Objective To investigate the effects of microRNA-29a (miR-29a) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced apoptosis in human monocytes THP-1 cells in order to understand the molecular mechanisms.Methods Human monocytes THP-1 cell line were exposed to LPS after transfected with miR-29a inhibitors (100 nmol/L) or just transfected with miR-29a mimic (100 nmol/L) by lipofectamine RNAiMAX.Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to detect the cell apoptosis.Real-time RT-PCR was employed to measure expressive levels of the gene Bcl-2 and Mcl-1.The luciferase assay was performed in HEK293T cells,which were co-transfected with plasmid DNA and miRNA by using Lipofectamine 2000.Statistical analysis carried out by using SPSS 13.0 software for One-way ANOVA and Student' s t test.Results Transfection with miR-29a mimics for 48 h increased apoptosis rate and significantly reduced the expressions of Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 in THP-1 cells in comparsion with the control group.The apoptosis rate also raised in THP-1 cell stimulated by LPS for 24 h followed by LPS stimulation for 24 h,the apoptosis rate was decreased in comparison with the LPS group.In addition,our luciferase assay data showed that HEK293T cells cotransfected with miR-29a mimics and Bcl-2 3 ' UTR-Wt or Mcl-1 3' UTR-Wt plasmid significantly reduced the luciferase activity compared with the control group.Conclusions The miR-29a may regulate apoptosis by targeting the genes Bcl-2 and Mcl-1,and miR-29a may play a pivotal role in the process of apoptosis in immune cells.

"Living the old age life with multimorbidity" has become the normal life of the elderly. How to realize the management of multimorbidity in the context of the combination of medical and health care is a hot topic of geriatrics, and also one of the important measures to cope with the national health strategy of "all-round and full-cycle protection of people's health" put forward in "Healthy China 2030". On the basis of literature search, this paper summarizes the research status and progress of the multimorbidity in elderly patients, so that it is expected to play a certain promoting role in the comorbidity management of chronic disease for the elderly in China.

Objective To explore the effects of massive open online courses (MOOC) teaching in new entry nurses standardized training of respiratory medicine. Methods A total of 33 new entry nurses of respiratory medicine at a hospital were selected as control group from 2013 to 2014 with the routine training method. A total of 34 new entry nurses were chosen as intervention group from 2015 to 2017. Nurses of intervention group accepted standardized training with the MOOC teaching method by formulating systematic online and offline training course. The training effects of two groups were evaluated. Results The specialized theoretical achievements and skill achievements of nurses were (72.68±9.44) and (75.78±10.32) in intervention group, and (67.33±8.89) and (62.64±5.8) in control group with significant differences (P< 0.05). After intervention, the degree of satisfaction of patients in intervention group was higher than that in control group with a significant difference (χ2=10.823, P< 0.05). Conclusions MOOC teaching can effectively improve the level of specialized skill in new entry nurses, contribute to linking theory with practice, fast role switching and improve the occupational satisfaction.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now pandemic worldwide and has heavily overloaded hospitals in Wuhan City, China during the time between late January and February. We reported the clinical features and therapeutic characteristics of moderate COVID-19 cases in Wuhan that were treated via the integration of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine. We collected electronic medical record (EMR) data, which included the full clinical profiles of patients, from a designated TCM hospital in Wuhan. The structured data of symptoms and drugs from admission notes were obtained through an information extraction process. Other key clinical entities were also confirmed and normalized to obtain information on the diagnosis, clinical treatments, laboratory tests, and outcomes of the patients. A total of 293 COVID-19 inpatient cases, including 207 moderate and 86 (29.3%) severe cases, were included in our research. Among these cases, 238 were discharged, 31 were transferred, and 24 (all severe cases) died in the hospital. Our COVID-19 cases involved elderly patients with advanced ages (57 years on average) and high comorbidity rates (61%). Our results reconfirmed several well-recognized risk factors, such as age, gender (male), and comorbidities, as well as provided novel laboratory indications (e.g., cholesterol) and TCM-specific phenotype markers (e.g., dull tongue) that were relevant to COVID-19 infections and prognosis. In addition to antiviral/antibiotics and standard supportive therapies, TCM herbal prescriptions incorporating 290 distinct herbs were used in 273 (93%) cases. The cases that received TCM treatment had lower death rates than those that did not receive TCM treatment (17/273 = 6.2% vs. 7/20= 35%, P = 0.0004 for all cases; 17/77= 22% vs. 7/9= 77.7%, P = 0.002 for severe cases). The TCM herbal prescriptions used for the treatment of COVID-19 infections mainly consisted of Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae, Radix Scutellariae, Rhizoma Pinellia, and their combinations, which reflected the practical TCM principles (e.g., clearing heat and dampening phlegm). Lastly, 59% of the patients received treatment, including antiviral, antibiotics, and Chinese patent medicine, before admission. This situation might have some effects on symptoms, such as fever and dry cough. By using EMR data, we described the clinical features and therapeutic characteristics of 293 COVID-19 cases treated via the integration of TCM herbal prescriptions and Western medicine. Clinical manifestations and treatments before admission and in the hospital were investigated. Our results preliminarily showed the potential effectiveness of TCM herbal prescriptions and their regularities in COVID-19 treatment.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; COVID-19/therapy* ; China ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome