Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect of blood transfusion treatment in elderly critically ill patients under different blood transfusion initiation thresholds. Methods: A total of 144 elderly critically ill patients aged >70 years who underwent red blood cell transfusion in the elderly intensive care unit (ICU) of our hospital from January 2021 to January 2023 were included. According to different blood transfusion initiation thresholds, the patients were divided into restrictive blood transfusion group (n=77, Hb<70 g/L before blood transfusion) and liberal blood transfusion group (n=67, Hb 70-100 g/L before blood transfusion). Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score, estimated mortality and general data collection were performed when the two groups of patients entered the ICU. Blood transfusion details of these patients in the ICU were collected and documented, including pre-transfusion Hb levels, volume and number of red blood cell transfusion, and post- transfusion Hb levels. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to match the baseline data of the two groups of patients, and the clinical outcomes were compared and analyzed after matching. Results: After PSM matching, 52 pairs of patients were successfully matched. The matched restrictive and liberal transfusion groups showed comparable characterists, including age, APACHE Ⅱ score, the number of cases with APACHE Ⅱ score >20, estimated mortality, incidence of comorbidities and primary diseases (P>0.05). The number of red blood cell transfusions and transfusion volume (U) in the ICU of the two groups were 7.77±4.73 vs 12.19±10.41, 11.64±7.65 vs 19.14±16.14 (all P<0.05), and the Hb levels (g/L) before and after red blood cell transfusion in the ICU was 59.92±5.98 vs 77.44±8.60,77.88±17.21 vs 87.56±15.23 (all P<0.05). In terms of clinical outcomes, there was no significant difference between the two groups (all P>0.05): ICU length of stay (d) 39.56±36.80 vs 40.10±49.29, three-week mortality rate (%) 21.2 vs 21.2, in-hospital mortality rate (%) 46.2 vs 53.9, mortality rate in subgroup with APACHE Ⅱ score ≤ 20 (%) 11.5 vs 1.9, the incidence of severe infection (%) 78.8 vs 73.1, the incidence of heart failure (%) 57.7 vs 44.2, and the incidence of pulmonary edema (%) 26.9 vs 19.2. Conclusion: Elderly ICU patients can tolerate lower blood transfusion thresholds. Therefore, the restrictive transfusion strategy can reduce the total amount of blood transfusion, save valuable blood resources, and achieve the same blood transfusion effect as the liberal transfusion strategy.

PURPOSE: To investigate the protective effect of sub-hypothermic mechanical perfusion combined with membrane lung oxygenation on ischemic hypoxic injury of yorkshire brain tissue caused by traumatic blood loss. METHODS: This article performed a random controlled trial. Brain tissue of 7 yorkshire was selected and divided into the sub-low temperature anterograde machine perfusion group (n = 4) and the blank control group (n = 3) using the random number table method. A yorkshire model of brain tissue injury induced by traumatic blood loss was established. Firstly, the perfusion temperature and blood oxygen saturation were monitored in real-time during the perfusion process. The number of red blood cells, hemoglobin content, NA⁺, K⁺, and Ca²⁺ ions concentrations and pH of the perfusate were detected. Following perfusion, we specifically examined the parietal lobe to assess its water content. The prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were then dissected for histological evaluation, allowing us to investigate potential regional differences in tissue injury. The blank control group was sampled directly before perfusion. All statistical analyses and graphs were performed using GraphPad Prism 8.0 Student t-test. All tests were two-sided, and p value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: The contents of red blood cells and hemoglobin during perfusion were maintained at normal levels but more red blood cells were destroyed 3 h after the perfusion. The blood oxygen saturation of the perfusion group was maintained at 95% - 98%. NA⁺ and K⁺ concentrations were normal most of the time during perfusion but increased significantly at about 4 h. The Ca²⁺ concentration remained within the normal range at each period. Glucose levels were slightly higher than the baseline level. The pH of the perfusion solution was slightly lower at the beginning of perfusion, and then gradually increased to the normal level. The water content of brain tissue in the sub-low and docile perfusion group was 78.95% ± 0.39%, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (75.27% ± 0.55%, t = 10.49, p < 0.001), and the difference was statistically significant. Compared with the blank control group, the structure and morphology of pyramidal neurons in the prefrontal cortex and CA1 region of the hippocampal gyrus were similar, and their integrity was better. The structural integrity of granulosa neurons was destroyed and cell edema increased in the perfusion group compared with the blank control group. Immunofluorescence staining for glail fibrillary acidic protein and Iba1, markers of glial cells, revealed well-preserved cell structures in the perfusion group. While there were indications of abnormal cellular activity, the analysis showed no significant difference in axon thickness or integrity compared to the 1-h blank control group. CONCLUSIONS Mild hypothermic machine perfusion can improve ischemia and hypoxia injury of yorkshire brain tissue caused by traumatic blood loss and delay the necrosis and apoptosis of yorkshire brain tissue by continuous oxygen supply, maintaining ion homeostasis and reducing tissue metabolism level.
Animals ; Perfusion/methods* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Brain Injuries/etiology* ; Swine ; Male ; Hypothermia, Induced/methods*

Acute liver injury (ALI) is one of the common severe diseases in clinic, which is characterized by redox imbalance and inflammatory storm. Untimely treatment can easily lead to liver failure and even death. Rosmarinic acid (RA) has been proved to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, but it is not clear how to protect ALI through antioxidation and inhibition of inflammation. Therefore, this study explored the therapeutic effect and molecular mechanism of RA on ALI through in vitro and in vivo experiments. In the mouse ALI model, the effects of RA on liver function and inflammatory indexes were studied, the pathological changes of liver were observed by HE, the effect of RA on reactive oxygen species in liver was detected by fluorescence method, and the level of F4/80 in liver tissue was detected by immunohistochemical method. The levels of thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP), NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) and cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1 (CASPASE-1) in liver tissue were measured by Western blot. All animal welfare and experimental procedures follow the rules of the Animal Ethics Committee of Southwest Minzu University. In vitro, human hepatoma cell line HepG2 was used to establish the model of oxidative damage induced by H₂O₂. The cell viability was detected by CCK-8 method. The level of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the supernatant was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the activity of lactatede hydrogenase (LDH) was detected by LDH kit, and the level of ROS was detected by fluorescence probe DCFH-DA labeling. The mRNA expression of Txnip, Nlrp3, Caspase 1, Il1β was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR), and the protein levels of nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (NRF2), TXNIP, NLRP3 and CASPASE-1 were measured by Western blot. The results showed that compared with the model group, the degree of liver swelling, tissue injury, liver function index in RA group were significantly lower than those in model group. And RA significantly attenuated the increases of ROS in liver tissue. The expression levels of TXNIP, NLRP3 and CASPASE-1 in liver tissue were significantly lower than those in model group. Additionally, RA inhibited the expressions of F4/80 and IL-1β. In vitro experiment, compared with model group, RA effectively inhibited the secretion of IL-1β and LDH. The level of ROS also decreased significantly. RA inhibited the mRNA expressions of Txnip, Caspase 1, Il1β. Furthermore, RA significantly increased the expression level of NRF2 protein in nucleus, and decreased the expression level of TXNIP and NLRP3 protein. Specifically, with the addition of ML385, the effect of RA on NRF2, TXNIP, NLRP3, CASPASE-1 protein expression was reversed. Collectively, these findings suggested that RA may inhibit the production of ROS by promoting NRF2 nuclear transfer, and then reduce the activation of NLRP3 inflammatory bodies by TXNIP, reduce cell death and inflammatory response to prevent the liver injury.

Yigongsan is derived from Xiaoer Yaozheng Zhijue written by QIAN Yi in the Northern Song dynasty， which is the No. 3 formula in the Catalogue of Ancient Famous Classical Formulas（The Second Batch of Pediatrics） released by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine（TCM） in September 2022， and it can be developed as a class 3.1 new TCM drug. By referring to ancient medical books and modern literature， this study conducted herbal textual research on Yigongsan from five aspects， including historical evolution， origin and processing， dosage conversion， usage and preparation methods， and functional application， then formed the key information table of this formula， in order to provide reference for the development of reference samples and preparations of Yigongsan. Based on the results of the study， it is recommended that Panax ginseng should be removed the basal part of stem（rhizoma）， Poria cocos should be removed the peel， Citrus reticulata should be cut into shreds and Glycyrrhiza uralensis should be used. According to 4.13 g/Qian（钱）， 1 g/slice for ginger， 3 g for each jujube and 300 mL/Zhan（盏）， the doses of Ginseng Radix， Poria， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium， Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens， Jujubae Fructus were 1.652， 1.652， 1.652， 1.652， 1.652， 5， 6 g， and the total amount was 19.26 g. The decocting method was to crush the medicinal materials into fine powder with 50-80 mesh， add 300 mL of water and decoct to 210 mL for each dose， then remove the dregs and take it warmly. This formula was recorded in ancient books as the main treatment for the cold-deficiency of spleen and stomach， and Qi stagnation in children with vomiting and diarrhea and lack of appetite. It has been flexibly applied by later generations of physicians， and is often used to treat anorexia， inflammation of the digestive tract， diarrhea and other diseases in children.

Objective To investigate the imaging features of intestinal schwannoma(IS)in order to improve the diagnostic ability of the disease.Methods The clinical and imaging data of 14 patients with surgically and pathologically confirmed IS were retrospectively analyzed,including the location,size,morphology,nature,growth pattern,CT density,MRI signal,PET/CT metabolism and other characteristics of the tumors.Results Of the 14 IS cases,the lesions of 3 cases were located in the duodenum,2 cases in the cecum,8 cases in the colon and 1 case in the rectum.The lesions were all round or oval,with an average maximum diameter of(2.4±1.1)cm.The lesions were solid in 13 cases,extraluminal growth in 10 cases,cystic degeneration in 1 case and myxoid degeneration in 1 case.Chronic inflammatory lymph nodes were seen around the diseased intestines in 9 cases,and the short diameter of lymph nodes was greater than 5 mm in 6 cases.All 14 cases of IS showed low attenuation on plain CT scan,and progressive enhancement after contrast injection,including 1 case of mild enhancement,2 cases of moderate enhancement,and 11 cases of obvious enhancement.Two cases of IS showed low signal intensity on T1WI,slightly high signal intensity on T2WI,significantly high signal intensity on DWI,and obvious progressive enhancement after contrast injection on MRI.Two cases of IS showed high metabolism on 18F-FDG-PET/CT,and the SUVmax was 9.4 and 8.8,respectively.Conclusion The imaging findings of IS were characteristic to a certain extent.They mainly manifested as solid nodules or masses derived from the intestinal submucosa,with uniform attenuation or signal intensity,obvious progressive enhancement after contrast injection,obvious hypermetabolism on 18F-FDG-PET/CT,and slightly larger homogeneous lymph nodes were common around the lesions.

Objective To study the expression of miR-205 and miR-367 in cutaneous malignant melanoma(CMM)tissue and their relationships with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis.Methods The tumor tissues from 85 patients with CMM who were admitted to our hospital from May 2013 to December 2019 were selected as the CMM group,and the nevus tissue samples from 80 patients with benign pigmented nevi who were treated in our hospital during the same period were selected as the control group.The expression level of miR-205 and miR-367 of two groups were detected by qRT-PCR.The clinical and pathological data of patients with CMM were collected,and the relationships between the expression of miR-205 and miR-367 and clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed.Kaplan-Meier was used to draw the survival curves of patients 3 years after surgery,and the survival rate of patients was analyzed by Log-rank test.The influencing factors of prognosis was analyzed by COX proportional risk regression model.Results The expression level of miR-205 of patients in the CMM group was lower than that in the control group,and the expression level of miR-367 was higher than that in the control group(P<0.05).The proportions of patients with ulceration,high clinical stage,tumor invasion,low KPS score,thick primary lesion,high Clark grade,lymph node metastasis in the miR-205 low-expression group were higher than those in the miR-205 high-expression group(P<0.05),the proportions of patients with the above indexes in the miR-367 high-expression group were higher than those in the miR-367 low-expression group(P<0.05).Patietns were followed up for 3 years,with a median time of 28.3 months,and 1 case was lost to followed-up.The Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the 3-year survival rate of patients in the miR-205 high-expression group was higher than that in the miR-205 low-expression group(P<0.05),and the 3-year survival rate of patients in the miR-367 low-expression group was higher than that in the miR-367 high-expression group(P<0.05).COX multivariate regression analysis showed that the high clinical stage,low KPS score,high Clark grade,lymph node metastasis,and high expression of miR-367 were the risk factors for prognosis of patients,while high expression of miR-205 was a protective factor(P<0.05).Conclusion Low expression of miR-205 and high expression of miR-367 in CMM tissue are associated with ulceration,high clinical stage,tumor invasion,low KPS score,thick primary lesion,high Clark grade,lymph node metastasis,and poor prognosis.These two indicators may serve as potential biomarkers for prognostic evaluation in CMM patients.

Objective To reveal the material base of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome types of chronic aplastic anemia(CAA)by investigating the differences of fecal non-targeted metabolomics changes in patients with CAA and normal people,and by analyzing the differential fecal metabolite profiles in CAA patients with various TCM syndrome types.Methods The analysis was performed on 21 CAA patients(CAA group)who were initially treated at Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine from July 2018 to June 2021 and on 24 volunteers who had healthy medical checkup(normal group)during the same period.The 21 cases of CAA patients were categorized into four cases of kidney yang deficiency group,12 cases of kidney yin deficiency group,and five cases of deficiency of kidney yin and yang group according to the criteria of TCM syndrome differentiation and classification.Differential metabolites were screened after stool collection,gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)analysis and multivariate statistical analysis,and then enrichment analysis of the metabolic pathway was conducted.Results(1)Obvious differences were presented in 38 kinds of metabolites between the CAA group and the normal group,of which there were 27 metabolites,including 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid,adenine,isocitric acid,L-glutamine,uric acid and guanine,having the up-regulated relative contents in CAA group,while there were 11 metabolites,including 3'-adenosine,eicosanoic acid,inosine,N-acetylornithine and norepinephrine,having the down-regulated relative contents in CAA group.The primary enriched metabolic pathways of the differential metabolites included arginine biosynthesis,purine metabolism,central carbon metabolism in cancer,glyoxylate and dicarboxylic acid metabolism,GABAergic synapses,metabolism of alanine,aspartate and glutamate,and D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism.(2)There were significant differences in 16 kinds of metabolites among the CAA patients with various TCM syndrome types,including 5-methoxytryptamine,epinephrine,arbutin,β-alanine,pentanediamine,inositol,pyruvate and tyramine,etc.The primary enriched metabolic pathways of the differential metabolites included neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions,tyrosine metabolism,phosphatidylinositol signaling system,pantothenic acid and coenzyme A biosynthesis,glycolysis/gluconeogenesis,primary bile acid biosynthesis,phosphoinositide metabolism,ascorbic acid and aldehyde acid metabolism,type Ⅱ diabetes mellitus,and adrenergic signal transduction in cardiomyocytes.Conclusion Significant differences exist in the fecal metabolomics between the CAA patients and the normal volunteers,which may reflect the metabolic changes of immune dysregulation and hematopoietic failure mediated by the altered intestinal flora in CAA patients.This study revealed the material base of CAA of various kidney deficiency syndromes for the first time at the level of fecal metabolomics,which provides a novel approach for the study of modernization of TCM syndrome.

Objective To explore the effect of Qingre Xiaoyanning tablets on chronic toxicity in SD rats.Methods A total of 120 SD rats were randomly divided into blank group(water)and experimental-L,-M,-H groups(2.63,5.25 and 10.50 g·kg 1 Qingre Xiaoyanning dry paste powder),with 30 rats per group.Four groups were administered continuously for 4 weeks with a recovery period of 4 weeks.SD rats were dissected as planned.The general condition,weight gain,hematological and biochemical indexes,major organ coefficients,macroscopic and microscopic tissue morphology were observed.Results There were no significant differences in the general condition,body mass growth,coagulation index and histopathology of rats between the experimental-L,-M,-H groups and the blank group.End of administration,the mean hemoglobin concentrations of experimental-H and blank groups were(370.70±3.78)and(365.90±5.77)g·L-1,glucose were(5.98±0.63)and(6.61±0.93)mmol·L-1,blood urea nitrogen(BUN)were(4.72±1.01)and(5.78±1.64)mmol·L-1,liver coefficients were 3.05±0.17 and 2.89±0.19,and the differences were statistically significant(P≤0.05,P≤0.01).Resumption of the final,direct bilirubin of experimental-L and blank groups were(0.38±0.18)and(0.19±0.18)pmol·L 1,BUN of experimental-M and blank groups were(4.45±0.56)and(5.65±1.16)mmol·L-1,and the differences were statistically significant(all P≤0.05).Conclusion Repeated administration of Qingre Xiaoyanning tablets showed no significant toxicity in SD rats.

Objective To explore the effect and mechanism of hydroxysafflor yellow A(HSYA)on autophagy in bEnd.3 cells after oxygen-glucose deprivation(OGD).Methods The bEnd.3 cells were divided into normal group(conventional culture),model group(OGD model),HSYA group(OGD model+75 μmol·L-1 HSYA),3-methyladenine(3MA)group(5 mmol·L-1 3MA+OGD model)and 3 MA+HSYA group(5 mmol·L-1 3 MA+OGD model+75 μmol·L-1 HSYA).The level of apoptosis was determined by TUNEL fluorescence staining;Western blot was used to detect the expression of autophagy,blood brain barrier(BBB)related proteins;real time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction method for determining the expression of sirtuin-1(SIRT1)and forkhead box protein O3a(FOXO3A)mRNA.Results In the normal group,model group,HSYA group,3MA group and 3MA+HSYA group,the positive cells selected for TUNEL staining were 5.00±1.00,28.00±2.00,21.00±3.00,35.33±2.51 and 29.67±2.52;the expression levels of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-Ⅱ/-Ⅰ(LC3-Ⅱ/-Ⅰ)were 0.90±0.20,1.34±0.10,1.95±0.14,0.76±0.15 and 1.14±0.09;sequestosome 1(P62)were 0.99±0.02,0.60±0.02,0.38±0.01,0.67±0.04 and 0.54±0.01;occludin were 1.39±0.17,0.62±0.15,1.00±0.09,0.40±0.13 and 0.80±0.15;zonula occludens-1(ZO-1)were 1.63±0.20,0.64±0.06,0.98±0.14,0.37±0.14 and 0.87±0.04;SIRT1 mRNA were 1.00±0.00,0.75±0.07,1.69±0.09,0.31±0.02 and 0.56±0.01;FOXO3A mRNA were 1.00±0.00,0.80±0.05,1.47±0.09,0.40±0.01 and 0.62±0.09,respectively.Significant differences were found between model group and normal group,HSYA group and model group,3MA+HSYA group and 3MA group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01,P＜0.001).Conclusion HSYA may enhance autophagy levels in bEnd.3 cells after OGD through the SIRT1/FOXO3A pathway,inhibit cell apoptosis and alleviate BBB damage.