OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and prognosis between dapagliflozin and empagliflozin in elderly patients with heart failure （HF） complicated by cardiac pacemaker implantation.METHODS The clinical data of 237 elderly patients with HF complicated by cardiac pacemaker implantation， who were admitted to the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanyang Medical College from July 1， 2023， to January 1， 2025， were retrospectively collected. According to medication use， the patients were divided into the control group （conventional therapy， n ＝90）， dapagliflozin group （conventional therapy plus dapagliflozin， n ＝77）， and empagliflozin group （conventional therapy plus empagliflozin， n ＝70）. Cardiac function and HF-related indicators were evaluated before treatment and after 6 months of treatment among the 3 groups. The incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events （MACE）， HF rehospitalization rate， and the occurance of adverse reaction were compared among the 3 groups.RESULTS After 6 months of treatment， compared with the same group before treatment， left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly increased， 6-minute walk distance was significantly prolonged， left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and left ventricular end-systolic diameter were significantly shortened， and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels were significantly decreased in all 3 groups （ P ＜0.05）. The improvements in most of the above indicators were greater in the dapagliflozin and empagliflozin groups than in the control group （ P ＜0.05）， and were all greater in the empagliflozin group than in the dapagliflozin group （ P ＜0.05）. The HF rehospitalization rate was significantly lower in both dapagliflozin and empagliflozin groups than in the control group （ P ＜0.05）， and was significantly lower in the empagliflozin group than in the dapagliflozin group （ P ＜0.05）. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of MACE among the 3 groups （ P ＞0.05）， although the incidence was numerically lower in the dapagliflozin and empagliflozin groups than in the control group. There was also no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions among the 3 groups （ P ＞0.05）.CONCLUSIONS Both dapagliflozin and empagliflozin can improve cardiac function and HF-related indicators and reduce the risk of HF rehospitalization in elderly patients with HF complicated by cardiac pacemaker implantation on the basis of conventional therapy， without increasing the risk of adverse reactions. Compared with dapagliflozin， empagliflozin shows more pronounced effects.

ObjectiveTo investigate the potential therapeutic effects of Dengzhan Shengmai capsules （DZSM） on myocardial fibrosis after myocardial infarction and decipher the underlying molecular mechanisms by virtue of network robustness algorithm. MethodsA rat model of myocardial infarction was established by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. Successfully modeled Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into a model group， an enalapril group（3.15 mg·kg^-1）， and high- and low-dose DZSM groups（226.8，113.4 mg·kg^-1）. In addition， a sham group was set up. After four consecutive weeks of intervention， the cardiac function was assessed via echocardiography， and myocardial collagen deposition was observed through Sirius red staining. The key regulatory pathways of DZSM were analyzed by the network robustness algorithm. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） and immunofluorescence assay were employed to validate the mechanisms. ResultsCompared with the sham group， the model group exhibited decreased left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF%） and fractional shortening （FS%） （P<0.01） and increased myocardial collagen volume fraction （CVF%） （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， high-dose DZSM and enalapril improved LVEF% and FS% （P<0.01）. Both high- and low-dose DZSM reduced the CVF% （P<0.05， P<0.05，）. Network analysis indicated that DZSM exerted its effects by regulating neutrophil infiltration and related inflammatory pathways. Experimental validation showed that DZSM significantly reduced the protein levels of nuclear factor （NF）-κB， Janus kinase 2 （JAK2）， and signal transduction activator and transducer 3 （STAT3） in the cardiac tissue， as well as the levels of chemokine （C-X-C motif） ligand 1 （CXCL1）， interleukin （IL）-1β， neutrophil elastase-DNA complex （NE-DNA）， and myeloperoxidase-DNA complex （MPO-DNA） in the plasma. ConclusionDZSM may ameliorate myocardial fibrosis by inhibiting neutrophil infiltration and extracellular trap formation and regulating the NF-κB/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Objective To systematically analyze the influencing factors of chronic liver disease patients' perception of symptoms based on the Andersen model,and to provide methodological reference for the study in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.Methods Based on the predisposing factors,enabling factors,demand factors,health behaviors,and health outcomes of the Andersen model,an influencing factor model was constructed.A community cluster convenience sample survey method was used to conduct a questionnaire star survey on chronic liver disease patients in multiple communities in Liwan,Guangzhou from November 2018 to March 2020.Univariate Mann-Whitney U test,Kruskal-Wallis H test,Spearman correlation analysis,and multivariate generalized linear hierarchical model analysis were performed.Results A total of 494 valid questionnaires were collected,and the median score for the patients' perception of the symptoms was 32(26,42)points.For the predisposing factors:age,education level,overtime status,and formal medical treatment;for the enabling factors:income and expenditure situation,personal history of hyperlipidemia;for the demand factors:cognition of medical and nursing integration,regular reexamination;and for the health behaviors:daily water intake,use of digital devices,and exercise and health care were all influencing factors(P＜0.05).Comparing the hierarchical models,health behaviors had the highest impact on the perception of the symptoms in chronic liver disease patients,followed by enabling factors,and demand factors had the lowest impact.Conclusion Medical staff should focus on the health behaviors of chronic liver disease patients with different predisposing factors,optimize the enabling factors,strengthen the guidance and intervention of demand factors,and provide comprehensive and personalized medical care plans.

Objective To investigate the organ protective role and the underlying mechanism of nafamostat mesylate(NM)in a renal ischemia-reperfusion injury(RIRI)model.Methods A total of 21 healthy male Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups(n=7 in each group),including the sham operation group(Sham group),the RIRI group,and the NM intervention group(NM group).The RIRI and NM groups underwent ischemia-reperfusion injury(IRI)modeling.The NM group was given an intraperitoneal injection of NM at 0.75 mg/kg before modeling.Venous blood and renal tissue samples were then collected from the rats 24 hours after modeling.The levels of serum creatinine,cystatin C,and serum inflammatory factors were determined using the serum samples.Hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and TUNEL stainings were performed on the renal tissues to evaluate the damage of the renal tissues.The localization and expression of HMGB1 were analyzed by immunofluorescence and Western blotting,respectively.Single-cell RNA sequencing of the nuclei was performed to obtain the single-cell transcriptome of the kidneys from the rats in the RIRI and the NM groups and to acquire the RIRI cell profile.The cells were annotated according to the cell marker genes to explore the cell type composition in the disease model and the functional status of immune cells between the groups.Results 1)Compared with those of the Sham group,the levels of cystatin C,creatinine,and inflammatory factors in the RIRI and NM groups were significantly increased,and the expression levels in the NM group were lower than those in the RIRI group(P＜0.05).Compared with those of the RIRI group,the tubular injury score and apoptosis rate in the NM group were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),but those of both the NM and RIRI groups were higher than those of the sham group.Compared with that in the RIRI group,the expression of HMGB1 in the NM group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),but the expression levels in both the RIRI and NM groups were higher than that in the sham group.Immunofluorescence showed that there was increased cytoplasmic expression of HMGB1 in both the NM and RIRI groups,with the increase being more prominent in the RIRI group.2)A total of 13 major cell populations were identified through the single-nucleus sequencing results.The proportion of tubular cells in the NM group was higher,with the HMGB1 gene being highly expressed in the damaged proximal convoluted tubular cells.The proportion of the polarized Macro3 cell subpopulation in the macrophages in the NM group was lower compared to that in the RIRI group.Conclusion NM may play a protective role in a rat model of RIRI,and its underlying mechanisms may be related to the regulation of the functional abnormalities of HMGB1-mediated macrophages.

Objective To establish a stable,reliable,and clinically relevant porcine model of endotoxin-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS).Methods Ten 8-month-old male Bama minipigs were deeply sedated,followed by invasive mechanical ventilation and electrocardiographic monitoring.Lipopolysaccharide(LPS)was intravenously pumped at 600 μg/(kg·h)for 3 hours,then maintained at 15 μg/(kg·h)thereafter.Dynamic monitoring was performed at five time points after LPS injection(LPS 0,1,3,5,and 8 h),including arterial blood gas analysis and chest computed tomography(CT)scans.Pathological examination of lung tissues obtained via bronchoscopic biopsy(HE staining and transmission electron microscopy)was conducted.These indicators were comprehensively used to evaluate the success of the animal model.Results At 5 hours after LPS administration,8 minipigs developed symptoms such as skin cyanosis,elevated body temperature,and respiratory distress.The oxygenation index decreased to<300 mmHg.Chest CT scans showed diffuse pulmonary infiltrates.Histopathology revealed alveolar edema and hyaline membrane formation.Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated disruption of pulmonary blood-air barrier,depletion of lamellar bodies in type Ⅱ pneumocytes,inflammatory cell infiltration,and exudation of plasma proteins and fibrin.Compared with LPS 0 h,at LPS 8 h,the oxygenation index and arterial blood pH were significantly decreased(P<0.001),while blood lactic acid and serum potassium were significantly increased(P<0.05);serum calcium and base excess were significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the lung injury score based on HE-stained lung sections was significantly increased(P<0.01).Conclusion The porcine ARDS model established by continuous LPS injection can dynamically simulate the pathophysiological characteristics and typical pathological manifestations of clinical septic ARDS,making it an effective tool to study the pathogenesis,prevention,and treatment strategies of septic ARDS.

Objective To systematically analyze the influencing factors of chronic liver disease patients' perception of symptoms based on the Andersen model,and to provide methodological reference for the study in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.Methods Based on the predisposing factors,enabling factors,demand factors,health behaviors,and health outcomes of the Andersen model,an influencing factor model was constructed.A community cluster convenience sample survey method was used to conduct a questionnaire star survey on chronic liver disease patients in multiple communities in Liwan,Guangzhou from November 2018 to March 2020.Univariate Mann-Whitney U test,Kruskal-Wallis H test,Spearman correlation analysis,and multivariate generalized linear hierarchical model analysis were performed.Results A total of 494 valid questionnaires were collected,and the median score for the patients' perception of the symptoms was 32(26,42)points.For the predisposing factors:age,education level,overtime status,and formal medical treatment;for the enabling factors:income and expenditure situation,personal history of hyperlipidemia;for the demand factors:cognition of medical and nursing integration,regular reexamination;and for the health behaviors:daily water intake,use of digital devices,and exercise and health care were all influencing factors(P＜0.05).Comparing the hierarchical models,health behaviors had the highest impact on the perception of the symptoms in chronic liver disease patients,followed by enabling factors,and demand factors had the lowest impact.Conclusion Medical staff should focus on the health behaviors of chronic liver disease patients with different predisposing factors,optimize the enabling factors,strengthen the guidance and intervention of demand factors,and provide comprehensive and personalized medical care plans.

In the treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation with radiofrequency ablation,it is often necessary to add the ablation of external trigger foci of pulmonary vein on the basis of annular pulmonary vein isolation,including linear ablation,BOX ablation and fragmentation potential ablation.The isthmus of mitral valve is the most important component of linear ablation,but it is difficult to reach the isthmus of mitral valve for complete blockade by conventional radiofrequency ablation.The guide catheter was transported through the inferior vena cava to the coronary sinus,and the injection of Marshall vein anhydrous ethanol for ablation could achieve epicardial and myocardial block in the mitral isthmus,and the ablation combined with the endocardial patch ablation in the mitral isthmus could significantly improve the ablation effect,but there were disadvantages such as Marshall vein and coronary vein injury,high surgical cost and long time.This paper reports a case of persistent atrial fibrillation treated by self-made perforated balloon with Marshall intravenous anhydrous ethanol combined with individualized ablation strategy.No major adverse cardiovascular events or recurrence of atrial fibrillation occurred during 6 months of follow-up after discharge.

Objective:This study aims to evaluate the performance of digital PCR (dPCR) detecting multiple and single copies genes of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) for nucleic acid quantification and explore their applicability in clinical settings.Methods:Compared the sensitivity, specificity, precision, lower limit of detection (LoD), and linearity for multicopy BamHI-W dPCR and single-copy EBNA1 dPCR systems. Linear regression analysis using the least squares method was employed to evaluate the linearity. Additionally, we analyzed plasma samples from 182 patients with suspected EBV-related diseases between January and July 2022 at the Southern Medical University Southern Hospital, using both dPCR and quantitative PCR (qPCR) for EBV DNA quantification. Linear regression analysis using the least squares method was conducted to assess their quantitative correlation.Results:The dPCR systems for both multicopy and single-copy genes showed excellent linearity ( R 2 values of 0.992 and 0.997, respectively, both P<0.001). The LoD were 188 IU/ml for BamHI-W gene and 358 IU/ml for EBNA1 gene dPCR systems. The logarithmic coefficient of variation ( CV) values for high-concentration samples (1 000 000 IU/ml) were 0.34% and 0.21% for the BamHI-W gene and EBNA1 gene dPCR assays, respectively, while for low-concentration samples (5 000 IU/ml) were 0.98% and 0.64%, respectively. In the detection of seven common clinical infectious pathogens and EBV positive samples, only EBV-positive samples yielded positive signals in the dPCR detection system, with no cross-reaction with other pathogens. In 182 samples, the positive detection rates were 47.80% (87/182) for BamHI-W gene and 35.16% (64/182) for EBNA1 gene dPCR, compared to 43.41% (79/182) for qPCR. Linear correlation analysis with qPCR showed R2 values of 0.837 for BamHI-W gene and 0.763 for EBNA1 gene dPCR (both P<0.001). The BamHI-W gene copy number ranged from 3 to 18 copies per clinical sample, with patient-specific variations. There was a high consistency in viral load trends between the multicopy BamHI-W gene and single-copy EBNA1 gene dPCR systems within individual patients. Conclusions:The dPCR methods detecting EBV multiple and single copies genes showed high sensitivity, specificity, precision, and quantitative accuracy, suitable for clinical sample analysis. The multicopy BamHI-W gene dPCR method notably enhances detection sensitivity and can be used as a supplement to current EBV DNA load detection methods, especially in low-concentration samples. For within-patient EBV DNA monitoring, the multicopy gene method proves more effective, while inter-patient comparisons might necessitate single-copy gene methods or normalize them using the same standard.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of microwave ablation (MWA) combined with chemotherapy versus MWA alone in the treatment of recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (RICC). Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted among the patients with RICC who received MWA+chemotherapy or MWA in The Second People's Hospital of Neijiang and The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2014 to March 2021, and their clinicopathological data were collected. The independent samples t -test was used for comparison of continuous data, and the chi-square test and the Fisher's exact test were used for comparison of categorical data. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and the Log-rank test was used for comparison of survival differences. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression model analyses were used to investigate the risk factors for survival and prognosis. Results A total of 106 patients with RIC were enrolled, among whom there were 55 patients in the MWA+chemotherapy group and 51 in the MWA group. By the end of follow-up, the MWA+chemotherapy group had a median PFS of 15.0 months (95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 14.5-15.5), and the MWA group had a median PFS of 13.4 months (95% CI : 11.6-15.2), with a significant difference between the two groups ( χ 2 =9.624, P =0.002). The MWA+chemotherapy group had a median OS of 21.0 months (95% CI : 20.0-21.8), and the MWA group had a median OS of 18.0 months (95% CI : 16.3-19.7), with a significant difference between the two groups ( χ 2 =12.784, P < 0.001). The Cox regression analysis showed that tumor diameter (PFS: hazard ratio [ HR ]=0.425, 95% CI : 0.208-0.868, P =0.019; OS: HR =0.299, 95% CI : 0.121-0.739, P =0.009), time to recurrence (PFS: HR =7.064, 95% CI : 3.612-13.618, P < 0.001; OS: HR =2.341, 95% CI : 1.072-5.113, P =0.033), and combined chemotherapy (PFS: HR =0.138, 95% CI : 0.069-0.276, P < 0.001; OS: HR =0.175, 95% CI : 0.081-0.380, P < 0.001) were independent influencing factors for PFS and OS in patients with RICC. As for the common adverse reactions, there were no significant differences in the incidence rates of all adverse reactions except hematological toxicity ( χ 2 =12.524, P < 0.001). Conclusion Compared with MWA alone, MWA combined with chemotherapy can improve the prognosis of RICC and prolong PFS and OS, with safe and controllable side effects. Patients with tumor diameter > 5 cm, time to recurrence < 1 year, and absence of systemic chemotherapy tend to have a poor prognosis.

Humans ; Neoplasms, Second Primary/epidemiology* ; Neoplasms/epidemiology* ; Risk Factors ; Prognosis