After 4 weeks old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with normal diet and high-fat diet for 10 weeks,the rats were treated with metformin (200 mg/kg) for 6 weeks. Insulin sensitivity was determined by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique.Realtime PCR and western blot were used to measure mRNA and protein levels of chemerin in perirenal adipose tissue of rats.The results showed that the expressions of chemerin mRNA and protein were higher in high-fat diet-induced insulin resistant rats compared with rats fed with normal diet ( both P＜0.05 ),and these incremental findings were diminished by metformin treatment ( both P＜0.01 ).The levels of chemerin mRNA and protein were correlated well with the epididymis fat mass index.

Objective To assess the feasibility and safety of transradial approach in Chinese elderly patients undergoing coronary intervention.Methods In this prospective study, 764 elderly patients with coronary artery disease received percutaneous coronary intervention via either a transradial approach (TRA group) or a transfemoral approach (TFA group). The procedural success rate, success rate of artery access, puncture time, fluoroscopy time, dose of contrast, local complications and post-procedural pulmonary embolism were recorded and compared between 2 groups. Results There was no significant difference of the procedural success rate between the TRA group and the TRF group (96.3% vs. 98.2%, P＞0.05); there were also no differences of success rate of cannulation, mean fluoroscopy time and mean dose of contrast between the 2 groups. The mean puncture time was longer in the TRA group than in the TFA group (3.8±2.1 min vs. 2.0±3.4 min, P＜0.05). However, there were fewer access site-related complications in the TRA group than in the TFA group. Postprocedural pulmonary embolism occurred in 2 patients in the TFA group but none in the TRA group. Conclusion Transradial coronary intervention was feasible and safe in most Chinese elderly patients when performed by experienced operators.

Objective To observe the morphology changes in articular cartilage of knee osteoarthritis ( KOA) model rats after intervention with Shudi Jisheng Zhuanggu Decoction (SJZD). Methods SD rats were randomized into 7 groups, namely blank control group, model group, Paracetamol group ( 0.270 g/kg) , Zhuangu Guanjie Pills group ( 1.08 g/kg) , and high-, middle- and low-dosage SJZD groups ( 27.450, 13.725, 6.863 g/kg, respectively). Rats were injected with papain solution into the right knee joint to build models of KOA before administration of drugs. Thickness of right knee joint was measured to evaluate the effect of SJZD on the swelling degree of knee joint. Histological changes of knee cartilage were evaluated by Mankin scoring method after the cartilage sections being stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE). Results Swelling degree of knee joint and Mankin scores were significantly increased in the model group compared to the blank control group ( P<0.01). In comparison with the model group, the swelling degree of knee joint and Mankin scores of SJZD groups were significantly decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the pathological changes were relieved. Conclusion SJZD can ameliorate the pathological changes of knee articular cartilage in rats with KOA, so as to delay cartilage degeneration and protect the cartilage.

Objective To investiga~ the effect of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) combined with dexmedetomidine on the lung injury during one-lung ventilation (OLV) in the patients undergoing thoracic surgery.Methods Thirty ASA physical status Ⅰ or Ⅱ patients,aged 45-70 yr,weighing 51-69 kg,scheduled for elective radical operation for esophageal cancer,were randomly divided into 2 groups (n =15 each) using a random number table:control group (group C) and RIPC combined with dexmedetomidine group (group ORD).In ORD group,at 10 min after endotracheal intubation,RIPC was induced by 3 cycles of 5 min lower extremity ischemia followed by 5 min reperfusion,and at the same time a loading dose of dexmedetomidine 1.0 μg/kg was infused intravenously over 15 min and then dexmedetomidine was infused at a rate of 0.5 μg· kg-1 · h-1 until the end of operation.At 0,30 min,1 h and 2 h of OLV (T1-4),blood samples were obtained from the radial artery for blood gas analysis and determination of plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-10.Oxygenation index and respiratory index were calculated.Exhaled breath condensate was collected at T1,T3 and T4,and the pH value was measured.Results Compared with group C,oxygenation index was significantly increased,and respiratory index was decreased at T2-4,the plasma concentrations of TNF-α and IL-1β were decreased,and the pH value of exhaled breath condensate was increased at T3-4,and the plasma concentration of IL-10 was increased at T4 in group ORD.Conclusion RIPC combined with dexmedetomidine can inhibit inflammatory responses and reduce airway acidification,thus attenuating the lung injury during OLV in the patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

Objective To study the cell immunity and eytokines responses to avian influenza A H5N1 virus infections in a BALB/c model to better understand the pathogenesis of H5N1 avian influenza disease. Methods Two hundred and twenty BALB/c mice of the infected group were inoculated with 0.1 ml (10-4.875 TCID50) of A/Goose/Guangdong/NH/2003 ( H5N1 ) virus intra-nasally. Fifty control mice received noninfectious allantoic fluid and another fifty control mice received normal sodium. Blood and spleen samples were collected from the live mice every 24 h during the 14 d post-infection. The changes of CD3 + T cells , CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells for cell immunity in blood circulation and spleen were detected by flow cytometry. And the cytokines and antibody responses in blood circulation were detected by ELISA. Necropsy was performed on mice that died during the experiment and those euthanized at end of study. Results Avian influenza A( H5N1) virus infections can make damages to the cell immune system transiently. The CD3 + T cells, CD4 + T cells, CDS + T cells declined at 24 days post infection in blood circulation and declined at 5-8 days in spleen, then recovered to the normal level gradually. The eytokines responses to the infections can be detected: the level of IFN-γ,TNF-α declined, IL-4, IL-18, IL-10 increased, and IL-2 changed little. The antibody increased rapidly from day 7 post infection until the end of the study (day 14 post infection). Conclusion Collectively, avian influenza A(H5N1) virus can cause cell immunity deficiency and an imbalance in the level of eytokines, which may contribute to the unusual severity of disease caused by the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

Objective·To compare the clinical features between different subtype bipolar patients with first mania episode, and to contribute to early identification of bipolar disorder. Methods·This study was based on the database named as National Bipolar Mania Pathway Survey (BIPAS). From November 2012 to January 2013, bipolar patients from 26 mental health facilities in China were enrolled in current study. The clinical features were compared between mania patients of different subtypes, including hypomania (groupⅠ), mania without psychotic symptoms (groupⅡ), mania with psychotic symptoms (group Ⅲ) and mixed state (group Ⅳ). Results·There was significant difference in the percentage of clinical symptoms between different subtype bipolar patients with first mania episode, especially the mania and anxiety related symptoms. Group Ⅰ, Ⅲ , Ⅳ were further compared with groupⅡ, which was considered as the typical bipolar disorder. The results showed that the mania related symptoms was significantly higher in group Ⅱ, but anxiety related symptoms was significantly higher in group Ⅰ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ. Moreover, Logistic regression analysis revealed that more eloquent or humor and unusually restless could be in favor of the diagnosis of hypomania; younger and mania or hypomania as first episode might be in favor of the diagnosis of mania with psychotic symptoms; older, national minorities and unusually restless could be in favor of the diagnosis of mixed state. Conclusion·The clinical features between different subtype bipolar patients with first mania episode are various, and analysis of the clinical features can contribute to early identification of bipolar disorder.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to investigate the predictive abilities of clinical and computed tomography (CT)features for outcome prediction in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Materials and Methods: The clinical and CT data of 238 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in our two hospitalswere retrospectively analyzed. One hundred sixty-six patients (103 males; age 43.8 ± 12.3 years) were allocated in thetraining cohort and 72 patients (38 males; age 45.1 ± 15.8 years) from another independent hospital were assigned in thevalidation cohort. The primary composite endpoint was admission to an intensive care unit, use of mechanical ventilation, ordeath. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses were performed to identify independent predictors. Anomogram was constructed based on the combination of clinical and CT features, and its prognostic performance wasexternally tested in the validation group. The predictive value of the combined model was compared with models built on theclinical and radiological attributes alone. Results: Overall, 35 infected patients (21.1%) in the training cohort and 10 patients (13.9%) in the validation cohortexperienced adverse outcomes. Underlying comorbidity (hazard ratio [HR], 3.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.67–6.71;p < 0.001), lymphocyte count (HR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.04–0.38; p < 0.001) and crazy-paving sign (HR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.03–4.48;p = 0.042) were the independent factors. The nomogram displayed a concordance index (C-index) of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.76–0.88),and its prognostic value was confirmed in the validation cohort with a C-index of 0.89 (95% CI, 0.82–0.96). The combinedmodel provided the best performance over the clinical or radiological model (p < 0.050). Conclusion Underlying comorbidity, lymphocyte count and crazy-paving sign were independent predictors of adverseoutcomes. The prognostic nomogram based on the combination of clinical and CT features could be a useful tool for predictingadverse outcomes of patients with COVID-19.

Objective:To explore the value of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in evaluating the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HOT) in treating spinal cord injury.Methods:The modified Allen′s method was used to induce a traumatic spinal cord injury in 30 rats who were then divided randomly into an injured group and a treatment group, each of 15. The treatment group was given HOT twice a day for 3 days, then once a day for a total of 4 weeks. The injured group did not receive HOT. DTI was performed (along with Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) evaluation) at 0h, 6h, 24h, as well as 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after the operation. Two-factor repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to analyze any differences in the DTI results: the fractional anisotropy, mean apparent diffusivity, radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity, as well as the BBB scores. LSD t-tests were performed to analyze the significance of the differences at different time points.Results:At each time point after 24h the average FA value of the treatment group was significantly higher than the injured group′s average, while its average MD and RD values were significantly lower. Beyond 14 days the average AD value of the treatment group was significantly higher than that of the injured group. The treatment group′s average BBB score was also significantly higher at all the time points beyond 3 days.Conclusions:DTI results can evaluate spinal cord function and provide valuable information for the dynamic assessment of hyperbaric oxygen therapy after a traumatic spinal cord injury, and the therapy promotes the recovery of motor function, at least in rats.

Objective: To explore the application of real-time three-dimensional ultrasound in locating the course, the brand and the blind end of internal opening of congenital preauricular fistula. Methods: Congenital preauricular fistula patients from Changhai Hospital were studied. All the cases were evaluated using two-dimensional and three-dimensional ultrasound before surgeries. The surgery findings were utilized as the gold standard. The imaging features of 3D ultrasound were described to determine the accuracy of the blind end location, the course of the main fistula tract and the branch tracts. The diagnosis was compared with the surgery findings. Results: In 89 cases, among which there were 21 branch fistulae. There were 68 bend fistulae without branch. The diagnostic accuracy of both two-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional ultrasound was 100%. The accuracy in locating the blind end of internal opening, the course of the branch tracts with 3D ultrasound was 92.1%(82/89), 85.7%(18/21) , compared to 80.9%(72/89), 57.1%(12/21) with 2D ultrasound. It was obvious that 3D ultrasound had more advantages. These differences were statistically significant (χ²=4.8, P<0.05; χ²=4.2, P<0.05). Conclusions Compared with 2D ultrasound, 3D ultrasound can accurately locate the blind end of internal opening, the course, and the branch of preauricular fistula, clearly display the morphology and the spatial structure of preauricular fistulaand its surroundings. It has high clinical application value in preoperative imaging examination.

The exacerbation of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) is closely associated with obstruction of the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). To discover novel therapeutic compounds for enhancing remyelination by endogenous OPCs, we screened for myelin basic protein expression using cultured rat OPCs and a library of small-molecule compounds. One of the most effective drugs was pinocembrin, which remarkably promoted OPC differentiation and maturation without affecting cell proliferation and survival. Based on these in vitro effects, we further assessed the therapeutic effects of pinocembrin in animal models of demyelinating diseases. We demonstrated that pinocembrin significantly ameliorated the progression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and enhanced the repair of demyelination in lysolectin-induced lesions. Further studies indicated that pinocembrin increased the phosphorylation level of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Taken together, our results demonstrated that pinocembrin promotes OPC differentiation and remyelination through the phosphorylated mTOR pathway, and suggest a novel therapeutic prospect for this natural flavonoid product in treating demyelinating diseases.