Debates persist regarding the efficacy and safety of azvudine, particularly its real-world outcomes. This study involved patients aged ≥60 years who were admitted to 25 hospitals in mainland China with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between December 1, 2022, and February 28, 2023. Efficacy outcomes were all-cause mortality during hospitalization, the proportion of patients discharged with recovery, time to nucleic acid-negative conversion (T _NANC), time to symptom improvement (T _SI), and time of hospital stay (T _HS). Safety was also assessed. Among the 5884 participants identified, 1999 received azvudine, and 1999 matched controls were included after exclusion and propensity score matching. Azvudine recipients exhibited lower all-cause mortality compared with controls in the overall population (13.3% vs. 17.1%, RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.90; P = 0.001) and in the severe subgroup (25.7% vs. 33.7%; RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.66-0.88; P < 0.001). A higher proportion of patients discharged with recovery, and a shorter T _NANC were associated with azvudine recipients, especially in the severe subgroup. The incidence of adverse events in azvudine recipients was comparable to that in the control group (2.3% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.170). In conclusion, azvudine showed efficacy and safety in older patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the SARS-CoV-2 omicron wave in China.

Primary aldosteronism (PA) mainly includes aldosteronoma (APA) and idiopathic aldosteronism (IHA). APA often presents as unilateral adrenal nodules, but can also be accompanied by non-functional adrenal nodules, which leads to difficulty of the identification. In this paper, the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment process of two cases of PA with non-functional adrenal nodules were analyzed and discussed to provide some references for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of PA.

Objective: To study the effect of Musashi-2 ( MSI2 ) overexpression on the imbalance of proliferation and apoptosis of human ovarian granulosa cell line (KGN) induced by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) ． Methods: The gene expression profiles of human ovarian granulosa cells ( GCs) in primary culture were statistically analyzed to screen the differentially expressed genes．pcDNA3. 1-MSI2 eukaryotic expression plasmid was constructed and transiently transfected into the KGN cells，and the overexpression effect of MSI2 was detected by Quantitative Real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blot．After overexpressing MSI2 in DHT induced KGN cells，MTT colorimetry and Edu staining were used to detect the proliferation of cells in each group，and flow cytometry ( FCM) was further used to detect the apoptosis of cells in each group. Results: The mRNA expression level of MSI2 gradually decreased during the primary culture of human ovarian GCs．And pcDNA3. 1-MSI2 was successfully constructed and transfected into KGN cells to improve the mRNA and protein expression levels of MSI2．Then MTT，EdU and FCM results showed that compared with the blank group，DHT induction could significantly reduce the proliferation rate and increase the apoptosis rate of KGN cells (P ＜0. 05) ．However，after MSI2 overexpression，the proliferation rate of KGN cells increased and the apoptosis rate decreased (P ＜0. 05) ，which were close to the blank group. Conclusion Overexpression of MSI2 can effectively alleviate the imbalance of proliferation and apoptosis of KGN cells induced by DHT，indicating that MSI2 plays an important role in GCs growth and follicle development.

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) in regulating the siderophore enterobactin-related gene entC of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP). Methods:A mutant strain with crp gene deletion strain (Δ crp) and a complementary strain (c-Δ crp) were constructed using CRKP-27 as the wild-type strain. The influence of CRP on the secretion of siderophore by CRKP was analyzed by chrome azurol sulfonate (CAS) quantitative assay. RT-qPCR and lacZ reporter gene fusion assay were used to detect the regulatory effect of CRP on entC gene expression and its promoter. Electric mobility shift assay (EMSA) was performed to detect the binding of CRP to the entC promoter region and the binding sequence was analyzed by DNase Ⅰ footprinting assay. Results:The Δ crp and c-Δ crp strains were successfully constructed. Compared with the wild-type and c-Δ crp strains, the Δ crp strain could secrete more siderophore under both normal and iron-deficient conditions, but the difference was statistically significant only under normal condition ( P<0.05). The relative expression of entC gene at mRNA level was significantly lower in the Δ crp strain than that in the wild-type and c-Δ crp strains under both normal and iron-deficient conditions (both P<0.05). The promoter of entC gene in the Δ crp strain was less active than that in the wild-type and c-Δ crp strains under both normal and iron-deficient conditions (both P<0.05). EMSA showed that with the increase of CRP protein, the distance of entC probe from the positive pole was shortened and blocked. DNase Ⅰ footprinting assay further identified the specific binding site of the entC promoter region to CRP as 5′-AAGGTGATAAATGCGTCTCATTTTCAA-3′. Conclusions:The CRP protein in CRKP could specifically bind to the entC promoter region and directly promote its expression at transcriptional level.

Objective:To study the effect of the siderophore virulence gene entB on the virulence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia (CRKP). Methods:CRKP-27 was selected as the experimental strain from 30 CRKP strains collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University. The knockdown strain (Δ entB) and complementing strain (C-Δ entB) were constructed by the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat-Cas9 technology, and verified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In order to initially understand the effect of entB on CRKP colony morphology and virulence phenotype, the colony morphology of CRKP-27, Δ entB, and C-Δ entB strains were observed and string test were tested. Draw the growth curve of the strains and determine the effect of entB on the growth of the CRKP strains. The siderophores production ability of the strains were detected quantitatively using chrome azurol S (CAS) detection solution. Mice model of inflammation was established to observe the survival rate of mice and intuitively understand the effect of entB on CRKP virulence. Results:The PCR results showed that the Δ entB strain and C-Δ entB stranin were constructed successfully. The entB has no significant effect on the colony morphology, capsule and virulence phenotype of CRKP. The growth rate of Δ entB was significantly faster than that of CRKP-27( P=0.008) and C-Δ entB ( P=0.001), which showed that entB weakened the growth ability of CRKP. Compared with CRKP-27( P=0.001) and C-Δ entB( P=0.001), the siderophore production of Δ entB was significantly decreased by 11.739 3% and 11.964 2%, indicating that entB gene increased the capacity of CRKP to produce siderophpres. In animal experiments, compared with CRKP-27( P=0.023) and C-Δ entB( P=0.024), the survival rate of mice in the Δ entB group was significantly increased, indicating that the entB increased the virulence of the CRKP. Conclusion:The siderophore virulence gene entB significantly weakened the growth ability of the strain, but clearly enhanced the siderophore production capacity and virulence of CRKP.

Objective:The aim of the present study was to re-evaluate the diagnostic value and optimal cutoff point of captopril challenge test (CCT) in diagnosis of primary aldosteronism (PA).Methods:This is a retrospective study. All patients with a high risk for PA underwent screening test, and then proceeded to CCT and fludrocortisone suppression test (FST) on different days. The FST was used as a reference standard for PA. The plasma renin concentration (PRC) and plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) were measured with an automated chemiluminescence immunoassay. Random number method was performed in the patients with unilateral primary aldosteronism (UPA), in order to make the proportion of the analyzed UPA in PA was 35%. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed to compare diagnostic accuracy.Results:A total of 543 patients with 400 PA patients and 143 essential hypertension (EH) patients were enrolled. The diagnostic value of post-CCT PAC was significantly higher than that of the post-CCT plasma aldosterone-renin ratio (ARR), and that of the PAC suppression percentage, respectively. The area under the ROC curve (AUC ROC) was 0.86 (0.83, 0.89) for PAC, 0.78 (0.74, 0.82) for ARR, and 0.62 (0.56, 0.67) for the PAC suppression percentage (all P<0.01), respectively. The optimal cutoff point of post-CCT PAC for PA was 110 ng/L, in which the sensitivity and specificity were 73.25% and 79.02%, respectively. The diagnostic efficiency of post-CCT PAC was not improved either in combination with PAC suppression percentage or in combination with post-CCT ARR. Conclusions:CCT is a useful test for the confirmation of PA. PAC level of 110 ng/L at 2 h after 50 mg of captopril is recommended as an optimal cutoff point for the diagnosis of PA.

Objective:Aimed to investigate the value of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation in adrenal venous blood sampling (AVS).Methods:Patients who diagnosed as primary aldosteronism (PA) and completed successful bilateral cannulation judged by selection index (SI) for routine and(or) ACTH stimulation AVS were enrolled. The lateralization index(LI) was calculated to compare the effect of ACTH stimulation on AVS cannulation success rate and lateralization judgment.Results:A total of 73 patients with PA were enrolled in the study, of whom 28 were confirmed as aldosterone producing adenoma (APA) after unilateral adrenalectomy. Cortisol and aldosterone in peripheral and adrenal veins were significantly increased after ACTH stimulation. The left SI was increased from 6.5(3.0-13.6) to 26.8 (16.9-40.3) ( P<0.01) and the right SI from 20.8(4.8-34.8) to 57.6(35.7-80.9) ( P<0.01) after ACTH stimulation. There was no significant difference on LI before and after ACTH stimulation [7.7(2.3-19.6) vs 5.6(1.9-14.6), P=0.14]. The success rates of left and right adrenal cannulation were increased by 15% and 10% respectively after ACTH stimulation. For 57 patients who were determined in successful cannulation by both routine and ACTH stimulation AVS, 27 patients were determined to have lateralization by both AVS methods, 21 patients were determined to have bilateralization, and the consistency of lateralization by both AVS methods was 84%(48/57). Among the 28 patients who were confirmed to be APA after unilateral adrenalectomy, the correct rate of lateralization by both AVS methods was 89% (25/28). Conclusion:ACTH stimulation is able to improve the success rate of bilateral adrenal vein cannulation, and is helpful to judge AVS results. For patients with successful cannulation, there is no significant difference in lateralization judgment for routine and ACTH stimulation AVS.

To investigate the renal venous and spermatic venous sampling in assisting the diagnosis of reninoma. The case of reninoma was retrospectively reviewed together with the literature review of reninoma diagnosed with renal venous and spermatic venous sampling. A young patient with hypertension and headache was admitted to our hospital. Laboratory test showed high plasma renin concentration (>500 mIU/L), and enhanced computed tomography(CT) in the upper abdomen showed a mass in left inferior renal pole. The concentration of renin in the left spermatic vein was significantly higher than that in renal veins and branches, and peripheral vein, which was considered the left reninoma possibility. The left renal mass was resected surgically and pathologic exam revealed reninoma. The renin level and the blood pressure recoveried normal after operation.The literature reported that the positive rate of renal vein segmental blood collection for locating renin tumor was only 8.3%-64%. The possible reason was that reninoma usually located in the renal cortex, and the tumor blood might be collected by renal capsule vein instead of renal vein. In fact, the renal capsule vein intersects with the lateral division of the spermatic vein, but there have been no reports about the localization of reninoma by spermatic vein sampling. Since renin secreted by reninoma may go into the spermatic vein through renal capsule vein, it should be noted that spermatic venous blood should be collected simultaneously in renal vein sampling when locating reninoma.

Objective:To explore the proportion of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in primary aldosteronism (PA) in Chinese population and compare the clinical characteristics between PA patients with OSA and those without.Methods:A total of 96 patients diagnosed with PA from September 2015 to November 2018 were recruited in this study. OSA was screened by cardio-respiratory polygraphy. According to the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), the patients were divided into PA with OSA group (AHI ≥5 times) and PA without OSA group (AHI<5 times).Results:Among all patients (96), 69 (71.9%) were with OSA, among them 22 patients (22.9%) were with mild OSA, 17 patients (17.7%) were with moderate OSA and 30 patients (31.3%) were with severe OSA. Compared with the patients without OSA, the patients with OSA were elder, and had higher levels of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), creatinine (CR) and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ( P<0.05), but lower concentrations of plasma aldosterone (PAC), supine aldosterone renin concentration ratio(ARR) and the PAC after the diagnosis test ( P<0.05). Spearman correlation analyses showed that BMI, WC, HC, CR and HbA1c were positively correlated with AHI ( P<0.05), while high-density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C), supine-PAC and saline infusion test(SIT)-post PAC were negatively correlated with AHI ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The proportion of OSA in PA patients is relatively high (71.9%). Metabolic abnormalities are more common in PA patients with OSA, indicating that screening for OSA should be carried out routinely in PA patients.

More and more cases of aldosterone-and cortisol-producing adenoma (A/CPA) have been reported in recent years.In order to further understand the clinical characteristics of patients with A/CPA,we report 2 cases of A/CPA treated in our hospital,and analyzes them in combination with domestic reports.We recommend that clinicians routinely perform Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test on every primary aldosteronism patient prior to adrenal vein sampling (AVS) or adrenal adenoma surgery to rule out the possibility of Cushing's syndrome so as to avoid the wrong judgment of AVS results and avoid adrenal hypofunction or adrenal crisis after operation.