [ OR=1.37, 95% CI(1.18, 1.58), P<0.001] were more likely to have a poor prognosis. Patients with unilateral disc herniation had a better prognosis than the extreme lateral type [ OR=0.17, 95% CI(0.06, 0.55), P=0.003]. The prognoses of patients with grade Ⅲ intervertebral disc degeneration in surgical segment were worse than those with grade Ⅱ [ OR=0.17, 95% CI(0.04, 0.70), P=0.014]. The prognoses of patients with grade Ⅲ intervertebral disc degeneration in adjacent segment were worse than those with grade Ⅱ [ OR=0.29, 95% CI(0.10, 0.81), P=0.018]. The AUC predicted by GBM model was 0.92 [95% CI(0.77, 0.96)] with 93.46% sensitivity, 83.33% specificity and 0.77 Youden index. The above parameters were higher than those by the Logistic regression model. The predictive effects of the two models were both statistically significant ( P<0.001). The AUC values of the two models were also statistically significant ( Z=0.11, P<0.001). Conclusion:GBM model is better than multivariate logistic regression analysis model in predicting the short-term clinical effects of PELD in treating lumbar disc herniation.

Stroke is a neurological disease characterized by cerebral ischemia or hemorrhagic injury， leading to death and disability worldwide. At present， there is still a lack of neuroprotective drugs for the treatment of stroke. Niuhuang Qingxin pills are Chinese patent medicine recommended by guidelines and expert consensus for preventing and treating stroke. Studies have shown that Niuhuang Qingxin pills have sedative， anticonvulsant， antipyretic， and other pharmacological effects. Moreover， the main components， such as flavonoids， phenolic acids， and saponins， also exhibit strong pharmacological activities which can improve stroke-induced nerve damage. Studies have confirmed that representative ingredients such as baicalin and ginsenosides can interfere with multiple pathological events， including blood-brain barrier destruction， oxidative stress， inflammatory response， apoptosis， and autophagy， and the mechanisms of the essential ingredients are related to the action on important targets such as Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 （Keap1）， matrix metalloproteinase-9 （MMP-9）， and high-mobility group box 1 （HMGB1）， and involvement in the regulation of Toll-like receptor 4 （TLR4）/nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）， nuclear factor E₂-related factor 2 （Nrf2）/heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1）， and phosphoinositide 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathways. This article summarized the research status of Niuhuang Qingxin pills and the experimental pharmacological progress of common ingredients in the prevention and treatment of stroke to provide clues for further research into Niuhuang Qingxin pills and the development of active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines.

Objective:The investigation and research on the application status of Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient (HVPG) is very important to understand the real situation and future development of this technology in China.Methods:This study comprehensively investigated the basic situation of HVPG technology in China, including hospital distribution, hospital level, annual number of cases, catheters used, average cost, indications and existing problems.Results:According to the survey, there were 70 hospitals in China carrying out HVPG technology in 2021, distributed in 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central Government). A total of 4 398 cases of HVPG were performed in all the surveyed hospitals in 2021, of which 2 291 cases (52.1%) were tested by HVPG alone. The average cost of HVPG detection was (5 617.2±2 079.4) yuan. 96.3% of the teams completed HVPG detection with balloon method, and most of the teams used thrombectomy balloon catheter (80.3%).Conclusion:Through this investigation, the status of domestic clinical application of HVPG has been clarified, and it has been confirmed that many domestic medical institutions have mastered this technology, but it still needs to continue to promote and popularize HVPG technology in the future.