AIM:To investigate the protective effects of soy isoflavones on retinal ganglion cells(RGCs)damage in diabetic rats and related mechanisms.METHODS: Totally 80 male SD rats(80 eyes), aged 4-6 weeks, were randomly divided into four groups(n=20 per group): a control group, a diabetic model group, a low-dose soy isoflavone treatment group, and a high-dose soy isoflavone treatment group. Among them, the control group was fed normal chow, while the diabetic group, soy isoflavone low-dose-treated group, and soy isoflavone high-dose-treated group were fed high-fat chow. After a feeding period of 4 wk, rats in the diabetic group, as well as those in the soy isoflavone low-dose and high-dose treatment groups, were injected intraperitoneally with streptozotocin(STZ)at a dose of 50 mg/kg to establish a diabetic model. Rats in the control group received an equivalent volume of sodium citrate buffer acid. The soy isoflavone low-dose-treated group was administered 360 mg/kg of soy isoflavones daily via gavage, while the soy isoflavone high-dose-treated group received 540 mg/kg of soy isoflavones daily via gavage. Both the control group and the diabetic group were given an equal amount of purified water daily via gavage. Body weight and blood glucose levels were measured at 4 and 8 wk post-gavage treatment. The eyes were extracted and the retinas were dissected at 8 wk following the gavage treatment. The number of RGCs in each group was determined using immunochemical tissue staining and protein blotting techniques, while the superoxide dismutase(SOD)activity and malondialdehyde(MDA)content of the rat retinal tissue were measured through histochemical methods.RESULTS: Compared with diabetic rats, treatment with high-dose soy isoflavones for 8 wk resulted in a reduction of blood glucose to 8.9±1.23 mmol/L, an increase in intraretinal SOD activity to 849.93±63.71 U/mgprot, a decrease in MDA content to 45.77±0.59 nmol/mgprot, and an increase in the number of RGCs to 76±1 cells/mm2, which is comparable to the control group's data(all P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Soy isoflavones can reduce retinal oxidative stress in diabetic rats and protect RGCs.

Objective:To investigate the temporal expression of Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF15) in the serum of patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and explore the clinical significance of GDF15 in protecting cardiomyocytes in ACS.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on 289 ACS patients admitted to the emergency departments from February to October 2023. Data on gender, age, troponin T (TnT), creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB), GDF15, and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) within 30 minutes of admission were recorded. Differences in these indicators among different groups were compared. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value of GDF15, TnT, and BNP for ACS. Among the patients, 15 exhibited a temporal expression pattern of GDF15, and their blood samples were re-measured using a GDF15 fluorescent quantitative immunochromatographic assay kit. Fifteen patients without temporal expression were randomly selected as controls, and their samples were also re-measured to exclude detection errors. Fifteen patients with temporal expression were included in the temporal expression group, and 15 without temporal expression were included in the non-temporal expression group. Laboratory indicators such as fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, creatinine, and uric acid were compared between the groups. Additionally, patient age, gender, body mass index (BMI), coronary angiography results, echocardiography, Gensini score, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and GRACE risk score were recorded to assess their correlation with GDF15 temporal expression. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 27 software, with continuous data expressed as mean ± standard deviation (Mean ± SD) and compared using t-tests and χ2 tests. Results:The overall trend in ACS patients showed a higher proportion of males than females (73.36% vs. 26.64%). The oldest group was the Unstable Angina (UA) group, with a mean age of (63.98 ± 15.19) years, while the youngest group was the non-ACS chest pain group, with a mean age of (54.29 ± 16.39) years. A higher proportion of patients in the UA, ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) groups had a history of smoking. The combination of GDF15 and TnT showed high diagnostic value for ACS, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.843, consistent with previous studies. Among all ACS patients, 15 exhibited a temporal expression pattern of GDF15, where GDF15 levels peaked at 4 hours, gradually decreased, and peaked again at 24 hours. Patients in the temporal expression group had higher LVEF and left ventricular end-systolic diameter compared to the non-temporal expression group. The Gensini score was lower in the temporal expression group, and the GRACE risk score was significantly lower in the temporal expression group (00.7±14.72) compared to the non-temporal expression group (116.1±23.46), with a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.0115). There were no significant differences in general characteristics (age, gender, BMI) or clinical biochemical indicators (fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, creatinine, uric acid) between the temporal and non-temporal expression groups ( P > 0.05). Conclusions:GDF15 demonstrates significant diagnostic and prognostic predictive value in ACS. Patients with temporally dynamic expression of serum GDF15 exhibit milder myocardial injury and a lower probability of mortality. These findings provide novel therapeutic targets and research directions for further exploring the role of GDF15 in ACS management.

Objective:To evaluate the utility of pulse oximetry-derived parameters—specifically, the pulse oximetry plethysmographic waveform area under the curve (POP AUC) and the peripheral perfusion index (PPI)—in assessing disease severity and predicting prognosis in patients with sepsis. Methods:In this prospective descriptive study, 68 patients with sepsis were categorized based on illness severity into septic shock and non-shock groups, and by 28-day outcome into survival and non-survival groups. POP AUC, PPI, and lactate (Lac) levels were recorded at 0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after admission. APACHEⅡ and SOFA scores were calculated within the first 24 hours. The prognostic value of these parameters was evaluated. Results:Significant differences were observed between the septic shock and non-shock groups in POP AUC, PPI, Lac (all P < 0.05 except at 96 h), APACHEⅡ, and SOFA scores (all P < 0.05). These differences were most pronounced at admission: POP AUC0 (2475.1 ± 899.0) vs. (4260.3 ± 1028.5), PPI 0 (0.78 ± 0.74) vs. (3.13 ± 2.18), Lac 0 (4.95 ± 4.32) vs. (2.07 ± 1.55), APACHE Ⅱ (16.78 ± 5.59) vs. 11.82 ± 4.89), and SOFA (8.89 ± 3.25) vs. (5.06 ± 2.60). Optimal prognostic cut-off values were 2741.43 for POP AUC, 0.97 for PPI, 2.05 for Lac, 12.5 for APACHEⅡ, and 5.5 for SOFA. ROC curve analysis showed that at 24 hours, POP AUC and PPI had significantly larger AUC values than Lac ( P < 0.05), while no significant differences were found among other parameters. Significant differences between non-survivors and survivors were also found in POP AUC, PPI (at 0, 24, and 48 h), APACHE II, and SOFA (all P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in PPI (72 h and 96 h) or Lac between the two outcome groups. Conclusions:POP AUC and PPI, as derived from pulse oximetry, are non-inferior to Lac, SOFA, and APACHEⅡ scores in evaluating disease severity and predicting 28-day mortality in sepsis patients. These parameters show promise as practical and non-invasive tools for clinical assessment in sepsis.

Objective:To explore the risk factors of hypomagnesemia in elderly patients with sepsis and the influence of hypomagnesemia on the prognosis of elderly patients with sepsis.Methods:In this retrospective study, 249 elderly patients with sepsis or septic shock were recruited between January 2018 and January 2021 from the Department of Geriatrics and the Department of Emergency Medicine, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, and relevant clinical data were collected.The Logistic regression analysis model was used to identify the relationship between risk factors and hypomagnesemia in patients with sepsis.The prognosis criteria such as hospitalization time in intensive care unit(ICU), 28-day mortality rate, mechanical ventilation time, double infection rate, shock reversal time, etc., were compared between the hypomagnesemia group and the normal magnesium group.Results:Among the 249 elderly patients with sepsis, 187 had normal blood magnesium, 43 had low blood magnesium and 19 had high blood magnesium, accounting for 75.10%, 17.27% and 7.63%, respectively.Compared with the normal blood magnesium group, elderly sepsis patients with hypomagnesemia had a longer hospitalization time in ICU[(16.21±3.68)d vs.(13.86±3.58)d, t=-4.845, P=0.036], and a significantly prolonged mechanical ventilation time[11(3, 18)d vs.3(1, 6)d, Z=-1.782, P=0.033]. There was no significant difference in mortality and double infection rate between the two groups(both P>0.05). The sequential organ failure assessment(SOFA)score of elderly sepsis patients in the low magnesium group was significantly higher than that in the normal magnesium group[(5.69±1.28)scores vs.(3.09±0.68)scores, t=-0.322, P=0.008], but there was no significant difference in acute physiology and chronic health evaluation(APACHE) Ⅱ score between the two groups( P>0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that high SOFA score( OR=1.111, 95% CI: 1.025-1.758, P=0.001)was an independent risk factor for hypomagnesemia. Conclusions:A high SOFA score is an independent risk factor for hypomagnesemia in elderly sepsis patients, and the clinical prognosis of elderly sepsis patients with hypomagnesemia is poor.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of interleukin (IL)-17A in risk stratification and prognosis of patients with sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SAKI). Methods: We enrolled 146 sepsis patients (84 non-SAKI and 62 SAKI patients) admitted to the emergency department from November 2020 to November 2021. Patients with SAKI were differentiated based on the severity of acute kidney injury. All clinical parameters were evaluated upon admission before administering antibiotic treatment. Inflammatory cytokines were assessed using flow cytometry and the Pylon 3D automated immunoassay system (ET Healthcare). In addition, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was utilized to determine the prognostic values of IL-17A in SAKI. Results: The levels of creatinine, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-17A, tumor necrosis factor alpha, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin (PCT) were significantly higher in the SAKI group than in the non-SAKI group (p < 0.05). The level of IL-17A revealed significant differences among stages 1, 2, and 3 in SAKI patients (p < 0.05). The mean levels of PCT, IL-4, and IL-17A were significantly higher in the non-survival group than in the survival group in SAKI patients (p < 0.05). In addition, the area under the ROC curve of IL-17A was 0.811. Moreover, the IL-17A cutoff for differentiating survivors from non-survivors was 4.7 pg/mL, of which the sensitivity and specificity were 77.4% and 71.0%, respectively. Conclusion: Elevated levels of IL-17A could predict that SAKI patients are significantly prone to worsening kidney injury with higher mortality. The usefulness of IL-17A in treating SAKI requires further research.

Objective:Taking emergency department (ED) as a starting point, to analyze the epidemiological characteristics and mortality risk factors of sepsis, and to provide evidences for ED to carry out the strategy of "three early and two lower" for sepsis.Methods:Based on the ED and inpatient medical record management information platform of Tianjin Medical University Gernal Hospital, adult ED patients with sepsis from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020 were included according to the third international consensus definitions for sepsis and septic shock in 2016 and the consensus of Chinese experts on early prevention and blocking of sepsis in 2020. The epidemiological characteristics of patients were retrospectively analyzed. Chi-square test was used to compare the difference of age, sex, hospitalization times, length of stay, hospitalization cost and infection location between dead patients and survival patients, and a stepwise logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of mortality in hospitalized patients with ED sepsis.Results:A total of 7 494 patients with sepsis in ED were included in this study, and the annual and monthly component ratios varied from 3.8‰ to 6.1‰ and 2.0‰ to 9.0‰, respectively. The main characteristics of patients with sepsis in ED were as follows: 40-69 years old (46.0%), male (59.0%), mostly diagnosed with sepsis (96.8%), mainly treated with urban health insurance (59.6%), and ED diagnosis and treatment fees of 2 000-8 000 Yuan (51.1%). The mortality of hospitalized patients with ED sepsis was 24.4% and that of hospitalized patients with septic shock was 28.8%. The main characteristics of hospitalized patients with ED sepsis were as follows: most of them were male (56.2%) patients over 70 years old (56.0%), most of them were diagnosed with sepsis (94.0%) and hospitalized for the first time (76.0%), the median hospitalization time was 15 d, most of them were hospitalized under urban health insurance (65.2%), and the median hospitalization fees was 47 000 Yuan. The risk factors of death were influenced by age and length of stay. Patients aged 70 years or older had a higher risk of death than those aged from 18 to 39 years, and patients with a length of stay of more than 7 d had a lower risk of death than those with a length of stay of shorter than 7 d. The primary infection focus were mainly respiratory and urinary systems, while the death rate of patients with hematological and abdominal infections was relatively high, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01). Respiratory and abdominal infections were risk factors for death in patients with ED sepsis. Conclusions:The composition ratio of sepsis in ED patients is not regular in time, so vigilance of sepsis in elderly men and patients with respiratory system, blood system, urinary system and abdominal infections should be constantly raised. Patients with sepsis who are older, hospitalized more frequently, hospitalized for a shorter time, and infected in the respiratory system or abdomen have a higher risk of death.

Objective:To investigate the effect of interleukin (IL)-37 on the immune function of regulatory T cells (Treg) in sepsis.Methods:TTregs were isolated and purified from the spleen of C57BL/6J mice and cultured in vitro. The cells were divided into the control group, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) group, IL-37 group, LPS+IL-37 group, LPS+3-Methyladenine (3-MA) group, LPS+3-MA+IL-37 group, LPS+Rapamaycin group, and LPS+Rapamaycin+IL-37 group. Culture supernatants and cells were collected, respectively, after cell culture for 24, 48, and 72 h. The secretion of IL-10 and TGF-β by Tregs was detected by ELISA, expressions of forkhead wing-link transcription factor (Foxp3) and cytotoxic T lymphocytes antigen 4 (CTLA-4) were measured by flow cytometry. Formation and number of autophagosomes were observed by transmission electron microscope. Western blot was used to determine expressions of autophagy associated proteins, including LC3I/II and Beclin1. Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was used to construct septic mice model, and the differences in survival rates between the groups were recorded and compared.Results:IL-37 was given to Tregs at 24, 48, and 72 h after LPS stimulation. The function of Treg was significantly enhanced after 72 h of synergistically stimulation by both LPS and IL-37. After stimulation with LPS and IL-37, the formation of autophagosomes in Tregs was obviously increased under observation of transmission electron microscopy. Pretreatment with autophagy agonist Rapamycin and autophagy inhibitor 3-MA was applied for altering the activity of cell autophagy. It was noticed that immune function of Treg was significantly decreased in the 3-MA group compared with the control group, while it was enhanced in the Rapamycin group. Secretion of TGF-β in the 3-MA group presented with significant reduction, which showed a marked increase in the Rapamycin group. However, no significant differences were found in IL-10 levels among various groups. Administration of IL-37 improved the survival rates of septic mice, which was much more efficient by treatment prior to the onset of sepsis.Conclusions:IL-37 appears to be capable of augmenting immune function of Tregs in an autophagy-dependent pathway, which might contribute to maintaining homeostasis of immune response in the setting of sepsis, and further improves the survival and prognosis of septic mice.

Objective: To explore the success rate and safety of axillary venipuncture catheterization with ultrasound localization and homologous surface localization (Magney). Method: A total of 80 patients were enrolled in the EICU from January 2017 to September 2018. They were randomly assigned to the Magney method (n=35) and the ultrasound-guided method (n=45). The number of successful punctures, success rate and complications were recorded. Results: Compared with ultrasound-guided method, the one-time success rate (25.7% vs 68.9%, P<0.01), puncture greater than 2 times (34.3% vs 11.1%, P=0.012), and total success rate (82.9% vs 100%, P=0.004) in Magney method were significantly different. Both of the two puncture methods were mis-invasive, and the difference was not statistically significant. In Magney method 2 patients occurred hematoma and 1 patient brachial plexus injury, but no infection occurred within 48 h. While no such occurrence was found in ultrasound-guided method. Conclusion Ultrasound-guided method axillary venipuncture is a safe and effective method of central venous catheterization, which has higher success rate and safety than Magney method.

Objective To explore the timeliness value of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality index (CQI) in patients' prognostic evaluation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).Methods A prospective descriptive study was conducted.According to whether they got return of spontaneously circulation (ROSC) or not,45 patients receiving CPR were divided into the ROSC group and non-ROSC group.The changes of CQI and partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (PETCO2) during CPR were collected,and were analyzed to valuate the prognosis of patients.Results The initial,end,and average PETCO2 were statistically different between the ROSC group and the non-ROSC group [7.0(3.6,14.6) vs 7.0(3.6,14.6) mmHg;29.5(19.8,35.9) vs 4.0(2.3,10.2)mmHg;and 22.2(11.8,36.3) vs 4.0(2.5,9.0) mmHg,respectively;P＜0.05],and the end CQI was statistically different between the two groups (59.6±8.9 vs 34.8±5.2,P＜0.05).The CQI differences between the two groups initiated at 11 min after CPR,and stopped at 29 min after CPR.The optimal cut-offpoint of terminal CQI and PETCO2 for prognostic was 33.2 and 16.1 mmHg respectively,and there was a statistically difference in the area under the curve between them (P＜0.05).Conclusions During CPR,both CQI and PETCO2 can be used to evaluate the prognosis,and CQI is more capable of predicting in the late stage of CPR.

ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy and safety of Xuebijing injection for the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).Methods An extensive search of related literatures from the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, China Biology Medicine (CBM), CNKI, VIP and Wanfang data up to March 2014 was performed. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding Xuebijing injection for the treatment of SAP were collected regardless of languages. Jadad scale was taken for quality evaluation of the included studies by two researchers. The patients in control group were given conventional treatment, and those of the Xuebijing group were given Xuebijing injection on the top of conventional treatment. The Cochrane Collaboration RevMan 5.2 software was used for data analysis regarding the effect of Xuebijing injection on the mortality, incidence of complication, effective rate, the length of stay in hospital, and the safety of the drug in patients with SAP.Results A total of 15 published reports meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled. The methodological quality of the trials was low. Meta analysis showed that the mortality in Xuebijing group was significantly lower [odds ratio (OR) = 0.37, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) =0.17 - 0.77,P = 0.008], and the incidence of complication was also significantly decreased (OR = 0.26, 95%CI =0.14 - 0.45,P< 0.000 01) as compared with those of control group. The effective rate in Xuebijing group was significantly higher than that of the control group [relative risk (RR) = 0.85, 95%CI = 0.80-0.91,P< 0.000 01]. The length of stay in hospital in Xuebijing group was significantly shorter than that of the control group [mean difference (MD) = -5.28, 95%CI = -6.69 to -3.86,P< 0.000 01]. Adverse reactions of Xuebijing injection were reported in 2 studies. The adverse reaction in one study was headache and nausea, which were relieved by adjusting the speed of intravenous infusion, and mild rash was reported in another case, and it disappeared after the withdrawal of Xuebijing. Conclusions The currently available evidence shows that Xuebijing injection may have some therapeutic effect on SAP. Because of the low methodological quality of the included trials, multi-center and high-quality RCTs with large sample sizes are needed to provide stronger evidence.