Objective To explore the effects of cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation on learning and memory ability and expression of synaptophysin in rats with hippocampal infarction. Methods 50 rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, acupuncture group, rehabilitation group and acupuncture with rehabilitation group, 10 rats in each group. Photochemical method was used to induce hippocampal infarction model. 24 h after modeling, they were intervened respectively. Y-type maze was used to evaluate the learning and memory ability and immunohistochemistry method was used to observe the expression of synaptophysin after 14 d intervention. Results Compared with the sham operation group, the learning and memory ability in the other groups declined,and the expression of synaptophysin increased (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, both the learning and memory ability and the expression of synaptophysin increased in the acupuncture group, the rehabilitation group and the acupuncture with rehabilitation group (P<0.05). The acupuncture with rehabilitation group was better than the acupuncture group and the rehabilitation group (P<0.05). Conclusion The cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation can promote the learning and memory ability and the expression of synaptophysin in rats.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation of serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) with the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the noninvasive prediction and diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

METHODSA total of 136 patients with NAFLD were enrolled, and their tissue samples for liver biopsy and serum samples obtained at 1 week after liver biopsy were collected; 83 healthy subjects without the symptoms of fatty liver disease proved by ultrasound examination were enrolled as controls. The physiological indicators including height, body weight, and waist circumference were measured, and body mass index was calculated. The biochemical parameters including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), AST/ALT, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were measured. Double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the serum level of OPG. The rank sum test, chi-square test, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Spearman correlation analysis, least significant difference test, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were applied for statistical analysis of various data.

RESULTSSerum OPG level was correlated with AST and TG (P < 0.05), and was highly correlated with hepatocyte fatty degeneration, ballooning degeneration, intralobular inflammation, portal inflammation, and fibrosis degree (P < 0.01). With the increasing NAFLD activity score (NAS), serum OPG level decreased, and there was a highly negative correlation between them (r = -0.928, P < 0.01). Serum OPG level was significantly lower in NASH patients than non-NASH patients. The area under the ROC curve of serum OPG level was 0.963, and according to the Youden index, its optimal sensitivity and specificity were 96.1% and 97.4%, respectively, at an optimal cut-off value of 242.96 ng/L, which suggested a high diagnostic power.

CONCLUSIONIn NASH patients, serum OPG level decreases significantly. Serum OPG level can be used as an independent predictive factor to evaluate NASH and its severity, as well as a noninvasive diagnostic index for NASH.

Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; blood ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Biopsy ; Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Disease Progression ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Inflammation ; pathology ; Liver ; pathology ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; blood ; diagnosis ; Osteoprotegerin ; blood ; ROC Curve ; Triglycerides ; blood ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; blood

Objective    To investigate the changes of fibrinogen and classical markers of collagen metabolism [carboxy-terminal propeptide of type Ⅰ procollagen (PICP) and carboxy-terminal cross-linked peptide of type Ⅰ collagen (ICTP)] in peripheral blood and pericardial drainage after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and/or heart valve replacement (VR), and to evaluate their relationship with postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after cardiac surgery. Methods    Patients who underwent CABG and/or VR in the Heart Center of Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital from March to June 2021 were included. Peripheral blood and pericardial drainage fluid samples were collected before surgery and at 0 h, 6 h, 24 h and 48 h after surgery to detect PICP, ICTP and fibrinogen levels, and preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative confounding factors were also collected. PICP, ICTP and fibrinogen levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results    A total of 26 patients with 125 blood samples and 78 drainage samples were collected. There were 18 males and 8 females with an average age of 64.04±7.27 years. The incidence rate of POAF was 34.6%. Among the factors, the fibrinogen level in pericardial drainage showed two peaks within 48 h after operation (0 h and 24 h after operation) in the POAF group, while it showed a continuous downward trend in the sinus rhythm (SR) group, and the change trend of fibrinogen in pericardial drainage was significantly different over time between the two groups (P=0.022). Fibrinogen in blood, PICP and ICTP in blood and drainage showed an overall decreasing trend, and their trends over time were not significantly different between the two groups of patients (P>0.05). Univariate analysis showed that fibrinogen at 24 h and 48 h after pericardial drainage, fibrinogen in preoperative blood, PICP immediately after surgery and right atrial long axis diameter were significantly higher or longer in the POAF group than those in the SR group. Multiple regression showed that fibrinogen≥11.47 ng/mL in pericardial drainage 24 h after surgery (OR=14.911, 95%CI 1.371-162.122, P=0.026), right atrial long axis diameter≥46 mm (OR=10.801, 95%CI 1.011-115.391, P=0.049) were independent predictors of POAF. Conclusion    This study finds the regularity of changes in fibrinogen and collagen metabolic markers after CABG and/or VR surgery, and to find that fibrinogen in pericardial drainage 24 h after surgery is a potential novel and predictive factor for POAF. The results provide a new idea for exploring the mechanism of POAF, and provide a research basis for the accurate prediction and prevention of clinical POAF.

Objective:To explore the method of early prediction of the risk of limb infection in patients bitten by trimersurus mucrosquamatus snake. Methods:Totally 108 inpatients with limbs bitten by trimersurus mucrosquamatus snake in Chongqing Emergency Medical Center from January 2019 to October 2020 were respectively collected. They were divided into the infection group (23 cases) and non infection group (85 cases) according to whether they had secondary infection in the course of the disease. The clinical characteristics and serum indexes before admission were compared between the two groups to screen out the risk factors of infection. By combining all the above methods, the risk factor score was screened out; and the prediction model was constructed according to the snake bite severity score (SSS) and appearance score. The differences of the three prediction models between the two groups of patients were compared, and the predictive value of the three prediction models for the risk of limb infection in patients bitten by trimersurus mucrosquamatus snake was evaluated through the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results:There were significant differences in clinical characteristics and serum indexes before admission, injury time, hand and foot finger injury, edema score, tension blister, subcutaneous hemorrhage and admission platelet count between the two groups ( P<0.05). The scores of the three predictive models differed between the two groups ( P<0.05). The ROC curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of the three models for the risk of infection in the course of the disease. The predictive AUC value of the risk factors score was 0.830 (95% CI: 0.635-0.850), the cutoff value was 2.5, the sensitivity was 0.870 and the specificity was 0.671, which was the best in the three prediction models. Conclusions:The prediction model based on the risk factors can effectively predict the infection risk of snake bite patients. It indicates that the infection risk is high when the score of risk factors ≥3 points, which can be used as the basis for guiding clinical treatment plan and is worthy of promotion.

Objective     To investigate the relationship between miR-3187-5p in peripheral blood and pericardial drainage after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF). Methods     Patients who underwent CABG in the Heart Center of Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital from March to May 2022 were enrolled. Peripheral blood and pericardial drainage were collected at 0 h after surgery (immediate time for patients to return to ICU from operating room) to detect miR-3187-5p, and perioperative confounding factors were also collected. The miR-3187-5p was measured by quantitative real-time PCR and its regulated target genes were analyzed by bioinformatics. Results     A total of 15 patients were enrolled, including 9 males and 6 females with an average age of 65.6±8.2 years. The incidence rate of POAF was 40.0%. miR-3187-5p in pericardial drainage at 0 h after surgery was an independent predictor for POAF. A total of 1 642 target genes of miR-3187-5p were predicted. GO function enrichment analysis and KEGG signal pathway enrichment analysis showed that target genes of miR-3187-5p were enriched in TGF-β, MAPK, Wnt and other classical collagen metabolic signal pathways, which might activate collagen metabolism by negatively regulating SMAD6 and other inhibitors of the pathways. Conclusion     This study is the first to find that miR-3187-5p in pericardial drainage at 0 h  after surgery is a potential, novel, and predictive factor for POAF, which may be related to the regulation of myocardial fibrosis signal pathways like TGF-β, MAPK and Wnt pathways, promoting the early collagen metabolism imbalance after CABG, increasing the collagen deposition in the atrium, and then promoting the early structural reconstruction after CABG and leading to the occurrence of POAF. The result provides a research basis for the accurate prediction and prevention of clinical POAF.

An essential step for cancer vaccination is to break the immunosuppression and elicit a tumor-specific immunity. A major hurdle against cancer therapeutic vaccination is the insufficient immune stimulation of the cancer vaccines and lack of a safe and efficient adjuvant for human use. We discovered a novel cancer immunostimulant, trichosanthin (TCS), that is a clinically used protein drug in China, and developed a well-adaptable protein-engineering method for making recombinant protein vaccines by fusion of an antigenic peptide, TCS, and a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), termed an "all-in-one" vaccine, for transcutaneous cancer immunization. The TCS adjuvant effect on antigen presentation was investigated and the antitumor immunity of the vaccines was investigated using the different tumor models. The vaccines were prepared