AIM:To investigate the role of S100 calcium-binding protein A8(S100A8)in a canine model of atrial fibrillation(AF)induced by obstructive sleep apnea(OSA).METHODS:Ten adult Beagle dogs were randomly as-signed to OSA(n=5)and control(n=5)groups.The OSA model was established by daily tracheal intubation with alternat-ing airway obstruction and ventilation recovery for 4 h per day,sustained over 12 weeks.Model validation was conducted through arterial blood gas analysis,airway pressure monitoring,and esophageal pressure measurements.Open-chest elec-trophysiological studies were performed to assess atrial effective refractory period(ERP),dispersion of ERP(dERP),and AF inducibility.Tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics was used to identify differentially expressed proteins in atrial tissue.Key protein expression and localization were verified using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the OSA group exhibited significantly lower arterial blood pH and partial pressure of oxygen,and higher partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood,confirming successful model establish-ment.Histopathological analysis revealed disorganized cardiomyocyte architecture,fatty degeneration,inflammatory cell infiltration,and a significant increase in myocardial fibrosis in the OSA group(P<0.05).Electrophysiological data showed increased AF inducibility and dERP,and decreased ERP(P<0.05).Proteomic analysis identified 267 differen-tially expressed proteins,including 128 up-regulated and 139 down-regulated proteins.Immunohistochemical analysis showed significant upregulation of S100A8,S100A9,myeloperoxidase,and nuclear factor-κB p65(P<0.05),while im-munofluorescence demonstrated increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and transforming growth factor-β1 in the OSA group(P<0.01).CONCLUSION:The OSA promotes upregulation of S100A8 in myocardial tissue,enhances atrial electrical remodeling and fibrosis,and increases susceptibility to AF.These findings suggest that S100A8 may play a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of OSA-related AF.

AIM:To investigate the role of S100 calcium-binding protein A8(S100A8)in a canine model of atrial fibrillation(AF)induced by obstructive sleep apnea(OSA).METHODS:Ten adult Beagle dogs were randomly as-signed to OSA(n=5)and control(n=5)groups.The OSA model was established by daily tracheal intubation with alternat-ing airway obstruction and ventilation recovery for 4 h per day,sustained over 12 weeks.Model validation was conducted through arterial blood gas analysis,airway pressure monitoring,and esophageal pressure measurements.Open-chest elec-trophysiological studies were performed to assess atrial effective refractory period(ERP),dispersion of ERP(dERP),and AF inducibility.Tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics was used to identify differentially expressed proteins in atrial tissue.Key protein expression and localization were verified using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the OSA group exhibited significantly lower arterial blood pH and partial pressure of oxygen,and higher partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood,confirming successful model establish-ment.Histopathological analysis revealed disorganized cardiomyocyte architecture,fatty degeneration,inflammatory cell infiltration,and a significant increase in myocardial fibrosis in the OSA group(P<0.05).Electrophysiological data showed increased AF inducibility and dERP,and decreased ERP(P<0.05).Proteomic analysis identified 267 differen-tially expressed proteins,including 128 up-regulated and 139 down-regulated proteins.Immunohistochemical analysis showed significant upregulation of S100A8,S100A9,myeloperoxidase,and nuclear factor-κB p65(P<0.05),while im-munofluorescence demonstrated increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and transforming growth factor-β1 in the OSA group(P<0.01).CONCLUSION:The OSA promotes upregulation of S100A8 in myocardial tissue,enhances atrial electrical remodeling and fibrosis,and increases susceptibility to AF.These findings suggest that S100A8 may play a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of OSA-related AF.

Objective:To investigate the short-term efficacy and safety of cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) in patients with heart failure.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study of patients with heart failure who underwent CCM placement at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from February to June 2022. With a follow-up of 3 months, CCM sensation, impedance, percent output, and work time were monitored, and patients were compared with pre-and 3-month postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) values, and 6-minute walk test distance and New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function classification, and the occurrence of complications was recorded.Results:CCM was successfully implanted in all 9 patients. Seven(7/9) of them were male, aged (56±14) years, 3 patients had ischaemic cardiomyopathy and 6 patients had dilated cardiomyopathy. At 3-month postoperative follow-up, threshold was stable, sense was significantly lower at follow-up than before (right ventricle: (16.3±7.0) mV vs. (8.2±1.1) mV, P<0.05; local sense: (15.7±4.9) mV vs. (6.7±2.5) mV, P<0.05), and impedance was significantly lower at follow-up than before (right ventricle (846±179) Ω vs. (470±65) Ω, P<0.05, local sense: (832±246) Ω vs. (464±63) Ω, P<0.05). The CCM output percentage was (86.9±10.7) %, the output amplitude was (6.7±0.4) V, and the daily operating time was (8.6±1.0) h. LVEF was elevated compared to preoperative ((29.4±5.2) % vs. (38.3±4.3) %, P<0.05), the 6-minute walk test was significantly longer than before ((96.8±66.7)m vs. (289.3±121.7)m, P<0.05). No significant increase in the number of NYHA Class Ⅲ-Ⅳ patients was seen (7/9 vs. 2/9, P>0.05). The patient was not re-hospitalised for worsening heart failure symptoms, had no malignant arrhythmic events and experienced significant relief of symptoms such as chest tightness and shortness of breath. No postoperative complications related to pocket hematoma, pocket infection and rupture, electrode detachment, valve function impairment, pericardial effusion, or cardiac perforation were found. Conclusions:CCM has better short-term safety and efficacy in patients with heart failure.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between indicators of carotid atherosclerosis and onset of ischemic stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).Methods:This is a case-control study, a total of 397 NVAF patients with newly diagnosed ischemic stroke (case group) and 3 038 NVAF patients without ischemic stroke (control group) from January 2015 to December 2017 were included in the study. Differences in general clinical features and carotid atherosclerosis indexes between the two groups were compared. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze the correlation between carotid atherosclerosis indexes and ischemic stroke.Results:Proportions of patients with carotid intima thickening, carotid plaque, stable plaque, unstable plaque, and moderate to severe stenosis were higher in the ischemic stroke group than those in the control group (82.1% vs. 64.4%, 69.3% vs. 50.3%, 43.6% vs. 30.6%, 25.7% vs. 19.7%, and 7.3% vs. 4.0%, respectively, all P <0.05). After adjustment of age, gender, heart failure, hypertension, low density lipoprotein -cholesterol and drug use, multivariate analyses showed that subjects with carotid intima thickening, carotid plaque, stable plaque, unstable plaque, moderate to severe stenosis had 1.766, 2.111, 1.892, 2.256 and 1.824 times the risk for the development of ischemic stroke compared with the subjects without any carotid atherosclerosis indicators. Conclusion:Carotid atherosclerosis, especially with unstable carotid plaque, is associated with ischemic stroke in patients with NVAF.

Purpose To study the expression of Galectin-7 in squamous carcinoma of the cervix and its correlation with HPV 16 infec-tion in Uyghur and Han women. Methods The expression of Galectin-7 in paraffin-embedded cervical tissues collected from Uyghur women including 21 patients with cervicitis and 49 patients with squamous carcinoma of the cervix and Han women including 25 patients with cervicitis and 29 patients with squamous cervical cancer was evaluated by immunohistochemical SP method. The infection of HPV 16 was evaluated by PCR amplification of HPV DNA from the corresponding cervical tissue samples. The expression of levels of Galec-tin-7 in cervical tissues was analyzed according to the corresponding integrated optical density ( IOD) value of Galectin-7 in cervical le-sions with professional image analysis software Image-Pro Plus (IPP) 6. 0. Results PCR detection of HPV 16 in Uyghur patients from Kashghar showed that 20 patients were positive and 29 cases were negative for HPV 16 in squamous cervical cancer patients whereas in patients with cervicitis, only 5 cases were positive, 16 cases were negative for HPV 16. Furthermore the detection of HPV 16 in Han patients showed that 2 cases were positive and 27 cases was negative in patients with squamous cervical cancer patients, and all the ca-ses were negative for HPV 16 in patients with cervicitis. The expression of Galectin-7 in squamous cervical cancer tissues was signifi-cantly lower than that in the cervicitis patients (P<0. 05). The expression of Galectin-7 in HPV 16 positive squamous cervical cancer patients was significantly lower than that in HPV 16 negative patients ( P<0. 05 ) . There was no obvious correlation between the ex-pression levels of Galectin-7 in squamous cervical cancer patients with the differentiation degree and disease oneset age both in Uyghur and Han patients. Conclusion Compared with cervicitis tissues, Galectin-7 expression in squamous cervical cancer is down-regulated in Uyghur women from Kashghar region implying that the expression of Galectin-7 may play a certain role in the occurrence and develop-ment of squamous cervical cancer, and its detection has a certain reference value for the diagnosis of cervical cancer for Uyghur women.