OBJECTIVE: To investigate the allergens distribution of 576 allergic rhinitis patients in Qingyang, and to provide basic epidemiologic information for the prevention and treatment of allergic rhinitis. METHOD: Skin prick test was done to all the 576 patients with allergic rhinitis with 28 kinds of allergens. RESULT: Four hundred and eighty cases (83.3%) showed positive reaction to at least one allergen of 28 allergens. The most common allergens were Magwort (73.3%), Giant Ragweed (55.0%) Tree II (51.7%), Tree I (48.3%) Dermatophagoides farinae (43.3%) and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (36.7%). Moreover. the positivity decreased with age. There was no difference between male and female. CONCLUSION The study shows that Magwort. Giant ragweed and tree II are the most important allergens on Qingyang district.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Allergens ; analysis ; classification ; Animals ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mites ; immunology ; Pollen ; immunology ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; diagnosis ; immunology ; Skin Tests ; Young Adult

Objective To establish an analytical method of chromatographic fingerprint of cortex moutan in Dianjiang County through HPLC;To provide reference for the quality control and general evaluation. Methods HPLC with Shim-pack VP-ODS C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5μm) was used;paeonol was taken as standard;the mobile phase was MeOH-H2O with liner gradient eluation;the delection mavelength was at 274 nm for paeonol and 230 nm for paeoniflorin;the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min. Fourteen batches of samples were analyzed to establish the fingerprint with paeonol and paeoniflorin as reference. Results The results of the 14 batches of samples and similarity evaluation showed that the similar degrees to the 10 batches among the 14 samples were between 0.968-0.998, which illustrated the good similar degrees among samples. Conclusion The established fingerprint with characteristics of stability, good reproducibility and simplicity, can be used for the quality evaluation and control of cortex moutan.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and the risk of major adverse cardiac events within 1 year of middle-aged and elderly in-patients with acute decompensated and mid-range ejection fraction heart failure(HF)in the medical alliance setting.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted among a total of 180 in-patients with acute decompensated heart failure in Cardiovascular Hexi Hospital Consulting Area of Tianjin Chest Hospital.According to ejection fraction measured by echocardiogram, the in-patients were classified into three groups: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF)group(n=70, 38.9%), HFmEF group(n=50, 27.8%), and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction(HFpEF)group(n=60, 33.3%). Clinical feature and 1-year prognosis between different groups were compared.Results:Univariate Cox regression analysis of 1-year all-cause death and cardiovascular death showed that there was no significant difference between HFrEF group and HFmEF group, HFpEF group and HFmEF group(all P>0.05); 1-year readmission analysis of heart failure showed that 47.1%(33 cases)of HFrEF group was higher than 24.0%(12 cases)of HFmEF group, 48.3%(29 cases)of HFpEF group was higher than HFmEF group( HR=2.307, 2.368, 95% CI: 0.187-4.480, 1.207-4.644, respectively, all P<0.05); The major 1-year cardiovascular events were 57.1%(40 cases)higher in the HFrEF group than 34.0%(17 cases)in the HFmEF group( HR=2.053, 95% CI: 0.187-4.408, P< 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the 1-year risk of major cardiovascular events was significantly different between HFmEF group and HFpEF group( HR=0.477, 95% CI: 0.241-0.941, P< 0.05). Pulmonary heart disease( P< 0.05), atrial flutter and/or atrial fibrillation( P< 0.01), New York Cardiology class Ⅳ( P< 0.01)were risk factors for death.Hypertension and cor pulmonale were the risk factors for readmission in patients with heart failure(all P< 0.01). Conclusions:The clinical characteristics of inpatients with HFmEF in the medical alliance setting tended to be consistent with those with HFrEF, while the feature of ischemic heart disease was more prominent in HFmEF.The 1-year risk of heart failure readmission in HFmEF group was significantly lower than that in HFpEF and HFrEF group, and the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality at 1 year was not significantly different among the three groups.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of measuring soluble growth stimulation expressed gene 2 protein(sST2), interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNFα)as individual parameters or as a test panel in the prognosis of elderly patients with heart failure.Methods:A total of 128 elderly patients with heart failure hospitalized at the Cardiology Department of the Medical Alliance of Chest Hospital and Hexi Hospital between April 2019 and April 2020 were retrospectively selected.Based on heart failure readmissions, all-cause deaths and cardiovascular death events within a one-year follow-up, the patients were divided into a good prognosis group(n=60)and a poor prognosis group(n=68).The general condition and routine laboratory examination test results were recorded.At admission, blood samples were taken to measure sST2, IL-6 and TNFα.The individual parameters, combinations of two parameters and the combination of all three parameters were used to draw receiver operating characteristic curves(ROCs)and their value in evaluating the prognosis of heart failure patients was analyzed.Results:In the poor prognosis group, sST2, IL-6 and TNFα levels were(29.4±7.7)mg/L, (23.1±45.7)ng/L and(30.9±82.1)ng/L, respectively, higher than those in the good prognosis group[(25.0±9.1)mg/L, (22.5±49.1)ng/L, (13.5±22.3)ng/L, t=2.42, -2.32, -2.37, all P<0.05)].The area under ROC(AUC)values of sST2, IL-6 and TNFα were 0.636, 0.619 and 0.622, respectively(all P>0.05).The specificity of sST2(56.7%)was higher than that of IL-6(51.7%)and of TNFα(46.7%), and the difference was statistically significant( P<0.05).The sensitivity of TNFα(80.9%)was higher than that of sST2(64.7%)and of IL-6(79.4%), and the difference was statistically significant( P<0.05); As the combinations of two parameters, the predictive power of the sST2+ TNFα combination was higher than that of the other two combinations, based on AUC values(both P<0.05).The AUC and specificity of the sST2+ IL-6+ TNFα combination were higher than those of any two-parameter combination(both P<0.05). Conclusions:The combined detection of sST2+ IL-6+ TNFα has a good performance in predicting the one-year prognosis of elderly patients with heart failure and can be easily implemented in clinical practice.

Objective To explore the efficacy and clinical value of texture analysis of conventional MRI image for the preoperative classification of meningiomas. Methods The MR images of 101 meningioma cases were retrospectively analyzed, all of them underwent routine MRI before operation, and confirmed by surgery and pathology,of whom 81 cases in WHO Ⅰ,19 cases in Ⅱand 1 case in Ⅲ.The maximum diameter of the tumor in MRI images was outlined as ROI by the Image J software.The histograms and grey-level co-occurrence matrix(GLCM)were used to measure the texture parameters,such as maximum value,minimum value,standard deviation(SD),skewness,kurtosis,angular second moment,contrast,inverse different moment, entropy, correlation and so on, and compared with postoperative pathological grading results.The independent sample t test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the difference of the histogram and the gray level co-occurrence matrix parameter of the MRI images between low-grade and high-grade meningiomas. ROC curves for statistically significant parameters were used to confirm their efficacy in predicting the preoperative grade of meningiomas.Results (1)In histogram parameters,the SDs of T2WI,FLAIR,ADC(SDT2WI,SDFLAIR,SDADC)of low grade meningioma were 14.764(10.928,17.932),9.753 (7.385,13.618) and 12.171 (9.138,19.691), the high grade meningiomas were 19.252 (13.580,25.715), 13.568 (8.936,17.108) and 16.636 (13.166,21.498), respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant(Z values were-2.863,-2.250,-2.247,P respectively 0.004,0.024,0.025).The skewness values (SkeADC, SkeFLAIR) of ADC sequence and FLAIR sequence of low-grade meningiomas were 1.377 ± 1.172 and-1.327 ± 0.930, respectively, and the high-grade meningiomas were 2.503 ± 1.613 and-0.827±0.834,respectively.The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (t values were-2.196,-3.129, P values were 0.002,0.030, respectively). (2) In the GLCM parameters, entropy (EntT1WI, EntT2WI, EntFLAIR, EntADC) of the enhanced T1WI, T2WI, FLAIR and ADC sequences of low grade meningiomas were 6.881(6.174,7.305),6.534±0.598,6.019±0.588,6.040±0.588,high-grade meningiomas were 7.079 (6.742,7.739), 7.014 ± 0.514,6.370 ± 0.703,6.576 ± 0.450, respectively. And the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (Z=-2.007, t values were-3.294,-2.327,-3.245, P values were 0.045,0.001,0.022,0.002,respectively).(3)The ROC curves of EntADCand SkeADCwere plotted, and the area under the curve(AUC)was 0.768 and 0.710,respectively.Combined EntADC,SkeADCand EntT2WI were the best for the classification of meningiomas,and AUC was 0.799.Conclusion Texture analysis can provide more quantification information, which can be more accurately distinguishing high grade meningiomas and low grade meningiomas before surgery.

BACKGROUND: Given the general unavailability, common adverse effects, and complicated administration of tetracycline, the clinical application of classic bismuth quadruple therapy (BQT) is greatly limited. Whether minocycline can replace tetracycline for Helicobacter pylori ( H . pylori ) eradication is unknown. We aimed to compare the eradication rate, safety, and compliance between minocycline- and tetracycline-containing BQT as first-line regimens. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 434 naïve patients with H . pylori infection. The participants were randomly assigned to 14-day minocycline-containing BQT group (bismuth potassium citrate 110 mg q.i.d., esomeprazole 20 mg b.i.d., metronidazole 400 mg q.i.d., and minocycline 100 mg b.i.d.) and tetracycline-containing BQT group (bismuth potassium citrate/esomeprazole/metronidazole with doses same as above and tetracycline 500 mg q.i.d.). Safety and compliance were assessed within 3 days after eradication. Urea breath test was performed at 4-8 weeks after eradication to evaluate outcome. We used a noninferiority test to compare the eradication rates of the two groups. The intergroup differences were evaluated using Pearson chi-squared or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables and Student's t -test for continuous variables. RESULTS: As for the eradication rates of minocycline- and tetracycline-containing BQT, the results of both intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses showed that the difference rate of lower limit of 95% confidence interval (CI) was >-10.0% (ITT analysis: 181/217 [83.4%] vs . 180/217 [82.9%], with a rate difference of 0.5% [-6.9% to 7.9%]; PP analysis: 177/193 [91.7%] vs . 176/191 [92.1%], with a rate difference of -0.4% [-5.6% to 6.4%]). Except for dizziness more common (35/215 [16.3%] vs . 13/214 [6.1%], P = 0.001) in minocycline-containing therapy groups, the incidences of adverse events (75/215 [34.9%] vs . 88/214 [41.1%]) and compliance (195/215 [90.7%] vs . 192/214 [89.7%]) were similar between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The eradication efficacy of minocycline-containing BQT was noninferior to tetracycline-containing BQT as first-line regimen for H . pylori eradication with similar safety and compliance. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, ChiCTR 1900023646.
Humans ; Bismuth/therapeutic use* ; Metronidazole/therapeutic use* ; Esomeprazole/pharmacology* ; Minocycline/pharmacology* ; Helicobacter pylori ; Potassium Citrate/therapeutic use* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Tetracycline/adverse effects* ; Helicobacter Infections/drug therapy* ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Amoxicillin

BACKGROUND: The incidence and mortality of lung cancer often rank first in all malignant tumors. DNA methylation, as one of epigenetics, often participates in the development and progression of tumors. CDO1 as a tumor suppressor gene always undergoes methylation changes early in tumor development. Therefore, this study aims to discuss the value of CDO1 methylation in the early diagnosis of lung cancer. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from tumor patients and healthy people. Detection of the methylation level of CDO1 in plasma by sulfite modification and quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: The level of gene methylation in peripheral blood of lung cancer patients was significantly higher than that of benign lung disease patients and healthy people. The methylation level of CDO1 was significantly different in the stratified comparison of gender, lymph node metastasis and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P<0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of CDO1 were 52.2% and 78.6%, respectively. The overall accuracy of the diagnosis was significantly higher than that of the clinical tumor markers, and the sensitivity of CDO1 to stage I and II patients was the highest (40.8%, 47.1%). In addition, CDO1 could effectively increase the sensitivity of diagnosis in multiple joint examinations. CONCLUSIONS Detecting the methylation level of CDO1 has a potentially huge advantage for the early diagnosis of lung cancer.

Cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase (CRL)-4 is a member of the large CRL family in eukaryotes. It plays important roles in a wide range of cellular processes, organismal development, and physiological and pathological conditions. DDB1- and CUL4-associated factor 8 (DCAF8) is a WD40 repeat-containing protein, which serves as a substrate receptor for CRL4. The physiological role of DCAF8 is unknown. In this study, we constructed Dcaf8 knockout mice. Homozygous mice were viable with no noticeable abnormalities. However, the fertility of Dcaf8-deficient male mice was markedly impaired, consistent with the high expression of DCAF8 in adult mouse testis. Sperm movement characteristics, including progressive motility, path velocity, progressive velocity, and track speed, were significantly lower in Dcaf8 knockout mice than in wild-type (WT) mice. However, the total motility was similar between WT and Dcaf8 knockout sperm. More than 40% of spermatids in Dcaf8 knockout mice showed pronounced morphological abnormalities with typical bent head malformation. The acrosome and nucleus of Dcaf8 knockout sperm looked similar to those of WT sperm. In vitro tests showed that the fertilization rate of Dcaf8 knockout mice was significantly reduced. The results demonstrated that DCAF8 plays a critical role in spermatogenesis, and DCAF8 is a key component of CRL4 function in the reproductive system.
Animals ; Cullin Proteins/genetics* ; DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics* ; Factor VIII ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Spermatogenesis/genetics* ; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Epigenetic modification is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors. It mainly regulates gene function and expression level through DNA methylation, histone modification, regulation of non-coding RNA and chromatin structure reconstruction. At present, epigenetic drugs have been gradually applied to the treatment of malignant tumors. Common drug types include: DNA methyltransferase inhibitors and histone deacetylase inhibitors. However, these drugs still have many shortcomings and a wide range of clinical applications need further research. Encouragingly, the epigenetic drugs in combination with various anti-tumor drugs have shown great application potential. In this paper, we summarized the development mechanism of epigenetics in malignant tumors and the progress of related drugs.