Objective Background Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is a safe and effective surgical treatment for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. University of California at San Diego Medical Center is widely recognized as the world's leading referral center for PEA surgery with extensive surgical experience, which has surgically treated about 2400 patients till 2009, which account for more than 50% of the total cases in the world. Methods During visiting in UCSD, 32 pulmonary endarterectomy operations were performed by Prof. Stuart W Jamieson and Mechel M Madani. In these patients, 17 were males (53%), the average age was (47.56 ± 16.04 ) years, 47% with prior history of pulmonary embolism and/or deep vein thrombosis. Obvious pulmonary hypertension and hypoxemia were observed in all patients. Bilateral pulmonary endarterectomy was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass with profound hypothermic circulatory arrest. Results According to the classification of surgical specimens, 21.8% are type Ⅰ , 28.1% are type Ⅱ and 37.5% are type Ⅲ. The average time of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was (236.32 ± 37.27) mins. The aortic cross clamp time was ( 111.69 ± 28.14) mins. The circulatory arrest time was (38.00±13.58 ) mins [ right side (21.39 ± 9.57 ) mins and left side ( 16.61 ± 6.83) mins]. Postoperatively the average mechanical ventilation time was ( 66.23 ± 99.24) hours, and the ICU stay was (4.62 ± 4.50 ) days.There was no postoperative moorality. All cases had significant decrease in systolic pulmonary artery pressure [(81.03 ± 16.92)mm Hg vs. (51.20±12.16) mm Hg] and pulmonary vascular resistance [(88.91 ±42.32) kPa · s · L-1 vs. (34.38 ±15.68 ) kPa · s · L-1 ], great improvement in cardiac output [(3.65 ±1.08 ) L/min vs. ( 5.85 ± 1.21 ) L/min ] and central venous pressure [(13.07 ± 2.11) cmH2O vs. ( 9.86 ± 3.02 ) cmH2O] postoperatively compared to preoperative data. Shortterm follow-up showed that the cardiac function of all cases returned to NYHA class Ⅰ or Ⅱ, with great improvement in CTPA.Conclusion PEA is definitive treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. According the successful experience of UCSD PEA team, first and foremost pulmonary endarterectomy is a bilateral procedure, because chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is mostly a bilateral disease. Second, cardiopulmonary bypass with the aid of deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest are essential to operator in recognizing the true endarterectomy plane of the media and in following the specimen to its feathered tail end in each branch, using these approaches can effectively reduce pulmonary hypertension and provide good hemodynamic and symptomatic results. Third, PEA remains an uncommon procedure in China. Only a few centers can perform high qualified PEA surgery. In most of inexperienced centers, type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ disease should be choose to operation.Patients with sPAP ≥100 mm Hg, PVR ≥ 100 kPa · s · L-1 or type Ⅲ disease will face more dangers peri-operation.

Panax notoginseng (PN) is one of the commonly used clinical medicines for cardiovascular diseases and possesses a variety of pharmacological effects. P. notoginseng saponins (PNS) are the most important bioactive components in PN. The purpose of this study was to explain the mechanism of PNS on molecular network level. 18 targets of the main medicinal ingredients of PNS were gained by virtual screening based on pharmacophores and data mining. A protein interaction network of PNS was constructed with 189 nodes and 721 interactions. By a graph theoretic clustering algorithm Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE), 14 modules were detected. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of the modules demonstrated that the roles of PNS played in cardiovascular disease related to multiple biological processes, which could represent the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a whole to regulate the disease. The results showed that the blood circulation and hemostasis efficacy of PN related with the biological processes such as positive regulation of cAMP metabolic and biosynthetic process, platelet activation and regulation of blood vessel size, regulation of T cell proliferation and differentiation and so on. Therefore, the module-based network analysis will be an effective method for better understanding TCM.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Humans ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Protein Interaction Maps ; drug effects ; Proteins ; chemistry ; Saponins ; chemistry

BACKGROUNDPulmonary endarterectomy is safe and effective surgical treatment for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pulmonary endarterectomy in treatment of thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

METHODSA retrospective study of 15 patients who underwent pulmonary endarterectomy in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital was performed. Obvious pulmonary hypertension and hypoxemia were observed in all patients. Bilateral pulmonary endarterectomy was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass with profound hypothermic circulatory arrest.

RESULTSTwo patients (2/15) died of residual postoperative pulmonary hypertension and bleeding complication. The other 13 cases had significant decrease in systolic pulmonary artery pressure ((92.8 +/- 27.4) mmHg vs. (49.3 +/- 18.6) mmHg) and pulmonary vascular resistance ((938.7 +/- 464.1) dynesxsxcm(-5) vs. (316.8 +/- 153.3) dynesxsxcm(-5)), great improvement in cardiac index ((2.31 +/- 0.69) Lxmin(-1)xm(-2) vs. (3.85 +/- 1.21) Lxmin(-1)xm(-2)), arterial oxygen saturation (0.67 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.96 +/- 0.22) and mixed venous O(2) saturation (0.52 +/- 0.12 vs. 0.74 +/- 0.16) postoperatively compared to preoperative data. Mid-term follow-up showed that the cardiac function of all cases returned to NYHA class I or II, with great improvement in 6-minute walking distance ((138 +/- 36) m) and quality of life.

CONCLUSIONSBilateral pulmonary endarterectomy using cardiopulmonary bypass with the aid of deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest can effectively reduce pulmonary hypertension and provide good mid-term hemodynamic and symptomatic results with low surgical mortality rate and few complications.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Echocardiography ; Endarterectomy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Thromboembolism ; surgery ; Young Adult

Objective To evaluate the right ventricular function of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) after pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) by Doppler echocardiography. Methods In 16 patients with CTEPH,end-diastolic left ventricular diameter(LVDd), end-diastolic right ventricular areas (RVEDA), end-systolic right ventricular areas (RVESA), right ventricular fractional area change (RVFAC), pulmonary accelerative time (Pact), pressure gradient of tricuspid valve regurgitation (PGT1), area of tricuspid valve regurgitation (AT1) were measured by echocardiography. Results Fifteen and thirty days after surgery,the LVDd and Pact had increased,RVEDA, RVESA,PGT1 and AT1 had decreased while RVFAC had increased in all cases. Conclusions PTE may effectively improve the right ventricular function of patients with CTEPH.

In this work, a simple and fast approach for dipeptide detection was developed. AuNPs were decorated onto the surface of indium tin oxide ( ITO ) glass to serve as the working electrode to trigger the electrochemiluminescence ( ECL) of luminol. The property of this electrode was characterized by transmission electron microscopy ( TEM ) , scanning electron microscopy ( SEM ) , electrochemistry and spectroscopic method. Under the optimum conditions, the dipeptide His-Ala could be detected within a linear range from 2. 44×10-11 mol/L to 1. 22×10-7 mol/L, with a detection limit of 2. 42×10-12 mol/L (S/N=3). In human body, the glucagon-like peptide 1(GLP-1) might lose activity during degradation under the enzymatic action of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (PDD-IV), meanwhile release same concentrated His-Ala dipeptide. Thus, the detection of His-Ala dipeptide was of great significance for investigation of diabetes not only for understanding the relation between GLP-1, PDD-IV and its inhibitor, but also the drug discovering because of its potential availability as the target to control the blood GLP-1 level of type II diabetics.

Vancomycin (VCM) is the first-line therapy for invasive multi-resistant gram-positive bacterial infections involving Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus.The therapeutic range of VCM is narrow,and its use is associated with nephrotoxicity.The pharmacokinetic characteristics of VCM vary greatly with renal function.Therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacokinetic (PK) monitoring are required for maximizing its efficacy and minimizing adverse effect.Several studies focused on vancomycin individualized dosing have been published recently.The advances of vancomycin individualized dosing via PK tool are reviewed in this study.

The number of type 2 diabetes(T2DM)accounts for more than 90％of all Diabetes mellitus(DM).The decrease of islet β cell mass and dysfunction are the core links of T2DM.With the prolongation of the course of disease,the number and function of β cells are gradually attenuated,and the damage mechanism has not been elucidated.At present,it is believed that it is closely related to metabolic stress,abnormal regulation of insulin secretion,changes in islet microenvironment,mitochondrial damage,glycolipid toxicity and dedifferentiation of islet β cells.Therefore,the mechanism of islet β cell damage in T2DM is summarized and elaborated in order to provide some reference for the precise intervention of T2DM.

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effect of exosomes derived from remote ischemic conditioning on neurological dysfunction after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a rat model of cardiac arrest and the relationship with glycocalyx protection.Methods:Exosomes were isolated from the blood of healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats using ultracentrifugation after undergoing remote ischemic conditioning for use as intervention drugs. Nanoparticle tracking analysis technology was used for exosome detection. Thirty-six adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups ( n=12 each) :Sham group, Control group and Exosome group. Cardiac arrest was induced by asphyxia for 7 min in the Control and Exosome groups. Placebo or exosomes (1×10 10 Particles) were infused intravenously at 5 min after the rats had returned of spontaneous circulation. Neuropsychological deficit score (NDS), open field test, Y maze and Morris water maze were used to assess neurological outcomes. The levels of plasma Hyaluronic acid (HA) and syndecan-1 (Sdc-1) were detected by Elisa. The expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 (MMP-2/9) in hippocampal CA1 region were detected by Western blot. Results:After undergoing remote ischemic conditioning, the plasma levels of exosomes were elevated in rats compared to normal rats. Compared with the control group, the behavioral experiment of rats in the exosomes group were significantly improved, as evidenced by an increase in horizontal locomotor distance (5.86±2.89 vs. 17.53±5.51, P< 0.05), an increase in the correct rate of spontaneous alternation (13.29±15.07 vs. 42.63±10.25, P< 0.05), and a shortening of avoidance latency (25.83±8.54 vs. 13.49±4.55, P< 0.05). Plasma HA and Sdc-1 levels were significantly lower 24 h after resuscitation (HA: 26.34±9.83 vs. 14.84±6.26, P< 0.05; Sdc-1: 0.05±0.03 vs. 0.02±0.02, P<0.05), along with significantly lower MMP-2/9 levels in hippocampal tissue. Conclusions:Exosomes extracted from the plasma of rats undergoing remote ischemic conditioning can improve neurological dysfunction after cardiac arrest in rats, and the mechanism may be related to the inhibition of metalloproteinases and the reduction of endothelial glycocalyx degradation.

Objective:To observe the adverse effects of skin toxicity after the administration of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, summarize the nursing measures, and provide a basis for taking corresponding management measures.Methods:Totally 94 patients who were treated with PD-1 inhibitor in Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between February and October 2019 were selected by convenient sampling, among whom 37 cases (39.4%) with skin toxicity reaction were included as the research subjects. Their skin toxicity was observed and assessed. Meanwhile, health education, psychological counseling and nursing care for skin toxicity reaction were provided to them.Results:Of the 37 patients, 34 (91.9%) had G1 skin toxicity and were not treated with drugs. After the rash subsided, they were treated according to the original plan. 2 (5.4%) had G2 skin toxicity, whose rash subsided after drug treatment, with scattered pigmentation. They were treated according to the original plan. 1 (2.7%) had G4 skin toxicity. The medical staff from the Dermatology Department and the Infection Department were consulted. The body temperature was normal, and the skin and mucous membranes were ruptured, crusted and detached. The patient was discharged after the condition was improved.Conclusions:After receiving PD-1 inhibitor immunotherapy, patients may have different degrees of immune-related skin toxicity reactions, which requires clinicians and nurses to carry out standardized treatment and care to improve their quality of life.

China ; epidemiology ; Encephalitis, Japanese ; epidemiology ; Laboratories ; standards