OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence of extrauterine growth retardation (EUGR) and its risk factors in very preterm infants (VPIs) during hospitalization in China. METHODS: A prospective multicenter study was performed on the medical data of 2 514 VPIs who were hospitalized in the department of neonatology in 28 hospitals from 7 areas of China between September 2019 and December 2020. According to the presence or absence of EUGR based on the evaluation of body weight at the corrected gestational age of 36 weeks or at discharge, the VPIs were classified to two groups: EUGR group (n=1 189) and non-EUGR (n=1 325). The clinical features were compared between the two groups, and the incidence of EUGR and risk factors for EUGR were examined. RESULTS: The incidence of EUGR was 47.30% (1 189/2 514) evaluated by weight. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher weight growth velocity after regaining birth weight and higher cumulative calorie intake during the first week of hospitalization were protective factors against EUGR (P<0.05), while small-for-gestational-age birth, prolonged time to the initiation of total enteral feeding, prolonged cumulative fasting time, lower breast milk intake before starting human milk fortifiers, prolonged time to the initiation of full fortified feeding, and moderate-to-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia were risk factors for EUGR (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS It is crucial to reduce the incidence of EUGR by achieving total enteral feeding as early as possible, strengthening breastfeeding, increasing calorie intake in the first week after birth, improving the velocity of weight gain, and preventing moderate-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia in VPIs.
Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Gestational Age ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of serum Apelin level, silicosis stage and lung function in patients with occupational silicosis(hereinafter referred to as silicosis). METHODS: A case-control study was conducted. A total of 85 patients with silicosis were selected as the silicosis group(44, 28 and 13 patients with stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ silicosis, respectively), and 120 healthy individuals without occupational hazard exposure were selected as the control group. Serum samples were collected from the cases of the two groups and the level of Apelin was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The pulmonary function of the silicosis group was examined. RESULTS: The median and the 25 th and 75 th percentiles \[M(P_(25),P_(75))\] of serum Apelin levels in the control group and silicosis group were 1.29(0.92, 1.77) and 0.80(0.62, 1.04) mg/L, respectively. The level of serum Apelin M(P_(25),P_(75)) in stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ silicosis patients was 1.03(0.82, 1.31), 0.66(0.60, 0.80) and 0.50(0.30, 0.65) mg/L, respectively. The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that the level of serum Apelin in the silicosis group was higher than that in the control group after excluding the influence of age and smoking(P<0.01). The level of serum Apelin decreased with the increase of silicosis stage in the silicosis group(P<0.001). Serum Apelin level in silicosis group was positively correlated with lung vital capacity, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in the first second, and forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75%(all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The lower level of serum Apein in silicosis patients, the more serious the disease and the more serious the damage to lung function. Apelin is of significance in the diagnosis, staging, treatment appraisal and prognostic evaluation of silicosis, and it can be use as a potential therapeutic target for silicosis.

The study aims to investigate the effects of cardiac fibroblast (CF) paracrine factors on murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Conditioned mediums from either neonatal cardiac fibroblasts (ConM-NCF) or adult cardiac fibroblasts (ConM-ACF) were diluted by 1:50 and 1:5, respectively, to investigate whether these conditioned mediums impact murine ESCs distinctly with RT-real time PCR techniques, cell proliferation essay, ELISA and by counting percentage of beating embryoid bodies (EBs) during ESCs differentiation. The data showed that the paracrine ability of CFs changed dramatically during development, in which interleukin 6 (IL6) increased with maturation. ConM-NCF 1:50 and ConM-NCF 1:5 had opposite effects on the pluripotent markers, although they both reduced mouse ESC proliferation. ConM-ACF 1:50 promoted ESCs pluripotent markers and proliferation, while ConM-ACF 1:5 exerted negative effects. All CF-derived conditioned mediums inhibited cardiac differentiation, but with distinguishable features: ConM-NCF 1:50 slightly decreased the early cardiac differentiation without altering the maturation tendency or cardiac specific markers in EBs at differentiation of day 17; ConM-ACF 1:50 had more significant inhibitory effects on early cardiac differentiation than ConM-NCF 1:50 and impeded cardiac maturation with upregulation of cardiac specific markers. In addition, IL6 neutralization antibody attenuated positive effect of ConM-ACF 1:50 on ESCs proliferation, but had no effects on ConM-NCF 1:50. Long-term IL6 neutralization reduced the percentage of beating EBs at early developmental stage, but did not alter the late cardiac differentiation. Taken together, both the quality and quantity of factors and cytokines secreted by CFs are critical for the ESC fate. IL6 could be a favorable cytokine for ESC pluripotency and the early cardiac differentiation.
Animals ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; Fibroblasts ; Heart ; Mice ; Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells ; Paracrine Communication

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of decitabine combined with arsenious acid in the treatment of patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes(MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia(CMML). METHODS: Totally 39 patients with MDS and 8 patients with CMML received the treatment of decitabine and arsenious acid from April 2016 to December 2018. Decitabine [20 mg/(m~2·d)] and arsenious acid [0.15 mg/(m~2·d)] were administered intravenously for 5 consecutive days every 4-6 weeks. Patients who achieved complete or partial remission entered into the consolidation cycle. Efficacy and influencing factor were analyzed. RESULTS: Clinical response were observed in 31 patients after a median of 2 courses(ranging 1-12) of treatment. The overall response rate(ORR) was 66.0%. The median duration of response was 16 weeks(ranging 2-52 weeks). There were 8 cases(17.0%) of complete remission(CR), 10 cases(21.3%) of partial remission(PR),12 cases(25.5%) of hematological improvement(HI), 1 case(2.1%) of marrow complete remission(mCR), 8 cases(17.0%) of stable disease(SD), and 1 case(2.1%) of progressive disease(PD). By next generation sequencing, 25 genes mutated with 70 times in 33 cases. The mutation frequency of epigenetic regulators(57.6%) was higher than splicing factors(33.5%), transcription factors and kinase signaling(54.5%),and TP53(21.2%)(P<0.01). There was no significant difference in response rates among these patients(47.4%, 54.5%, 50.0% and85.7%, P=0.977). Gene mutation frequency(VAF) of patients who responded to the regimen declined significantly(16.67% vs. 10.26%,P=0.014). CONCLUSION: Decitabine combined with arsenious acid has significant effect in the treatment of patients with higher-risk MDS and CMML and is well-tolerated. Gene mutation test results by next generation sequencing might be related to clinical response.

BACKGROUND: Studies have confirmed that monosialotetrahexosyl ganglioside can induce human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into neuron-like cells, but little is reported on its optimal concentration. OBJECTIVE: To explore the optimal concentration of monosialotetrahexosyl ganglioside that induces human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into neuron-like cells in vitro. METHODS: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells were isolated by using collagenase digestion method, and after expansion, passage 3 cells were randomly allocated into five groups. When 70%-80% of cells were confluent, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg/L monosialotetrahexosyl ganglioside induction solutions were added in corresponding experimental groups, while cells in the blank control group were cultured in the same volume of L-DMEM medium. Cell morphology was observed under inverted phase contrast microscope. Expression levels of microtubule-associated protein 2, neurofilament protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein were measured by using immunohistochemistry at 6 hours after induction. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells were isolated successfully and sub-cultured stably. These cells could express surface markers of mesenchymal stem cells. Monosialotetrahexosyl ganglioside at the optimal concentration of 150 mg/L was confirmed to induce the neuron-like differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, and differentiated cells could express microtubule-associated protein 2 and neurofilament protein as neuron-specific markers.

Objective To investigated clinical effect and safety of tradi-tional Chinese medicine ( TCM) retention enema in the treatment of acute severe pancreas.Methods A total of 62 cases of severe acute pancreati-tis patients enrolled for the study were randomly divided into experiment group and control group , 31 patients in the control group received con-ventional treatment , patients in experiment group received the TCM retention enema on the basis of the conventional treatment , one dose a day, twice per 100 mL, 10 d course of treatment.Clinical symptoms ( abdominal bloating relief time , bowel recovery time ) , inflammatory factors(TNF-α, LPS), a therapeutic effect of the two groups were com-pared.Results The efficacy of experiment group was 93.55%, signifi-cantly higher than that of control group with efficacy 74.19%(P<0.05).Abdominal pain time, time to ease bloating, and bowel re-covery time , hospital stay , TNF-α, endotoxin ( LPS ) , complications and mortality of experiment group were significantly lower than those of the control group ( P <0.05 ) .Conclusion TCM retention enema is helpful to improve the clinical symptoms , reduce inflammatory factor expression and improve the effect of treatment .

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of Xinfeng Capsule (XFC) on pulmonary function and related mechanism in adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) rats.

METHODSThe rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal control (NC), model control (MC) groups, methotrexate (MTX), tripterygium glycosides tablet (TPT) and Xinfeng capsule (XFC) treatment groups. The adjuvant-induced arthritis model was established by intracutaneous injection of 0.1 mL Freund ' s complete adjuvant in the right paw of rats; the drugs were given 19 d after model establishment. The toe swelling degree (E), arthritis index (AI), pulmonary function, peripheral blood Treg levels, pathological changes of lung tissue and expression of Foxp3, TGF-β1, Smad3, Smad7 proteins in lung tissue were measured 30 d after drug administration.

RESULTSCompared to NC group, the levels of E, AI, alveolitis score, TGF-β1 and Smad3 were significantly increased (P <0.05 or P <0.01); maximum expiratory flow 25% of vital capacity (FEF25),50% maximal expiratory vital capacity flow (FEF50), maximum expiratory flow at 75% of vital capacity (FEF75), maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMF), force peak expiratory flow (PEF), CD4+ CD25+ Treg, Foxp3 and Smad7 were significantly decreased in MC group (P <0.05 or P < 0.01). Compared to MC group,the expression of E, AI, TGF-β1 and Smad3 were reduced, while FEF50, FEF75, MMF, PEF, Treg, Foxp3 and Smad7 were elevated in XFC group (P <0.05 or P <0.01). Compared to XFC group, the level of body mass,FEF25,FEF50, FEF75, MMF and Treg were lower in MTX and TPT groups (P <0.05 or P <0.01).

CONCLUSIONThere are inflamed joints and reduced pulmonary function in rats of adjuvant-induced arthritis. XFC can inhibit paw edema degrees, reduce arthritis response, and improve pulmonary function, which is associated with up-regulating expression of Treg and Foxp3, down-regulating the expression of TGF-β1 and adjusting TGF-β1/Smads signal pathway.

Animals ; Arthritis, Experimental ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Capsules ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Forkhead Transcription Factors ; metabolism ; Lung ; drug effects ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Smad3 Protein ; metabolism ; Smad7 Protein ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism

Objective To determine the prevalence and risk factors of functional constipation (FC) by using Rome Ⅲ criteria in the local adult communities.Methods A stratified randomized and community-based study by multi-stage cluster sampling was employed.A household survey was conducted from April to May 2010.All of the participants were interviewed face-to-face by filling out the self-administered questionnaires which based on Rome Ⅲ criteria for the diagnosis of FC.Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS),self-rating depression scale (SDS) and Athens insomnia scale (AIS) were carried out to evaluate the psychological characteristics and qualities of sleep.Results A total of 7648 subjects fulfilled the questionnaires,with the response rate as 90.0％.211 patients met the Rome Ⅲ criteria,including 90 males and 121 females.The adjusted prevalence rates of FC were 2.5％ in males,3.3％ in females and with an overall rate as 2.9％.The ratio of men to women was 1∶1.32,with significant difference between males and females (P=0.043).The most common group was in the 18-29 year-olds (x2=37.359,P=0.000).FC patients were more likely to be detected in the group with normal BMI (x2=16.087,P=0.002),having received high education (x2=27.604,P=0.000),being intelectuals ( x2=6.922,P=0.031 ) and divorced ( x2=22.000,P=0.000) than in other groups. Multivariate analysis showed that excessive intake of high-fat food was significantly associated with the presence of FC (odds ratio as 1.253,P=0.000),whereas foods with high-fiber (odds ratio as 0.854,P=0.029) might serve as protective factors.Significant differences between FC groups and control groups were found in the incidence of anxiety (with odds ratio as 2.583,P=0.000) and insomnia (odds ratio as 2.443,P=0.000).Conclusion The prevalence of FC in adult communities in Shanghai Songjiang district was not higher than that in other parts of the communities.Excessive intake of high-fat food,anxiety and insomnia might be risk factors for FC and foods with high-fiber contents might serve as protective factors.

Objective To investigate the effects of enamel matrix proteins (EMP) on odontogenic differentiation of human dental pulp cells (HDPC) in vitro.Methods HDPC were isolated by explant culture methods and expanded to passage 4 for experiments.The cells were seeded into 6-well plates (2 × 105 cells/well) and divided into 5 groups,treated with 1,10 or 100 mg/L EMP,10-8 mol/L dexamethasone and 100 mg/L ascorbic acid (Dex-AA) or basal media respectively.Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was measureded after up to 10 days in culture.The mRNA expression of dentin matrix protein-1 (DMP-1)and dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) were determined by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.Calcified nodule formation was evaluated by alizarin red staining and spectroscopic method.Results The ALP activity levels of all 5 groups were increased in a time-dependent manner.There was no significant difference among each group after 1 day.After 5 days,the ALP activity was increased significantly especially for the 10 mg/L EMP,100 mg/L EMP and Dex-AA groups,values were 7.573 ± 0.267,6.119 ± 0.502 and 5.846 ± 0.096,respectively (P ＜ 0.05).After 10 days,the increase of ALP activity in the 10 mg/L EMP(21.035 ± 0.149) and Dex-AA groups(13.223 ± 0.797) was remarkable,compared with the negative control group (5.825 ± 0.404) (P ＜ 0.01).Statistical differences were detected for DMP-1 and DSPP mRNA expressions in 10mg/L EMP group(14.791 ± 0.164,12.238 ± 0.421),compared with negative control group (4.959 ± 0.184,2.645 ± 0.570) (P ＜ 0.01).Phase contrast microscopy revealed orange-red stained nodules in 1 mg/L and 10 mg/L EMP groups.Such staining was not that much obvoius in the negative control group.After quantifying the staining,it can be clearly seen that 10 mg/L EMP enhanced calcium deposition [(191.8 ± 2.0) μmol/L] significantly,compared to the negative control[(81.1 ± 8.1) μmol/L] (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions This study showed that optimized concentration of EMP can stimulate odontoblastic differentiation of HDPC,which suggests that EMP may be useful for directing HDPC down the odontoblastic lineage in dentine tissue engineering.

OBJECTIVETo study the efficacy, safety and reliability of colonic sac duct for first-stage repair of colorectal anastomotic leakage.

METHODSAn animal model of colon anastomotic leakage was established in 30 Tibet miniature pigs, which were randomly divided into treatment group and control group (n=15). Colon anastomotic leakage in the treatment group was repaired using the colonic sac duct, while the control group received conventional surgical repair. At 7, 14, and 21 days after the surgery, the healing of the anastomotic leakage was evaluated by examining the bursting pressure, tissue microvessel density and hydroxyproline content at the anastomosis.

RESULTSUsing the colonic sac duct, the anastomotic leakage was successfully repaired without death of the pigs or the occurrence of intestinal stenosis or necrosis. At 7 and 14 days after the surgery, the bursting pressure, hydroxyproline contents, and microvessel density in the treatment groups were higher than those in the control group, but such difference was not found at 21 days.

CONCLUSIONColonic sac duct allows effective repair of colon anastomotic leakage, and is especially useful for leakage lasting for 48-72 h complicated by severe abdominal infection.

Anastomosis, Surgical ; adverse effects ; Anastomotic Leak ; etiology ; surgery ; Animals ; Colon ; surgery ; Female ; Male ; Rectum ; surgery ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature