Objective To evaluate the longitudinal layer-specific strain of patients with coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) before and 1 day after the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI),and then to explore the clinical value of PCI for patients with CTO. Methods A total of 30 patients diagnosed with CTO through coronary angiography and successfully taken the PCI procedure were enrolled in this study.Twenty-nine healthy volunteers were set as the control group.All patients were assigned to take echocardiography 1 day before and 1 day after PCI. The apical four-chamber (4CH),apical two-chamber (2CH) and the apical long-axis ( APLAX) echocardiographic images of all subjects were acquired.Left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), end-systolic volume (LVESV),ejection fraction (LVEF) and stroke volume (LVSV) were measured.The mitral annular lateral S′,septal S′and average S′by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) were also measured.The longitudinal layer-specific strain was analysed by 2D-STI.Results Compared to the control group,CTO group showed a decreased endocardial,midcardial and epicardial longitudinal strain of 4CH,2CH and APLAX ( P < 0.05). The global endocardial,midcardial and epicardial longitudinal strain were also decreased ( P <0.05).On the first day after PCI,these measures were increased compared to those on the first day before PCI (P<0.05) but the endocardial longitudinal strain of APLAX,2CH and GLS were still decreased compared to those of the control group ( P <0.05).The mitral annular lateral S′,septal S′and average S′of CTO group were decreased compared to those of the control group ( P <0.05).On the first day after PCI,the mitral annular lateral S′,septal S′and average S′were increased ( P <0.05) but showed no significant difference compared to the control group ( P > 0.05).All the other measures showed no significant difference among the three groups ( P >0.05).Conclusions The longitudinal strain of patients with CTO is decreased compared to that of healthy people and increased after PCI.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the potential mechanism of procyanidin on rats with gingivitis by regulating phosphoinositide 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）/vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） signaling pathway. METHODS The rat model of gingivitis was constructed by sewing the neck of the first maxillary molar with silk thread+applying maltose on the gum+feeding with 20% sucrose solution and soft food. Forth-eight model rats were randomly divided into model group， procyanidin group （160 mg/kg）， 740Y-P group （PI3K/Akt signaling pathway activator， 0.02 mg/kg）， and procyanidin+ 740Y-P group （procyanidin 160 mg/kg+740Y-P 0.02 mg/kg）， with 12 rats in each group； another 12 rats were selected as control group； each medication group was treated with corresponding drugs intragastrically or/and intraperitoneally， once a day， for 7 consecutive days. Twenty-four hours after the last administration， the gingival index of rats was measured； the levels of interleukin- 18 （IL-18）， inducible nitric oxide synthase （iNOS） and alkaline phosphatase （ALP） in gingival crevicular fluid， as well as the levels of superoxide dismutase （SOD）， catalase （CAT） and reactive oxygen species （ROS） in gingival tissues of rats were detected； the pathological changes in gingival tissues were observed； the expression levels of PI3K/Akt/VEGF signaling pathway- related proteins in gingival tissues of rats were detected. RESULTS Compared with control group， the gingival tissues of rats in the model group had severe pathological damage，which was manifested as local tissue expansion and congestion， new capillaries， degeneration and loss of collagen fibers and disorder of arrangement， and a large number of inflammatory cell infiltration in the gingival sulcus wall. The gingival index， the levels of IL-18， iNOS， ALP in gingival crevicular fluid， the level of ROS in gingival tissues， the phosphorylations of PI3K and Akt， as well as the protein expression of VEGF in gingival tissues were significantly increased； the levels of SOD and CAT in gingival tissues of rats in model group were significantly decreased （P＜0.05）. Compared with model group， the pathological damage to the gingival tissues of rats in procyanidin group was reduced， and all quantitative indicators were significantly improved （P＜0.05）； 740Y-P could reverse the improvement effect of procyanidin on various indicators （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Procyanidin may alleviate gingival tissue damage， and improve gingival inflammation and oxidative stress in rats with gingivitis by inhibiting PI3K/Akt/VEGF signaling pathway.