Objective To observe the effect of Valsartan on a rat model of acute lung injury and the expression of transforming growth factor-β,TGF-β) ,Smad2/3, Smad7. Methods Twenty-four male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were random divided into three groups : The bleomycin (BLM) group, the control group, and the Valsartan group. Each group contained eight rats. The Valsartan group was treated with Valsartan everyday at a dose of 20 mg/kg after a single intratracheal instillation of bleomycin at a dose of 5mg/kg. BLM group was treated with saline instead of Valsartan after an instillation of bleomycin. The control group was treated with saline instead of Valsartan and bleomycin. Each group was killed at the 7th day after instillation. The lung tissues were harvested for H. E. stain, the immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expressions of TGF-β1, Smad2/3 ,and Smad7. Results The degree of alveolitis in the Valsartan group was ameliorated, compared with those in BLM group (P ＜0. 01). The expressions of TGF-β1 and Smad2/3 in lung tissue of the Valsartan group were significantly lower than that of BLM group(P ＜0. 01). The expressions of Smad7 in lung tissue of the Valsartan group were significantly higher than that of BLM group (0.23 ±0. 02 vs0. 36 ±0.03, P ＜0.01). Conclusions Valsartan could alleviate acute lung injury in rats, which probably be due to the expression decrease of TGF-β1 and Smad2/3 and the expression increase of Smad7 in lung tissues.

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of pulmonary rehabilitation therapy including respiratory exercise and vibration expectoration on patients with pulmonary infection after abdominal surgery.Methods A retrospective case control study was conducted.Seventy-six patients with pulmonary infection after abdominal surgery admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University from September 2015 to September 2016 were enrolled.According to whether accept the pulmonary rehabilitation therapy or not,the patients were divided into two groups.In the control group (n =35),the convemional expectoration method was adopted.The patients in pulmonary rehabilitation group (n =41) received both methods of the control group and pulmonary rehabilitation treatment,including respiratory exercise (effective cough,lip reduction breathing),respiratory exercise device (respiratory exerciser tri-ball),and vibrated expectoration.The 24-hour sputum volume,degree of comfort,inflammatory and pulmonary function parameters,and recovery situation were recorded in the two groups.Results ① There were no significant differences in the parameters of inflammation and pulmonary function before treatment between the two groups.After treatment,the white blood cell (WBC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in both groups were significantly decreased,and the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) were significantly increased.The above changes in pulmonary rehabilitation group were more significant than those of the control group [WBC (× 109/L):11.12 ± 2.88 vs.13.42 ± 2.62 at 3 days,8.22 ± 1.48 vs.9.27 ± 1.92 at 5 days;CRP (mg/L):13.47 ± 4.77vs.16.03±4.94 at 3 days,9.69±1.56 vs.11.77±1.41 at 5 days;FEV1 (L):2.48±0.14 vs.2.29±0.16 at 3 days,FEV1/FVC:0.78±0.04 vs.0.75±0.04 at 3 days;all P ＜ 0.05].② The 24-hour sputum volume within 3 days of pulmonary rehabilitation group were significantly higher than that of the control group (mL:30.51 ± 4.15 vs.18.30 ± 3.64at 1 day,31.08±3.22 vs.20.37±3.20 at 2 days,29.03±2.55 vs.19.03±2.51 at 3 days,all P ＜ 0.01].③ In the pulmonary rehabilitation group,the recovery time of pulmonary infection symptoms (days:5.44 ± 1.45 vs.6.20 ± 1.55),the days of antibiotic use (days:12.61 ± 3.15 vs.15.03 ± 3.78),the time of getting out of the bed (days:4.05 ± 0.74vs.4.51±0.89),and the hospital days (days:19.95±3.90 vs.22.00±4.42) were significantly shorter than those of the control group (all P ＜ 0.05),and the degree of comfort was significantly better than that of the control group (comfort score:2.71 ±0.90 vs.2.14±0.91,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The application of pulmonary rehabilitation including respiratory exercise and vibration expectoration in abdominal surgery patients with pulmonary infection can promote recovery,and it has a good clinical and practical application value.

Objective:To investigate the effect of ethyl pyruvate on proliferation activity of vascular endothelial cells after heat stress.Methods:Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were placed in incubators with different temperatures (39 ℃, 41 ℃, 43 ℃) for heat shock for 4 h, or placed into the incubator with the same temperature at 43 ℃ and received heat shock for different times (2 h, 3 h, 4 h), and the control group were always placed in 37 ℃ incubator. Then the morphological changes of the cells were observed under an inverted microscope, and the cell proliferation activity was detected by the cell counting - 8 (CCK-8) kit. According to the above experimental results, the optimal intervention temperature (43 ℃) and time point (4 h) of heat stress were selected. After that, ethyl pyruvate (EP) with a concentration of 10 μmol/L was used for intervention (HS+EP group), and the cell proliferation activity was detected by CCK-8.Results:With the increasing of the heat stress temperature or the extension of exposure time, the cell morphology gradually changed under the inverted microscope, and the cells in 43 ℃ incubator for 4 h was the most obvious; and the cell proliferation activity of HUVECs decreased gradually, and the most significant decrease occurred in the group that exposure for 4 h in 43 ℃ ( F=25.79, P < 0.001 vs. control group). In addition, the cell proliferation activity of HUVECs in the HS+EP group was significantly higher than that in the HS group ( P < 0.001). Conclusions:EP can reduce significantly the effect of heat stress on the proliferation activity of HUVECs, and help to alleviate the changes of vascular endothelial cell activity caused by heat stress.

Diaphragm dysfunction is common in clinical work, which is a frequently important cause of ventilation weaning failure ignored by clinicians. Assessing diaphragmatic function while weaning helps early detection and prevention of weaning failure, so as to improve the clinical outcome of patients on mechanical ventilation (MV). Reviewing studies of diaphragmatic function evaluation in weaning, we can find that assessing diaphragmatic function during weaning can help guide weaning. Weaning predictors including pressure index, electrophysiological index and morphological index, among which bedside ultrasound as a morphological index is widely used in intensive care unit (ICU), which is simple, non-invasive, and easy to operate. It is also accurate in the assessment of diaphragmatic function and guidance on weaning, which is worthy of promotion and application.

Objective:To analyze the effect of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy in patients with acute respiratory failure, and investigate the indicators that predict the failure of HFNC.Methods:The clinical data of 174 patients with acute respiratory failure were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were treated with HFNC in the Emergency Department of Hunan Provincial People′s Hospital from January 2018 to September 2020. The vital signs, blood gas analysis, Borg score and ROX index of patients before and one hour after HFNC application were compared, and the application effect of HFNC was judged. The HFNC failure group was defined as patients with respiratory support upgraded to non-invasive ventilation, endotracheal intubation or death within 48 h, and the indicators for predicting the HFNC failure were analyzed.Results:The failure rate of HFNC was 24.13%(42/174). There were significant differences in the heart rate, SpO 2, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and PaO 2 of successfal group before and after the use of HFNC, t values were -8.12-4.60, all P<0.05. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the change value of systolic blood pressure was a protective factor of the failure of HFNC ( OR=0.967, 95% CI were 0.949-0.985, P<0.05). Conclusions:The application of HFNC in patients with acute respiratory failure is feasible and effective, and the change value of systolic blood pressure is an indicator to predict the failure of HFNC.

Objective:To observe whether endoplasmic reticulum stress and NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation were involved in severe heat stroke induced intestinal mucosal injury and to investigate the potential protective effect of the endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibitor 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA).Methods:Thirty male BALB/c mice were randomly (random number) assigned to 3 groups: the control group, heat stroke group (HS), and 4-PBA pretreatment group (4-PBA+HS, 4-PBA 120 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection). Mice in the control group were placed at room temperature, while mice in the HS group and 4-PBA+HS group were placed in a prewarmed chamber [temperature (35.5±0.5) °C, humidity (60.0±5.0)%]. A rectal temperature (Tc) that reached 42 °C was considered to indicate severe heat stroke. The concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in intestinal homogenate were analyzed by a colorimetric method, serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) were assessed by ELISA, intestinal histopathology was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, intestinal ultrastructure was observed by electron microscopy, and the protein expression of GRP78, CHOP, NLRP3 and cleaved caspase-1 were analyzed by Western blot. Data were statistically analyzed by ANOVA test and LSD- t multiple comparison test if homogeneous variance, or analyzed by Welch test and Dunnett's T3 multiple comparison test if heterogeneous variance. Results:The concentration of MDA in the HS group was increased ( t=14.243, P<0.01), while SOD was decreased compared with that in the control group ( t=7.781, P<0.01), and the concentrations of serum IL-1β and IL-18 were significantly elevated ( t=12.664, P<0.01; t=16.240, P<0.01). Under light microscopy, extensive destruction of small intestinal villi and inflammatory cell infiltration were observed in the intestines of mice with severe heat stroke. Transmission electron microscopy showed that endoplasmic reticulum structures were significantly expanded, and mitochondria were vacuolated in the intestines of mice with severe heat stroke. Compared with those in the control group, the protein expression levels of GRP78, CHOP, NLRP3 and cleaved caspase-1 in the small intestine were elevated in the HS group ( t=14.824, P <0.01; t=12.667, P<0.01; t=9.298, P<0.01; and t=6.588, P=0.001). Compared with those in the HS group, mice in the 4-PBA pretreatment group exhibited reduced concentrations of MDA ( t=9.167, P<0.01), increased SOD ( t=6.077, P<0.01) , and reduced serum IL-1β and IL-18 levels ( t=4.889, P= 0.001; t=5.693, P<0.01). In addition, 4-PBA pretreatment significantly alleviated the pathological disruption and ultrastructural damage to small intestine tissues. Moreover, 4-PBA pretreatment reduced GRP78, CHOP , NLRP3 and cleaved caspase-1 protein expression ( t=9.080, P<0.01; t=7.152, P<0.01; t=4.249, P=0.005; t=3.650, P=0.011). Conclusions:Endoplasmic reticulum stress and NLRP3 inflammasome are involved in intestinal mucosal injury induced by severe heat stroke. 4-PBA plays a protective role by alleviating endoplasmic reticulum stress and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.

Objective To evaluate the diaphragm movement index of mechanical ventilation weaning patients by ultrosonography, and to explore its value for weaning. Methods Forty patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation for at least 48 hours admitted to emergency intensive care unit (EICU) of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital from September 2017 to February 2018 were enrolled. Low level pressure support ventilation (PSV) was used for spontaneous breathing test (SBT), and bedside M-mode ultrasonography was used to assess the diaphragm movement index of the patient within 1 hour of SBT, including the excursion of the diaphragm, diaphragmatic-rapid shallow breathing index (D-RSBI). The rapid shallow breathing index (RSBI) was measured by ventilator. The patients who met the clinical weaning criteria were weaned. According to the success or failure of the weaning, the patients were divided into the successful weaning group and the failure weaning group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of each indicator to the failure of the weaning. Results A total of 40 patients were enrolled in the final analysis, including 28 patients in the successful weaning group and 12 patients in the failure weaning group. The excursion of the diaphragm in the failure weaning group was significantly less than that in the successful weaning group (mm: 9.56±2.13 vs. 13.66±4.10, P < 0.01), and the D-RSBI and RSBI were significantly higher than those in the successful weaning group [D-RSBI (times·min-1·mm-1): 2.06±0.68 vs. 1.44±0.66, RSBI (times·min-1·L-1): 61.70±25.00 vs. 44.91±14.51, both P < 0.05]. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of diaphragm displacement, D-RSBI, and RSBI was 0.830, 0.851 and 0.711, respectively, and the predicted value of diaphragm excursion and D-RSBI was higher. When the optimal critical value of diaphragmatic excursion was 11.15 mm, the sensitivity of predicting weaning failure was 83.3%, the specificity was 71.4%; when the optimal critical value of D-RSBI was 1.42 times·min-1·mm-1, the sensitivity of predicting the failure of weaning was 91.7%, and the specificity was 82.1%. Conclusion Diaphragm excursion and D-RSBI of the diaphragmatic ultrosonography index could accurately predict the failure of the weaning, which was superior to the traditional RSBI in guiding weaning.

Objective:To analyze the influence of factors before initiation of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) on the prognosis of patients, so as to explore the intervention timing and improvement strategy of ECPR.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 29 patients who underwent ECPR in the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University (Hunan people's Hospital)from July 2018 to April 2021. Patients were divided into the survival group ( n = 13) and death group ( n = 16) according to whether they survived at discharge. The duration of conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CCPR), initial heart rate before ECPR, the ratio of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA), and the ratio of transported cases outside the hospital were compared between the two groups. According to different CCPR time, the patients were divided into the ≤45 min group, 45-60 min group and >60 min group to compare the hospital survival and sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rate . According to the location of cardiac arrest, the patients from emergency department and other department were divided to compare the survival of IHCA. Results:The total survival rate was 44.83%, the average duration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was 114 (33.5, 142.5) h, and the average duration of CCPR time was 60 (44.5, 80) min. The duration of ECMO was longer in the survival group than in the death group ( P = 0.001). The duration of CCPR (the time from CPR to ECMO) in the survival group was significantly shorter than that in the death group ( P = 0.010). Patients with defibrillatory rhythm had higher hospital survival rate ( P = 0.010). OHCA patients had higher mortality than IHCA patients ( P = 0.020). Mortality of patients transferred from other hospitals was higher ( P = 0.025). Hospital survival and ROSC decreased in turn by CCPR duration ≤ 45 min, 45-60 min, and > 60 min ( P = 0.001). The location of CA occurrence had no impact on the hospital survival rate of IHCA patients ( P=0.54). Conclusions:Hospital survival of ECPR is higher than that of CCPR. ECPR is effective for refractory cardiac arrest. The prognosis of ECPR is significantly related to the duration of CCPR, initial heart rate, and location of CA. Education and team training should be strengthened to improve the survival rate of ECPR.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of heparin binding protein (HBP) for sepsis.Methods:From June 2019 to December 2020, 188 patients admitted to the department of emergency of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital were enrolled. The patients were divided into non-sepsis group (87 patients) and sepsis group (101 patients) according to Sepsis-3 criteria. Gender, age, white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), HBP, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, quick SOFA (qSOFA) score, modified early warning score (MEWS) and patients' recent medication history were recorded, the differences in the above indicators between the two groups were compared. The risk factors of sepsis were analyzed by Logistic regression. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between HBP, PCT, CRP and SOFA score to evaluate the predictive value of HBP, PCT and CRP for the severity of septic organ failure. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) were drawn to evaluate the diagnostic value of HBP, PCT and CRP for sepsis.Results:Compared with the non-sepsis group, the sepsis group had significantly higher levels of HBP, PCT, CRP, WBC, SOFA score, qSOFA score, and MEWS [HBP (μg/L): 55.46 (24.57, 78.49) vs. 5.90 (5.90, 9.01), PCT (μg/L): 6.83 (1.75, 30.64) vs. 0.23 (0.12, 0.75), CRP (mg/L): 67.35 (26.23, 123.23) vs. 4.45 (2.62, 47.22), WBC (×10 9/L): 11.84 (7.18, 16.06) vs. 6.58 (5.47, 8.99), SOFA score: 6 (4, 8) vs. 0 (0, 0), qSOFA score: 2 (1, 3) vs. 0 (0, 1), MEWS: 4 (3, 6) vs. 1 (0, 2)], the length of hospital stay was significantly prolonged [days: 10 (4, 17) vs. 0 (0, 7)], and the mortality was significantly increased [29.7% (30/101)vs. 4.6% (4/87)], with statistical significance (all P < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that HBP, PCT and CRP were significantly positively correlated with SOFA score ( r values were 0.60, 0.33, and 0.38, respectively, all P < 0.01), among which HBP had the strongest correlation, CRP was the second, and PCT was the weakest. Logistic regression analysis showed that HBP, PCT and CRP levels were independent risk factors for sepsis [odds ratio ( OR) were 1.015, 1.094, 1.067, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were 1.007-1.022, 1.041-1.150, 1.043-1.093, all P < 0.01]. ROC curve analysis showed that HBP, PCT and CRP all had some diagnostic value for sepsis [the area under ROC curve (AUC) were 0.92, 0.87, 0.80, 95% CI were 0.88-0.97, 0.82-0.92, 0.74-0.87, respectively, all P < 0.01]. Among them, the diagnostic efficacy of HBP was higher when the cut-off value was ≥15.11 μg/L, its sensitivity and specificity were 86.14% and 89.66%, respectively, which were higher than the sensitivity (81.19%) and specificity (80.46%) when the PCT cut-off value was≥ 1.17 μg/L. However, CRP had the best sensitivity of 94.06% for the diagnosis of sepsis but lacked of specificity (63.22%). Conclusion:HBP can be used as a biological indicator for predicting sepsis and can assess the severity of organ failure in septic patients.

Cardiac arrest (CA) is a serious cardiac event, which has a high incidence and low survival rate at home and abroad. In order to predict the risk of CA in advance, a large number of studies have been conducted by relevant researchers. This paper mainly summarizes the characteristics and research status of the existing analysis and prediction of CA from three aspects: the risk prediction factors of CA, the evaluation index of risk prediction of CA and the early warning scoring system of CA. We hope it can help medical staff to understand the current progress in this field, and provide new ways and methods for predicting the risk of CA.