Objective To investigate the predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at admission for mortality risk during hospitalization in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods Patients with AIS admitted to the Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University from January 2017 to December 2018 were enrolled retrospectively. The demographic data and all baseline clinical data were collected, and compared between the in-hospital death group and survival group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine independent influencing factors for in-hospital death in patients with AIS. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of NLR for death during hospitalization. Results A total of 266 patients with AIS were enrolled, with an average age of 65 years, 168 were males (63.2% ), 98 were females (36.8% ), 52 died in hospital (19.5% ), and 214 (80.5% ) survived. The NLR of the death group was significantly higher than that of the survival group (median [ interquartile range]: 7.6 [4.6-14.0] vs. 2.4 [1.8-4.0]; Z=7.727, P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that advanced age (odds ratio [OR] 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.14; P=0.009), previous history of stroke or transient ischemic attack (OR 9.06, 95% CI 2.06-39.88; P=0.004), high NIHSS score (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04-1.24; P=0.004), and high NLR (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.02-1.48; P=0.024) were the independent risk factors for death during hospitalization in patients with AIS. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of NLR predicting death during hospitalization for patients with AIS was 0.846 (95% CI 0.786-0.905; P<0.001). When the cut-off value of NLR was 4.52, the sensitivity and specificity were 76.9% and 80.8% respectively. The positive predictive value was 49.4% , and the negative predictive value was 93.5% . Conclusions The increased NLR level at admission had certain predictive value for the death of patients with AIS during hospitalization.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the expression level of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) in the passage of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs), analyze the effect of Shh overexpression on the proliferation activity of HFSCs, and explore the survival of HFSCs after Shh overexpression and its effect on hair follicle regeneration. METHODS: Hair follicles from the normal area (H1 group) and alopecia area (H2 group) of the scalp donated by 20 female alopecia patients aged 40-50 years old were taken, and the middle part of the hair follicle was cut under the microscope to culture, and the primary HFSCs were obtained and passaged; the positive markers (CD29, CD71) and negative marker (CD34) on the surface of the fourth generation HFSCs were identified by flow cytometry. The two groups of HFSCs were transfected with Shh-overexpressed lentivirus. Flow cytometry and cell counting kit 8 assay were used to detect the cell cycle changes and cell proliferation of HFSCs before and after transfection, respectively. Then the HFSCs transfected with Shh lentivirus were transplanted subcutaneously into the back of nude mice as the experimental group, and the same amount of saline was injected as the control group. At 5 weeks after cell transplantation, the expression of Shh protein in the back skin tissue of nude mice was detected by Western blot. HE staining and immunofluorescence staining were used to compare the number of hair follicles and the survival of HFSCs between groups. RESULTS: The isolated and cultured cells were fusiform and firmly attached to the wall; flow cytometry showed that CD29 and CD71 were highly expressed on the surface of the cells, while CD34 was lowly expressed, suggesting that the cultured cells were HFSCs. The results of real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot showed that the expression levels of Shh protein and gene in the 4th, 7th, and 10th passages of cells in H1 and H2 groups decreased gradually with the prolongation of culture time in vitro. After overexpression of Shh, the proliferation activity of HFSCs in the two groups was significantly higher than that in the blank group (not transfected with lentivirus) and the negative control group (transfected with negative control lentivirus), and the proliferation activity of HFSCs in H1 group was significantly higher than that in H2 group before and after transfection, showing significant differences ( P<0.05). At 5 weeks after cell transplantation, Shh protein was stably expressed in the dorsal skin of each experimental group; the number of hair follicles and the expression levels of HFSCs markers (CD71, cytokeratin 15) in each experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the number of hair follicles and the expression levels of HFSCs markers in H1 group were significantly higher than those in H2 group, and the differences were significant ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION Lentivirus-mediated Shh can be successfully transfected into HFSCs, the proliferation activity of HFSCs significantly increase after overexpression of Shh, which can secrete and express Shh continuously and stably, and promote hair follicle regeneration by combining the advantages of stem cells and Shh.
Animals ; Female ; Mice ; Alopecia/surgery* ; Hair Follicle ; Hedgehog Proteins/genetics* ; Mice, Nude ; Regeneration ; Stem Cells

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)is a group of lung diseases characterized by persistent airflow limitation, often accompanied by chronic hypoxia. This chronic hypoxia can lead to structural and functional changes in the walls of blood vessels throughout the body, causing vascular injury and altered vascular reactivity. The retina and choroid are key ocular structures with rich blood supply and are particularly prone to microstructural changes due to ischemia and hypoxia. Optical coherence tomography(OCT), an ideal tool for observing these microstructural changes, serves as a non-invasive method for assessing retinal microstructures and microvascular pathology. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews summarizing OCT-based morphological changes in the eyes of COPD patients. This paper provides an in-depth review of existing studies on ocular OCT in COPD patients, focusing on structural and blood flow changes in the retina and choroid. The primary goal of this review is to summarize the impact of COPD on ocular microstructures, explore the underlying mechanisms of these morphological changes, and offer new perspectives for assessing eye diseases in COPD patients.