OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of gelodipine on plasma ghrelin level and endothelial function of blood vessels in patients with essential hypertension.METHODS:A total of 77 patients with essential hypertension were randomly divided into trial group(n=45)and control group (n=32).Both groups were given low sodium diet,proper exercise, weight reduction and oral diuretics,while the trial group was assigned to receive felodipine 5mg q.d additionally.The course of treatment was 8wk.Before and after the treatment,plasma levels of ghrelin and nitrous oxide(NO),endothelin(ET-1),and brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation(FMD)function were observed.RESULTS:Plasma levels of ghrelin and NO,and FMD were significantly increased (P0.05).CONCLUSION:Felodipine can increase plasma Ghrelin level meanwhile improving endothelial function of blood vessels in patients with essential hypertension.

Objective To compare the clinical value of two kinds of imunoassay method including CLIA and ELISA in the detection of related antibody of patients with HCV.Methods 60 patients with HCV were chosen as study subjects,and the related antibodies of patients were detected by CLIA and ELISA.The positive rates of anti HCV antibody,anti-3E antibody,anti-GP210 antibody,anti-SP100 antibody,anti-PML antibody and anti-AMA -M2 antibody detected by CLIA and ELISA were compared.Results The positive rates of anti-HCV antibody detected by CLIA and ELISA were 83.33％ (50/60),98.33％ (59/60),respectively.The anti-HCV antibody detected by CLIA was significantly higher than by ELISA (x2 =4.73,P =0.03).The positive rates of anti-3E antibody,anti-GP210 antibody,anti-SP100 antibody,anti-PML antibody and anti-AMA-M2 antibody detected by ELISA were 11.67 ％ (7/60),6.67 ％ (4/60),11.67 ％ (7/60),10.00 ％ (6/60),11.67 ％ (7/60),respectively,those detected by CLIA were 73.33 ％ (44/60),50.00％ (30/60),38.33 ％ (23/60),58.33 ％ (35/60),80.00％(48/60),respectively.The positive rates of anti-3E antibody,anti-GP210 antibody,anti-SP1O0 antibody,anti PML antibody and anti-AMA-M2 antibody detected by CLIA were significantly higher than by ELISA(x2 =18.81,11.51,13.23,15.08,13.75,all P＜0.05).Concelusion Compared with ELISA,CLIA in the detection of related antibodies of patients with HCV can efficiently higher the positive rate of anti-HCV and autoantibody.

AAIM:To investigate the effect of atorvastatin ( ATO) on electrical remodeling, atrial ion channel protein expression and cardiac function in atrial tachypacing rabbits, and to explore the potential electrical mechanism of ATO in the prevention of atrial fibrillation.METHODS:The rabbits were subjected to atrial tachypacing at 600 min-1 in the absence or presence of treatment with atorvastatin (ATP and ATO groups) for 48 h, and the other 10 as sham group without pacing ( NP group) .The tachypacing model was performed by attaching pacing and testing electrodes to left atrial and connecting with custom animal cardiac pacemaker in the open-chest situation.The animals in ATO group were pretrea-ted with ATO for 7 d and continued during tachypacing.Serial atrial effective refractory period ( AERP) was measured in each rabbit at baseline, 8 h, 16 h, 24 h, 32 h, 40 h and 48 h with different cycle lengths.The changes of cardiac func-tions and cardiac structure were observed by cardiac ultrasonic cardiogram before and after atrial tachypacing.The expres-sion of atrial ion channel proteins CaLα1 and Kv4.3 was detected by Western blotting.RESULTS:Compared with NP group, AERP at cycle lengths of 150 and 200 ms, the adaption of AERP, and the levels of CaLα1 and Kv4.3 expression were all decreased in ATP and ATO group, especially in ATP group.Left atrial dimension ( LAD) was increased in pacing groups as compared with NP group (P<0.05) after pacing delivery for 48 h, while no difference between the formers was observed.No significant change of the left ventricular dimension ( LVD) and ejection fraction ( LVEF) among groups be-fore and after pacing was found.CONCLUSION:Atrial tachypacing significantly shorten AERP, resulting in poor adap-tion of AERP, while ATO pretreatment significantly attenuates the atrial electrical remodeling in rabbits, but had no effect on cardiac structure.ATO suppresses the down-regulation of atrial ion channel proteins CaLα1 and Kv4.3 expression after 48 h, which may be the potential ionic mechanism of atrial electrical remodeling for ATO.

Objective To identify and verify the different genes expression pattern between human endometrial endothelial cells (HEEC) isolated from endometrial cancer and normal endometrium.Methods Endothelial cells were isolated from 5 patients with endometrial cancer (endometrial cancer group 1) and 5 patients with normal endometria tissue (control group 1) admitted from June to November 2007 in Shandong Cancer Hospital.Global expression patterns of endothelial cells were examined using oligonucleotide microarrays.Tissues from 36 patients with endometrial cancer(endometrial cancer group 2) and 10 normal endometrial tissues (control group 2) admitted from January 2007 to April 2008 were selected to verify the expression of different genes,in which up-regulated genes including ESM1,MMP-10,SPP1 and HMGB1 were tested by quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry.Results Microarray analyses revealed 317 genes that exhibited ＞ 2-fold or ＜ 0.5 differences were identified (including 191 genes up-regulated and 126 down-regulated).Pathway analysis showed that these genes involved cell cycle,cell adhesion molecules,and extracellular matrix-receptor interaction were obviously predominant.Of them,97 up-regulated genes and 44 down-regulated genes were related to angiogenesis.The mRNA expression of ESM1,MMP-10,SPP1 and HMGB1 in endometrial cancer group 2 were 0.898、3.890、1.433 and 1.881,respectively.Positive expression of SPP1,MMP-10,ESM1 and HMGB1 was observed in endometrial cancer group 2.However,the SPP1,ESM1 and HMGB1 was negative expressed in control group 2.Conclusion It shows that there are the different angiogenesis related genes between endometrial cancer and normal endothelium,which will provide insights into the anti-angiogenesis therapy for endometrial cancers.

Objective To evaluate the impact of statin therapy on the recurrence rate in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) after electrical cardioversion.Methods PubMed,EMBbase,Cochrane central register of controlled trials were searched up to February 2015 to identify randomized controlled trials,which reported the effect of statin therapy on AF recurrence after electrical cardioversion.The data were analyzed by RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software.Results Six trials with 572 patients were included.The result showed that statin therapy had no effect on the recurrence rate in patients with persistent AF after electrical cardioversion (OR=0.60,95％CI:0.32-1.11,P＞0.05) compared with controls.Four out of the six trials investigated the effect of atorvastatin on the recurrence rate of AF after electrical cardioversion,subgroup analysis of these trials showed that compared with controls,atorvastatin had no effect on the recurrence of AF after electrical cardioversion (OR=0.59,95％CI:0.25-1.39,P＞0.05).Three out of the six trials had high quality (Jadad score≥3),subgroup analysis of these trials also showed that statins did not affect the recurrence rate of AF after electrical cardioversion (OR=0.76,95％CI:0.49-1.16,P＞0.05).Conclusion This analysis suggested that statin therapy had no effect on the recurrence rate in patients with persistent AF after electrical cardioversion.

An epidemiological study was performed to know the recent infection status of Paragonimus westermani metacercariae (PwMc) in freshwater crayfish, Cambaroides similis, from 2 streams in Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea. Crayfish were collected from creeks in Bogil-do (Island), Wando-gun, and in a creek near Daeheung Temple in Haenam-gun. The infection rate of crayfish with PwMc in Bogil-do was 89.8%, and the metacercarial burden was 37 PwMc per the infected crayfish. Crayfish in a creek near Daeheung Temple were larger and twice heavier than those in Bogil-do. Of them, 96.5% were infected with PwMc. An average of 140 metacercariae was found in the infected crayfish, almost quadruple to those of Bogil-do. There was a strong correlation between the number of PwMc and body weight of the crayfish. These results suggest that P. westermani metacercariae are still prevalent in crayfish of the 2 regions in Jeollanam-do, Korea.
Astacoidea* ; Body Weight ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Fresh Water* ; Incidence* ; Jeollanam-do* ; Korea* ; Metacercariae* ; Paragonimus westermani* ; Paragonimus* ; Republic of Korea ; Rivers

OBJECTIVETo study the expression level and clinical significance of miR-181c-3p and miR-5692b in esophageal cancer.

METHODSThe microRNA (miRNA) profiles of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were analyzed by miRNA microarray in 55 cases of esophageal cancer. The expression levels of miR-181c-3p and miR-5692b from 55 pairs of tumor tissues and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues were determined by qRT-PCR analysis.

RESULTSBoth miR-181c-3p and miR-5692b were significantly up-regulated in tumor tissues compared with adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. Their expression was also significantly associated with tumor size, depth of invasion and clinical tumor stage (P<0.05). High expression of miR-181c-3p and miR-5692b were significantly associated with poor prognosis (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that high expression of miR-181c-3p and miR-5692b was poor prognostic indicators in esophageal cancer.

CONCLUSIONSThere are significant correlation between miR-181c-3p/miR-5692b expression, clinicopathologic parameters and prognosis. They represent potential prognostic biomarkers in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; Prognosis ; Up-Regulation

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of gastrointestinal symptoms and liver function injury in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Methods:From January 23, 2020 to February 29, 2020, the medical records of 251 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the West Campus of the Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, were collected. The proportion of the patients with gastrointestinal symptoms including anorexia, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain were analyzed respectively. The patients were divided into common type (76 cases), severe type (65 cases) and critical type (110 cases). The incidence of liver function injury and the changes of liver function parameters such as total bilirubin (TBil), direct bilirubin (DBil), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), albumin and globulin of the patients with different clinical types and with or without gastrointestinal symptoms were analyzed. Mann-Whitney U test, Chi square test and Fisher′s exact test were used for statistical analysis. Results:The main gastrointestinal symptoms of patients with COVID-19 were anorexia (33.9%, 85/251), diarrhea (12.0%, 30/251), nausea and vomiting (7.6%, 19/251) and abdominal pain (1.2%, 3/251). 143 patients (57.0%) had liver function injury, the rate of liver function injury in critical type patients was 75.5% (83/110), which was higher than that of common type patients (40.8%, 31/76) and severe type patients (44.6%, 29/65), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=22.765 and 16.865, both P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with liver function injury between common type and severe type patients ( P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of liver function injury between patients with gastrointestinal symptoms and those without gastrointestinal symptoms (57.8%(67/116) vs. 56.3%(76/135), P>0.05). The median values of TBil, DBil, ALT, AST, ALP, GGT, LDH and globulin level of critical type patients were 13.5 μmol/L, 4.9 μmol/L, 44.5 U/L, 50.0 U/L, 64.0 U/L, 41.0 U/L, 527.0 U/L and 33.6 g/L respectively. The proportions of critical type patients with TBil level >34.2 μmol/L, DBil level>13.6 μmol/L, ALT level>80 U/L and AST level>80 U/L were 7.3% (8/110), 7.3% (8/110), 17.3% (19/110) and 17.3% (19/110), respectively. These results were all higher than those of common type patients (9.5 μmol/L, 2.9 μmol/L, 28.5 U/L, 28.5 U/L, 54.0 U/L, 25.5 U/L, 225.5 U/L, 30.1 g/L, 0, 0, 6.6% (5/76) and 2.6% (2/76) ) and severe type patients (10.4 μmol/L, 3.4 μmol/L, 30.0 U/L, 31.0 U/L, 49.0 U/L, 25.0 U/L, 284.0 U/L, 30.7 g/L, 0, 0, 6.2% (4/65) and 1.5% (1/65)), and the differences were statistically significant ( Z=-4.264, -5.507, -4.000, -6.558, -3.112, -4.333, -4.858, -3.873, Fisher′s exact test, Fisher′s exact test, χ2=4.574, 9.620; Z=-3.060, -3.850, -3.923, -5.005, -9.495, -7.651, -3.853, -2.725, Fisher′s exact test, Fisher′s exact test, χ2=4.425, 10.169; all P<0.01). The median values of pre-albumin level, albumin level and the albumin to globulin ratio of critical type patients were 85.3 g/L, 28.2 g/L and 0.8, which were all lower than those of common type patients (157.3 g/L, 32.3 g/L and 1.1, respectively) and severe type patients (133.6 g/L, 31.6 g/L and 1.1, respectively), and the differences were statistically significant ( Z=-6.631, -3.647, -4.924, -4.503, -5.283 and -3.903, all P<0.01). The median albumin level of patients with diarrhea was lower than that of patients without diarrhea (28.2 g/L vs. 30.5 g/L), the proportion of diarrhea patients whose TBil level >20.0 to 34.2 μmol/L was higher than that of patients without diarrhea (70.0%, 21/30 vs. 10.9%, 24/221), and the differences were statistically significant ( Z=-2.182, χ2 =62.788; both P<0.05). Conclusions:Anorexia is the most common digestive symptom in COVID-19 patients, and the incidences of abdominal pain is low. The incidence of liver function injury of critical type patients is high. There is no significant correlation between gastrointestinal symptoms and liver function injury, and patients with diarrhea have lower albumin levels.

Objective: To explore the status of seroepidemiology on hepatitis A, B and C among students and residents aged equal or greater than 18 years in south Xinjiang, and to provide scientific evidence for prevention and control of viral hepatitis. Methods: Uyghur students in four towns and villages were selected by cluster random sampling from Feb to May, 2015, and Uyghur residents aged 18 to 69 years were selected by stratified cluster sampling from May to September, 2016. 4 507 middle and primary Uygur students and 4 833 Uyghur resides equal or greater than 18 years attended this survey. Self-designed questionnaire was used to collect the demographic information. And Elisa test was adopted to detect HAV-IgG, HBsAg, HBsAb and HCV-IgG. Chi-square test was used to calculate the difference on antibody positive rate of three types of hepatitis among the participants. Results: The overall HAV-IgG positive rate was 99.45% (9 289/9 340). The positive rates were 99.70% (4 006/4 018) in male and 99.27% (5 283/5 322) in female (χ²=7.95, P=0.005). The HAV-IgG positive rate among people aged 10 to 14 years was the highest (99.91%, 2 233/2 235), and the difference between the age specific HAV-IgG positive rates was statistical significant (χ²=38.21, P<0.001). The overall HBsAg positive rate was 4.11% (384 cases), with 4.55% (183 cases) for male and 3.78% (201 cases) for female. The HBsAg positive rate among participants 19 to 24 years old was the highest (9.46%, 21/222) and the differences between the age specific HBsAg was statistically significant (χ²=116.22, P<0.001). The HBsAb positive rate was 35.03% (3 272 cases), with 35.59% (1 430 cases) for male and 34.61% (1 842 cases) for female, and the HBsAb positive rate among participants aged 15 to 18 years was the highest, which was 69.12% (696/1 007). The differences between the age specific HBsAb rates appeared statistically significant (χ²=671.80, P<0.001). The overall HCV-IgG positive rate was 0.65%(61 cases). The HCV-IgG positive rate in female was 0.86% (46 cases) and 0.37% (15 cases) in male (χ²=8.51, P=0.004).The HCV-IgG positive rate among participants aged over 70 years was the highest (3.78%,9/238) , and the difference between the age specific HCV-IgG positive rates had statistic significance (χ²=70.30, P<0.001). The HAV-IgG positive rate in hepatitis A vaccinees (100%, 876/876) was higher than that among the non-vaccinees (99.40%, 8 413/8 464) (χ²=4.26, P=0.039). The HBsAb positive rate in hepatitis B vaccinees was 39.32% (1 816/4 619) which was higher than that among the non-vaccinees (30.84%, 1 456/4 721) (χ²=73.68, P<0.001). Conclusion The positive rate of overall HAV-IgG was high, male and participants aged between 10 to 14 had higher probability to be infected. But the infection rates of hepatitis B and C were low, with the low vaccination rate and the poor protective effectiveness of hepatitis B.

Objective:To understand the sleep quality and mental health status of nurses in public health emergencies, and analyze the correlation between them.Methods:A total of 128 first-line nursing staff participating in public health emergencies on February 22-23, 2020 in Tianjin Beichen Hospital, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin Fourth Central Hospital were investigated by the general data questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90).Results:70.3%(90/128) of nursing staff had poor sleep quality, and the total score of PSQI was (9.71±4.01) points, which was statistically significant compared with the domestic norm ( t value was 16.479, P<0.01). The total score of SCL-90 was 1.59±0.52, which was statistically significant compared with the domestic norm ratio ( t value was 4.505, P<0.01). One-way ANOVA showed that the nursing staff's age had a significant impact on sleep quality, and the difference was statistically significant ( F value was 4.092, P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the Pittsburgh sleep quality scale index scores and symptom self-assessment scale and somatization, force, sensitive interpersonal relationship, depression, anxiety, hostile, terrorist, paranoia, and psychosis were positively correlated( r values were 0.292-0.444, P< 0.01). Conclusions:The sleep quality and mental health status of nurses in public health emergencies are poor, and the sleep quality is correlated with mental health status.