Atherosclerosis is the main pathological basis of coronary heart disease,and is thus of great importance in terms of the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease.Neuropilin-1(NRP1),a member of the neuropilin receptor family,is closely associated with various growth factors,including vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β).NRP1 influences the progression of atherosclerosis through its crucial roles in angiogenesis and inflammatory responses,and sensing of wall shear stress on the vascular endothelium.This review thus explores the mechanisms underlying the role of NRP1 in atherosclerosis and the development of NRP1-targeted therapeutic strategies,to provide new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis.

Medical ultrasound technology is widely used for diagnosis and therapy in clinical practice.Ultrasound probes,which are directly contact with patients,pose a potential risk of pathogen transmission.This expert consen-sus was developed by a multidisciplinary team based on international guidelines,standards in China,and the results of a national survey,aiming to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infection through standardizing reprocessing of medical ultrasound probes,and formulating consensus recommendations with the Delphi method.The consensus clarifies the reprocessing principles for three types of ultrasound probes of different infection risks:external-use ul-trasound probes,interventional percutaneous ultrasound probes,and internal-use ultrasound probes,puts forward systematic suggestions on the reprocessing standards and disinfection levels of ultrasound probe isolation covers and coupling agents,the reprocessing procedures and methods of ultrasound probes,as well as architectural layout and management of reprocessing,so as to provide a scientific prevention and control framework for ensuring ultrasound diagnosis and therapy safety.

Medical ultrasound technology is widely used for diagnosis and therapy in clinical practice.Ultrasound probes,which are directly contact with patients,pose a potential risk of pathogen transmission.This expert consen-sus was developed by a multidisciplinary team based on international guidelines,standards in China,and the results of a national survey,aiming to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infection through standardizing reprocessing of medical ultrasound probes,and formulating consensus recommendations with the Delphi method.The consensus clarifies the reprocessing principles for three types of ultrasound probes of different infection risks:external-use ul-trasound probes,interventional percutaneous ultrasound probes,and internal-use ultrasound probes,puts forward systematic suggestions on the reprocessing standards and disinfection levels of ultrasound probe isolation covers and coupling agents,the reprocessing procedures and methods of ultrasound probes,as well as architectural layout and management of reprocessing,so as to provide a scientific prevention and control framework for ensuring ultrasound diagnosis and therapy safety.

Atherosclerosis is the main pathological basis of coronary heart disease,and is thus of great importance in terms of the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease.Neuropilin-1(NRP1),a member of the neuropilin receptor family,is closely associated with various growth factors,including vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β).NRP1 influences the progression of atherosclerosis through its crucial roles in angiogenesis and inflammatory responses,and sensing of wall shear stress on the vascular endothelium.This review thus explores the mechanisms underlying the role of NRP1 in atherosclerosis and the development of NRP1-targeted therapeutic strategies,to provide new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis.

Pyroptosis is a programmed mode of cell death.Activated caspase-1 can induce the occurrence of pyroptosis,promote the release of inflammatory factors,and trigger a violent inflammatory response.Depending on the type of caspase involved,pyroptosis can be divided into a caspase-1-mediated typical inflammasome pathway and a human caspase-4/5(or mouse caspase-11)-mediated atypical inflammasome pathway.In recent years,studies have found that pyroptosis is closely related to the occurrence,development,and prognosis of atherosclerosis.This article reviews the roles and mechanisms of endothelial cells,vascular smooth muscle cells,and macrophage cells in the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis,with the aim of promoting new ideas for research into the pathogenesis,diagnosis,and treatment of atherosclerosis

AIM: To observe the inhibitory effect of recombinant human endostatin (rhES) on plaque angio-genesis, and to explore the regulatory mechanism of Dll4 /Notch pathway in the anti-angiogenic effect of rhES.METH-ODS: Male Wistar rats were randomized into 3 groups: normal control group (N group), atherosclerotic model group (AS group), and rhES treated group (AS +rhES group).The rats in N group were fed a normal diet, while the remaining 2 groups were established to atherosclerotic rat model via high-cholesterol diet, intraperitoneal injection of vitamin D3 and aor-tic balloon injury.The rats in AS +rhES group received intraperitoneal injection of rhES.The blood total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-1 (IL-1) and troponin I (TnI) were measured.The atherosclerotic abdominal aortas were taken for pathological observation.Immu-nohistochemical staining was used to measure the density of neovessels in the plaques, which were marked by CD31.The protein levels of Dll4 and Notch1 in the aortas were analyzed by Western blot.RESULTS: The levels of blood TC, TG, LDL-C, CRP and IL-1 in AS group and AS +rhES group were much higher than those in N group (P <0.05), and no sta-tistical difference between AS group and AS +rhES group was observed.The expression of CD31 in AS group was the high-est among all groups.Compared with AS group, the density of neovessels in the plaques of AS +rhES group decreased sig-nificantly (P <0.05).The protein expression of Dll4 and Notch1 in AS group was lower than that in N group (P <0.05). Compared with AS group, the protein expression of Dll4 and Notch1 increased significantly (P <0.05).CONCLUSION:rhES has the ability to inhibit plaque angiogenesis in rats.The activation of Dll4 /Notch pathway may be the mechanism of rhES in inhibiting plaque angiogenesis.

Objective To study the curative effect of MMP-9 changes on left ventricular hypertrophy patients with hypertension heart disease by carvedilol and metoprolol.Methods 168 cases were divided into two groups.The control group(84 cases)applied metoprolol.The observation group applied carvedilol.The changes of IVST,LVPWT, LVMI and LVGI,expression of MMP-9 were observed in two groups after treatment.Results The values of IVST, LVPWT,LVMI and LVGI,expression of MMP-9 were decreased after treatment.But the decreased values of IVST [(1.72 ±0.35 )mm vs (0.36 ±0.11 )mm,t =5.75,P <0.05 ],LVPWT[(0.66 ±0.25 )mm vs (0.24 ± 0.18)mm,t =4.32,P <0.05],LVMI[(16.23 ±3.35)g/m2 vs (7.44 ±2.24)g/m2 ,t =9.86,P <0.05 ],LVGI [(0.52 ±0.12)g/m2 vs (0.40 ±0.11)g/m2 ,t =4.24,P <0.05],MMP-9[(76.23 ±20.87)vs(42.55 ±10.87),t =6.54,P <0.05]were higher in the observation group than in the control group.Conclusion The treatment of carvedilol is satisfied,can improve ventricular remodeling,decreased the expression of MMP-9,and is worthy of being recommended in left ventricular hypertrophy patients with hypertension heart disease.

ObjectiveToestablisharatmodelofatherosclerosiscombinedwithsyndromeofintermingledphlegm and blood stasis , to observe the inflammatory reactions and the treatment effect of prescription ( Danlou tablet ) on the rat model.Methods Thirty-two healthy male SD rats were randomly and equally divided into four groups , namely, normal control group, model control group, atorvastatin group (ATV group), and Danlou group (DLP group).The normal control group was given basic forage , while other three groups were given high fat forage plus intraperitoneal injection of vitamin D 3 and balloon injury of the left common carotid artery to build rat atherosclerosis model combined with syndrome of intermingled phlegm and blood stasis , and then received intragastric administration of saline , atorvastatin suspension and Danlou tablets suspension for 4 weeks, respectively.After intervention, both serum lipid and hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, and LP-PLA2 levels were determined by ELISA , pathological alterations in the thoracic aorta was analyzed using HE staining , the expressions of IL-6, TNF-αand LP-PLA2 mRNA in the thoracic aorta tissue were assessed by real-time fluorescent quantitativePCRtechnology.Results ①Comparedwiththenormalcontrolgroup,thereweresignificantincreasesin serum TC, LDL-C, hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, and LP-PLA2 levels (P<0.05 for all) and decrease of serum HDL-C levels in the model group (P<0.05).The expressions of IL-6, TNF-α, and LP-PLA2 mRNA in the rat aorta were significantly increased ( P<0.05 for all ) .In the model control group , HE staining showed altered arrangement of aortic endothelial cells, irregular intimal thickening , broadened subendothelial space , and accumulation of foam cells and lipid deposition , forming typical atherosclerotic plaques .② Compared with the model control group , the ATV and DLP groups showed significantly decreased serum TC , LDL-C, hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, and LP-PLA2 levels ( P<0.05 for all) as well as the expressions of IL-6, TNF-α, and LP-PLA2 mRNA in the thoracic aorta (P<0.05 for all).There were no significant differences between the ATV and DLP groups (P>0.05).There were also reduced aortic intimal hyperplasia , macrophage infiltration and plaque area compared with those of the model group .Conclusions Rat model of atherosclerosis combined with syndrome of intermingled phlegm and blood stasis can be established by high fat diet feeding combined with the intraperitoneal injection of vitamin D 3 and balloon injury of carotid artery .The prescription ( Danlou tablet ) can inhibit the inflammatory reaction and ameliorate atherosclerotic changes in the rat models .

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationships between traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome differentiation and serum cystatin C(Cys-C) and homocysteine(Hcy) in patients with chronic heart failure(CHF). Methods 115 cases with CHF admitted into the Department of Cardiology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University were selected in the CHF group, and 30 cases who had taken health examination in the same period were chosen in the healthy control group. According to the TCM syndrome differentiation, the CHF cases were subdivided into four groups with different types of syndrome: 30 cases of deficiency of both Qi and Yin syndrome, 30 cases of Qi deficiency syndrome and blood stagnation syndrome, 30 cases of heart and kidney Yang deficiency syndrome and 25 casesof flooding due to Yang deficiency syndrome. The serum levels of Cys-C and Hcy in different groups were tested, and the relationships between TCM syndrome differentiation and serum Cys-C and Hcy were analyzed by using Spearman rank correlation analysis.Results The serum levels of Cys-C and Hcy in the patients with CHF were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group〔Cys-C(mg/L):1.24±0.34 vs. 0.77±0.22, Hcy(μmol/L):18.66±4.57 vs. 11.65±3.21,bothP<0.05〕. Compared with the healthy control group, the serum levels of Cys-C and Hcy in the above four groups of different syndromes had a tendency of gradual elevation in the sequence as follows: deficiency of both Qi and Yin, Qi deficiency and blood stagnation, heart and kidney Yang deficiency and flooding due to Yang deficiencygroups〔Cys-C(mg/L):1.02±0.27,1.09±0.31,1.32±0.22, 1.59±0.25; Hcy(μmol/L): 14.94±2.20, 17.66±3.04, 19.79±3.48, 22.96±5.31〕, and the elevation in levels of flooding due to Yang deficiency group was the most prominent compared with that in other groups(P<0.05). The correlation analyses showed that different types of TCM syndrome in patients with CHF were positively correlated with the levels of Cys-C and Hcy(r1=0.73,r2=0.79,bothP<0.05).ConclusionThe changes of serum Cys-C and Hcy levels are consistent with the evolution of regular pattern of TCM syndrome differentiation in patients with CHF, and these two markers can be regarded as the objective indicators of TCM syndrome differentiation of CHF.