Preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) of the fetus are the two most common pregnancy complications worldwide, affecting 5%-10% of pregnant women. Preeclampsia is associated with significantly increased maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Hypoxia-induced uteroplacental dysfunction is now recognized as a key pathological factor in preeclampsia and IUGR. Reduced oxygen supply (hypoxia) disrupts mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function. Hypoxia has been shown to alter mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis and induce ER stress. Hypoxia during pregnancy is associated with excessive production of ROS in the placenta, leading to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs in a number of human diseases, including high blood pressure during pregnancy. Studies have shown that uterine placental tissue/cells in preeclampsia and IUGR show high levels of oxidative stress, which plays an important role in the pathogenesis of both the complications. This review summarizes the role of hypoxia-induced mitochondrial oxidative stress and ER stress in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia/IUGR and discusses the potential therapeutic strategies targeting oxidative stress to treat both the pregnancy complications.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Humans ; Placenta ; Fetal Growth Retardation/etiology* ; Pre-Eclampsia/pathology* ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Hypoxia/pathology* ; Pregnancy Complications/pathology* ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

Humans ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/genetics* ; Gene-Environment Interaction ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Introduction: Open tendoachilles injuries are rare and associated with significant soft tissues complications. The objective of the present study was to assess the clinical outcome and safety of a simple and minimally invasive technique, with a goal to assess if it may help minimise flap and wound related complications in open tendoachilles injuries. Materials and methods: This prospective study of four years duration included 20 patients with open tendoachilles injuries managed with a simple minimally invasive tunnel technique. The primary outcome variable was occurrence of a major soft tissue complication. The secondary outcome variables included functional outcome measured using AOFAS Ankle hind foot score, re-rupture of tendoachilles and need for revision surgery. Results: None of the patients in the present series developed a serious soft tissue complication. Based upon the AOFAS hind foot scoring system, good to excellent outcome was achieved in 19 (95%) patients. All the patients were able to perform tip toe walking at six months post-surgery. None of the patients had a re-rupture of the tendoachilles and no patient needed a revision surgery. The complications encountered include thickening of the tendon at the repair site (15%), superficial wound infection (5%), stitch granuloma (5%) and hypertrophic scar (5%). Conclusion: This technique seems to be promising in reducing the soft tissue complications associated with the surgical management of open tendoachilles injuries. Most patients had a good final clinical outcome. The technique is safe, simple and reproducible. However, further randomised control studies with a larger sample size assessing the technique are recommended.

Brucella ; Brucellosis/diagnosis* ; Chromatography, Affinity ; Gold Colloid ; Humans

Objective:To investigate the epidemic characteristics of human brucellosis in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2018 to 2020, and provide a reliable scientific basis for formulating brucellosis prevention and control strategies in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.Methods:A retrospective study was carried out to collect data of human brucellosis in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2018 to 2020 from the "China Disease Control and Prevention Information System", and the monitoring data and information of confirmed cases were collected from the annual summary data reported by the leagues (cities) of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Using descriptive epidemiological methods, the epidemic situation, three distributions (time, region and population distributions) of brucellosis, and the serological and pathogenic test results of active monitoring population were analyzed.Results:From 2018 to 2020, a total of 40 665 cases of brucellosis were reported in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with an annual average incidence rate of 53.47/100 000. The number of annual incidence had increased from 10 111 in 2018 to 16 406 in 2020, and the annual incidence rate had increased from 39.99/100 000 in 2018 to 64.60/100 000 in 2020. The spring and summer was the peak incidence, mainly in March to August, accounting for 64.90% (26 390/40 665) . There were reports of brucellosis cases in 12 leagues (cities) of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the top 3 regions with the number of reported cases were Tongliao City (9 896 cases), Xing'an League (6 136 cases) and Chifeng City (4 934 cases). The age of onset of brucellosis cases was mainly 30 - < 65 years old(33 539 cases), and the sex ratio between men and women was 2.18 ∶ 1.00 (27 890 ∶ 12 775); the occupational distribution was mainly farmers, accounting for 79.23% (32 221/40 665). From 2018 to 2020, 704 085 people were actively monitored in the region, of which 391 941 were serologically tested, and the infection rate was 4.57% (17 920/391 941); and there were 9 539 new cases in the active monitoring population. In 3 years, 19 strains of Brucella sheep type 3 and 11 strains of Brucella sheep type 1 were isolated. Conclusions:From 2018 to 2020, the incidence rate of brucellosis in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is increasing year by year. There are many new cases in the active monitoring population, and more underreporting cases. It is recommended to expand the scope of monitoring, strengthen pathogen monitoring among humans and animals, and joint prevention and control of various departments to improve the self-protection awareness of the masses.

The postmortem diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), especially the postmortem diagnosis of early AMI that died immediately after onset or within 1 hour, has always been a difficulty in forensic identification. This article reviews the forensic application of diagnosis and analysis methods for AMI postmortem diagnosis including autopsy imaging, histomorphology, immunohisto-chemistry, biochemical marker and molecular biology diagnosis, and explores the feasible scheme of early postmortem diagnosis in AMI.
Autopsy ; Biomarkers ; Forensic Medicine ; Forensic Pathology/methods* ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis* ; Postmortem Changes

Humans ; Scopolamine ; Phenobarbital ; Suicide

BACKGROUND: Penehyclidine is a newly developed anticholinergic agent. We aimed to investigate the role of penehyclidine in acute organophosphorus pesticide poisoning (OP) patients. METHODS: We searched the Pubmed, Cochrane library, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical literature (CBM) and Wanfang databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) recruiting acute OP patients were identified for meta-analysis. Main outcomesincluded cure rate, mortality rate, time to atropinization, time to 60% normal acetylcholinesterase (AchE) level, rate of intermediate syndrome (IMS) and rate of adverse drug reactions (ADR). RESULTS: Sixteen RCTs involving 1,334 patients were identified. Compared with the atropine-or penehyclidine-alone groups, atropine combined with penehyclidine significantly increased the cure rate (penehyclidine+atropine vs. atropine, 0.97 vs. 0.86, RR 1.13, 95% CI [1.07–1.19]; penehyclidine+atropine vs. penehyclidine, 0.93 vs. 0.80, RR 1.08, 95% CI [1.01–1.15]) and reduced the mortality rate (penehyclidine+atropine vs. atropine, 0.015 vs. 0.11, RR 0.17, 95% CI [0.06–0.49]; penehyclidine+atropine vs. penehyclidine, 0.13 vs. 0.08, RR 0.23, 95% CI [0.04–1.28]). Atropine combined with penehyclidine in OP patients also helped reduce the time to atropinization and AchE recovery, the rate of IMS and the rate of ADR. Compared with a single dose of atropine, a single dose of penehyclidine also significantly elevated the cure rate, reduced times to atropinization, AchE recovery, and rate of IMS. CONCLUSION Atropine combined with penehyclidine benefits OP patients by enhancing the cure rate, mortality rate, time to atropinization, AchE recovery, IMS rate, total ADR and duration of hospitalization. Penehyclidine combined with atropine is likely a better initial therapy for OP patients than atropine alone.

Fusion between the transmembrane protease serine 2 and v-ets erythroblastosis virus E26 oncogene homolog (TMPRSS2-ERG fusion) is a common genetic alteration in prostate cancer among Western populations and has been suggested as playing a role in tumorigenesis and progression of prostate cancer. However, the prevalence of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion differs among different ethnic groups, and contradictory results have been reported in Asian patients. We aim to evaluate the prevalence and significance of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion as a molecular subtyping and prognosis indicator of prostate cancer in Asians. We identified the fusion status in 669 samples from prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy by fluorescence in situ hybridization and/or immunohistochemistry in China. We examined the association of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion with clinicopathological characteristics and biochemical recurrence by Chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Finally, a systematic review was performed to investigate the positive rate of the fusion in Asian prostate cancer patients. McNemar's test was employed to compare the positive rates of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion detected using different methods. The positive rates of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion were 16% in our samples and 27% in Asian patients. In our samples, 9.4% and 19.3% of cases were recognized as fusion positive by fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, respectively. No significant association between the fusion and clinical parameters was observed. TMPRSS2-ERG fusion is not a frequent genomic alteration among Asian prostate cancer patients and has limited significance in clinical practices in China. Besides ethnic difference, detection methods potentially influence the results showing a positive rate of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion.
Aged ; China ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oncogene Fusion/genetics* ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/genetics* ; Prostatic Neoplasms/genetics* ; Serine Endopeptidases/genetics* ; Transcriptional Regulator ERG/genetics*