Objective To investigate the regulatory effects of probiotics on ghrelin and their pro-tective effects on pulmonary function of children during acute lung injury.Methods Fifty children with acute lung injury were recruited form Henan Provincial People′s Hospital during 2010 to 2013 and randomly divided into two groups.In addition to regular therapy, those who received probiotics treatment were set up as the probiotics treatment group and the others were considered as the control group.Levels of ghrelin, sur-factant protein A( SP-A) , TNF-αand IL-6 in serum samples were measured before and 10 days after the cor-responding treatments.Each patient was analyzed by pulmonary function test and echocardiography.The vol-ume to peak expiratory flow ( VPEF) , ratio of time to reach peak tidal expiratory flow to total expiratory time ( TPTEF/TE) , mean arterial pressure ( MAP) and pulmonary artery pressure ( PAP) were recorded for sta-tistical analysis.Results The levels of SP-A, TNF-αand IL-6 in serum samples from the probiotics treat-ment group were decreased on day 10 as compared with those of the control group [(195.9±54.3) ng/ml vs (245.5±56.4) ng/ml, (382.0±56.4) pg/ml vs (440.7±46.8) pg/ml, (221.5±62.6) pg/ml vs (303.5 ±83.9) pg/ml;P<0.05] .Children from the probiotics treatment group showed higher values of VPEF and TPTEF/TE on day 10 as compared with those without probiotics treatment [(25.3±4.5) ml vs (23.8±4.6) ml, (29.5±4.3) %vs (26.8±4.7) %;P<0.05].Treatment of children with probiotics increased MAP and decreased PAP [(74.5±6.7) mmHg vs (71.9±6.9) mmHg, (25.5±6.4) mmHg vs (29.1±6.2) mmHg] .The levels of ghrelin in patients received probiotics treatment were higher than those of children without probiotics treatment [(329.3 ±49.6) pg/ml vs (296.6 ±48.5) pg/ml].The levels of ghrelin showed negative correlations with the levels of SP-A, TNF-α, IL-6 and PAP on day 10, but positive correla-tions with TPTEF/TE and MAP (P<0.05).Conclusion Use of probiotics to children with acute lung inju-ry could regulate the level of ghrelin, alleviate the inflammation of lungs and improve the recovery of lung function and circulation.Therefore, probiotics treatment had positive effects on the protection of pulmonary function.

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of gut microbiota in children with sepsis and the effects of probiotic intervention.Methods:Thirty-four children with sepsis admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Henan Provincial People′s Hospital were enrolled in this prospective study from May 2019 to July 2020. They were randomly divided into two groups and received conventional treatment (conventional treatment group, n=17) and conventional treatment combined with probiotics (probiotics group, n=17), respectively. Twenty healthy children were selected as healthy control group. The baseline characteristics and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score of all children with sepsis were recorded within 24 h after recruitment. Stool samples were collected 5-7 d after recruitment. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to detect gut microbiota. Bioinformatic analysis and predictive functional profiling of microbial communities were performed to analyze the differences between groups. Results:The α-diversity and β-diversity indexes showed compared with the healthy control group, the two sepsis groups had lower abundance of gut microbiota, but greater individual differences in bacteria structure. These indexes were improved significantly following probiotic intervention ( P<0.05). At the level of phylum, the proportions of Bacteroidota and Actinobacteriota in the conventional treatment group were the lowest among the three groups, while the proportion of Proteobacteria increased significantly ( P<0.05). At the level of genus, Enterocoddus was the predominant bacterium in the conventional treatment group, while the abundance of Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium, Erysipelotrichaceae and Rumimococcus- torques in the probiotics group showed an upward trend ( P<0.05). Differences in the abundance of metabolic pathways, including mitochondrial synthesis, exosomes, mRNA transcription and degradation and cysteine metabolism, could be found between the two sepsis groups. Conclusions:This study revealed that children with sepsis exhibit a dysbiotic microbial community with reduced microbial diversity, declined structural stability, decreased abundance of Bacteroidota and enrichment of Proteobacteria. Probiotic supplementation could elevate the percentage of beneficial symbiotic bacteria and reduce the number of pathogenic bacteria. The differential metabolic pathways might be associated with the mechanism of probiotics in practice.

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of induced hypotension and hypotension in carotid endarterectomy (CEA).Methods Data of 1 486 patients who underwent CEA in multicenters from Aug 2012 to Aug 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.After screening,a total of 1 448 patients met the inclusion criteria.Induced hypertension and hypotension was used in all thees patients.Results 87.8％ of the patients were with severe carotid stenosis.The average operative time was (51.8 ± 6.1) min,and the internal carotid artery clamping time was (11.4 ± 3.1) min.After induced hypertension,the stump pressure were higher than that before,of which 1 438 (99.3％) were greater than 50 mmHg.Monitoring of EEG oxygen saturation showed that the value of ipsilateral rSO2 was significantly lower than that of the contralateral [(56％ ± 3％) vs.(64％ ± 4％),P ＜ 0.05] before induced hypertension.After induced hypertension and clamp removal,the value of ipsilateral rSO2 was lower than that of the contralateral,but there was not significant difference (all P ＞ 0.05).Perioperative cerebral infarction occurred in 2 cases,ipsilateral cerebral hemorrhage in 1 case,contralateral cerebral hemorrhage in 1 case and myocardial infarction in 2 cases.Connclusion The technique of induced hypotension and hypotension play a temporary role in brain protection for patients undergoing CEA.This study demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of induced hypertension and hypotension technique.

Objective:To investigate the correlation of monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR) with the prognosis and adverse event in critically ill patients.Methods:Basic information of patients were extracted from Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-Ⅲ (MIMIC-Ⅲ), including demographics, blood routine, biochemical indexes, systemic inflammatory response syndrome score (SIRS), sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, and outcome, etc. MLR on the first day of intensive care unit (ICU) admission was calculated. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was applied to evaluate the prognostic value of MLR on the 30-day mortality and its cut-off value. According to the cut-off value, the patients were divided into two groups, and the differences between the groups were compared. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship of MLR with 30-day mortality, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), mechanical ventilation, the length of ICU stay, and total hospitalization time.Results:① A total of 43 174 critically ill patients were included. ROC curve showed that area under ROC curve (AUC) of MLR in predicting 30-day mortality was 0.655 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.632-0.687]. The cut-off value of MLR calculated according to the maximum Yoden index was 0.5. There were 16 948 patients with MLR ≥ 0.5 (high MLR group) and 26 226 patients with MLR < 0.5 (low MLR group). ② Compared with the low MLR group, the high MLR group had higher age, proportion of male, body mass index (BMI) [age (years old): 66.0 (51.7, 78.4) vs. 57.6 (27.1, 74.6), proportion of male: 57.2% vs. 52.5%, BMI (kg/m 2): 26.5 (22.5, 31.1) vs. 24.7 (14.3, 29.7)]. The high MLR group also had higher incidence of complications (hypertension: 49.2% vs. 44.6%, chronic heart failure: 32.6% vs. 21.7%, diabetes mellitus: 27.0% vs. 23.4%, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: 21.5% vs. 16.1%, renal insufficiency: 19.3% vs. 13.1%), and higher white blood cell count (WBC), blood glucose, lactate (Lac), serum creatinine (SCr), SIRS score and SOFA score [WBC (×10 9/L): 13.8 (9.6, 19.2) vs. 11.5 (8.4, 15.6), blood glucose (mmol/L): 8.66 (6.88, 11.49) vs. 8.27 (6.55, 10.88), Lac (mmol/L): 2.2 (1.5, 3.7) vs. 2.1 (1.4, 3.3), SCr (μmol/L): 106.1 (70.7, 176.8) vs. 88.4 (70.7, 132.6), SIRS score: 3 (2, 4) vs. 2 (2, 3), SOFA score: 4 (2, 7) vs. 3 (1, 5)]. The 30-day mortality, and the proportion of patients with length of ICU stay > 5 days, total hospitalization time > 14 days, CRRT and mechanical ventilation > 5 days were significantly higher in high MLR group (30-day mortality: 20.0% vs. 8.3%, length of ICU stay > 5 days: 33.2% vs. 20.4%, total hospitalization time > 14 days: 33.7% vs. 16.2%, CRRT: 3.6% vs. 0.7%, mechanical ventilation > 5 days: 18.4% vs. 5.7%), with statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). ③ After adjusted with the related factors, multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated MLR was an independent risk factor for increased 30-day mortality [odd ratio ( OR) = 1.54, 95% CI was 1.37-1.72, P < 0.001]. Moreover, the increased MLR was independently associated with the increased risk of usage of CRRT ( OR = 2.77, 95% CI was 2.18-3.51), mechanical ventilation > 5 days ( OR = 2.45, 95% CI was 2.21-2.72), the length of ICU stay > 5 days ( OR = 2.29, 95% CI was 2.10-2.49), and total hospitalization time > 14 days ( OR = 2.28, 95% CI was 2.08-2.49), all P < 0.001. Conclusions:Retrospective analysis of large sample shows that MLR elevation is an independent risk factor for 30-day mortality, usage of CRRT, prolonged mechanical ventilation time, prolonged hospitalization, prolonged length of ICU stay. MLR can be used for risk stratification of severe patients.