Objective:To compare the immediate therapeutic effect and safety between esmolol and lanatoside in con-trolling ventricular rate for patients with rapid atrial fibrillation.Methods:A total of 72 patients with rapid atrial fi-brillation (ventricular rate ≥120 beats/min)were randomly and equally divided into esmolol group and lanatoside group.Esmolol group received first dosage of 0.5 mg/kg intravenously for 1 min,then were observed for 5 min,if ventricular rate still >100 beats/min or decreased <20%,the 0.5 mg/kg esmolol was appended,meanwhile main-tained by 0.05mg·kg-1 ·min-1 via micro pump at first,maintenance dose can increase to a maximum 0.3mg· kg-1 ·min-1;lanatoside group received first dosage of 0.4mg or 0.2mg slow intravenous injection,if ventricular rate still >100 beats/min or decreased<20%,the another 0.2mg was appended.The onset time and adverse reac-tions were recorded after administration.Results:Compared with lanatoside group,there was significant reduction in mean onset time [(39.2±8.7)min vs.(5.6±3.1)min]in esmolol group,P<0.01;compared with before adminis-tration,there was significant decrease in ventricular rate in two groups after administration,P<0.05 or<0.01. On 2h af-ter administration,compared with lanatoside group,there was significant increase in decreasing range of ventricular rate (29% vs.39%)in esmolol group,P<0.05. The total effective rate and adverse reaction rate was no significant difference (P>0.05)between two groups.Conclusion:Intravenous using esmolol is efficient and safe,and it can be regarded as pre-ferred therapy to control ventricular rate in patients with rapid atrial fibrillation.

Objective To investigate the expression of ADAM8 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical significance.Methods The protein expression of ADAM8 in HCC tissues was analyzed using immunohistochemical analysis.Serum levels of ADAM8 were measured by ELISA in 126 patients with HCC,50 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 50 healthy individuals.The relationship between patients' pathological features and serum ADAM8 level was analyzed.Results Immunohistochemical analysis showed that ADAM8 expression was associated closely with serum AFP elevation,tumor size,histological differentiation,and tumor stage.The ELISA assay showed that the serum levels of ADAM8 in the HCC were significantly higher than those in LC and healthy groups.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that high expression of serum ADAM8 exhibited a significant correlation with poor prognosis for HCC patients.Multivariate analysis revealed that serum ADAM8 expression is an independent prognostic parameter for the overall survival rate of HCC patients.Conclusion ADAM8 expression was closely associated with tumor size,serum AFP elevation,tumor differentiation,tumor stage and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.Therefore,ADAM8 expression may serve as a biomarker for predicting the prognosis of patients in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To investigate the influence of external electric fields on migration behavior and morphology of endo‐thelial progenitor cells (EPCs) cultured in vitro .Methods The in vitro cultured 3-4 generation EPCs were continuously stimula‐ted by direct‐current electric field with the field intensity of 0 mV/mm(group Ⅰ ) ,100 mV/mm(group Ⅱ) ,200 mV/mm(group Ⅲ) and 300 mV/mm (group Ⅳ )for 3 h .The live cell station was used to real time record the cell migration track and morphology change of EPCs .The influence of external electric field on the EPCs migration behavior and morphology was analyzed .Results Un‐der the stimulation of the direct‐current electric field with the intensity of group Ⅳ ,group Ⅲ and group Ⅱ ,the cells were directly migrated to anode ,while the cells under group Ⅰ displayed the random motion .The track migration velocity(Vt)、displacemnt ve‐locity(Vd) and electric field direction migration rate(Vx) were(98 .86 ± 6 .00) ,(63 .78 ± 2 .81) ,(63 .15 ± 2 .88)μm/h for the groupⅣ ,(88 .06 ± 8 .83) ,(35 .90 ± 1 .22) ,(34 .20 ± 1 .57)μm/h for the groupⅢ ,(42 .28 ± 2 .25) ,(13 .29 ± 0 .37) ,(12 .39 ± 0 .51)μm/h for the groupⅡ ,which were significantly higher than(37 .39 ± 2 .42) ,(6 .99 ± 0 .31) ,(4 .62 ± 0 .40)μm/h for the groupⅠ (P<0 .01) ,moreover Vt ,Vd and Vx in the group Ⅲ were significantly higher than those in the group Ⅱ andⅠ (P<0 .01) .EPCs had obvious morphological changes under the electric field action ,such as elongation and the cellular long axis parallel to the electric field direction .Conclusion External direct current electric fields may induce the directed migration of EPCs towards the anode ,ac‐celerates the migration rate ,moreover has obvious influence on EPCs morphology .

The antibiotic resistance is natural in bacteria and predates the human use of antibiotics.Numerous antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been discovered to confer resistance to a wide range of antibiotics.The ARGs in natural environments are highly integrated and tightly regulated in specific bacterial metabolic networks.However,the antibiotic selection pressure conferred by the use of antibiotics in both human medicine and agriculture practice leads to a significant increase of antibiotic resistance and a steady accumulation of ARGs in bacteria.In this review,we summarized,with an emphasis on an ecological point of view,the important research progress regarding the collective ARGs (antibiotic resistome) in bacterial communities of natural environments,human and animals,i.e.,in the one health settings.We propose that the resistance gene flow in nature is "from the natural environments" and "to the natural environments";human and animals,as intermediate recipients and disseminators,contribute greatly to such a resistance gene "circulation.".

ObjectiveTo understand the possible role of some proteins expressed by human synovial fibroblasts(SFs)in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.MethodsThe expression difference of synovial fibroblast proteins between rheumatoid arthritis(RA)patients and healthy controls was analyzed by 2-DE.The differential expression spots were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF-MS),followed by bioinformatics analysis,some of which were validated by Western blot.ResultsUsing 12% SDS-PAGE following pH 4-7 IPG strips in IEF,averagely 837 and 852 protein spots were detected in RA patients and normal subjects,respectively.Gel image analysis revealed that there were 49 differential protein spots.By peptide mass fingerprinting strategy,we identified 40 protein spots derived from gels of SFs in RA patients among differential spots and 23 valid proteins were obtained.Western blot analysis showed that expressions of Enolase ?,Annexin I,Cathepsin D,SOD2,Peroxiredoxin 2 were significantly higher in SFs from RA patients than those from normal subjects,which was consistent with proteome analysis.ConclusionThe differential proteins might be involved in inflammation of synovitis in RA.

In order to prevent phage contamination in amino acid fermentation, we introduced the restriction and modification system cglI gene complex into Corynebacterium crenatum and studied their phage-resistance. The cglI gene complex was amplified from Corynebacterium glutamicum by PCR and constructed into pJL23 vector. The recombinant strains were obtained by transformation of the recombinant plasmid pJL23-cglI into C. crenatum. Results showed that the recombinant strains possessed strong phage-resistance activity and broad phage-resistance spectrum, demonstrating the feasibility of using cglI gene complex for construction of phage-resistance recombinant C. crenatum strains and presenting a powerful way to solve the problem of phage contamination in amino acid fermentation industry.
Amino Acids ; biosynthesis ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Bacteriophages ; growth & development ; Corynebacterium ; genetics ; virology ; Corynebacterium glutamicum ; genetics ; metabolism ; DNA Restriction-Modification Enzymes ; genetics ; Fermentation ; Galectins ; genetics ; Recombination, Genetic ; Transformation, Bacterial

Alginate is a group of polyuronic saccharides that are widely used in pharmaceutical and food industry due to its unique physicochemical properties and beneficial health effects. However, the low water solubility and high viscosity of alginate hampered its application. Alginate oligosaccharide (AOS) is a decomposition product of alginate and has received increasing attention due to its low molecular weight, high water solubility, safety, and non-toxicity. The wide-ranging biological functions of AOS are closely related to its structural diversity. AOS with distinct structures and biological functions can be obtained by different methods of preparation. This review summarized the biological functions of AOS reported to date, including anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, prebiotic, and anti-diabetes. The preparation of AOS, as well as the relationship between the structure and biological functions of AOS were discussed, with the aim to provide a reference for further development and application of AOS.
Alginates ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; Antioxidants ; Molecular Weight ; Oligosaccharides

Objective To investigate the outcome of postoperative hypopituitarism and hormone replacement in patients with pituitary adenoma,and to analyze the potential factors related to postoperative hypopituitarism.Methods A total of 215 postoperative patients with pituitary adenoma were analyzed.Pituitary functions( including gonadal,thyroid,and adrenal axes ) were asessed by strict criteria.Data of surgery history and hormone replacement situation were collected for statistical analysis.Results The prevalence of hypopituitarism was 54.0％,including 36.7％ hypogonadism,32.6％ hypothyroidism,and 28.4％ hypoadrenalism.Replacements of gonadal steroid,glucocorticoid,and thyroxine were carried out in 25.6％,84.3％,and 80.6％ of the cases,respectively.Univariate analysis showed that male sex and large tumor were related to hypopituitarism. Conclusion After pituitary adenomectomy,approximately half of the patients present anterior pituitary dysfunction,while quite a number of them have not been treated appropriately.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between soluble growth stimulating gene protein 2 (sST2) and the severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its value in the diagnosis of traumatic brain injury.Methods:The clinical data of 110 patients with traumatic brain injury who were treated in The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (Anhui Province Hospital) from July 2022 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. These 110 patients were included in the observation group. An additional 62 patients without traumatic brain injury who concurrently received treatment in the same hospital were included in the control group. In the observation group, patients were divided into a severe group [Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score 3-8 points), a moderate group (GCS score 9-12 points), and a mild group (GCS score 13-15 points) according to the GCS score. Serum sST2 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) within 24 hours after injury in each group. Serum sST2 levels were compared between the observation group and the control group. Serum sST2 levels were compared among patients with severe, moderate, and mild TBI in the observation group to analyze the correlation between serum sST2 levels and the GCS score. The efficacy of serum sST2 levels in the diagnosis of TBI was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve).Results:Serum sST2 levels in the observation group were 96.25 (48.05, 200.00) μg/L, which were significantly higher than 25.45 (19.78, 40.46) μg/L in the control group ( Z = -8.19, P < 0.05). Serum sST2 levels in pastients with severe TBI were slightly, but not significantly, higher than those in patients with moderate TBI ( P > 0.05), and serum sST2 levels in patients with severe and moderate TBI were significantly higher than those in patients with mild TBI ( Z = -5.20, Z = -4.40, both P < 0.05). There was a significant difference in sST2 levels among patients with mild, moderate and severe TBI ( H = 36.88, P < 0.05). In the observation group, serum sST2 levels within 24 hours after surgery were significantly negatively correlated with GCS score within 24 hours after admission ( rs = -0.561, 95% CI: -0.680~-0.413, P < 0.001). As serum sST2 levels increased, GCS scores showed a decreasing trend. Serum sST2 levels can be used as a prognostic indicator for TBI. Serum sST2 levels within 24 hours after injury can serve as a risk factor for TBI ( β = 0.042, OR = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.026-1.061, P < 0.001). The serum sST2 levels within 24 hours after injury have good diagnostic efficacy for TBI (area under the curve = 87.5%, 95% CI: 0.825-0.926, P < 0.001). Conclusion:The measurement of serum sST2 levels has a high value in the evaluation of the severity of TBI and prognosis, which is crucial for developing personalized treatment strategies for TBI.

Antibiotics are critical weapons that were used for combating human pathogens. However, the heavy use of antibiotics leads to the increased and widely spread of antimicrobial resistance. The antimicrobial resistance is not only a medical problem, but also social and economic concerns, involving public health, environmental pollution, food safety, etc. This special issue reviewed and discussed the recent progress on antimicrobial resistance regarding the fields of clinical drug resistance and epidemiology, animal and environmental drug resistance, drug resistance mechanisms, antimicrobial drug development and drug resistance prevention and control, hoping to give a comprehensive view on basic antimicrobial resistance questions, future research directions and prevention and control strategies.