Myocardial fibrosis （MF） is a common pathological manifestation of various heart diseases. Due to the non-renewable nature of myocardial cells， the occurrence of MF represents irreversible damage to the myocardium. Previous studies have suggested that fibroblast-mediated collagen deposition is the main mechanism of MF. Recent studies have found that there is an immune regulation mechanism in the heart itself， and macrophage activation/polarization plays an important role in MF. With the deepening of traditional Chinese medicine research， scholars have found that traditional Chinese medicine can interfere with MF by regulating the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system （RAAS） system and the inflammatory process， repairing the extracellular matrix， managing oxidative stress， and maintaining the balance of autophagy. This process is closely related to the activation and M1/M2 polarization of macrophages. Throughout the MF process， macrophage activation is beneficial， but excessive activation will be harmful. In the early stage of MF， appropriate M1 macrophage polarization is conducive to activating immunity and removing harmful substances. In the middle and late stages of MF， appropriate M2 macrophage polarization is conducive to remodeling the damaged myocardium. If macrophage activation is excessive/insufficient， or the balance of M1/M2 macrophage polarization is broken， the effect changes from improvement to destruction. Traditional Chinese medicines that regulate the activation/polarization of macrophages have the effects of replenishing Qi and nourishing Yin， as well as regulating Qi and activating blood， but there are also some heat-clearing， dampness-drying， and detoxification products. Therefore， the occurrence of MF may be caused by Qi and Yin deficiency， damp heat accumulation， and Qi stagnation and blood stasis. By summarizing the biological processes involved in macrophage activation/polarization in MF， this paper expounded on the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine in regulating macrophage activation and M1/M2 polarization from different angles to improve MF， so as to provide a reference for the treatment of MF with traditional Chinese medicine.

Objective:To identify the risk factors for delayed gastric emptying in patients scheduled for elective caesarean section.Methods:One hundred and five patients, aged≥18 yr, at≥37 week gestation, of American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification Ⅱ or Ⅲ, scheduled for elective caesarean section from August 2023 to February 2024, who followed the preoperative fasting guidelines, were collected. Based on the quantitative and qualitative ultrasound assessments of the gastric antrum, patients were divided into 2 groups: delayed gastric emptying group, as defined by Perlas A score of grade 2 or the presence of solid contents or gastric volume/weight >1.5 ml/kg, and non-delayed gastric emptying group, as defined by Perlas A score < grade 2 and gastric volume/weight ≤1.5 ml/kg. The variables of which showed statistically significant differences in the intergroup comparison would enter the logistic regression analysis to stratify the risk factors for delayed gastric emptying before elective caesarean section.Results:There were 41 parturients (39.0%) showed delayed gastric emptying before elective caesarean section. According to the results of multifactorial logistic regression analysis, the gastroesophageal reflux disease( OR=5.313, 95% confidence interval 1.013-27.878, P=0.048) was an independent risk factor for delayed gastric emptying in the patients who underwent elective caesarean section. Conclusions:Gastroesophageal reflux disease is an independent risk factor for delayed gastric emptying in the patients scheduled for elective caesarean section.

Animals ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Macaca mulatta ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; Antibodies, Viral ; Vaccines

Objective:To evaluate the changes in topological properties of brain functional network after induction of general anesthesia in the patients with glioma.Methods:Twenty-two patients scheduled for elective intracranial glioma resection were selected.Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed during wakefulness and general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation in patients with glioma. Large-scale functional brain networks of each patient were constructed based on 123 regions of interest in non-surgical hemisphere. Global properties (local efficiency, clustering parameter, shortest path length, global efficiency, small world) and nodal properties (nodal degree, nodal efficiency, and between centrality) in brain functional networks were then compared between wakefulness and general anesthesia.Results:Eighteen patients were finally enrolled. Compared with the status during wakefulness, the local efficiency and clustering parameter on non-surgical side significantly decreased ( P<0.05), no significant change was found in the shortest path length and global efficiency ( P>0.05), and small world was greater than 1 throughout the entire density range; the nodal degree, nodal efficiency and between centrality of nodes located in the medial/mesal regions, such as the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate gyrus/precuneus, medial temporal lobe, anterior cingulate gyrus, thalamus, amygdala, were significantly reduced ( P<0.05); however, these node parameters increased significantly in the lateral brain regions ( P<0.05) except for the primary auditory and somatosensory cortex, which also decreased significantly after induction of general anesthesia( P<0.05). Conclusions:The functional segregation of brain functional network is widely inhibited after induction of general anesthesia, but the functional integration is still retained. The lateral brain regions show no anticorrelation with the medial brain region during general anesthesia.

Objective:To investigate the perioperative alterations and management of coagulation function in patients of massive blood transfusion during retroperitoneal tumor (RT)resection.Methods:Fourty-seven RT patients at Peking University International Hospital from Jan 2016 to Dec 2021 undergoing resection with massive blood transfusion more than 20 U within 24 h were reviewed for coagulation function before and after surgery.Results:Intraoperative bleeding was 3 000-25 800 ml, 10 patients had blood loss ≥10 000 ml. During the operation, (25.3±9.9) U of red blood cells were transfused, (2 720±1 369) ml plasma transfused, and (2.4±3.3) U platelets were transfused in 6 patients. Fourty-five patients received intraoperative albumin of (79.5±46.5) g; All 47 patients received fibrinogen of (2.3±1.3) g; Prothrombin complex was given in 45 patients (1 205±807) U. Preoperative hemoglobin was statistically different compared to postoperatively and days 1, 3 and 5 ( W=1 790, P<0.001; W=1 672, P<0.001; W=1 704, P<0.001; W=1 486, P=0.004);As with platelets, the difference was also statistically significant compared to postoperative days 1, 3, and 5 ( W=2 153, P<0.001; W=2 092, P<0.001; W=1 732, P<0.001); Preoperative albumin was different compared to postoperative days 1 and 3 ( W=1 568, P<0.001; W=1 578, P<0.001,); Preoperative fibrinogen was different compared to postoperative day 1 ( W=1 964, P<0.001). PT and APTT were prolonged on postoperative days 1 and 3 ( W=628, P<0.001, W=804, P=0.023) ( W=661, P<0.001, W=796, P=0.02). Patient's preoperative fibrin degradation products and D-dimer were above the normal value and were higher on postoperative days 3 and 5 ( W=498, P<0.001, W=345, P<0.001). Conclusions:Coagulation disorders occur perioperatively in patients with massive transfusion while undergoing surgery for RT.The implementation of ratiional transfusion strategy and close postoperative survey and management of coagulation dysfunction help avoid the coagulation related morbidities.

Objective:To assess the prognostic value of the collateral status and clot burden score based on four-dimensional computed tomography angiography(4D CTA)in anteriorcir culation is chemics troke patients with large ischemic core after endovascular treatment.Methods:Clinical and imaging data of 36 anterior circulation ischemic stroke patients with large infarct core (infarct core≥50.0 ml) after endovascular treatment at our institution from March 2016 to September 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. According to the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, patients were divided into the good outcome (mRS score 0-2) and poor outcome (mRS score 3-6) groups. Mann-Whitney U and Fisher tests were used to compare the 4D CTA collateral circulation score, clot burden score, and baseline clinical data between the good and poor outcome groups. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors associated with the poor outcome (mRS score 3-6) and mortality in patients with large infarct core stroke. Finally, based on the 90-day outcome, a ROC curve was used to obtain the cut-off values for poor prognosis (mRS 3-6) and death, respectively. Results:Ten patients (27.8%) had good outcome and 26 (72.2%) had poor outcome. The patients in the poor outcome group had older median age, higher blood glucose, lower 4D CTA collateral circulation score, lower clot burden score, larger infarct core volume, and higher hemorrhagic transformation and brain hernia (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression showed that the poor collateral circulation score on 4D CTA( OR=0.18, 95% CI: 0.03-0.99, P<0.05)and clot burden score( OR=0.64, 95% CI: 0.44-0.93, P<0.05) were independent predictors of the poor prognosis. The ROC curves revealed that the cut-off value of infarct core for distinguishing between good prognosis and poor prognosis was 63.7 ml, while that for distinguishing between survival and death was 130.3 ml. Conclusions:Endovascular treatment may improve the prognosis of patients with large infarct core of anterior circulation is chemic stroke if the patients have good 4D CTA collateral circulation score and high clot burden score.

Objective:To study the efficiency and difference of the artificial intelligence (AI) system based on fundus-reading in community and hospital scenarios in screening/diagnosing diabetic retinopathy (DR) among aged population, and further evaluate its application value.Methods:A combination of retrospective and prospective study. The clinical data of 1 608 elderly patients with diabetes were continuously treated in Henan Eye Hospital & Henan Eye Institute from July 2018 to March 2021, were collected. Among them, there were 659 males and 949 females; median age was 64 years old. From December 2018 to April 2019, 496 elderly diabetes patients were prospectively recruited in the community. Among them, there were 202 males and 294 female; median age was 62 years old. An ophthalmologist or a trained endocrinologist performed a non-mydriatic fundus color photographic examination in both eyes, and a 45° frontal radiograph was taken with the central fovea as the central posterior pole. The AI system was developed based on the deep learning YOLO source code, AI system based on the deep learning algorithm was applied in final diagnosis reporting by the"AI+manual-check" method. The diagnosis of DR were classified into 0-4 stage. The 2-4 stage patients were classified into referral DR group.Results:A total of 1 989 cases (94.5%, 1 989/2 104) were read by AI, of which 437 (88.1%, 437/496) and 1 552 (96.5%, 1 552/1 608) from the community and hospital, respectively. The reading rate of AI films from community sources was lower than that from hospital sources, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=51.612, P<0.001). The main reasons for poor image quality in the community were small pupil (47.1%, 24/51), cataract (19.6%, 10/51), and cataract combined with small pupil (21.6%, 11/51). The total negative rate of DR was 62.4% (1 241/1 989); among them, the community and hospital sources were 84.2% and 56.3%, respectively, and the AI diagnosis negative rate of community source was higher than that of hospital, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=113.108, P<0.001). AI diagnosis required referral to DR 20.2% (401/1 989). Among them, community and hospital sources were 6.4% and 24.0%, respectively. The rate of referral for DR for AI diagnosis from community sources was lower than that of hospitals, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=65.655, P<0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in the composition ratio of patients with different stages of DR diagnosed by AI from different sources ( χ2=13.435, P=0.001). Among them, community-derived patients were mainly DR without referral (52.2%, 36/69); hospital-derived patients were mainly DR requiring referral (54.9%, 373/679), and the detection rate of treated DR was higher (14.3%). The first rank of the order of the fundus lesions number automatically identified by AI was drusen (68.4%) and intraretinal hemorrhage (48.5%) in the communities and hospitals respectively. Conclusions:It is more suitable for early and negative DR screening for its high non-referral DR detection rate in the community. Whilst referral DR were mainly found in hospital scenario.

Objective To explore the impact of telomerase regulation factor PinX1 to the proliferation and invasion ability of hepatoma cells. Methods Hepatoma cells PinX1-7721 (experimental group) with stable expression of PinX1 as well as control cell VECTOR-7721 (control group) were constructed. The expression of PinX1 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR. The proliferation ability and clonality of hepatoma cells were detected by CCK-8 method and plate clonality assay, and the invasion ability of hepatoma cells by Transwell assay. Comparison of the experiment data was conducted by t test. Results Expression level of PinX1 mRNA in experiment group was (13.9±2.0)×10-3, which was significantly higher than (1.1±0.2)×10-3in control group (t=10.98, P<0.05). A450of the cells on 1-7 d in experiment group was respectively 0.260±0.004, 0.340±0.008, 0.450±0.040, 0.500±0.020, 0.730±0.030, 1.350±0.040 and 1.640±0.050, which were significantly lower than 0.280±0.009, 0.410±0.007, 0.680±0.044, 0.730±0.029, 0.850±0.070, 1.700±0.020 and 2.080±0.280 in control group (t=-5.82, -12.99, -6.36, -5.96, -28.42,-18.98, -5.08; P<0.05). The plate clonality assay results showed that the clone formation quantity of cells in experiment group was 143±32, which was significantly lower than 305±25 in control group (t=-6.91, P<0.05).Transwell assay results showed that the quantity of trans-membrane cell in experiment group was 230±16, which was significantly lower than 650±30 in control group (t=-21.40, P<0.05). Conclusion PinX1 could inhibit the proliferation and invasion ability of hepatoma cells.

Objective To investigate expression of plasmalemmal vesicle-associated protein (PLVAP) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and its relationship with clinicopathological features.Methods Tissue specimens were collected from 108 patients with HCC in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2013 to December 2015.92 patients were male and 16 female,aged (48±5) years on average.The informed consents of all patients were obtained and the local ethical committee approval was received.The expression level of PLVAP was analyzed based on the data of HCC in public databases.The expression level of PLVAP mRNA in HCC and paracarcinoma tissues was detected by RT-PCR,and the relationship between the expression of PLVAP and clinicopathological characteristics of HCC was analyzed.The relationship between PLVAP and prognosis of HCC patients was investigated with the data from cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database.The expression levels of PLVAP mRNA between HCC tissues and para-carcinoma tissues were compared by Kruskal-Wallis rank-sum test.Correlation analysis was performed by Chi-square test.Survival analysis was conducted by Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Log-rank test.Results According to Human Protein Atlas and Oncomine databases,the expression level of PLVAP in HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues.RT-PCR showed that the median expression level of PLVAP mRNA in HCC tissues was 0.172(0.004-0.607),significantly higher compared with 0.091(0.002-0.513) in para-carcinoma tissues (Z=6.839,P＜0.05).The expression level of PLVAP in HCC patients was significantly correlated with TB,tumor size and microvascular invasion (x2=4.183,3.924,6.075;P＜0.05).In PLVAP high expression group,the overall survival and tumor-free survival were 58.8(0.5-107.0) and 42.2(0.1-67.2) months,where no significant difference from 55.7(0.2-120.7) and 20.9(0.1-109.4) months in PLVAP low expression group (x2=0.054,0.065;P＞0.05).Conclusions The expression level of PLVAP is significantly correlated with the development and progression of HCC,whereas it is probably not associated with the prognosis of HCC patients.

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) PTEN pseudogene 1 (PTENP1) on the proliferation and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Methods Lentiviral vectors expressing PTENP1 were constructed. HCC cells BEL-7404 were infected with LV003-GFP-PTENP1 and control vectors LV003-GFP. BEL-7404 cells stably expressing PTENP1 were constructed and the experimental and control groups were established. The proliferation and clone formation abilities of HCC cells in two groups were detected by CCK-8 assay and clonogenic assay. The migration ability of HCC cells was detected by wound healing assay. The expression of p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p38 MAPK proteins were detected by Western blot. Results The absorbance values A450 of the cells at 48 and 72 h in the experimental group were 1.4±0.3 and 2.3±1.1, signiifcantly lower compared with 3.2±1.7 and 3.4±1.1 in the control group (t=-5.78,-4.23;P<0.05). The number of cell clone formation in the experimental group was 55±12, signiifcantly less than 154±45 in the control group (t=-3.98, P<0.05). The percentage of cell migration in the experimental group was (21.7±2.6)%, signiifcantly lower than (57.7±4.9)%in the control group (t=-8.34, P<0.05). Western blot revealed that the expression of p44/42 MAPK and p38 MAPK proteins in the experimental group was significantly down-regulated compared with those in the control group. Conclusion lncRNA PTENP1 can inhibit the proliferation and migration of HCC cells probably through regulating MAPK signaling pathway.