OBJECTIVETo establish and compare three in vitro screening models of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), and provide methodological basis for screening ACEI drugs from Chinese herbal medicine.

METHODThree screening models were established using rat serum, pure angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and crude extract enzyme from rabbit lung as enzyme sources, respectively, with corresponding testing methods, and captopril as the positive drug.

RESULTThe IC50 of captopril was 2.30 nmol x L(-1) using rat serum as the enzyme; and 1.04 nmol x L(-1) for ACE pure enzyme; and 1.40 nmol x L(-1) for crude extract enzyme from rabbit lung.

CONCLUSIONResults from the three screening models were all in accordance with literature reports. These models can be applied to in vitro pharmaceutical screening. The selection of suitable screening model depend on the experimental situation and the inherent characters of models.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Male ; Models, Animal ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; blood ; Rabbits ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo assess the diagnosis and treatment of venous hypertensive myelopathy (VHM) caused by narrowing of the ascending lumbar vein.

METHODThe data from 3 patients with VHM caused by narrowing of the ascending lumbar vein were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSOnce the narrowed site of the lumbar ascending vein was determined by myelographic or angiographic technique, an undetachable balloon was introduced and advanced to the proximal part of the narrowed segment. Satisfactory results were obtained in these patients.

CONCLUSIONNarrowing of the ascending lumbar vein is one of the causes for VHM, and endovascular balloon angioplasty is an optimal treatment.

Aged ; Humans ; Hypertension ; etiology ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; blood supply ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Cord Vascular Diseases ; etiology ; Venous Pressure

Objective:To explore the application of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) in low-energy X-ray intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), analyze its potential risks in IORT, and preliminarily explore the feasibility of FMEA in optimizing IORT management and reducing the occurrence of potential risks.Methods:An FMEA working group was established by the IORT team (1 radiologist, 1 radiology physicist, 2 surgeons, and 2 nurses) to apply the FMEA methodology to conduct a systematic risk assessment. The process modules were established, the potential failure modes and causes for each module were analyzed, the severity (SR), frequency of occurrence (OR) and likelihood of detection (DR) of failure modes were scored and the risk priority number (RPN) was calculated: RPN= SR × OR × DR. The possible errors and potential clinical impact of each part of the radiotherapy process were prospectively analyzed and understood, the causes and current measures were analyzed for each failure mode and preventive measures were proposed and risk management measures were taken accordingly.Results:The IORT process was divided into 8 modules with 14 failure modes. The highest OR value was unsatisfactory target area confirmation (7 points), the highest SR value was equipment failure to discharge the beam (10 points), the highest DR value was wrong key entry after dose calculation (7 points), the highest RPN values were unsatisfactory target area confirmation (210 points) and ineffective protection of endangered organs (180 points). Weaknesses were corrected according to priorities, workflows were optimized and more effective management methods were developed.Conclusion:FMEA is an effective method of IORT management and contributes to reducing the occurrence of potential risks.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of emergency bedside echocardiography on acute pancreatitis (AP) severity by assessing cardiac dysfunction.Methods:The clinical data used in this study was prospectively collected from AP patients in the Emergency Department of Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University from June 2018 to December 2020. According to the Atlanta Classification revised at the 2012 Atlanta International Conference, patients were divided into three groups of mild acute pancreatitis (MAP), moderate-severe acute pancreatitis (MSAP), and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). The differences of comprehensive score index, blood-related index, and echocardiography-related index were compared among the three groups. Besides, the predictive factors of SAP were analyzed by Logistic regression, receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curves of subjects were drawn, and the area under the curve (AUC) was analyzed to evaluate the predictive efficiency.Results:A total of 116 patients were enrolled in this study. Compared with the non-SAP group (MAP group+MSAP group), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ(APACHE Ⅱ) score, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, Ranson score, procalcitonin, cardiac troponin I (cTnI), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP), EDD, A-peak, E/A, E'/A', and stroke volume (SV) exhibited significant differences (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in end-systolic diameter, E-peak, and left ventricular ejection fraction among the three groups ( P>0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that SOFA score, Ranson score, cTnI, NTproBNP, E'/A', and SV were important predictors of AP severity (all AUC>0.7). Moreover, the predictive value of echocardiography cardiac function assessment index (E'/A' +SV, AUC=0.969) and score index (SOFA score +Ranson score, AUC=0.989) for SAP was better than that of blood index (cTnI+NTproBNP, AUC=0.732). Conclusions:Echocardiographic indicators E'/A' and SV have acceptable predictive values for SAP, providing certain guiding significance for the clinical treatment of AP patients.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between physical activity (PA) and the risk of incident hypertension among population in rural areas of China. Methods: The Community Intervention of Metabolic Syndrome in China & Chinese Family Health Study (CIMIC) was conducted in 2007-2008. Data on PA, smoking, drinking, blood pressure and other variables were obtained at baseline. Then the follow-up study of incident hypertension was performed during 2012-2015. A total of 41 457 participants aged ≥18 years and free from hypertension at baseline were included in the final analyses. PA was calculated as metabolic equivalent (MET) for each participant. Cox proportional hazard models were used to explore the relationship of PA with incident hypertension according to the quartiles of PA. Results: A total of 6 780 participants developed hypertension during an average follow up of 5.8 years. The annual incidence of hypertension was 2.80%. Compared to participants in the first quartile of PA, HR (95%CI) of incident hypertension decreased with the level of PA of 0.92 (0.86, 0.99), 0.72 (0.67, 0.77) and 0.70 (0.65, 0.75) for the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th quartile, respectively (P_trend<0.001). In subgroup analyses, compared to the first quartile, hazards of hypertension among normotensive participants (systolic blood pressure less than 120 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) and diastolic blood pressure less than 80 mm Hg) in the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th quartile were 0.82 (0.70, 0.95), 0.73 (0.63, 0.85) and 0.78 (0.67, 0.90), respectively (P_trend=0.002). Among participants with prehypertension (systolic blood pressure from 120 to 139 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure from 80 to 89 mmHg), similar trend for the relationship of PA and incident hypertension was also found with HR (95%CI) of 0.94 (0.87, 1.01), 0.71 (0.65, 0.77) and 0.66 (0.61, 0.71) for the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th quartile, respectively (P_trend<0.001). Conclusion There was linear trend association between PA and incident hypertension. Increased PA in daily life may be a protective factor against hypertension.