Objective To observe the protective effects of quercetin on esophageal mucosa in chronic mixed reflux esophagitis (RE) rats and the effect of quercetin on nuclear factor (NF)-κB/interleukin (IL)-6 signaling pathway.Methods Mixed RE model was successfully induced by cardia ligation and esophagoduodenostomy.48 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were equally divided into the following 6 groups using random number table method:normal control group,sham-operation group,model control group,omeprazole group,low-dose quercetin group,and high-dose quercetin group.The 6 groups were treated with peritoneal injection of 2 ml normal saline (normal control,sham-operation,model control groups),20 mg/kg omeprazole,100 mg/kg quercetin (low-dose) and 200 mg/kg quercetin (high-dose) once daily,respectively.The rats were sacrificed after 6 weeks of intervention.The microscopic pathological changes of esophageal mucosa were scored.NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein levels in esophageal mucosa and serum were assessed using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,respectively.Results In normal control group,shamoperation group,model control group,omeprazole group,low-dose quercetin group and high-dose quercetin group,the pathological scores of esophageal mucosa were 0.250 ± 0.463,0.250 ± 0.463,2.625 ± 0.518,1.500 ±0.535,1.250 ±0.463,and 1.375 ±0.518; the NF-κB p65 protein scores in esophageal mucosa were 0.500±0.535,0.625 ±0.518,3.500 ±0.535,1.875 ±0.649,1.750 ±0.707,and 2.000 ±0.535; the IL-6 protein scores in esophageal mucosa were 1.125 ± 0.641,1.125 ± 0.835,5.375 ± 0.518,2.375 ± 0.518,2.000 ±0.535,and 2.250 ±0.463; the serum NF-κB p65 protein levels were (68.618 ± 18.500),(77.824 ± 22.228),(184.882 ± 49.165),(106.693 ± 45.312),(76.215 ± 16.588),and (108.207 ± 42.107) pg/ml; the serum IL-6 protein levels were (24.826 ±4.008),(23.599 ±4.351),(51.378 ± 9.697),(32.370 ± 11.657),(23.085 ± 4.660),and (26.243 ± 4.955) pg/ml.In terms of the 5 indicators,there were no statistically significant differences between the normal control group and the sham-operation group (P =1.000,P =0.642,P =1.000,P =0.518,P =0.673) ; the results in the normal control,shamoperation,omeprazole,low-dose quercetin,and high-dose quercetin groups were significantly different from those in the model control group (P < 0.001,P < 0.001,P < 0.001,P =0.002,P =0.001 ; P < 0.001,P < 0.001,P<0.001,P=0.004,P=0.002; P=0.001,P<0.001,P<0.001,P=0.025,P=0.023; all P <0.001 ; P <0.001,P <0.001,P <0.001,P =0.023,P <0.001) ; there were no statistically significant differences between low-dose quercetin group and omeprazole group,nor between high-dose quercetin group and omeprazole group (P=0.334,P=0.717,P=0.176,P=0.121,P =0.074; P =0.642,P=0.678,P=0.619,P =0.949,P =0.225); there were no statistically significant differences between low-dose quercetin group and high-dose quercetin group (P =0.619,P =0.438,P =0.334,P =0.086,P =0.243).The microscopic pathological score of esophageal mucosa was positively correlated with NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein scores in esophageal mucosa (r =0.803,P < 0.001 ; r =0.758,P < 0.001),also positively correlated with serum NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein levels (r=0.486,P=0.004; r=0.544,P=0.001).Conclusions The expression levels of NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein in esophageal mucosa and serum increase with the severity of esophageal mucosal injury.Quercetin can reduce the severity of esophageal mucosal injury in RE,possibly through down-regulating NF-κB and IL-6 expression and mitigatng esophageal inflammatory status.

Objective To observe the protective effects of nuclear factor (NF) κB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) on chronic mixed reflux esophagitis in rats and its influence on NF-κB/interleukin (IL)-6 signaling pathway.Method A total of 40 healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into healthy control group,sham operation group,model control group,omeprazole group and PDTC group with eight rats in each group.Except rats in healthy control group and sham operation group,mixed reflux esophagitis model were established in all the other groups.The rats of healthy control group,sham operation group and model control group were all intraperitoneally injected with 2 mL 0.9％ NaCl,rats of omeprazole group were intraperitoneally injected with omeprazole 20 mg/kg,and rats of PDTC group were intraperitoneally injected with PDTC 100 mg/kg every day.After six weeks,the rats were sacrificed,the morphological changes of esophageal tissues were observed and scored by visual inspection and under light microscope.The serum levels of NF-κB p65 and IL-6 in rats of each group were assessed by enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA).t test was performed for mean comparison among groups.Results The scores of esophageal mucosa judged by visual inspection of healthy control group,sham operation group,model control group,omeprazole group and PDTC group were 0.000 20.000,0.000±0.000,2.250± 0.707,1.125 ± 0.835 and 1.429± 0.535,respectively.The pathological scores were 0.00020.000,0.000±0.000,2.625±0.518,1.500±0.535,1.429±0.535,respectively.Compared with those of model control group,the scores judged by visual inspection and the pathological scores of healthy control group,sham operation group,omeprazole group and PDTC group were lower,and the differences were statistically significant (t=7.603,7.603,2.909,2.506; t=9.674,9.674,4.277,4.399,all P＜0.05).The serum levels of NF-κB p65 protein of healthy control group,sham operation group,omeprazole group and PDTC group were (68.618±18.450) pg/mL,(77.824±22.228) pg/mL,(106.693±45.312) pg/mL and (103.781± 42.502)pg/mL,respectively; compared with that of model group ((184.882±49.165) pg/mL),which were significantly lower and the differences were statistically significant (t=6.262,5.612,3.308 and 3.427,all P＜0.05).The serum levels of IL-6 protein were (24.826±4.008) pg/mL,(23.599±4.351) pg/mL,(32.370± 11.657) pg/mL and (33.694±10.394) pg/mL,respectively,which significantly decreased when compared with that of model group ((51.378±9.697) pg/mL,t=7.157,7.393,3.546 and 3.392,all P＜0.05).There was no significant difference between PDTC group and omeprazole group in the score judged by visual inspection,pathological scores,the serum levels of NF-κB p65 and IL-6 protein (all P＞0.05).Conclusion NF-κB inhibitor PDTC could reduce the injury severity of esophageal mucosal in reflux esophagitis rat,which mechanism might be related with the down-regulation of NF-κB/1L-6 signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of myocardial energy expenditure in patients with heart failure following myocardial infarction after treatment with different doses of perindopril.

METHODSSixty-three patients with heart failure after myocardial infarction were treated with perindopril for 12 months at the doses of 4 mg (group N) and 8 mg (group H). Doppler imaging was used to measure the structural and systolic functional parameters before and after the treatment, and the circumferential end-systolic wall stress (cESS) and myocardial energy expenditure (MEE) were calculated. The biochemical indicators including serum creatinine and plasma NT-proBNP were detected before and after the treatment.

RESULTSThe two groups had similar measurements before treatment. After 12 months of perindopril treatment, the patients in group N showed higher LA, LV, RA, RV, LVIDs, AD, cESS, lgNT-proBNP, and MEE with lower LVFS and LVEF than those in group H. Compared to those before treatment, LVFS and LVEF were increased and LA, LV, RA, RV, AD, LVIDs, LVMI, lgNT-proBNP and MEEm lowered after the 12-month treatment in group H. Significant changes were also found in the measured parameters except for PWTs, LVET, LVSV and LVFS in group N after the treatment. Bivariate analysis showed a significant positive correlation between MEE and lgNT-proBNP (r=0.513, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONA 12-month treatment with perindopril can suppress myocardial remodeling, improve left ventricular systolic function, and lower NT-proBNP and myocardial energy expenditure in patients with heart failure after myocardial infarction, and a higher dose can produce better results.

Aged ; Energy Metabolism ; Female ; Heart Failure ; drug therapy ; etiology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; complications ; drug therapy ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Perindopril ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Ventricular Function, Left ; Ventricular Remodeling

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Early adverse life events (EALs) are relevant to irritable bowel syndrome in adulthood. Maternal separation (MS), as one of the EALs, has proved to induce visceral hypersensitivity in adult rats. However, the effect of MS on visceral hypersensitvity from the post-weaning period to adulthood remains unknown. METHODS: One hundred and ten neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: rats in the MS group were exposed to 3 hours daily MS on postnatal day (PND) 2–14; the normal control (NC) group remained undisturbed. Visceral sensitivity was determined by measuring the visceromotor response to colorectal distention on PND21, 35, and 56. Anxiety-like behaviors were measured by the open field test. RESULTS: Compared with NC rats, MS rats showed significant visceral hypersensitivity from the post-weaning period to adult. The proportion of visceral hypersensitive rats decreased with age from 87.5% to 70.0% in the female MS group and from 90.0% to 66.7% in the male MS group. The relative VMR ratio of MS and NC on PND21 was higher than PND35 and PND56. MS rats showed decreased ability of movement and exploration to the novel environment in the post-weaning period, obesity in the prepubertal period, and more anxiety-like behaviors in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: MS can significantly affect visceral sensitivity and behaviors of rats in different age stages, especially in the post-weaning period. Visceral hypersensitivity of MS rats is more pronounced in the post-weaning period and slightly restored in adults. Thus, visceral hypersensitivity in the post-weaning period might play a more meaningful pathophysiologic role in the formation of adult irritable bowel syndrome.
Adult ; Animals ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Male ; Maternal Deprivation ; Obesity ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEExercise can improve circulation, muscular strength and happiness of cancer survivors. But more data were needed to demonstrate both the exercise ability of cancer suivivors after pulmonary lobectomy and the influences of exercise on their survivals. The aim of this study was to examine changes of exercise and its clinical effects among eldly non-small cell lung cancer survivors.

METHODSElderly non-small cell lung cancer survivors who had progression-free disease after surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors were included. Their exercises and participation rates per week before cancer diagnosis, after 3 months anticancer therapy and 1 year after diagnosis as well as their exercise motivations and prevalences were investigated retrospectively.

RESULTSForty-eight elderly non-small cell lung cancer survivors were selected. Moderate-vigorous intensity exercise had by the elderly progressin-free non-small cell lung cancer survivors after diagnosis decreased, but the participation rate of light intensity exercise was higher in 1 year after diagnosis than before diagnosis. 75.9% (14/58) patients had exercise up to the standard and the cancer recurrence rate was 20.0% (7/35). The recurrence rate of the other group was 35.7% (5/14), and the risk ratio of recurrence was 2.14 (95% CI: 0.81-5.68, P = 0.26). The most common motivations of exercise were improving health, increasing physical activity, maintaining healthy life style and improving immunity. And the main disturbances were fatigue, discomfort and lack of motivation.

CONCLUSIONThe exercise participation rate during anticancer treatment among the elderly non-small cell lung cancer survivors decreased and did not return to prediagnosis levels after treatments were completed. The relationship between exercise and recurrence of cancer was not clear and needed further work.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Motor Activity ; physiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Survivors ; statistics & numerical data

Objective: To compare the application of iASSIST assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and three-dimentional(3D) printing personal specific instrument (PSI) assist TKA in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Clinical data of 47 patients with OA admitted at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Nanjing Medical University Nanjing Hospital between April and September 2016 were retrospectively reviewed, including 20 males and 27 females, aging from 57 to 77 years with mean age of (63.8±8.2) years. They were randomly divided into iASSIST-TKA group (23 patients) and PSI-TKA group (24 patients). The data such as hip knee ankle (HKA) angle, frontal femoral component (FFC) angle, frontal tibial component (FTC) angle, lateral femoral component (LFC) angle, lateral tibial component (LTC) angle, time of operation, post-operative wound drainage, period of hospitalization, visual analog scale (VAS) and Knee Society Score (KSS) at 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, 1 month and 3 months were recorded and compared between the two groups. T test was used to compare measurement data, Fisher exact test and χ² test were applied to enumeration data in comparison among groups, and Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to ranked data. Results: The deviation values of HKA, FFC, LFC, FTC and LTC angles were all below 3°(-2° to 2°), and there were no significant difference between iASSIST-TKA group and PSI-TKA group (Z=-0.610 to 0.000, P=0.542 to 1.000). Compared to PSI-TKA group, the time of operation was long((80.7±8.8) minutes vs.(60.2±7.8) minutes), the amount of post-operative wound drainage was increased((210.7±32.1) ml vs.(185.5±30.2)ml) and the period of hospitalization decreased((5.4±2.4) d vs.(6.7±1.6) d) in iASSIST-TKA group, there were significant difference(t=-2.190 to 8.460, P=0.000 to 0.033). There were no significant difference in intra-operative blood drainage((18.4±5.4) ml vs.(17.3±6.2) ml) between the two groups(t=0.650, P=0.521). PSI-TKA group had a superior VAS score(4.8±0.6 vs. 5.5±0.9, 3.6±0.8 vs. 4.3±0.9), KSS clinical score(49.3±5.5 vs. 44.2±6.4, 54.9±4.0 vs. 50.8±4.2) and KSS function score(44.1±2.9 vs. 41.2±3.5, 49.6±3.8 vs. 46.6±3.2) in 1 day and 7 days post-operation(t=-3.420 to 3.150, P=0.001 to 0.007). There were no significant difference in VAS and KSS score in 14 days, 1 month and 3 months post-operation(t=-1.390 to 0.530, P=0.170 to 1.000) between the two groups. Conclusions The iASSIST-TKA and PSI-TKA can help to make TKA procedure more accurately. iASSIST-TKA may take longer time of operation and have slower recovery, PSI-TKA may need more X-ray input and longer period of hospitalization. The long-term research of both techniques may be valuable for the further clinical usage.

Objective To investigate the role of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in indeterminate solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) diagnosis and to compare with conventional diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). Methods From March 2016 to Dec 2017, forty-three consecutive patients (30 male, 13 female, age: 56 ± 11 years) with indeterminate SPNs were included. All patients underwent axial multi-b factor DWI (with b values=0, 50, 200, 400, 800, 1400, 2000 s/mm2) examination and were divided into benign group (19 cases) and malignant group (24 cases) according to pathological results of SPN. ADC Kurtosis (K) and Diffusivity (Dk) values were compared between malignant and benign group and among different subtypes of lung cancer using independent t test (normal distribution and homogeneity of variance) and Mann-Whitney U test (skewed distribution or variance). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to evaluate the diagnostic performance. Results K values were significantly higher for malignant SPNs than for benign SPNs (0.839 ± 0.197 vs. 0.718 ± 0.120;t=2.359, P=0.023). ADC values were found to be significantly higher in benignity than malignant SPNs [(1.605 ± 0.422) × 10-3mm2/s vs. (1.278 ± 0.210) × 10-3mm2/s; t=-3.089, P=0.005). No difference was observed in Dk between the two groups (P=0.922). All parameters cannot differentiate subtypes of lung cancer. The ADC value had higher AUC (area under ROC curve) than that of K value. The sensitivity (70.8％) and accuracy (72.1％) of ADC value was higher than K value, the specificity of both methods was equal. Conclusion DKI is a feasible non-invasive tool which has comparable capability of conventional DWI in SPNs differentiation, although with lower sensitivity and accuracy. DKI can provide additional information for SPNs characterization and has a potential to be a robust way in SPNs interpretation.

Objective:To learn about the knowledge and practice of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) prevention and control among main caregivers of pregnant women in trimester and its related influencing factors, so as to provide a scientific basis for effectively improving the iodine nutrition level of pregnant women.Methods:In April 2020, using the stratified sampling method, 2 districts and counties were selected in the urban, suburban and rural areas of Hangzhou City, respectively, and 5 maternal and child health care institutions were selected as the survey sites in each district and county according to the five directions of East, West, South, North and Middle. A face-to-face questionnaire investigation was used to investigate the knowledge and practice of IDD prevention and control among main caregivers of pregnant women.Results:Totally 601 caregivers of pregnant women were investigated. Among them, 68.9% (414/601) knew that eating iodized salt was the best way to prevent IDD. However, 15.0% (90/601) thought that eating seafood was the best way to prevent IDD. And 41.9% (252/601) caregivers of pregnant women would actively purchase iodine-rich food for cooking, and 63.6% (382/601) would choose iodized salt. There were statistically significant differences in the knowledge and practice of IDD prevention and control among caregivers of pregnant women in urban, suburban and rural areas ( P < 0.05). And 50.3% (87/173) male caregivers would actively purchase iodine-rich food for cooking, which was higher than that of female caregivers [38.6% (165/428)], the difference was statistically significant (χ 2 = 6.97, P = 0.008). There was a statistically significant difference between the caregivers of pregnant women of different ages in actively purchasing iodine-rich food for cooking (χ 2 = 12.61, P = 0.013). And there were statistically significant differences between the caregivers of pregnant women with different educational levels in actively purchasing iodine-rich food for cooking and choosing iodized salt (χ 2 = 29.34, 39.42, P < 0.001). Conclusions:The awareness of knowledge about IDD prevention and control and the formation of prevention and control behavior among caregivers of pregnant women in Hangzhou City are poor. Active education of caregivers of pregnant women should be strengthened to promote maternal and infant health.

Objective: To study the role of virtual gastroscopy simulator in the examination of clinical practice skills of gastrointestinal specialists. Methods: A multi-center empirical study was carried out. In June 2018, ninety participants from three tertiary care teaching hospitals in China, including Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Tongji Hospital and Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, took part in the examination. Participants were selected as follows: 30 specialists without any experience of gastroscopy exams, 30 with basic knowledge (gastroscopy exams <500 cases) and 30 with good skill (gastroscopy exams ≥500 cases). These 90 students participated in this empirical study after theoretical study and simulator training. Among them, 50 (55.6%) were undergraduates, 25 (27.8%) masters, and 15 (16.7%) doctors; 42 (46.7%) were residents, 39 (43.3%) attending physicians, and 9 (10.0%) deputy chief physicians. The assessment was divided into two parts. The first part was to use the simulator (GI mentor II) for ballooning within 10 minutes, with a total score of 40 points. The second part was a complete gastroscopy exam on the simulator, including preparation before gastroscopy exam, gastroscopy exam, post - exam management and related knowledge quiz. The difficulty and discrimination of the assessment plan were evaluated by the extreme grouping method parameters (difficulty P definition: <0.3 was difficult, 0.3 to 0.7 was medium, ≥0.7 was easy; discrimination degree D definition: <0 was poor, 0 to 0.2 was medium, ≥0.2 was good), and by comparing the virtual gastroscopy assessment scores of different experience, academic, and professional title groups. The score analysis of the student group was expressed using the mastering rate (the average score divided by the total score). The data of the normal distribution was represented by (mean±SD) (range), and the data of the nonnormal distribution was represented by M (P25, P75). Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test was used for comparison between groups. Results: The total score of 90 students was (82.9±10.9) (55.8 to 99.0), and the mastering rate was 82.9%. The overall difficulty of the first and the second parts were 0.78 and 0.76, respectively, and the difficulty level was easy. The overall discrimination of the first and the second parts were 0.70 and 0.67, respectively, and the discrimination was good. The stratified analysis was performed according to the professional title. The median score was 83.2 (75.5, 89.0) in the residents, 82.5 (71.7, 93.6) in the attending physicians, and 93.5 (88.5, 99.0) in the deputy chief physicians, and the difference was statistically significant (H=6.213, P=0.045). According to the stratification analysis of academic qualifications, the median score was 81.7 (73.0, 87.5) in participants with undergraduate degree, 91.0 (79.0, 95.0) in those with master degree and 88.0 (81.7, 93.5) in those with doctor degree, whose difference was statistically significant (H=9.233, P=0.010). The stratified analysis of the second part showed that the median scores of the "operational process" part of the low, medium and high basis group were 33.0 (30.5, 36.5), 34.0 (32.0, 36.0) and 37.0 (35.0, 37.5), respectively, whose difference was statistically significant (H=7.603, P=0.022). The median scores of the "operational process" section of the resident, attending physician, and deputy chief physician were 33.0 (30.5, 35.0) points, 36.0 (34.0, 37.5) points and 37.0 (37.0, 37.5) points, respectively, whose difference was statistically significant (H=18.563, P=0.001). Conclusions The virtual gastroscopy simulator can reflect the true level of gastroscopy exam skills of the students. The examination questions are moderately difficult, and there is a good discrimination of the exam.