OBJECTIVE To explore the safety， effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a multimodal analgesic regimen in patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy under the guidance of enhanced recovery after surgery principles. METHODS Data from weight loss patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at our hospital were retrospectively collected. The trial group patients received a multimodal analgesic regimen， which included the use of 0.375% ropivacaine for local infiltration of the surgical incision before the end of surgery； intravenous infusion of flurbiprofen axetil 50 mg twice daily； intravenous infusion of methylprednisolone 40 mg once daily and oral administration of extended-release hydrocodone hydrochloride tablets 10 mg twice daily after surgery. The control group patients received a conventional analgesic regimen， which included intravenous infusion of flurbiprofen axetil 100 mg twice daily， with a daily dose twice that of the trial group； and intravenous injection of dexamethasone 5 mg once daily. Propensity score matching was used to balance the baseline data between the two groups. Then the pain scores during movement and at rest at 2， 12， 24 and 36 hours postoperatively， as well as the length of postoperative hospital stay， total length of hospital stay， time to first ambulation after surgery， adverse reactions during hospitalization， total drug costs， and costs of antimicrobial drugs during hospitalization were compared between the two groups. RESULTS The trial group had significantly lower pain scores during movement at 2， 24 and 36 hours postoperatively， and at rest at 2， 12 and 24 hours postoperatively compared to the control group （P＜0.05）. The time to first ambulation after surgery， total length of hospital stay， and length of postoperative hospital stay were significantly shorter in the trial group compared to the control group （P＜0.05）. The incidence of shoulder and back soreness， and costs of antimicrobial drugs were significantly lower in the trial group compared to the control group （P＜0.05）. No statistically significant differences were observed in the total incidence of drug-related adverse reactions and total drug costs during hospitalization between the two groups （P＞0.05）. CONCLUSIONS The multimodal analgesic regimen provides marked pain relief， demonstrates good safety profiles， and has a more economic advantage than the conventional analgesic regimen.

Early weaned piglets suffer from oxidative stress and enteral infection, which usually results in gut microbial dysbiosis, serve diarrhea, and even death. Rice bran oil (RBO), a polyphenol-enriched by-product of rice processing, has been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties both in vivo and in vitro. Here, we ascertained the proper RBO supplementation level, and subsequently determined its effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal dysfunction in weaned piglets. A total of 168 piglets were randomly allocated into four groups of seven replicates (42 piglets each group, (21±1) d of age, body weight (7.60±0.04) kg, and half males and half females) and were given basal diet (Ctrl) or basal diet supplemented with 0.01% (mass fraction) RBO (RBO1), 0.02% RBO (RBO2), or 0.03% RBO (RBO3) for 21 d. Then, seven piglets from the Ctrl and the RBO were treated with LPS (100 μg/kg body weight (BW)) as LPS group and RBO+LPS group, respectively. Meanwhile, seven piglets from the Ctrl were treated with the saline vehicle (Ctrl group). Four hours later, all treated piglets were sacrificed for taking samples of plasma, jejunum tissues, and feces. The results showed that 0.02% was the optimal dose of dietary RBO supplementation based on diarrhea, average daily gain, and average daily feed intake indices in early weaning piglets. Furthermore, RBO protected piglets against LPS-induced jejunal epithelium damage, which was indicated by the increases in villus height, villus height/crypt depth ratio, and Claudin-1 levels, as well as a decreased level of jejunal epithelium apoptosis. RBO also improved the antioxidant ability of LPS-challenged piglets, which was indicated by the elevated concentrations of catalase and superoxide dismutase, and increased total antioxidant capacity, as well as the decreased concentrations of diamine oxidase and malondialdehyde in plasma. Meanwhile, RBO improved the immune function of LPS-challenged weaned piglets, which was indicated by elevated immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgM, β‍‍-defensin-1, and lysozyme levels in the plasma. In addition, RBO supplementation improved the LPS challenge-induced dysbiosis of gut microbiota. Particularly, the indices of antioxidant capacity, intestinal damage, and immunity were significantly associated with the RBO-regulated gut microbiota. These findings suggested that 0.02% RBO is a suitable dose to protect against LPS-induced intestinal damage, oxidative stress, and jejunal microbiota dysbiosis in early weaned piglets.
Male ; Female ; Swine ; Animals ; Lipopolysaccharides/toxicity* ; Antioxidants/pharmacology* ; Rice Bran Oil ; Dysbiosis ; Dietary Supplements ; Diarrhea/veterinary* ; Weaning ; Body Weight

Inflammation-driven endothelial dysfunction is the major initiating factor in atherosclerosis, while the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we report that the non-canonical stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) pathway was significantly activated in both human and mice atherosclerotic arteries. Typically, STING activation leads to the activation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)/p65, thereby facilitating IFN signals and inflammation. In contrast, our study reveals the activated non-canonical STING-PERK pathway increases scaffold protein bromodomain protein 4 (BRD4) expression, which encourages the formation of super-enhancers on the proximal promoter regions of the proinflammatory cytokines, thereby enabling the transactivation of these cytokines by integrating activated IRF3 and NF-κB via a condensation process. Endothelium-specific STING and BRD4 deficiency significantly decreased the plaque area and inflammation. Mechanistically, this pathway is triggered by leaked mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) via mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), formed by voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) oligomer interaction with oxidized mtDNA upon cholesterol oxidation stimulation. Especially, compared to macrophages, endothelial STING activation plays a more pronounced role in atherosclerosis. We propose a non-canonical STING-PERK pathway-dependent epigenetic paradigm in atherosclerosis that integrates IRF3, NF-κB and BRD4 in inflammatory responses, which provides emerging therapeutic modalities for vascular endothelial dysfunction.

Drought is a common limiting factor affecting rice yield and quality. Cerium oxide nanoparticles(nanoceria) have been widely reported to improve crop stress tolerance. However, the effects and mechanisms of nanoceria on rice drought tolerance are still unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate whether nanoceria can improve rice drought tolerance by modulating reactive oxygen species(ROS) homeostasis and nitric oxide(NO) levels. Our results showed that compared with no-nanoparticle treatment, nanoceria significantly increased the fresh weight of rice seedlings under drought stress(19%, P < 0. 05). Also, under drought stress, the ROS level of rice leaves treated with nanoceria was significantly lower(82%, P < 0. 05) than leaves treated with buffer. The leaf NO level after nanoceria treatment, however, is significantly higher(46%, P < 0. 05) than that with no-nanoparticle treatment under drought stress. Moreover, compared with control plants, nanoceria maintained better membrane integrity in rice leaf cells under drought stress, showing a 70% decrease(P < 0. 05) in dead leaf cells. This study explores the mechanisms underlying nanoceria’s improved rice drought tolerance by affecting ROS and NO levels, which not only further enriches our knowledge about the interaction between nanoparticles and crops under abiotic stress but also gives more support on the sustainable development of nano-enabled agriculture.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are the most widely used method to identify genetic risk loci associated with orofacial clefts (OFC). However, despite the increasing size of cohort, GWASs are still insufficient to detect all the heritability, suggesting there are more associations under the current stringent statistical threshold. In this study, we obtained an integrated epigenomic dataset based on the chromatin conformation of a human oral epithelial cell line (HIOEC) using RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, H3K27ac ChIP-seq, and DLO Hi-C. Presumably, this epigenomic dataset could reveal the missing functional variants located in the oral epithelial cell active enhancers/promoters along with their risk target genes, despite relatively less-stringent statistical association with OFC. Taken a non-syndromic cleft palate only (NSCPO) GWAS data of the Chinese Han population as an example, 3664 SNPs that cannot reach the strict significance threshold were subjected to this functional identification pipeline. In total, 254 potential risk SNPs residing in active cis-regulatory elements interacting with 1 718 promoters of oral epithelium-expressed genes were screened. Gapped k-mer machine learning based on enhancers interacting with epithelium-expressed genes along with in vivo and in vitro reporter assays were employed as functional validation. Among all the potential SNPs, we chose and confirmed that the risk alleles of rs560789 and rs174570 reduced the epithelial-specific enhancer activity by preventing the binding of transcription factors related to epithelial development. In summary, we established chromatin conformation datasets of human oral epithelial cells and provided a framework for testing and understanding how regulatory variants impart risk for clefts.
Chromatin ; Cleft Lip/genetics* ; Cleft Palate/genetics* ; Epithelium ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Humans

Disturbance of macrophage-associated lipid metabolism plays a key role in atherosclerosis. Crosstalk between autophagy deficiency and inflammation response in foam cells (FCs) through epigenetic regulation is still poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that in macrophages, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) leads to abnormal crosstalk between autophagy and inflammation, thereby causing aberrant lipid metabolism mediated through a dysfunctional transcription factor EB (TFEB)-P300-bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) axis. ox-LDL led to macrophage autophagy deficiency along with TFEB cytoplasmic accumulation and increased reactive oxygen species generation. This activated P300 promoted BRD4 binding on the promoter regions of inflammatory genes, consequently contributing to inflammation with atherogenesis. Particularly, ox-LDL activated BRD4-dependent super-enhancer associated with liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) on the regulatory regions of inflammatory genes. Curcumin (Cur) prominently restored FCs autophagy by promoting TFEB nuclear translocation, optimizing lipid catabolism, and reducing inflammation. The consequences of P300 and BRD4 on super-enhancer formation and inflammatory response in FCs could be prevented by Cur. Furthermore, the anti-atherogenesis effect of Cur was inhibited by macrophage-specific Brd4 overexpression or Tfeb knock-out in Apoe knock-out mice via bone marrow transplantation. The findings identify a novel TFEB-P300-BRD4 axis and establish a new epigenetic paradigm by which Cur regulates autophagy, inhibits inflammation, and decreases lipid content.

Objective:To compare the difference of the ocular surface and efficacy of orthokeratology lenses wearing after using sodium hyaluronate eye drops, rewetting drops and saline solution.Methods:A randomized single-blind controlled trial was conducted.A total of 90 right eyes from 90 myopic patients were recruited from June 2017 to April 2018 in Hainan Eye Hospital.All the subjects received vision correction by orthokeratology lens, and were randomly divided into three groups by random number table method, with 30 eyes in each group.The sodium hyaluronate group was given preservative-free sodium hyaluronate eye drops (1 g/L), the rewetting drops group was given rewetting drops, and the saline solution group was given nonpreserved 0.9% NaCl.The vision, subjective refraction, corneal topography, non-invasive first tear film break-up time(NIKf-BUT) and fluorescein stain of corneal epithelium (FL) were detected before and 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months after the lens wearing.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the institutional Ethical Committee Review Board of Hainan Eye Hospital.Results:The NIKf-BUT in the sodium hyaluronate group at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after wearing orthokeratology lens was (7.13±1.71), (6.61±1.49), (6.37±1.82) and (7.01±1.63) seconds, respectively, which was obviously higher than (6.32±1.71), (5.53±1.42), (5.57±1.50) and (6.17±1.63) seconds in the rewetting drops group at the corresponding time points and (6.36±1.58), (5.81±1.49), (5.74±1.77) and (6.28±1.53) seconds in the saline solution group at the corresponding time points (all at P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in FL score between the rewetting drops group and saline solution group at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after wearing the orthokeratology lens (all at P>0.05). Lower FL scores were observed in the sodium hyaluronate group compared to the the rewetting drops group and saline solution group after wearing the orthokeratology lens (all at P<0.05). No differences were found in uncorrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent and average K value among the groups (all at P>0.05). Conclusions:Compared with the rewetting drops and saline solution, the preservative-free sodium hyaluronate eye drops can stabilize the tear film and have less effect on corneal epithelium at the early stage of orthokeratology lens wearing.However, there is no significant difference in the improvement of visual acuity and the rate of corneal shaping.

Objective:To investigate the in vitro interaction between antifungals and tacrolimus against Fusarium solani. Methods:According to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI) M27-Ed4 and M38-A3, 24 strains of Fusarium solani isolated from clinic were used to test the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the four antifungals.Chessboard microdilution method was used to evaluate the interaction of tacrolimus (FK506) combined with four antifungals in vitro.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hainan Eye Hospital (No.2017-006). Results:The MIC ranges of fluconazole, voriconazole, natamycin and amphotericin B against 24 strains of Fusarium were 64-256 μg/ml, 1-8 μg/ml, 2-8 μg/ml and 1-8 μg/ml, respectively.Tacrolimus combined with fluconazole, voriconazole, natamycin and amphotericin B had synergistic effects on 12.5% (3/24), 4.2% (1/24), 16.7% (4/24) and 29.2% (7/24) Fusarium, respectively.There were no antagonistic effect in this study. Conclusions:Fusarium is sensitive to natamycin in vitro and partly sensitive to amphotericin B and voriconazole.Synergistic effects exist in few strains of Fusarium but no antagonistic effect.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of aromatase inhibitor letrozole in treatment of male adolescents with idiopathic short stature (ISS). Seventy five boys with height less than 2 standard deviation (SD) below the mean who had entered puberty were enrolled in our study from 2004 to 2017, in the Pediatric Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University. Among 75 patients, 28 in letrozole group received letrozole and spironolactone, 30 in gonadotrophin releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa) group received GnRHa injection and 17 had no intervention. Height velocity (HV), increment of bone age/chronological age (ΔBA/ΔCA), the final adult height (FAH) were compared among groups and the safety of letrozole treatment was evaluated. HV maintained faster during letrozole treatment when compared with other groups. HV during GnRHa treatment showed slightly decline in the first 6 months, but decreased remarkably after 6 months, and was significantly lower than that in letrozole group ( < 0.05). The maturation of BA slowed down in both letrozole and GnRHa groups. But the ΔBA/ΔCA in letrozole group during the first and the second year of treatment were significantly higher (0.67±0.09, 0.50±0.15, respectively) when compared with GnRHa group (0.59±0.16, 0.44±0.13, respectively) ( =2.78 and 2.20, all < 0.05). FAH in letrozole group and GnRHa group were (170±4) cm and (170±6)cm, there was no significant differences between the two groups ( >0.05), and both were higher than that in no intervention group (162±4 cm, < 0.01). After 6 months of letrozole treatment, testicular volumes and serum testerone levels increased; 39.2% (11/28) boys had clinical manifestations of hyperandrogenemia, and 82.1% (23/28) boys had decreased serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. Serum levels of HDL and testerone returned normal and the hyperandrogenemia disappeared after the cessation of letrozole treatment. No significant changes in serum triglyceride, serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL), fating serum levels of insulin and glucose, HOMA-IR were observed. No abnormal liver function, myalgia, scoliosis or aggravations of scoliosis was found. Long term letrozole therapy during puberty in boys with ISS can delay bone maturation without significant decrease of linear growth, and thus can improve the final adult height. No severe adverse reactions were found.
Adolescent ; Body Height ; Bone Development ; Child ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Growth Disorders ; Humans ; Letrozole ; therapeutic use ; Male

Objective To analyze the loss coefficient of bivalent live attenuated oral polio vaccine（bOPV) in Hongshan District, and understand the causes and influencing factors, and to provide a basis for scientifically formulating vaccine use plans and regulating vaccine management. Methods Using the data of Hubei Province Immunization Planning Information System and Hongshan District Vaccination Storage and Management System, a special questionnaire was designed to understand the vaccination and use of bOPV in various immunization units in Hongshan District. A descriptive statistical analysis method was used to calculate the loss coefficient. Results The bOPV loss coefficient of 25 vaccination units in Hongshan District was 1.69. The difference of the loss coefficient between the out-patient clinics of the District Health and Family Planning Committee（1.35）and the community clinics undertaken by large hospitals (2.01）was statistically significant. The difference of the loss coefficient between the inoculation once a week（1.57）and 2-6 times per week（1.94）was statistically significant. In terms of vaccine-disabled time, the two groups of <4 hours and >4 hours had different calculated loss coefficients 1.86 and 1.61, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant. Multivariate regression analysis of the factors related to the loss coefficients found that different outpatient attributes had a greater impact on the loss coefficient than the inoculation cycle and the number of inoculation stations. The loss coefficient for 2016 and 2017 was 2.09 and 1.75, respectively. The difference was statistically significant. Conclusion The management and use of live attenuated bivalent polio vaccine in Hongshan District was relatively standardized. The vaccine loss can by further reduced by strengthening supervision and assessment, setting up centralized vaccination and standardizing publicity and training.