Objective To study the effect of formaldehyde exposure on DNA-protein crosslinks (DPC) in buccal mucosa cells in students who were taking anatomy course.Methods The modified SDS-KCl precipitation assay published by Zhitkovich and Costa in 1992 was applied to detect DNA-protein crosslinks in human cells.And this method has been used to explore DPC induced by different pollutants in numerous studies.37 medical students (20 males and 17 females) aged 19.24?1.09 (mean?standard deviation) and 40 students (20 males and 20 females) in natural science college aged 19.55?0.99 (mean?standard deviation) were studied.The frequency of exposure to formaldehyde was 6 h per week in exposed group.Results Concentrations of formaldehyde in anatomy laboratory ranged from 0.42 to 1.57 mg/m3.Exposure to formaldehyde resulted in an increase of DNA-protein crosslinks.The percentage (mean?standard deviation) of DNA-protein crosslinks in exposed and nonexposed students were 25.72%?6.48% and 22.88%?5.34% respectively(P0.05).Conclusion The result of the present study suggests that formaldehyde exposure in medical students increases the frequency of DNA-protein crosslinks in buccal mucosa cells and females may be more sensitive to formaldehyde exposure.

Objective:To compare the clinical characteristics and analyze the prognostic factors between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients and non-HIV-infected immunocompromised patients with pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) complicated with acute respiratory failure (ARF) in intensive care unit (ICU).Methods:The clinical data of patients with PCP complicated with ARF admitted in ICU of The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and The Sixth People′s Hospital of Zhengzhou City between May 2018 and October 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. All subjects were divided into HIV-infected group and non-HIV-infected immunocompromised group. General characteristics and underlying diseases of patients in the two groups were analyzed. Laboratory parameters, treatment and outcomes between two groups were compared. Independent sample t test, Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test were used for statistical analysis, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the risk factors for the clinical outcome. Results:A total of 129 PCP complicated with ARF patients were enrolled, including 75 HIV-infected patients and 54 non-HIV-infected immunocompromised patients. Only 10.7%(8/75) patients of HIV-infected group received anti-retroviral therapy (ART), but none of the patients in either groups had previously received trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) for PCP prophylaxis. Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) Ⅱ score of HIV-infected group was 18.7±6.0, which was higher than that in non-HIV-infected immunocompromised group (13.1±4.4) when admitted in ICU ( t=-5.45, P<0.001). Hypoproteinemia was common in both groups. Ninety-six percent (72/75) of HIV-infected patients had CD4 + T lymphocyte counts lower than 200/μL and 84.0%(63/75) of patients had CD4 + T lymphocyte counts even lower than 50/μL, while 5.74%(31/54) of patients in non-HIV-infected immunocompromised group had CD4 + T lymphocyte counts lower than 200/μL. The CD4 + /CD8 + T lymphocyte counts ratio was 0.05(0.02, 0.12) in HIV-infected group, which was lower than that in non-HIV-infected immunocompromised group (0.96(0.64, 1.44)), and the difference was statistically significant ( Z=-9.16, P<0.001). The length of ICU stay and hospital stay of non-HIV-infected immunocompromised patients were 10.0(7.0, 14.0) days and 18.0(11.8, 32.5) days, respectively, which were both longer than those in HIV-infected patients (7.0(4.0, 9.0) days and 13.0(7.0, 23.0) days, respectively), and the differences were both statistically significant ( Z=-3.58 and -2.73, respectively, both P<0.050). The hospital mortality of HIV-infected patients was 57.3%(43/75), which was significantly higher than that in non-HIV-infected immunocompromised patients (38.9%, 21/54) ( χ2=4.27, P=0.039). Multivariable logistic regression identified that lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP) and APACHE Ⅱ score were the risk factors for the clinical outcome of HIV-infected patients (odds ratio ( OR)= 1.006, 1.015 and 1.736, respectively, all P<0.050). The partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood/fractional concentration of inspiratory oxygen (PaO 2/FiO 2), LDH and CD4 + T lymphocyte counts were the risk factors for the clinical outcome of non-HIV infected immunocompromised patients ( OR=0.970, 1.008 and 0.989, respectively, all P<0.050). Conclusions:PCP patients with ARF are critically ill with high mortality rate. LDH, CRP and APACHEⅡscore are predictors for prognosis of HIV-infected patients with PCP, while PaO 2/FiO 2, LDH and CD4 + T lymphocyte counts are predictors for prognosis of non-HIV infected immunocompromised patients with PCP.

Objective To evaluate the effect of standardized lipid-lowering therapy in acute stroke patients via high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI)to follow-up the characteristics changes of intracranial atherosclerotic plaques.Methods Twenty-two acute stroke patients(65 plaques)were enrolled,and their clinical and imaging data were collected on admission and after standardized lipid-lowering therapy(355-370 days).Diffusion weighted imaging(DWI),three-dimensional time of flight magnetic resonance angiography(3D-TOF-MRA),and HRMR-VWI were performed in all patients.According to the changes in non-high density lipoprotein(non-HDL),all patients were divided into the effective lipid-lowering group and the ineffective lipid-lowering group.The demographic information,plaques characteristics and the effect of standardized lipid-lowering therapy of all patients were compared.Results One(2.33％)plaque in the effective group showed reverse remodeling and four(18.18％)new plaques in the anterior circulation in the ineffective group.Patients in the effective group were significantly better than those in the ineffective group in terms of plaque thickness,load,remodeling index(RI),and the rate of increase in plaque thickness,load,stenosis,and RI,with statistically significant difference(P＜0.05).There was no statistical significance in the rate of stenosis between the two groups.Conclusion Standardized lipid-lowering therapy has differences in the prognosis of acute stroke patients,and HRMR-VWI may be conducive to individualized assessment of the lipid-lowering effect.

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of health management based on cloud platform for population with high-risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods:In this study, self-control method was used to study the high-risk group of CHD in two community outpatient clinics in Jinshui District, Zhengzhou through cloud platform. One year later, the clinical indicators, the degree of mastering CHD prevention knowledge andthe medicine compliance of the group were evaluated. Finally, the feasibility and acceptance of cloud platform management were evaluated through questionnaire survey.Results:A total of 272 people were enrolled intothe group. After one year of cloud platform management, the blood lipid, uric acid, homocysteine and fasting blood glucose in the group weresignificantly improved (all P<0.05), but the glycosylated hemoglobin was not significantly reduced [(6.4±1.2)% vs.(6.3±1.1)%, P>0.05]. The degree of mastering CHD prevention knowledgewas significantly improved, and the medicine compliance was not significantly improved [(5.0±1.6) vs. (5.0±1.5), P>0.05]. Questionnaire survey showed that 228 (83.8%) of the patients had a high acceptance of cloud platform management, and 208 (76.5%) of the group wanted to continue to use cloud platform for health management. Conclusions:Health management based on cloud platform can improve the clinical index control of the high-risk population of CHD, and help the high-risk population to master the relevant knowledge of CHD prevention. Some functions of cloud platform need to be further improved.

Objective To investigate the effects of agonist of angiotensin-(1-7)(AVE0991) on endothelial function and atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE-/-) mice.Methods Eight-week-old ApoE-/-male mice and C57BL/6J male mice were randomly divided into 3 groups:a normal diet control group(ND,n=10),a high-fat diet group(HFD,n=10),and a high-fat diet with AVE0991 0.58 μmol · kg-1 · d-1 group(HFD+ AVE0991,n=10).After 12 weeks of treatment,serum levels of lipids and parameters of endothelial function were measured.Atherosclerotic lesions in aorta roots were detected by Oil Red O staining.CD31 levels in the arterial intima were analyzed by immunohistochemistry.Results AVE0991 had no effects on blood lipids (P ＞ 0.05)but lowered serum levels of nitric oxide in high-fat diet mice(76.8±34.4 μmol/L vs.116.8±33.9 μmol/L,P＜0.05).Also,AVE0991 had no effects on the activity of serum nitric oxide synthase(19.5±5.7 U/ml vs.17.9±3.3 U/ml,P＞0.05)but decreased the activity of serum induced nitric oxide synthase(9.0 ±2.3 U/ml vs.12.7 ± 3.2 U/ml,P ＜0.05) and increased the ratio of phosphorylated endothelial nitric oxide synthase to induced nitric oxide synthase in the vessel wall in high-fat diet mice(0.8±0.2％ vs.0.6 ± 0.2％,P ＜ 0.05).AVE0991 decreased serum levels of C-reactive protein,tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 (P ＜ 0.05),and decreased the area percentage of atherosclerotic lesions in aorta roots (15.6 ± 3.3 ％ vs.45.4 ± 9.8 ％,P ＜ 0.05) and increased the integrated optical density of CD31 in the arterial intima in high-fat diet mice(54.1±11.0％ vs.28.7±10.6％,P＜0.05)Conclusions AVE0991 can attenuate atherogenesis in ApoE-/-mice fed a high-fat diet,possibly via reducing inflammatory response,regulating the activity of nitric oxide synthases and improving endothelial functions.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is known as one of the most valuable metal nanoparticles in antibacterial and anticancer application. AgNPs-resistant bacteria has been documented, but it is unclear whether cancer cells can also escape the anti-cancer effect of AgNPs. In this study, we aimed to investigate this phenomenon and its underlying mechanism. The antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity of AgNPs were measured in the presence of HeLa cell metabolites. The status of AgNPs in the system associated with metabolites were characterized by UV-Vis, Zetasizer Nano ZS, and transmission electron microscopy. Non-targeted metabolomics was used to reveal the metabolites components that bind with AgNPs. HeLa cells were injected intraperitoneally to establish the tumor-bearing mice model, and the stability of AgNPs in mice serum was analyzed. The results manifested that HeLa cell metabolites inhibited the anticancer and antibacterial effects of AgNPs in a dose-dependent manner by causing AgNPs aggregation. Effective metabolites that inhibited the biological activity of AgNPs were stable in 100 ℃, insoluble in chloroform, containing sulfur elements, and had a molecular weight less than 1 kDa in molecular weight. There were 115 compounds bound with AgNPs. In vitro experiments showed that AgNPs aggregation occurred only when the concentration of α-ketoglutarate (AKG) and glutathione (GSH) together reached a certain threshold. Interestingly, the concentration of AKG and GSH in HeLa cellular metabolites was 10 and 6 times higher than that in normal cervical epithelial cells, respectively, which explained why the threshold was reached. Furthermore, the stability of AgNPs in the serum of tumor-bearing mice decreased by 20% (P < 0.05) compared with the healthy mice. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that HeLa cells escaped the anti-cancer effect of AgNPs through the synergistic effect of AKG and GSH, suggesting the need to develop strategies to overcome this limitation.
Humans ; Animals ; Mice ; HeLa Cells ; Silver/pharmacology* ; Ketoglutaric Acids/pharmacology* ; Metal Nanoparticles ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology* ; Glutathione ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests