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 investigate the predictive value of acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI) score for the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP), infectious pancreatic necrosis and patients′ death.Methods:Clinical data of 719 patients with AP were collected from the AP database of the National Clinical Research Center for Digestive System Diseases from January 2016 to June 2018. According to the severity of the disease, they were divided into MAP group (506 cases), MSAP group (112 cases) and SAP group (101 cases). AGI, APACHEⅡ, MCTSI and BISAP scores were calcululated in the three groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was drawn and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. The predictive value of the above four scoring systems for the hospitalization days, disease severity, infectious pancreatic necrosis and death was analyzed, respectively.Results:There were no cases of infectious pancreatic necrosis or death in the MAP group, but there were 9 cases of infectious pancreatic necrosis and 2 deaths in the MSAP group and 19 cases of infectious pancreatic necrosis and 8 deaths in the SAP group. There was a strong correlation between AGI score and AP patients′ hospitalization days ( r=0.619). AUC of AGI, APACHEⅡ, MCTSI and BISAP score in predicting the AP patients′ severity (MSAP+ SAP) was 0.967 (95% CI 0.951-0.982), 0.769(95% CI 0.720-0.899), 0.842(95% CI 0.809-0.875), 0.862 (95% CI0.832-0.893). AUC for forecasting infectious pancreatic necrosis was 0.803, 0.677, 0.692, 0.724, and the 95% CI was 0.724-0.882, 0.573-0.781, 0.582-0.636, 0.801-0.812. AUC for predicting death in patients with AP were 0.915, 0.597, 0.659, 0.812, and the 95% CI were 0.843-0.986, 0.444-0.751, 0.498-0.698 and 0.882-0.926. AGI score had the highest predictive value, followed by BISAP score, and the correlation between these two scores was the closest. The predictive value of AGI combined with BISAP score for infectious pancreatic necrosis and patient death (AUC were 0.837, 0.942, 95% CI were 0.770-0.903, 0.897-0.987) was better than that of AGI and BISAP score alone. Conclusions:AGI score combined with BISAP score is more effective in predicting the severity of AP, the occurrence of infectious pancreatic necrosis or patient death.

Genetically encoded Ca(2+) indicators (GECI) are important for the measurement of Ca(2+) in vivo. GCaMP2, a widely-used GECI, has recently been iteratively improved. Among the improved variants, GCaMP3 exhibits significantly better fluorescent intensity. In this study, we developed a new GECI called GCaMPJ and determined the crystal structures of GCaMP3 and GCaMPJ. GCaMPJ has a 1.5-fold increase in fluorescence and 1.3-fold increase in calcium affinity over GCaMP3. Upon Ca(2+) binding, GCaMP3 exhibits both monomeric and dimeric forms. The structural superposition of these two forms reveals the role of Arg-376 in improving monomer performance. However, GCaMPJ seldom forms dimers under conditions similar to GCaMP3. St ructural and mutagenesis studies on Tyr-380 confirmed its importance in blocking the cpEGFP β-barrel holes. Our study proposes an efficient tool for mapping Ca(2+) signals in intact organs to facilitate the further improvement of GCaMP sensors.
Calcium ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Calmodulin ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Crystallography, X-Ray ; Dimerization ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Histidine ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Myosin-Light-Chain Kinase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Peptide Fragments ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; genetics

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of vericiguat in combination with re-combinant human brain natriuretic peptide in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF).Methods Seventy patients with HFrEF were enrolled and randomly divided into study group(n=35)and control group(n=35).The control group received conventional treatment for HFrEF,while the study group was treated with vericiguat and recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide in addition to the conventional treatment.Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),left ven-tricular end-systolic diameter(LVESD),left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD),amino-ter-minal brain natriuretic peptide precursor(NT-proBNP),6-min walking distance as well as resting heart rate,systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were compared between the two groups before and after treatment.Adverse reactions during treatment were also compared between the two groups.Results After treatment,LVEF in two groups was significantly higher than before treatment,and the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).After treat-ment,the LVESD,LVEDD,NT-proBNP as well as resting heart rate,systolic blood pressure and di-astolic blood pressure in the two groups were significantly lower than before treatment,and the study group was significantly lower than the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the 6 min walking test distance of two groups was significantly longer than that before treatment,and the study group was significantly longer than the control group(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the occurrence of adverse reactions between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Vericiguat com-bined with recombinant human natriuretic peptide can effectively improve cardiac function in HFrEF patients with few adverse reactions.

Objective:To explore the expression of miR-216a in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) associated with acute lung injury (ALI) and its influence on endothelial cells permeability.Methods:40 AP patients admitted in Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Navy Medical University from December 2015 to March 2016 were collected and were classified into AP with ALI (AP-ALI group, n=13) and AP without ALI (AP group, n=27) according to the presence or absence of ALI. 8 normal volunteers were enrolled in the control group. Blood samples were collected and the plasma samples were separated. Plasma RNA was extracted. miR-216a level in plasma was detected by RT-PCR. Plasma exosomes were extracted by exosome extraction kit and identified by the electron microscopy. Exosome RNA was extracted. miR-216a level in exosome was detected by RT-PCR. Plasma exosomes of AP-ALI patients were co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC, AP-ALI-HUVEC group) and anti-miR-216a transfected HUVECs (AP-ALI-anti-miR-216a HUVEC group) for 24 hours, respectively, and untreated HUVECs served as control group. Trans-endothelium electrical resistance (TEER) was measured by Millicell Ers-2 epithelial volt-ohmmeter to evaluate the cell permeability. Results:RT-PCR results showed that the expression level of plasma miR-216a in AP-ALI group (14.45±1.64) was significantly higher than that in AP group (11.08±1.6) and the control group (5.37±1.54) ( P<0.01). Under electron microscope, plasma exosomes were goblet like vacuoles, with the size of about 50-90 nm. The plasma exosomal miR-216a level in the AP-ALI group (14.03±1.58) was significantly higher than that in the AP group (10.86±1.31) and the control group (5.01±0.79), and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01). The resistance value of HUVEC in the control group was referred as 1, and the resistance ratio of HUVEC in AP-ALI-HUVEC group was 0.74±0.04, which was significantly lower than that of HUVEC in AP-ALI-anti-miR-216a HUVEC group (1.02±0.08), the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01). Conclusions:miR-216a was highly expressed in plasma exosomes of AP patients with ALI. miR-216a can increase endothelial cell permeability, which may be associated with ALI during AP.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of vericiguat in combination with re-combinant human brain natriuretic peptide in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF).Methods Seventy patients with HFrEF were enrolled and randomly divided into study group(n=35)and control group(n=35).The control group received conventional treatment for HFrEF,while the study group was treated with vericiguat and recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide in addition to the conventional treatment.Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),left ven-tricular end-systolic diameter(LVESD),left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD),amino-ter-minal brain natriuretic peptide precursor(NT-proBNP),6-min walking distance as well as resting heart rate,systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were compared between the two groups before and after treatment.Adverse reactions during treatment were also compared between the two groups.Results After treatment,LVEF in two groups was significantly higher than before treatment,and the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).After treat-ment,the LVESD,LVEDD,NT-proBNP as well as resting heart rate,systolic blood pressure and di-astolic blood pressure in the two groups were significantly lower than before treatment,and the study group was significantly lower than the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,the 6 min walking test distance of two groups was significantly longer than that before treatment,and the study group was significantly longer than the control group(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the occurrence of adverse reactions between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Vericiguat com-bined with recombinant human natriuretic peptide can effectively improve cardiac function in HFrEF patients with few adverse reactions.

The American College Gastroenterology(ACG)recently released the 2024 edition of Guidelines for the management of acute pancreatitis.The guidelines first discuss the diagnosis,etiology,severity,and early management of acute pancreatitis,as well as the management of complications,especially pancreatic necrosis,and then the guidelines propose the clinical decisions such as antibiotics,nutrition,endoscopy,radiology,and surgical intervention.This article makes an excerpt of the key concepts and recommendations in the guidelines.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate suspension in the treatment of peptic ulcer.Methods:This present study was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, positive drug parallel controlled phase Ⅱ clinical trial. According to different indications, the trial was divided into gastric ulcer (GU) and duodenal ulcer (DU) studies. Patients were stratified-block randomly divided with a 1∶1 ratio into experimental group and control group. The patients in the experimental group were administrated with omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate suspension omeprazole (20 mg for DU or 40 mg for GU, and 1 680 mg sodium bicarbonate) once a day. The patients in the control group received omeprazole magnesium enteric-coated tablet20 mg for DU or 40 mg for GU once a day. The treatment period was 4 weeks for DU and 8 weeks for GU. The main efficacy indicator was ulcer healing rate under endoscopy. The time of pain disappearance and the total effective rate of clinical symptom relief were used as the secondary efficacy indicators, and the incidence of adverse reactions was used as the safety indicator. The data set included full analysis set (FAS), per-protocol set (PPS) and safety set (SS). Independent sample t test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, chi square test, Fisher exact test method and non-inferiority test were used for statistical analysis. Results:Two hundred and seventy two DU patients and 237 GU patients were included in the FAS, 247 DU patients and 201 GU patients were included in the PPS, and 272 DU patients and 235 GU patients were included in the SS. The results of FAS analysis showed that after 4 weeks treatment, the healing rate of DU under endoscopy in the experimental group was 91.91% (125/136) and that in the control group was 94.85% (129/136), and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). After 8 weeks treatment the healing rate of GU under endoscopy in the experimental group was 86.44% (102/118) and that in the control group was 87.39% (104/119), and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). The results of non-inferiority analysis showed the lower limit of 95% confidence interval of difference in effective rate between the two groups was over -10% (-8.84% for DU and -9.54% for GU), which indicated that the effective rate of experimental group was not inferior to that of the control group. The results of PPS analysis were consistent with the results of FAS. The results of FAS analysis showed the median time of abdominal pain disappearance of DU patients in the experimental group and the control group was both 6 d, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). The median time of abdominal pain disappearance of GU patients in the experimental group and the control group was both 8 d, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, the total effective rates of clinical symptom relief of DU of the trial group and the control group were 95.59% (130/136) and 97.79% (133/136), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). After 8 weeks of treatment, the total effective rates of clinical symptom relief of GU of the experimental group and the control group were 95.76% (113/118) and 93.28% (111/119), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). The results of SS analysis showed that the incidence of adverse reactions of DU patients in the trial group and the control group was 5.15% (7/136) and 2.21% (3/136), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions of GU patients in the experimental group and the control group was 12.71% (15/118) and 6.84% (8/117), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate suspension is not inferior to omeprazole magnesium enteric-coated tablet in healing efficacy under endoscopy in peptic ulcer, and has a good safety.

More and more cases of aldosterone-and cortisol-producing adenoma (A/CPA) have been reported in recent years.In order to further understand the clinical characteristics of patients with A/CPA,we report 2 cases of A/CPA treated in our hospital,and analyzes them in combination with domestic reports.We recommend that clinicians routinely perform Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test on every primary aldosteronism patient prior to adrenal vein sampling (AVS) or adrenal adenoma surgery to rule out the possibility of Cushing's syndrome so as to avoid the wrong judgment of AVS results and avoid adrenal hypofunction or adrenal crisis after operation.