NG-nitro-D-arginine (D-NNA) produced pressor responses in rats by acting via chiral inversion intoNG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA), an inhibitor of nitro oxide synthase. The present investigation aimed to study the roleof the D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) in chiral inversion of D-NNA and the relationship between DAAO activitieson various D-amino acids and their inversion rate. Benzoate (400 mg/kg) or creatinine (400 mg/kg), two inhibitorsof DAAO, blocked D-NNA-induced pressor responses in rats. Furthermore, the addition of the pure DAAOsignificantly potentiates L-NNA production rate in kidney homogenates by approximately 2-folds. The in vivo andin vitro results suggested that DAAO plays an essential role in the pressor responses elicited by D-NNA.Moreover, crude DAAO solution from the kidney showed marked selection (the maximal ratio of Kcat/Km wasnearly 15 times) on different D-amino acids that exhibited similar chiral inversion rate in vivo, suggesting that otherenzymes, such as transaminase, are also required for the entire process of D-NNA chiral inversion.

Histone acetylation is a crucial part of histone modifications in epigenetics.Histone acetylation is involved in the onset of diabetes and diabetic complications,through the mechanism of inducing hyperglycemia by means of metabolic memory effect,interfering islet development and regulating the expression of inflammatory factors and pathogenic genes.Genome-wide association studies are gradually unveilling the pathogenesis of diabetes and preclinical studies are rapidly elucidating that histone deacetylase should be considered as a new target for the treatment of diabetes.

Objective: To investigate the immunological mechanism of influenza A virus for murine S180 ascites sarcoma. Methods: After inoculation with S180 sarcoma cells, mice were i. p. injected with influenza A virus or vehicle 15 days. The average living time and survival rate of the mice were examined. The levels of IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-? were detected. The sarcoma cell's apoptosis was detected by DNA ladder, flow cytometry (FMC) , fluorescent microscope and e-lectron microscope (EM). Results: The average living time and survival rate of the mice injected with Influenza A virus were significantly longer or higher than that of the controls. The levels of IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-? also had the same differences. The apoptosis cells were detected by EM and fluorescent microscope. Sub-diploid peaks were observed by FCM a-nalysis and DNA ladder was seen after electrophoresis in the ascites cells. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that the feasibility and potential of delivery of influenza A virus as a general means for the treatment of S180 ascites sarcoma.

Aim To observe the physical coupling between transient receptor potential channel vanilloid type 4 (TRPV4 ) and cPLA2 in endothelial cells. Methods We investigated the physical association of TRPV4-cPLA2 coupling by immunofluorescence reso-nance energy transfer (immuno-FRET)to assess the spatial proximity between TRPV4 and cPLA2 in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC),primary cul-tured endothelial cells and in thoracic aortas rings from high salt-induced hypertension mice.Results At the cellular level,with high salt treatment,the physical in-teraction of TRPV4 and cPLA2 was significantly en-hanced in primary vascular endothelial cells and HMEC.Furthermore, in thoracic aortas rings from high salt-induced hypertension mice,we found an in-creases interaction between TRPV4 and cPLA2 in en-dothelial cells from arterial segments .Conclusion High-salt treatment increases the endothelial TRPV4-cPLA2 coupling,indicating that this coupling may pro-vide a new target for vascular endothelial dysfunction.

Objective: To explore the false-negative possibility in genetic test of congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Methods: A total of 28 genomic DNA samples were collected from 4 laboratories including 2 commercial medical laboratories using HiSeq2000 platform as Lab1,n=6 and Lab2,n=8; 1 commercial research service laboratory using Ion-torrent platform as Lab3,n=8 and 1 academic laboratory using HiSeq2000 platform as Lab 4,n=6. Sequencing coverage in the exons of protein-coding region in 3 main LQTS pathogenic genes as KCNQ1, KCNH2, SCN5A and possible pathogenic variants were quantitatively analyzed. Results: In Lab1, Lab 2 and Lab 4 with HiSeq2000 platform, above 98% protein coding regions in 3 pathogenic genes were covered with>10-fold reads and 90%-95% were covered with>30-fold reads. In 2 commercial medical laboratories, 3.63% and 9.84% protein coding regions of KCNQ1 gene in 14 samples were covered with<10-fold reads and with<30-fold reads; lower than 10-fold covering region was focused in the 1st exon including about 2% known or likely pathogenic variants. In 2 commercial medical laboratories, 2.64% and 15.76% protein coding regions of KCNH2 gene in 14 samples were covered with<10-fold reads and with<30-fold reads; low covering region was located in multiple exons. For the data from Lab 1, as high as 28.56% protein coding regions of KCNH2 gene were covered with<30-fold reads including 113 (19.79%) known or likely pathogenic variants. SCN5A gene had the best coverage of protein coding region, with no<10-fold reads in all 4 Labs and no<30-fold reads in 2 commercial medical laboratories. Conclusion: Currently, NGS has low coverage region in both KCNQ1 and KCNH2 genes, pathogenic variants could be missed and false-negative possibility should be highly alert.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of intraperitoneally injected dexmedetomidine on abdominal adhesions in rats and the role of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Methods: Forty clean-grade healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 220-250 g, were divided into 4 groups (n = 10 each) using a random number table method: sham operation group (Sham group), abdominal adhesion group (AA group), dexmedetomidine group (DEX group) and dexmedetomidine plus methyllycaconitine group (DEX-M group). The rat model of abdominal adhesions was established by cecal friction method.In Sham group, abdominal cavity was only opened and then sutured.Normal saline 2 ml was injected into the abdominal cavity and tail vein in group AA.In DEX and DEX-M groups, normal saline 2 ml and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist methyllycaconitine 2.4 μg/g (dissolved in 2 ml normal saline) were injected, respectively, and dexmedetomidine 10 μg/kg (dissolved in 2 ml normal saline) was intraperitoneally injected at the same time.The abdominal incision was opened under anesthesia at 7 days after establishing the model to observe the formation of abdominal adhesion, Phillips method was used for scoring, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) concentrations in ascites and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) concentrations in serum.The rats were then sacrificed, and the caecum tissue and its contralateral peritoneum and adhesion fibrous strips were obtained for examination of the pathological changes with a light microscope. Results: Compared with group Sham, the abdominal adhesion score and serum TNF-α concentrations were significantly increased in AA and DEX-M groups, and the TGF-β1 concentration in ascites was significantly increased in AA, DEX and DEX-M groups (P<0.05). Compared with group AA, the serum TNF-α concentrations and TGF-β1 concentration in ascites were significantly decreased in group DEX-M, and the abdominal adhesion score was significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the pathological changes of caecum tissue, contralateral peritoneum and adhesion fibrous strips were significantly attenuated in group DEX.Compared with group DEX-M, the serum TNF-α concentrations were significantly increased (P<0.05), no significant change was found in TGF-β1 concentration in ascites (P>0.05), and the pathological changes of caecum tissue, contralateral peritoneum and adhesion fibrous strips were accentuated in group DEX. Conclusion Intraperitoneally injected dexmedetomidine can mitigate abdominal adhesions, and the mechanism is related to activating cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway and reducing systemic inflammatory response in rats.

Objective:To investigate the value of friend leukemia integration-1 (FLI1) and NKX2.2 in the diagnosis of pediatric extraskeletal Ewing′s sarcoma (E-EWS), and the differential diagnosis of other pediatric small round cell tumors.Methods:Clinical data of children with E-EWS and other small round cell tumors diagnosed in the Department of Pathology of Xi′an Children′s Hospital and Xijing Hospital, Air Forth Medical University from January 2014 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.Expression levels of FLI1 and NKX2.2 were examined by immunohistochemical staining.Results:(1)A total of 27 cases of E-EWS and 145 cases of other small round cell tumors were included, including 40 cases of poorly differentiated and undifferentiated neuroblastoma, 34 cases of rhabdomyosarcoma, 30 cases of metanephric Wilms tumor, 25 cases of lymphoma, 10 cases of malignant rhabdomyosarcoma, 2 cases of myeloid sarcoma, 1 case of desmoplastic small round cell tumor, 1 case of BCOR-rearranged sarcoma, 1 case of CIC-rearranged sarcoma and 1 case of melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy.(2)The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of FLI1 in E-EWS were 88.9%(24/27 cases), 5.5%(8/145 cases), 14.9%(24/161 cases) and 72.8% (8/11 cases), respectively, and those of NKX2.2 in E-EWS were 92.6%(25/27 cases), 97.9%(142/145 cases), 89.3% (25/28 cases) and 98.6%(142/144 cases), respectively.The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of combined FLI1 and NKX2.2 were 85.2%, 97.9%, 88.5%, and 97.3%, respectively.Conclusions:NKX2.2 is sensitive and specific for the differential diagnosis of E-EWS from other pediatric small round cell tumors, showing a high diagnostic utility.FLI1 has high sensitivity but poor specificity for diagnosing E-EWS.The combination of detecting FLI1, NKX2.2 and other antibodies and genetic analysis is recommended to prevent misdiagnosis.

Objective: To investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) . Methods: Data from 10 440 patients with AF who had undergone transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) before cardioversion or catheter ablation at Beijing Anzhen Hospital from April 2006 to December 2018 were retrospectively screened. Two hundred and five HCM patients were included, 820 AF patients with the same CHA₂DS₂-VASc score over the same period were selected as the control group. HCM patients were divided into two subgroups based on presence or absence of LAA thrombus/sludge. The baseline of clinical information, transthoracic echocardiographic and TEE measures were compared among all the groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of left atrial diameter (LAD) for LAA thrombus/sludge. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze the correlative factors of LAA thrombus/sludge in HCM patients. Results: The incidences of LAA thrombus or sludge were higher in HCM group than in control group (10.7% (22/205) vs. 0.7% (6/820); 8.8% (18/205) vs.7.0% (57/820), P<0.001) . In HCM patients, LAD was significantly larger in LAA thrombus/sludge subjects than in those without thrombus/sludge ((48.9±5.1)mm vs. (45.2±6.1) mm, P<0.001). CHA₂DS₂-VASc score was similar between the two subgroups ((2.0±1.4) vs. (1.8±1.4), P>0.05). There was no difference in the rate of patients with a CHA₂DS₂-VASc scores ≥2 between the subgroups(62.5% (25/40) vs. 57.0% (94/165), P=0.525). The incidences of LAA thrombus in HCM and AF patients with CHA₂DS₂-VASc scores of 0, 1 and 2 were 8.8% (3/34) , 9.6% (5/52) , 11.8% (11/119) , respectively; and the rate of LAA sludge were 8.8% (3/52) , 7.7% (4/52) , 9.2% (11/119) , respectively. The cut off value of LAD for the diagnosis of LAA thrombus/sludge was 44.5 mm. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that LAD≥44.5 mm (OR=5.134, 95%CI 1.862-14.156, P=0.002) , non-paroxysmal AF (OR=2.782, 95%CI 1.238-6.252, P=0.013) , previous thromboembolism or stroke (OR=1.820, 95%CI 0.774-4.227, P=0.017) were independent determinants of LAA thrombus/sludge. Conclusions The incidence of LAA thrombus/sludge is higher in patients with HCM and AF than in AF patients without HCM. The CHA₂DS₂-VASc score is similar between HCM and AF patients with LAA thrombus/sludge and those without thrombus/sludge. Patients with CHA₂DS₂-VASc score 0-1 are also likely to suffer LAA thrombus/sludge. Left atrial enlargement is associated with LAA thrombus/sludge.

Objective:To analyze the effect and safety of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system(LNG-IUS) for the premenopausal patients with breast cancer who took tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy.Methods:From June 2014 to June 2016, 84 patients with breast cancer who met the inclusion criteria in the First People′s Hospital of Xiaoshan District were randomly divided into two groups according to the digital table.The treatment group (39 cases) underwent LNG-IUS insertion, while the control group (45 cases) received no LNG-IUS insertion.The general condition of patients before the use of tamoxifen and LNG-IUS was evaluated.Transvaginal ultrasound was used to measure the thickness of endometrium, hysteroscope was used for pathological examination of endometrium and the measurement of ER/PR expression, and blood lipid level was also detected.All above was done before the treatment of tamoxifen and LNG-IUS, 1 year after treatment and 2 years after treatment.Results:Before the therapy, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in general condition and uterine cavity condition(all P>0.05). After 1 year, the incidences of endometrial polyp, endometrial hyperplasia/secretion, benign lesion and endometrial atrophy in the treatment group were 2.6%, 5.1%, 15.4%, 76.9%, respectively, which in the control group were 6.7%, 20.0%, 17.8%, 55.6%, respectively.the differences between the two groups were statistically significant(χ 2=4.06, 4.22, all P<0.05). After 2 years, the incidences of endometrial polyp, endometrial hyperplasia/secretion, benign lesion and endometrial atrophy in the treatment group were 0.0%, 2.6%, 84.6%, respectively, which in the control group were 11.1%, 15.6%, 60.0%, respectively, the differences between the two groups were statistically significant(χ 2=4.608, 4.092, 6.203, all P<0.05). Conclusion:LNG-IUS can prevent the benign endometrial lesions of breast cancer patients caused by tamoxifen therapy after surgery, and can decrease the incidence of endometrial polyp and endometrial hyperplasia/secretion, while increase the incidence of endometrial atrophy, without increasing the recurrence risk of breast cancer.

Objective:To study the application of the best evidence of dysphagia recognition in acute stroke patients.Methods:The study was performed guided by JBI evidence-based continuous quality improvement pattern, including evidence acquisition, baseline audit, evidence implementation and re-audit. Data were collected by using field observation, questionnaire survey and review of nursing records. 80 patients and 18 nurses were recruited in the study. Barriers to evidence implementation and available solutions were analyzed. Before and after the application of evidence, the compliance of audit criterion, screening rate of swallowing disorder, screening accuracy, screening record rate and knowledge of nurses were compared.Results:Before and after the implementation of evidence, the compliance of all audit criterion was 0-33.3% and 95.0%-100.0%, and had a significant difference ( P<0.05). The dysphagia recognition knowledge score was improved from 40-80(60.56±10.69) to 60-100 (82.78±10.18) and had a significant difference ( t value was -6.39, P<0.05). The screening rate for dysphagia increased from 7.5% to 95.0%, with statistically significant difference ( χ2 value was 119.10, P<0.05). The screening accuracy was 100%, and the screening record rate was 97.4%, only 4 of the 24 patients at risk of dysphagia developed pulmonary infection. Conclusion:The application of the best evidence of dysphagia recognition in acute stroke patients can improve the nurses′ ability of dysphagia screening and improve nursing practice in dysphagia management.