This study aims to investigate the ameliorating effect of Corni Fructus(CF) on the myocardial ischemic injury and the pharmacokinetic properties of characteristic components of CF. The mouse model of isoproterenol-induced myocardial ischemia was established and administrated with the aqueous extract of CF. The general efficacy of CF in ameliorating the myocardial ischemic injury was evaluated based on the cardiac histopathology and the levels of myocardial injury markers: creatine kinase isoenzyme(CK-MB) and cardiac troponin I(cTn-I). The metabolomics analysis was carried out for the heart and serum samples of mice to screen the biomarkers of CF in ameliorating the myocardial ischemic injury and then the predicted biomarkers were submitted to metabolic pathway enrichment. The pharmacokinetic analysis was performed for morroniside, loganin, and cornuside Ⅰ in mouse heart and serum samples to obtain the pharmacokinetic parameters of these components. The pharmacokinetic parameters were then integrated on the basis of self-defined weighting coefficients to simulate an integrated pharmacokinetic profile of CF iridoid glycosides in the heart and serum of the mouse model of myocardial ischemia. The results indicated that CF reduced the pathological damage to cardiac cells and tissue(hematoxylin-eosin staining) and lowered the levels of CK-MB and cTn-I in the serum of the mouse model of myocardial ischemia(P<0.01). Metabolomics analysis screed out 31 endogenous metabolites in the heart and 35 in the serum as biomarkers of CF in ameliorating the myocardial ischemic injury. These biomarkers were altered by modeling and restored by CF. Six metabolic pathways in the heart and 5 in the serum were enriched based on these metabolic markers. The main integrated pharmacokinetic parameters of CF iridoid glycosides were T_(max)=1 h, t_(1/2)=(1.52±0.05) h in the heart and T_(max)=1 h, t_(1/2)=(1.56±0.50) h in the serum. Both concentration-time curves showed a double-peak phenomenon. In conclusion, CF demonstrated the cardioprotective effect by regulating metabolic pathways such as taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, and pantothenic acid and coenzyme A biosynthesis. The integrated pharmacokinetics reflect the general pharmacokinetic properties of characteristic components in CF.
Animals ; Cornus/chemistry* ; Mice ; Metabolomics ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia/metabolism* ; Humans ; Troponin I/metabolism* ; Myocardium/pathology* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Biomarkers/metabolism* ; Creatine Kinase, MB Form/metabolism*

OBJECTIVE: By analyzing the hormone secretion of the adenohypophysis, thyroid glands, gonads, and adrenal cortex in patients with hematological diseases before and after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), this study aims to preliminarily explore the effect of HSCT on patients' hormone secretion and glandular damage. METHODS: The baseline data of 209 hematological disease patients who underwent HSCT in our hospital from January 2019 to December 2023, as well as the data on the levels of hormones secreted by the adenohypophysis, thyroid glands, gonads and adrenal cortex before and after HSCT were collected, and the changes in hormone levels before and after transplantation were analyzed. RESULTS: After allogeneic HSCT, the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and estradiol (E2) decreased, while the levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle- stimulating hormone (FSH) increased. The T3 level of patients with decreased TSH after transplantation was lower than that of those with increased TSH after transplantation. In female patients, the levels of prolactin (PRL), progesterone (Prog), and testosterone (Testo) decreased after HSCT. Testo and PRL decreased when there was a donor-recipient sex mismatch, and the levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol (COR) decreased when the HLA matching was haploidentical. The levels of T3, FT3, and PRL decreased after autologous HSCT. In allogeneic HSCT patients, the levels of TSH, T4, T3, FT3, and ACTH in the group with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were significantly lower than those in the group without GVHD. Logistic regression analysis showed the changes in hormone levels after transplantation were not correlated with factors such as the patient's sex, age, or whether the blood types of the donor and the recipient are the same. CONCLUSION HSCT can affect the endocrine function of patients with hematological diseases, mainly affecting target glandular organs such as the thyroid, gonads, and adrenal glands, while the secretory function of the adenohypophysis is less affected.
Humans ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Female ; Male ; Hematologic Diseases/blood* ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone/blood* ; Triiodothyronine/blood* ; Luteinizing Hormone/blood* ; Thyroid Gland/metabolism* ; Estradiol/blood* ; Thyrotropin/blood* ; Gonads/metabolism* ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/blood* ; Hormones/metabolism* ; Adrenal Cortex/metabolism* ; Prolactin

Objective: To determine the clinical efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection combined with warm acupuncture and moxibustion for treating patients with knee osteoarthritis and cold dampness obstruction syndrome. Methods: One hundred and twenty-eight patients with knee osteoarthritis and cold dampness obstruction syndrome who visited the Rehabilitation Department and Orthopedics Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine from January 2023 to March 2024 and who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly divided into an experimental (n=64) and control group (n=64) using the random number table method. The experimental group was treated with PRP injection combined with warm acupuncture and moxibustion, whereas the control group was treated with normal saline injection combined with warm acupuncture and moxibustion treatment. PRP and normal saline injections were administered once every two weeks, a total of four times. Patients were treated with warm acupuncture and moxibustion once a day, six times a week, for four consecutive weeks. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome, visual analog scale (VAS), and Lysholm scores were determined before treatment, at week 4 and week 8 of treatment, and week 16 of follow-up. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), osteoprotegerin (OPG), bone gla protein(BGP), and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) levels were compared between the two groups before and after 8 weeks of treatment. The clinical efficacy and safety indicators between the two groups were also compared. Results: There was no statistical difference in baseline data such as gender, age, disease duration, and body mass index between the two groups of patients. Compared with before treatment, both groups showed decreased WOMAC total and subscale, TCM syndrome total score and symptom scores, and VAS scores, and an increase in Lysholm scores at 4, 8, and 16 weeks after treatment. After treatment, serum IL-6, MMP-3, TNF-α, and COMP levels decreased, whereas serum OPG and BGP levels increased (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, patients in the experimental group showed decreased WOMAC total and subscale, TCM syndrome total score and symptom scores, and VAS scores, and an increase in Lysholm score at 4, 8, and 16 weeks after treatment. Compared with the control group, patients in the experimental group showed decreased serum IL-6, MMP-3, TNF-α, and COMP levels and an increase in serum OPG and BPG levels after treatment (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the experimental group was 91.94%, higher than that of the control group (81.97%; P<0.05). Conclusion PRP injection combined with warm acupuncture and moxibustion can improve various TCM symptoms, improve knee joint function and bone metabolism, and reduce inflammation in patients with knee osteoarthritis and cold dampness obstruction syndrome.

The accumulation of uremic toxins such as urea nitrogen, blood creatinine, and uric acid of patients with renal failure in vivo would lead to aggravated kidney damage. In this study, coated aldehyde oxy-starch (CAO) was used as an adsorbent to investigate its in vitro adsorption performance on renal failure indexes for urea, indoxyl sulfate (INS), monomethylamine (MMA), dimethylamine (DMA), uric acid (UA), and creatinine (Cr). The effects of variables such as pH, temperature, concentration, dosage, and time on the adsorption capacity of CAO were systematically investigated, employing analytical techniques of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). The results revealed that CAO exhibited a strong adsorption capacity for urea, INS, and MMA, alongside a moderate adsorption capacity for DMA, UA, and Cr. The adsorption kinetics and thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption of urea and UA by CAO were fitted in pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the adsorption isotherm aligned with the Freundlich adsorption model. The enthalpy change ΔH of urea in adsorption was in the range of 40 to 60 kJ·mol^-1, which demonstrated the presence of strong adsorption force due to the interactions of coordinating groups. The ΔH of UA was greater than 80 kJ·mol^-1, indicating the generation of chemical bonds during the adsorption. Both of them, Gibbs free energy ΔG was less than 0, within the range of -20 to 0 kJ·mol^-1, suggested that the adsorption of urea and UA by CAO occurred spontaneously as physical adsorption process. The adsorption entropy ΔS of urea and UA was > 0, which indicated an increase in entropy throughout the adsorption. The infrared spectroscopygram showed the formation of a chemical bond, specifically the imine bond, following the adsorption of urea by CAO, thereby indicating a chemical reaction during the adsorption. This study elucidates the adsorption mechanism of CAO on various indexes of renal failure, providing a scientific basis for its clinical usage.

AIM:To investigate the clinical efficacy of phakic implantable collamer lens(ICL)implantation in correcting low-to-moderate myopia.METHODS: Retrospective study. A total of 48 patients(85 eyes)with low to moderate myopia who underwent ICL implantation were included in the study. The changes in uncorrected visual acuity(LogMAR), corrected visual acuity(LogMAR), refractive outcomes, intraocular pressure, vault and endothelial cell were observed at 1 a postoperatively.RESULTS: At 12 mo postoperatively, uncorrected and best-corrected visual acuity were -0.10(-0.20, -0.10)and -0.10(-0.20, -0.10), respectively, with an efficacy index of 1.07±0.13 and a safe index of 1.10±0.14. The difference between the actual corrected diopter and the expected corrected diopter was 91%(77/85)in the range of ±0.50 D, and 100%(85/85)in the range of ±1.00 D. The mean vault was 501.16±210.46 μm at 12 mo postoperatively. There was no significant difference in corneal endothelial cell density between preoperative and 6 and 12 mo postoperatively(F=1.050, P=0.352). All patients had no anterior subcapsular opacification, cataract, pupillary block, or other sight threatening complications during follow-up.CONCLUSION: ICL implantation for the correction of low to moderate myopia has good efficacy, safety and predictability.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of warming-needle moxibustion combined with cross acupoint selection method in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis(KOA).Methods Fifty patients with KOA were randomly divided into observation group and control group,25 patients in each group.The control group was treated with warming-needle moxibustion on local of the knee joint,and the observation group was treated with elbow cross acupoint selection on the basis of the treatment of the control group.The course of treatment covered five days,with an interval of one day between courses of treatment,and a total of two courses of treatment.After two courses of treatment,the changes in Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)scores and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index(WOMAC)scores in the two groups before and after treatment were observed.Changes in step frequency,step speed,step length,stride,and gait period between the two groups of patients before and after treatment were compared.Results(1)During the research,there was one case in the observation group and four cases in the control group lost to follow-up.Finally,24 cases in the observation group and 21 cases in the control group were included in the efficacy statistics.(2)After treatment,the scores of VAS and WOMAC of patients in the two groups decreased significantly(P＜0.01),and the improvement in the observation group was significantly superior to that in the control group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).(3)After treatment,the step frequency and step speed of patients in the two groups were significantly improved compared with those before treatment,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05),and the parameters of step length and stride were slightly improved compared with those before treatment,but the difference was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).After treatment,the observation group was slightly superior to that in the control group in improving the patients'step frequency,step length,step speed and stride,but the difference was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).(4)After treatment,the gait period of patients in both groups were improved significantly(P＜0.05),and the improvement in the observation group was significantly superior to that in the control group,but the difference was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).Conclusion The efficacy of warming-needle moxibustion combined with cross acupoint selection method in the treatment of KOA is precise,with good analgesic effect,moreover,it can significantly improve the daily joint function of the patients,and improve the step frequency and step speed of patients with KOA and shorten the gait period,so as to improve the quality of life of patients,with remarkable therapeutic effect.

Objective: To explore the association between sleep duration and the risk of frailty among the elderly over 80 years old in China. Methods: Using the data from five surveys of the China Elderly Health Influencing Factors Follow-up Survey (CLHLS) (2005, 2008-2009, 2011-2012, 2014, and 2017-2018), 7 024 elderly people aged 80 years and above were selected as the study subjects. Questionnaires and physical examinations were used to collect information on sleep time, general demographic characteristics, functional status, physical signs, and illness. The frailty state was evaluated based on a frailty index that included 39 variables. The Cox proportional risk regression model was used to analyze the correlation between sleep time and the risk of frailty occurrence. A restricted cubic spline function was used to analyze the dose-response relationship between sleep time and the risk of frailty occurrence. The likelihood ratio test was used to analyze the interaction between age, gender, sleep quality, cognitive impairment, and sleep duration. Results: The age M (Q₁, Q₃) of 7 024 subjects was 87 (82, 92) years old, with a total of 3 435 (48.9%) patients experiencing frailty. The results of restricted cubic spline function analysis showed that there was an approximate U-shaped relationship between sleep time and the risk of frailty. When sleep time was 6.5-8.5 hours, the elderly had the lowest risk of frailty; Multivariate Cox proportional risk regression model analysis showed that compared to 6.5-8.5 hours of sleep, long sleep duration (>8.5 hours) increased the risk of frailty by 13% (HR: 1.13; 95%CI: 1.04-1.22). Conclusion: There is a nonlinear association between sleep time and the risk of frailty in the elderly.
Aged ; Humans ; Aged, 80 and over ; Frailty/epidemiology* ; Sleep Duration ; Prospective Studies ; Sleep/physiology* ; China/epidemiology*

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of breast myofibroblastoma. Methods: The clinicopathological data and prognostic information of 15 patients with breast myofibroblastoma diagnosed at the Department of Pathology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China from 2014 to 2022 were collected. Their clinical characteristics, histological subtypes, immunophenotypes and molecular characteristics were analyzed. Results: There were 12 female and 3 male patients, ranging in age from 18 to 78 years, with a median and average age of 52 years. There were 6 cases in the left breast and 9 cases in the right breast, including 12 cases in outer upper quadrant, 2 cases in inner upper quadrant and 1 case in outer lower quadrant. Most of the cases showed a well-defined nodule grossly, including pushing growth under the microscope in 13 cases, being completely separated from the surrounding breast tissue in 1 case, and infiltrating growth in 1 case. Among them, 12 cases were classic subtype and composed of occasional spindle cells with varying intervals of collagen fiber bundles; eight cases had a small amount of fat; one case had focal cartilage differentiation; one case was epithelioid subtype, in which epithelioid tumor cells were scattered in single filing or small clusters; one case was schwannoma-like subtype, and the tumor cells were arranged in a significant palisade shape, resembling schwannoma, and one case was invasive leiomyoma-like subtype, in which the tumor cells had eosinophilic cytoplasm and were arranged in bundles, and infiltrating into the surrounding mammary lobules like leiomyoma. Immunohistochemical studies showed that the tumor cells expressed desmin (14/15) and CD34 (14/15), as well as ER (15/15) and PR (15/15). Three cases with histologic subtypes of epithelioid subtype, schwannoma-like subtype and infiltrating leiomyoma-like subtype showed RB1 negative immunohistochemistry. Then FISH was performed to detect RB1/13q14 gene deletion, and identified RB1 gene deletion in all three cases. Fifteen cases were followed up for 2-100 months, and no recurrence was noted. Conclusions: Myofibroblastoma is a rare benign mesenchymal tumor of the breast. In addition to the classic type, there are many histological variants, among which the epithelioid subtype is easily confused with invasive lobular carcinoma. The schwannoma-like subtype is similar to schwannoma, while the invasive subtype is easily misdiagnosed as fibromatosis-like or spindle cell metaplastic carcinoma. Therefore, it is important to recognize the various histological subtypes and clinicopathological features of the tumor for making correct pathological diagnosis and rational clinical treatment.
Female ; Humans ; Male ; Antigens, CD34 ; Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis* ; Leiomyoma/pathology* ; Neoplasms, Muscle Tissue/pathology* ; Neurilemmoma ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Aged

OBJECTIVE: To compare the short-term clinical efficacy of SuperCap approach and direct anterior approach in total hip arthroplasty. METHODS: Clinical data of 70 patients who underwent minimally invasive SuperCap approach and DAA THA in January 2016 to June 2017 were retrospective analyzed. These patients were divided into two groups:SuperCap approach group(SuperCap group) and direct anterior approach group(DAA group). There were 15 males and 15 females in SuperCap group, aged from 45 to 71 years old, and the follow-up time ranged from 24 to 30 months. There were 24 males and 16 females in Group B, aged from 51 to 76 years and the follow-up time ranged from 24 to 36 months. Hemoglobin level of the 3rd day after operation, transfusion rate, acetabular abduction angle, anteversion angle and creatine kinase level of the 3rd day after operation, Harris score of 3 months and the last time, VAS score of 1 week and the last time were recorded and compared. Complications were recorded at the final follow-up. RESULTS: All patients were followed up, the follow-up time of SuperCap group ranged from 24 to 30 months, that of DAA group ranged from 24 to 36 months. No significant differences were found in hemoglobin level on the 3rd day after operation, transfusion rate, Harris score or VAS score between two group (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in Harris score between 3 months after operation and the final follow-up in both groups (P>0.05). There were no significant difference in VAS scores of 6 weeks after operation and on the final follow-up neither(P>0.05). The level of creatine kinase in SuperCap group was significant lower than that in DAA group(P<0.05). Until the final follow-up, there was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between the two groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSION The clinical effect of minimally invasive SuperCap approach after total hip arthroplasty is comparable to that of DAA approach with less soft tissue injury. Patients can recover rapidly after operation and it is a safe and effective surgical approach for surgeons with short learning curve.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Retrospective Studies ; Antiviral Agents ; Treatment Outcome ; Creatine Kinase ; Hemoglobins