Objective To explore the safety and effects of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) in patients with ischemic heart failure (IHF). Methods A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was designed (ClinicalTrial.gov registration number NCT03491969). From January 2019 to January 2023, 300 patients with IHF were enrolled in four medical centers in China, and were randomly assigned at a 1∶1 ratio to receive ALA (600 mg daily) or placebo on top of standard care for 24 months. The primary outcome was the composite outcome of hospitalization for heart failure (HF) or all-cause mortality events. The second outcome included non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), non-fatal stroke, changes of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) from baseline to 24 months after randomization. Results Finally, 138 patients of the ALA group and 139 patients of the placebo group attained the primary outcome. Hospitalization for HF or all-cause mortality events occurred in 32 patients (23.2%) of the ALA group and in 40 patients (28.8%) of the placebo group (HR＝0.753, 95%CI 0.473-1.198, P＝0.231; Figure 1A-1C). The absolute risk reduction (ARR) was 5.6%, the relative risk reduction (RRR) associated with ALA therapy was approximately 19.4% compared to placebo, corresponding to a number needed to treat (NNT) of 18 patients to prevent one event. In the secondary outcome analysis, the composite outcome of the major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including the hospitalization for HF, all-cause mortality events, non-fatal MI or non-fatal stroke occurred in 35 patients (25.4%) in the ALA group and 47 patients (33.8%) in the placebo group (HR＝0.685, 95%CI 0.442-1.062, P＝0.091; Figure 1D). Moreover, greater improvement in LVEF (β＝3.20, 95%CI 1.14-5.23, P＝0.002) and 6MWD (β＝31.7, 95%CI 8.3-54.7, P＝0.008) from baseline to 24 months after randomization were observed in the ALA group as compared to the placebo group. There were no differences in adverse events between the study groups. Conclusions These results show potential long-term beneficial effects of adding ALA to IHF patients. ALA could significantly improve LVEF and 6MWD compared to the placebo group in IHF patients.

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effect of Mahuang Xixin Fuzitang combined with acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of localized scleroderma. MethodA total of 95 patients with localized scleroderma treated in Wuhan No. 1 Hospital from September 2019 to October 2021 were assigned into a control group （47 patients） and an observation group （48 patients） by random number table method. The control group was treated with Centella triterpenes tablets and heparin sodium cream， and the observation group was additionally treated with Mahuang Xixin Fuzitang combined with acupuncture and moxibustion. Both groups were treated for 8 weeks， and the clinical effect was compared between groups. The traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） syndrome score （local skin sclerosis， loss of skin texture， darkening of skin pigment， scaly dry skin， etc.）， serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor （sIL-2R） and tumor necrosis factor-alpha （TNF-α）， erythrocyte sedimentation rate （ESR）， and eosinophil count （EO） were compared between before and after treatment as well as between groups. Additionally， the adverse reactions were recorded. ResultThe observation group had higher total effective rate than the control group ［95.83% （46/48） vs. 82.98% （39/47）， χ²=4.166 4， P<0.05］. Before treatment， the TCM syndrome score， sIL-2R， TNF-α， ESR， and EO showed no significant differences between the two groups. The 8 weeks of treatment improved the TCM syndrome score， sIL-2R， TNF-α， ESR， and EO. Moreover， the observation group was superior to the control group in these indicators （P<0.05）. During the treatment， the observation group showed 1 case of abnormal liver function and 1 case of nausea and vomiting， and the control group had 1 case of nausea and vomiting， 1 case of abnormal renal function， and 1 case of abnormal liver function. The total adverse reactions of the observation group （4.17%） and the control group （6.38%） had no significant difference （χ²=0.233 9， P=0.062 86）. ConclusionMahuang Xixin Fuzitang combined with acupuncture and moxibustion is safe and effective in the treatment of localized scleroderma.

Transrectal contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is an important examination for rectal tumors. The inhomogeneity of the CEUS images has important clinical significance. However, there is no objective method to evaluate this index. In this study, a method based on gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) is proposed to extract texture features of images and grade these images according the inhomogeneity. Specific processes include compressing the gray level of the image, calculating the texture statistics of gray level co-occurrence matrix, combining feature selection and principal component analysis (PCA) for dimensionality reduction, and training and validating quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA). After ten cross-validation, the overall accuracy rate of machine classification was 87.01%, and the accuracy of each level was as follows: Grade Ⅰ 52.94%, Grade Ⅱ 96.48% and Grade Ⅲ 92.35% respectively. The proposed method has high accuracy in judging grade Ⅱ and Ⅲ images, which can help to identify the grade of inhomogeneity of contrast-enhanced ultrasound images of rectal tumors, and may be used to assist clinical doctors in judging the grade of inhomogeneity of contrast-enhanced ultrasound of rectal tumors.
Discriminant Analysis ; Humans ; Rectal Neoplasms ; Ultrasonography