OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Tongmai Hypoglycemic Capsule (THC) on myocardium injury in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) rats. METHODS: A total of 24 Sprague Dawley rats were fed for 4 weeks with high-fat and high-sugar food and then injected with streptozotocin intraperitoneally for the establishment of the DCM model. In addition, 6 rats with normal diets were used as the control group. After modeling, 24 DCM rats were randomly divided into the model, L-THC, M-THC, and H-THC groups by computer generated random numbers, and 0, 0.16, 0.32, 0.64 g/kg of THC were adopted respectively by gavage, with 6 rats in each group. After 12 weeks of THC administration, echocardiography, histopathological staining, biochemical analysis, and Western blot were used to detect the changes in myocardial structure, oxidative stress (OS), biochemical indexes, protein expressions of myocardial fibrosis, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related faactor 2 (Nrf2) element, respectively. RESULTS: Treatment with THC significantly decreased cardiac markers such as creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase-MB, etc., (P<0.01); enhanced cardiac function indicators including heart rate, ejection fraction, cardiac output, interventricular septal thickness at diastole, and others (P<0.05 or P<0.01); decreased levels of biochemical indicators such as fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, aspartate transaminase, (P<0.05 or P<0.01); and decreased the levels of myocardial fibrosis markers α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and collagen I (Col-1) protein (P<0.01), improved myocardial morphology and the status of myocardial interstitial fibrosis. THC significantly reduced malondialdehyde levels in model rats (P<0.01), increased levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione (P<0.01), and significantly increased the expression of Nrf2, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1, heme oxygenase-1, and superoxide dismutase 2 proteins in the left ventricle of rats (P<0.01). CONCLUSION THC activates the Nrf2 signaling pathway and plays a protective role in reducing OS injury and cardiac fibrosis in DCM rats.
Animals ; Diabetic Cardiomyopathies/physiopathology* ; Oxidative Stress/drug effects* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Myocardium/metabolism* ; Fibrosis ; Male ; Capsules ; Hypoglycemic Agents/therapeutic use* ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/metabolism* ; Rats ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/drug therapy*

Objective To summarize the treatment of cervical cancer patients diagnosed before 34 weeks of gestation who chose to continue pregnancy,and to provide clinical experience for improving maternal and fetal outcomes.Methods Clinical data of pregnant women with cervical cancer admitted to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital,Fudan University from Jan 2013 to Feb 2024 were collected and analyzed.Treatment of patients diagnosed before 34 weeks of gestation and chose to continue pregnancy was summarized.Outcomes of patients and newborn were followed up.Results A total of 15 patients were enrolled with a median age of 34 years old.Nine cases(9/15)represented clinical symptom of abnormal vaginal bleeding,14 cases(14/15)of patients were diagnosed in the middle or late stages of pregnancy,12 cases(12/15)diagnosed with tumor size of more than 2 cm,13 patients(13/15)infected HPV type 16 or 18.The main pathological type was squamous cell carcinoma(9/15).Regarding therapy,one patient with stage Ⅰa1 was under observation and underwent a caesarean section and total hysterectomy at 35 weeks of gestation due to premature rupture of membrane and a scarred uterus.For the other patients with 14 stage Ⅰb,lymph node metastasis was excluded by pelvic lymphadenectomy or MRI,and then neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered.Termination of pregnancy and standardized treatment for cervical cancer were provided after 34 weeks of gestation.One patient's pathology was upgraded to stage Ⅱa1 after surgery.Up to follow-up,13 out of 15 patients had survived without tumors.The average gestational age of newborns was(35.0±1.5)weeks,and the average birth weight was(2 345.33±431.44)g.Blood tests conducted one day after delivery of the newborns revealed that:8 newborns(8/15)had hypoleukocyte and one newborn(1/15)had anemia.After short-term hospitalization and supportive treatment,all newborns'progress was favorable.Conclusion For pregnant patients with stage Ⅰb cervical cancer diagnosed before 34 weeks of gestation,postponing termination to after 34 weeks of gestation through neoadjuvant chemotherapy and then giving standardized treatment for cervical cancer was safe with favorable maternal and fetal prognosis.

Objective: To compare the effects of the China Children's Asthma Action Plan (CCAAP)-based remote joint management model with traditional management model on the control of childhood asthma. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the general data and asthma control assessment data of 219 children with asthma who attended the respiratory department of Guangzhou Women's and Children's Medical Center from April 2021 to October 2021 and were followed up for 1 year or more. According to the follow-up management model, the CCAAP-based remote joint management model was used in the observation group and the traditional management model was used in the control group, and the propensity score matching method was applied to match the data of children in the two management models for comparison. Paired-samples t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, McNemar χ²-test or χ²-test or nonparametric tests were used to compare the general data and asthma control assessment data between the two matched groups of children. Results: Among 219 children with asthma, 145 were male and 74 were female, aged at consultation (7.2±2.4) years. There were 147 cases in the observation group and 72 cases in the control group, and 27 cases in each of the observation and control groups were successfully matched. The number of asthma exacerbation aura, acute exacerbations, and emergency room visits or hospitalizations for asthma exacerbations were lower in the observation group than in the control group after pairing (1 (0, 2) vs. 3 (1, 5) times, 0 (0,0) vs. 0 (0, 1) times, 0 (0,0) vs. 1 (0, 1) times, Z=-3.42, -2.58, -3.17, all P<0.05). The use of peak flowmeters was higher in children aged 5 years and older in the observation group than in the control group after pairing (100% (22/22) vs. 13% (3/23), χ²=54.00,P<0.001). The ratio of actual to predicted 1st second expiratory volume of force after follow-up in the observation group after pairing was higher than that before follow-up in the observation group and after follow-up in the control group ((95±11)% vs. (85±10)%, (95±11)% vs. (88±11)%, t=-3.40, 2.25, all P<0.05). The rate of complete asthma control after follow-up was higher in both the observation and control groups after pairing than before follow-up for 12 months in both groups (93% (25/27) vs. 41% (11/27), 52% (14/27) vs. 41% (11/27), H=56.19, 45.37, both P<0.001), and the rate of complete control of asthma in children in the observation group was higher than that in the control group at 3 and 12 months of follow-up management (56% (15/27) vs. 25% (5/20), 93% (25/27) vs. 52% (14/27), χ²=47.00, 54.00, both P<0.001). The number of offline follow-up visits, inhaled hormone medication adherence scores, and caregiver's asthma perception questionnaire scores were higher in the observation group than in the control group after pairing (6 (4, 8) vs. 4 (2,5), (4.8±0.3) vs. (4.0±0.6) score, (19.3±2.6) vs. (15.2±2.7) score, Z=6.58, t=6.57, 5.61, all P<0.05), and the children in the observation group had lower school absences, caregiver absences, asthma attack visit costs, and caregiver PTSD scores than the control group (0 (0,0) vs.3 (0, 15) d, 0 (0,0) vs. 3 (0, 10) d, 1 100 (0, 3 700) vs. 5 000 (1 000, 10 000) yuan, 1.3 (1.1, 1.9) vs. 2.0 (1.2, 2.7) score, Z=-2.89, -2.30, 2.74, 2.73, all P<0.05). Conclusion: The CCAAP-based joint management model of asthma control is superior to the traditional management model in the following aspects: it can effectively improve asthma control, self-monitoring, and lung function in children; it can improve treatment adherence and caregivers' asthma awareness; and it can reduce the duration of absenteeism from school, the cost of asthma exacerbation visits, and caregiver's negative psychology.
Humans ; Child ; Female ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Asthma/therapy* ; China ; Hospitalization ; Hospitals

Abstract: To analyze the clinical, therapeutic and laboratory characteristics of disseminated cryptococcosis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans invading the blood stream in patient with liver cirrhosis and splenectomy. A 30-year-old male underwent splenectomy plus pericardial devascularization due to "splenomegaly and hypersplenism" in March in 2016. The patient had intermittent fever after operation for many times, and successively accompanied with back pain, left lower limb abscess and right hip pain. The highest body temperature was 39 ℃. CT and MRI revealed the lung lesion and multiple bone destruction. During that period, the effect of antibiotics was not good. On April 19th, 2017, Gram's stain, India ink stain, API 32C, Vitek 2 Compact, ribosomal ITS and IGS sequence analysis were performed to identify the strain isolated from the pus and blood stream. The serum of the patient was detected for cryptococcal antigen. Antifungal susceptibility test was used to determine drug sensitivity and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The Cryptococcus neoformans isolated from fresh pus specimen showed a prominent, thick capsule after India ink stain. The colonies isolated from pus and blood stream were identified Cryptococcus neoformans using API 32C, Vitek 2 Compact, and sequence analysis of rDNA ITS and IGS. Cryptococcal capsule antigen was positive. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of 5-Flucytosine, amphotericin B, fluconazole, itriconazole, voriconazole against the isolate were <4 μg/mL, <0.5 μg/mL, 4 μg/mL, ≤0.25 μg/mL, 0.125 μg/mL respectively. The patient was initially treated with intravenous amphotericin B and flucytosine. After anti-Cryptococcus treatment for two months, the patient clinically improved, and the lesions were reduced on a follow-up CT scan. The patient made a full functional recovery after treatment for six months. Cryptococcosis has hidden onset, atypical clinical symptoms and lack of specificity. Blood stream is the main channel for Cryptococcus to spread and involve many organs of the whole body, including skin, bone and so on. Therefore, early use of blood culture to monitor blood flow dissemination, actively removing the primary focus and cutting off the infection route in time and carrying out effective anti-Cryptococcus treatment are conducive to the patient's early recovery.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of different melatonin treatment regimens on long-term behavior and white matter damage in neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD), and to seek an optimal melatonin treatment regimen. METHODS: Healthy Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 7 days, were randomly divided into four groups: sham-operation, HIBD, single-dose immediate treatment (SDIT), and 7-day continuous treatment (7DCT), with 8 rats in each group. A neonatal rat model of HIBD was prepared according to the classical Rice-Vannucci method. On day 21 after HIBD, the Morris water maze test was used to evaluate spatial learning and memory abilities. On day 70 after HIBD, immunofluorescence assay was used to measure the expression of neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN) in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampal CA1 region of neonatal rats, and double-label immunofluorescence was used to measure the expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) and neurofilament 200 (NF200) in the corpus striatum and the corpus callosum. RESULTS: The results of the Morris water maze test showed that the SDIT and 7DCT groups had a significantly shorter mean escape latency than the HIBD group, and the 7DCT group had a significantly shorter mean escape latency than the SDIT group ( CONCLUSIONS Both SDIT and 7DCT can improve long-term behavior and reduce white matter damage in neonatal rats with HIBD, and 7DCT is more effective than SDIT.
Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain/drug therapy* ; Melatonin/pharmacology* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; White Matter

Objective: Several COVID-19 patients have overlapping comorbidities. The independent role of each component contributing to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown, and how some non-cardiometabolic comorbidities affect the risk of COVID-19 remains unclear. Methods: A retrospective follow-up design was adopted. A total of 1,160 laboratory-confirmed patients were enrolled from nine provinces in China. Data on comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio ( Results: Overall, 158 (13.6%) patients were diagnosed with severe illness and 32 (2.7%) had unfavorable outcomes. Hypertension (2.87, 1.30-6.32), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (3.57, 2.32-5.49), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3.78, 1.81-7.89), fatty liver disease (7.53, 1.96-28.96), hyperlipidemia (2.15, 1.26-3.67), other lung diseases (6.00, 3.01-11.96), and electrolyte imbalance (10.40, 3.00-26.10) were independently linked to increased odds of being severely ill. T2DM (6.07, 2.89-12.75), CVD (8.47, 6.03-11.89), and electrolyte imbalance (19.44, 11.47-32.96) were also strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease on admission (5.46, 3.25-9.19), while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes (6.58, 1.46-29.64) within two weeks. Conclusion Besides hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, other lung diseases, and electrolyte imbalance were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity and poor treatment outcome. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease, while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes.
Adult ; Aged ; COVID-19/virology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical features of the diseases associated with aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARS) deficiency. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed of the clinical and gene mutation data of 10 children who were diagnosed with ARS gene mutations, based on next-generation sequencing from January 2016 to October 2019. RESULTS: The age of onset ranged from 0 to 9 years among the 10 children. Convulsion was the most common initial symptom (7 children). Clinical manifestations included ataxia and normal or mildly retarded intellectual development (with or without epilepsy; n=4) and onset of epilepsy in childhood with developmental regression later (n=2). Some children experienced disease onset in the neonatal period and had severe epileptic encephalopathy, with myoclonus, generalized tonic-clonic seizure, and convulsive seizure (n=4); 3 had severe delayed development, 2 had feeding difficulty, and 1 had hearing impairment. Mutations were found in five genes: 3 had novel mutations in the AARS2 gene (c.331G>C, c.2682+5G>A, c.2164C>T, and c.761G>A), 2 had known mutations in the DARS2 gene (c.228-16C>A and c.536G>A), 1 had novel mutations in the CARS2 gene (c.1036C>T and c.323T>G), 1 had novel mutations in the RARS2 gene (c.1210A>G and c.622C>T), and 3 had novel mutations in the AARS gene (c.1901T>A, c.229C>T, c.244C>T, c.961G>C, c.2248C>T, and Chr16:70298860-70316687del). CONCLUSIONS A high heterogeneity is observed in the clinical phenotypes of the diseases associated with the ARS deficiency. A total of 14 novel mutations in 5 genes are reported in this study, which enriches the clinical phenotypes and genotypes of the diseases associated with ARS deficiency.
Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases ; genetics ; Child ; Epilepsy ; Humans ; Mutation ; Phenotype ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To discuss the proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction of human pancreatic cancer cell line SW1900 by dauricine and its possible mechanism. Methods The MTT colorimetric method was used to detect the inhibitory effects of cell viability. The apoptosis rate was tested by the Annexin Ⅴ-FITC / PI fluorescent staining of flow cytometric method . The expressions of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt) and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) were detected by Real-time PCR and Western blotting assay. Results MTT assay showed that dauricine significantly inhibited the proliferation of SW1900 cells and the inhibitory effect was enhanced with the increasing of dauricine concentration, F = 783. 7, P < 0. 001. The apoptosis of 3 groups cells were (4. 34 ± 1. 30) % (0 mg / L dauricine), (14. 94±1. 94) % (6 mg / L dauricine) and (22. 68±3. 61) % (12 mg / L dauricine) . The mean difference was statistically significant among the three groups (F = 58. 52, P < 0. 001) . Dauricine could significantly induce apoptosis human pancreatic cancer cells with dose-dependent manner. Real-time PCR showed that the gene expressions of PI3K, Akt and Bcl-2 were lower obviously (PI3K mRNA, F = 101, P = 0. 01; Akt mRNA, F = 1666, P < 0. 01; Bcl-2 mRNA, F = 753, P<0. 001) with dose-dependent manner. Western blotting assay also showed that the protein expression of PI3K, Akt and Bcl-2 was down-regulated with dose-dependent manner. Conclusion Dauricine has proliferation inhibition and apoptosis inducement effect on human pancreatic cancer cells line SW1900. This function may be concerned with the regulation of PI3K / Akt signal pathway and lower Bcl-2 expression.

Background: Management of tumors has become more complex owing to tumor heterogeneity. Fewer studies have been performed on intra-tumor heterogeneity of endometrial cancer (EC) until now. Therefore, it is of great clinical value to explore the intra-tumor heterogeneity of EC based on clinical features and gene expression profiles. Methods: A total of 1688 patients with EC were screened and 114 patients were finally selected, including specimens from 84 patients with primary EC without relapse (PE) and the paired metastases (P-M) specimens, as well as specimens from 30 patients with primary EC with relapse (RPE) and the paired relapsed EC (P-RE) specimens. Microarray and RNA-seq were used to detect gene expression of EC samples. Clinicopathological characteristics and molecular data were compared between PE and P-M groups and between RPE and P-RE groups to explore the intra-tumor heterogeneity of EC. Results: The clinical intra-tumor spatial heterogeneity of pathological type, grade, ER status, and PR status between PE and P-M were 17.9%, 13.1%, 28.6%, and 28.6%, respectively. The clinical intra-tumor spatiotemporal heterogeneity of pathological type, grade, ER status, and PR status between RPE and P-RE were 16.7%, 33.3%, 25.0%, and 37.5%, respectively. Cluster analysis sorts EC samples based on progression type of lesion and their pathological type. There were differentially expressed genes between PE and P-M and between RPE and P-RE, of which gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis were mainly enriched in cell proliferation, the p53 signaling pathway, etc. Conclusions Clinical and molecular data showed that there was spatiotemporal heterogeneity in intra-tumor of EC, which may add to the complexity of diagnosis and therapeutics for EC. Considering the intra-tumor heterogeneity, sequential chemotherapy and precision medicine may be a more suitable treatment plan for EC.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of lumbar disc herniation treated with acupuncture at different time intervals. METHODS: A total of 180 patients of lumbar disc herniation were randomized into an observation group 1, an observation group 2 and an observation group 3, 60 cases in each one. All patients were treated with acupuncture at Jiaji L-L (EX-B 2), Huantiao (GB 30), Weizhong (BL 40), etc. And then KWD-808 electroacupuncture instrument was connected, time intervals of acupuncture were once every day, once every 2 days and once every 3 days, 3 weeks were provided. At 1-week, 2-week and 3-week treatment, the visual analogous scale (VAS) and Japanese Orthopedics Association (JOA) scale were observated, and the effects were evaluated. RESULTS: The effective rates in the observation group 1 and the observation group 2 were 96.7% (58/60) and 95.0% (57/60), there was no significant different between the two groups (>0.05), which were superior to 88.3% (53/60) in the observation group 3 (both <0.01). The VAS score in each group decreased to different degrees at 1-week, 2-week and 3-week treatment compared with those before treatment (all <0.01), there was no significant different between the observation group 1 and the observation group 2 (all >0.05) at 1-week, 2-week and 3-week treatment, however, they were significantly reduced compared with the observation group 3 (all <0.05). The JOA score in each group increased to different degrees at 1-week, 2-week and 3-week treatment compared with those before treatment (all <0.01), there was no significant different between the observation group 1 and the observation group 2 (all >0.05) at 1-week, 2-week and 3-week treatment, however, they were significantly increased compared with the observation group 3 at 3-week treatment (both <0.05). CONCLUSION Acupuncture once every day and once every 2 days in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation is equally effective, better than once every 3 days.
Acupuncture Points ; Electroacupuncture ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome