Objective: To analyze the effect of recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide (rhBNP) on the cardiac function and serum N terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level in elderly patients with heart failure. Methods: From January 2015 to December 2017, 150 elderly patients (aged 80 years) with heart failure in the 117th Hospital of the Chinese People′s Liberation Army were selected in the research.According to the digital random list method, the patients were divided into two groups, with 75 cases in each group.The control group was given nitroglycerin treatment, and the observation group was given rhBNP treatment.The levels of serum NT-proBNP, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), clinical efficacy and complications were compared between the two groups. Results: After treatment, the levels of serum NT-proBNP in the two groups were significantly lower than before treatment, and the level of NT-proBNP in the observation group [(2 964.42±607.25)pg/mL] was significantly lower than that in the control group [(4 213.57±524.07)pg/mL] (t=13.49, P<0.01). After treatment, the levels of LVEF in the two groups were significantly higher than those before treatment, and the level of LVEF in the observation group [(51.26±4.77)%] was significantly higher than that in the control group [(46.03±5.22)%] (t=6.41, P<0.01). The total effective rate of the observation group was 94.67%(71/75), which was significantly higher than 70.67%(53/75) of the control group (χ²=13.45, P<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of complications such as headache, blood pressure drop, renal function deterioration and tachycardia etc.in the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion rhBNP in the treatment of elderly patients with heart failure can effectively improve the symptoms of dyspnea and systemic symptoms, reduce serum NT-proBNP levels, improve heart function, and will not cause serious complications, with good safety, so it is worthy of clinical promotion and application.

Objective:To explore the value of bedside chest radiograph in the diagnosis and follow-up of severe and critical COVID-19.Methods:Twenty-nine patients with severe or critical COVID-19 were collected from January 23 to February 23, 2020，from four COVID-19 designated hospitals in Guangdong Province. Bedside radiography was taken in all the 29 patients, ranged from 1 to 16 times for each patient. Twenty-seven patients underwent follow-up, and the number of re-examination ranged 1 to 15 times, and the interval of review is 1 to 8 days.The imaging findings of bedside chest radiography and the imaging changes on follow-up chest radiography were analyzed retrospectively.Results:Twenty-nine patients were collected. The radiography showed the lesions involved all more than 3 lung fields. The films showed consolidation shadow in 19 cases, multiple patches of shadow in 23 cases, reticular pattern in 12 cases, strips shadow in 14 cases, interlobar fissure thickening in 18 cases, and "white lung" in 4 cases.The complications included pleural effusion in 4 cases, pneumothorax in 2 cases, mediastinal and subcutaneous emphysema in 1 case. The radiography showed the lesions progressed in 15 cases, with expanded involvement of the lung.The increase of lesion density was found in 6 cases, new lesions were noted in 5 cases, while both of them were found in 4 cases. Nine cases showed improvement, with reduced range and decreased density. Patchy or consolidation shadow turned to strips shadow or articular pattern shadow in 8 cases.There was no significant change in 3 cases with large consolidation shadow.Conclusions:Bedside chest radiography has a good value in the follow-up of severely and critically ill patients with COVID-19, and can provide great help for clinicians to evaluate their condition.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has spread worldwide and threatened human's health. With the passing of time, the epidemiology of coronavirus disease 2019 evolves and the knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 infection accumu-lates. To further improve the scientific and standardized diagnosis and treatment of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in China, the Chinese Society of Perinatal Medicine of Chinese Medical Association commissioned leading experts to develop the Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection under the guidance of the Maternal and Child Health Department of the National Health Commission. This recommendations includes the epidemiology, diagnosis, management, maternal care, medication treatment, care of birth and newborns, and psychological support associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is hoped that the recommendations will effectively help the clinical management of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objective To investigate the expression of HOXB4 gene in patients with myelodysplastic syn-dromes(MDS)and its clinical significance in disease progression.Methods mRNA expression of HOXB4 gene in bone marrow mononuclear cells was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR),and the difference in HOXB4 expression was compared between 49 patients with MDS(MDS group)and 35 patients without MDS(group C).The relationship of mRNA expression of HOXB4 with disease characteristics and clinical prognosis was explored in MDS patients.Results mRNA expression level of HOXB4 gene was higher in MDS group than that in group C(P＜0.05).The patients were divided into a high-and a low-expression group according to the median expression level of HOXB4.Leukocyte count was lower in the high-expression group in the low-expression group at the time of initial diagnosis.The proportion of patients with subtypes of primitive cellular hyperplasia,poor prognostic staging and leukemic transformation was higher in the high-expression group than in the low-expression group.Conclusions mRNA expression level of HOXB4 gene has certain relation with AML transformation in MDS patients.

The extraordinary advantages associated with mRNA vaccines, including their high efficiency, relatively low severity of side effects, and ease of manufacture, have enabled them to be a promising immunotherapy approach against various infectious diseases and cancers. Nevertheless, most mRNA delivery carriers have many disadvantages, such as high toxicity, poor biocompatibility, and low efficiency in vivo, which have hindered the widespread use of mRNA vaccines. To further characterize and solve these problems and develop a new type of safe and efficient mRNA delivery carrier, a negatively charged SA@DOTAP-mRNA nanovaccine was prepared in this study by coating DOTAP-mRNA with the natural anionic polymer sodium alginate (SA). Intriguingly, the transfection efficiency of SA@DOTAP-mRNA was significantly higher than that of DOTAP-mRNA, which was not due to the increase in cellular uptake but was associated with changes in the endocytosis pathway and the strong lysosome escape ability of SA@DOTAP-mRNA. In addition, we found that SA significantly increased the expression of LUC-mRNA in mice and achieved certain spleen targeting. Finally, we confirmed that SA@DOTAP-mRNA had a stronger antigen-presenting ability in E. G7-OVA tumor-bearing mice, dramatically inducing the proliferation of OVA-specific CLTs and ameliorating the antitumor effect. Therefore, we firmly believe that the coating strategy applied to cationic liposome/mRNA complexes is of potential research value in the field of mRNA delivery and has promising clinical application prospects.