Objective To investigate the effects of angiotensin-(1-7) on angiotensin Ⅱ and its receptor in pressure-overloaded rats. Methods Rat models of pressure-overloaded heart was induced by constriction of abdominal aorta. Forty-five male Sprague Dawley rats were randomized into sham-operated group,model control group and angiotensin-(1-7) treatment group. They were treated with intravenous infusion of 25?g/kg/h angiotensin-(1-7) or same volume of saline after operation. After the treatment for 4 weeks, the ratio of left ventricular weight to body weight(LVW/BW)was determined, angiotensin Ⅱ concentrations in plasma and myocardium were measured by radioimmunoassay, and the expression levels of type 1(AT_1) and type 2(AT_2) angiotension Ⅱ receptor mRNA in left ventricular myocardium were assessed by RT-PCR. Results Compared with sham-operated group, myocardial angiotensin II concentration and AT_1 receptor mRNA level in model control group obviously increased 4 weeks after operation. Compared with model control group, angiotensin II concentrations in plasma and myocardium in angiotensin-(1-7) treatment group had not obvious change, the expression level of myocardial AT_1 receptor mRNA decreased, and the ratio of LVW/BW obviously decreased. There was no significant difference in myocardial AT_2 receptor mRNA level among the three groups. Conclusion Exogenous angiotensin-(1-7) can attenuate cardiac hypertrophy possibly by inhibiting myocardial AT_1 receptor mRNA expression in pressure-overloaded rats.

Objective To evaluate the fiber altering and clinical relationship in patients with occipital and temporal lobe cerebral infarction with DTI.Methods Fifty patients suffering from cerebral stroke were analyzed with conventional MRI,DWI and DTI. The fibers of visual pathway were depicted ,and their fractional anisotropy (FA),apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC),isotropic im-age (Iso)and T2-weighted trace were measured and analyzed.Results Regions of interest (ROIs)were placed in infarction and nor-mal contralateral tissue for tracking the visual pathways.The different parameters were measured.FA is useful to differentiate hy-per-acute stroke from acute and sub-acute stroke.FA values increased slightly in hyper-acute and decreased in acute,sub-acute and chronic phase.The values of ADC in infarction regions in hyper-acute,acute and sub-acute phases were lower than those of the con-tralateral tissue.Iso and T2-weighted trace increased in acute phase and decreased in chronic phase.DTT was used to show the way and chang of visual pathway.Conclusion DTI could track the fiber of visual pathway,and depict the fiber of infarction zone.DTT could be used in evaluating the prognosis of patients.

AIM: To investigate the effects and mechanisms of angiotensin-(1-7) on cardiac hypertrophy in pressure-overloaded rats. METHODS: Ar at model of pressure-overloaded heart was induced by constriction of abdominal aorta. Seventy-five male Sprague Dawley rats were randomized to sham-operated group, model control group and angiotensin-(1-7) treatment group. They were treated with intravenous infusion of angiotensin-(1-7) (25 microgram/kg per hour) or saline by minipump. RESULTS: Abdominal aortic banding resulted in a significant increases in LVW/BW, myocardial angiotensinⅡlevels, and p-ERK1/2 expression. Angiotensin-(1-7) had no effect on aortic banding-induced increases in myocardial angiotensinⅡlevels, but it significantly attenuated aortic banding-induced increases in LVW/BW and p-ERK1/2 expression. CONCLUSION: Angiotensin-(1-7) attenuates the development of cardiac hypertrophy in pressure-overloaded rats. It may be associated with the inhibition of p-ERK1/2 expression in cardiac tissue.

Objective:To discuss the relationship between heart rate (HR) and heart rate differences (HRD) at different time points in head-up tilt test (HUTT) and the occurrence of postural tachycardia syndrome(POTS) in children and adolescents.Methods:A total of 217 children and adolescents diagnosed as POTS, who complained of syncope or presyncope, were chosen as POTS group (aged 6 to 16 years). During the same period, 73 healthy children and adolescents with matching gender and age were selected as control group.All subjects underwent HUTT from October 2000 to November 2019.Get HR (HR0, HR5, HR10) in baseline, HUTT 5 min and 10 min, HRD (HRD5, HRD10) of HR in HUTT 5 min and 10 min minus HR in baseline.Results:(1) HR5, HR10, HRD5, and HRD10 were higher in the POTS group than those in the control group( P<0.05). (2) Univariate Logistic regression: There was a correlation between HR5, HR10, HRD5, HRD10 and the risk of POTS( P<0.01). (3) Multivariable Logistic regression: For each additional unit of HRD5 and HRD10, the risk of POTS increased by 27% ( OR=1.27, 95% CI1.16 to 1.36) and 28% ( OR=1.28, 95% CI1.20 to 1.38). Conclusion:HR and HRD are related with the occurrence of POTS in children and adolescents, but HR and HRD at different time points of HUTT play the little role on the effect size of the occurrence of POTS.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and response time of cardioinhibitory type vasovagal syncope (VVS-CI) in children.Methods:The clinical data of 56 children with syncope or pre-syncope were retrospectively analyzed and they visited specialist clinic for syncope and were diagnosed as VVS-CI in the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from December 2012 to September 2019.Based on height and weight, BMI was calculated, and divided into low BMI group (35 cases) and normal BMI group (21 cases). Between the 2 groups, baseline heart rate, head-up tilt test (HUTT) positive response heart rate, baseline head-up tilt test (BHUT) positive response time, and sublingual nitroglycerin-provocated HUTT (SNHUT) positive response time were compared.The correlation between BMI and positive response time was analyzed.SPSS 22.0 software was applied for statistical analysis.Results:There were no significant differences in age, sex, duration of disease and number of syncope between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). No significant differences were found in baseline heart rate and positive response heart rate between the 2 groups [(78.5±15.3) times/min vs.(72.8±8.7) times/min, t=1.223, P=0.230; (44.0±13.9) times/min vs.(47.0±10.0) times/min, t=-0.664, P=0.511]. Compared with normal BMI group, BHUT positive patients/SNHUT positive patients were higher in low BMI group (27/8 cases vs.9/12 cases, χ2=4.839, P=0.027), and the positive response time of BHUT was shorter [(13.1±4.6) min vs.(23.7±9.5) min, t=-2.691, P=0.023]. There were no significant differences in SNHUT positive response time between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). Low BMI was correlated with BHUT positive response time ( r=0.750, P=0.005). Normal BMI was not associated with BHUT positive response time ( r=0.316, P=0.217). There was no correlation between low BMI and normal BMI and SNHUT positive response time ( r=0.177, P=0.431; r=0.021, P=0.940). Conclusions:Low BMI is positively correlated with BHUT positive response time of children with VVS-CI.The time it takes for syncope occurrence was shorter in children with low BMI than that in normal BMI.

Diabetic macular edema is a common complication of diabetic retinopathy, and is the main cause of vision decline.Antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents are the first-line therapy for DME, but some patients still have refractory or recurrent macular edema after anti-VEGF treatment.This suggests that the pathogenesis of DME may involve inflammation-related cytokines other than VEGF.With the development of high-throughput detection technology, the analysis of inflammatory cytokines in the intraocular fluid of patients such as aqueous humor and vitreous humor has attracted more and more attention.At the same time, recognizing the impact of current treatments on inflammatory cytokines will help to formulate more efficient treatment plans.This article reviewed the changes of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and intercellular adhesion factor-1 in the course of DME, analyzed the possible mechanisms involved, and discussed the effects of anti-VEGF agents and glucocorticoids on these inflammatory cytokines.

Objective:To investigate clinical significance of WDR4 gene expression,prognosis and immune infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma(LUAD).Methods:Clinicopathological data and WDR4 mRNA expression data of 535 patients with LUAD were collected through TCGA database,WDR4 protein expression data of 111 patients with LUAD were collected through CPTAC database.Associations between WDR4 expression and various clinicopathological features,as well as with overall survival in LUAD were ana-lyzed by R software.Diagnostic value of WDR4 expression in LUAD were assessed by ROC.Correlation between WDR4 expression and immune infiltration in tumor microenvironment in LUAD were investigated by Estimates and ssGSEA algorithms.Results:WDR4 mRNA expression in LUAD was significantly higher than that in normal lung tissues(all P<0.001).Protein expression of WDR4 in LUAD was also significantly up-regulated(P<0.05).Univariate analysis showed that expression of WDR4 was correlated with lymph node metastasis(P<0.05).Log-rank test showed that overall survival of patients with LUAD in WDR4 high expression group was significantly lower than that in low expression group(P=0.004).Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that T stage,lymph node metasta-sis and WDR4 mRNA expression remained independently associated with prognosis of LUAD patients.Death risk in patients with high expression of WDR4 mRNA was 1.478 times that of patients with low expression(95%CI:1.041～2.097).ROC curve analysis showed that WDR4 mRNA expression predicted diagnosis of LUAD to high extent(AUC=0.912,95%CI:0.885～0.935).High expression of WDR4 was negatively correlated with tumor microenvironment immune infiltration(all P<0.05).Conclusion:WDR4 expression in LUAD is significantly higher than that in normal lung tissue,and high WDR4 expression indicates poor prognosis in patients with LUAD.High expression of WDR4 inhibits immune infiltration in tumor microenvironment.WDR4 may be a novel potential biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of patients with LUAD and therapeutic target.

Modified electroconvulsive therapy(MECT)has a good therapeutic effect on major depressive disorder(MDD),but its mechanism of action is still unclear.In recent years,accumulated studies have confirmed the effects of MECT on brain structure and function using neuroimaging techniques and large datasets obtained through global collaborations and the conclusions are becoming increasingly consistent.For example,there is an increase in gray matter volume in specific brain regions such as the hippocampus and amygdala,an increase in white matter microstructural integrity and normalization of brain functional connections associated with MDD,such as the hippocampus-amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex-prefrontal cortex network,hippocampus-thalamus-temporal cortex-parietal cortex network,etc.However,the relationship between these changes and the mechanism of MECT action still needs further investigation.This review provides an overview of the research progress on the structural and functional changes of the brain by MECT to provide methodological support and theoretical basis for its better application in clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective:To investigate the value of rate-pressure product (RPP) in predicating the prognosis of postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in children.Methods:Fifty-three children (26 males and 27 females) aged 5 to 15 who had syncope of unknown reasons or presyncope and were diagnosed with POTS by head-up tilt test (HUTT) at the Children′s Syncope Specialist Clinic, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from April 2012 to May 2019 were selected as the POTS group.Thirty-eight children aged 5 to 16 (19 males and 19 females) who underwent medical examinations at the Children′s Health Specialist Clinic of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University over the same period were enrolled as controls (control group). POTS children were followed up after intervention and they were divided into the response group ( n=40) and the non-response group ( n=13) according to the follow-up results.The products (RPP0, RPP5, RPP10) of the heart rate (HR0, HR5, HR10) and systolic blood pressure (SBP0, SBP5, SBP10) at baseline (HUTT 0 min), HUTT 5 min and HUTT 10 min were calculated.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 software and EmpowerStats software. Results:(1) There was no statistical difference in age and gender between the POTS group and the control group (all P> 0.05). (2) HR5 [(115.45±14.50) times/min vs.(95.79±13.89) times/min], HR10 [(120.57±16.13) times/min vs.(96.05±12.43) times/min], RPP5 (12 814.55±2 304.56 vs.10 371.42±1 910.20), and RPP10 (13 449.17±2 360.40 vs.10 523.18±1 771.48) in the POTS group were significantly higher than those in the control group( t=0.799, 7.842, 5.747, 6.446, all P<0.01). No statistical difference of HR0 and RPP0 was observed between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). (3) In the POTS group: HR5 [(98.73±12.43) times/min vs.(113.77±17.65) times/min], HR10 [(96.90±13.96) times/min vs.(119.08±13.52) times/min], RPP5 (11 125.45±1 952.35 vs.12 914.69±3 192.12) and RPP10 (10 819.58± 2 144.26 vs.13 375.46±2 807.01) in the response group were significantly lower than those in the non-response group( t=3.406, 5.012, 2.432, 3.455, all P<0.01). HR0 and RPP0 were no significantly different between the 2 groups(all P>0.05). (4) When SBP10<114 mmHg(1 mmHg= 0.133 kPa), the probability of response after POTS intervention increased by 10% with every 1 mmHg increase in SBP10, and there was a non-linear relationship between the 2 group ( P<0.05). (5) The receiver operating characteristic curve suggested that when RPP5 was 11 548.50, the sensitivity and specificity to predict the response after POTS intervention were 81.82% and 61.70%, respectively.When RPP10 was 10 988.00, the sensitivity and specificity were 77.78% and 86.21%, respectively. Conclusions:RPP is closely related to the intervention effect of POTS in children.RPP5 and RPP10 can predict the prognosis of POTS in children.There is a non-linear relationship between SBP10 and the intervention effect of POTS in children.

Objective To explore the clinical features,diagnostic methods,and treatment strategies for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)encephalitis confirmed through cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)analysis.Methods The clinical data of patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 encephalitis through CSF analysis in the Neurology Intensive Care Unit of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from March 2022 to March 2023 were collected.Additionally,the relevant literature published in both domestic and international databases was analyzed and synthesized.Results The main neurological manifestations of five cases included decreased consciousness(5/5),psychiatric disorder(2/5),seizures(2/5),quadriplegia(1/5),and headaches(1/5).Two cases had abnormal brain magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)changes,involving the temporal lobe,insular lobe,thalamus,hippocampus,and pons.Additionally,CSF analysis showed mildly elevated protein levels in two cases.Next-generation sequencing(NGS)of the CSF identified SARS-CoV-2 in all five cases(sequence:41-1620),and human herpesvirus 1 in one case(sequence:21).The treatment regimen for all cases included antiviral therapy,three were additionally treated with glucocorticoids and one received immunoglobulin therapy.All cases achieved a favorable outcome(mRS:0-2).Conclusion SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to induce encephalitis/meningitis due to its neurotropic nature.The consideration of this condition is warranted in patients with relevant epidemiological history and symptoms related to the central nervous system.CSF NGS serves as a valuable tool for early diagnosis,while active antiviral therapy and immunotherapy may improve patient outcomes.