Objective This study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between urinary metals copper (Cu), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) and grip strength. Methods We used linear regression models, quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess the relationship between metals and grip strength.Results In the multimetal linear regression, Cu (β=-2.119), As (β=-1.318), Sr (β=-2.480), Ba (β=0.781), Fe (β= 1.130) and Mn (β=-0.404) were significantly correlated with grip strength (P < 0.05). The results of the quantile g-computation showed that the risk of occurrence of grip strength reduction was -1.007 (95％ confidence interval:-1.362, -0.652; P < 0.001) when each quartile of the mixture of the seven metals was increased. Bayesian kernel function regression model analysis showed that mixtures of the seven metals had a negative overall effect on grip strength, with Cu, As and Sr being negatively associated with grip strength levels. In the total population, potential interactions were observed between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn (Pinteractions of 0.003 and 0.018, respectively).Conclusion In summary, this study suggests that combined exposure to metal mixtures is negatively associated with grip strength. Cu, Sr and As were negatively correlated with grip strength levels, and there were potential interactions between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn.

OBJECTIVES: To study the clinical characteristics of plastic bronchitis (PB) in children and investigate the the risk factors for recurrence of PB. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of medical data of children with PB who were hospitalized in Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2012 to July 2022. The children were divided into a single occurrence of PB group and a recurrent PB group and the risk factors for recurrence of PB were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 107 children with PB were included, including 61 males (57.0%) and 46 females (43.0%), with a median age of 5.0 years, and 78 cases (72.9%) were over 3 years old. All the children had cough, 96 children (89.7%) had fever, with high fever in 90 children. Seventy-three children (68.2%) had shortness of breath, and 64 children (59.8%) had respiratory failure. Sixty-six children (61.7%) had atelectasis and 52 children (48.6%) had pleural effusion. Forty-seven children (43.9%) had Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, 28 children (26.2%) had adenovirus infection, and 17 children (15.9%) had influenza virus infection. Seventy-one children (66.4%) had a single occurrence of PB, and 36 cases (33.6%) had recurrent occurrence of PB (≥2 times). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that involvement of ≥2 lung lobes (OR=3.376) under bronchoscopy, continued need for invasive ventilation after initial removal of plastic casts (OR=3.275), and concomitant multi-organ dysfunction outside the lungs (OR=2.906) were independent risk factors for recurrent occurrence of PB (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Children with pneumonia accompanied by persistent high fever, shortness of breath, respiratory failure, atelectasis or pleural effusion should be highly suspected with PB. Involvement of ≥2 lung lobes under bronchoscopy, continued need for invasive ventilation after initial removal of plastic casts, and concomitant multi-organ dysfunction outside the lungs may be risk factors for recurrent occurrence of PB.
Female ; Male ; Child ; Humans ; Child, Preschool ; Multiple Organ Failure ; Retrospective Studies ; Bronchitis/etiology* ; Dyspnea ; Pleural Effusion ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; Plastics ; Respiratory Insufficiency

AIM: To observe the clinical effect of foldable capsular vitreous body(FCVB)implantation on ocular trauma and silicone oil-dependent eyes.METHODS: A prospective case study was performed on 17 cases(17 eyes)with ocular trauma and silicone oil-dependent in the First Hospital of Changsha from October 2017 to April 2022. All patients underwent FCVB or silicone oil removal combined with FCVB implantation. The follow-up time was 6mo, and the visual acuity, intraocular pressure, ocular axes, normal external appearances and FVCB were observed at 1wk and 6mo after operation.RESULTS: Only 6 cases had visual acuity before operation, and there were no statistical differences in the visual acuity before and at 1wk and 6mo after operation(P>0.05). The intraocular pressure was low before operation, but it was elevated at 1wk and 6mo after operation. The axial length was unchanged at 1wk and 6mo after operation, and the appearance and structure of eyeball were well maintained, and FCVB was stable with no atrophy during the follow-up period.CONCLUSIONS: FCVB implantation can preserve the appearance of eyeball, and avoid atrophy of eyeball and repeated operation, which has favorable clinical application value in the treatment of ocular trauma and silicone oil-dependent eyes.

To explore the effect of tanshinone IIA (TanIIA) on the occurrence and development of breast cancer, we employed the mouse mammary tumor virus-polyomavirus middle T antigen (MMTV-PyMT) transgenic mice as a spontaneous breast cancer mouse model. Animal welfare and experimental procedures were in accordance with the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The animals were divided into control group, low-dose TanIIA treatment group (30 mg·kg^-1·day^-1), and high-dose TanIIA treatment group (60 mg·kg^-1·day^-1). The treatment was administered orally and daily for 5 weeks. The mice were sacrificed after final treatment. Mammary gland and lung were collected for histopathology studies. We evaluated the chemoprophylaxis effect of TanIIA on breast cancer in mice according to the pathological characteristics of breast cancer at different stages of development. Immunofluorescence staining were employed for blood vessel analysis. The expression levels of E-cadherin, proliferating nuclear antigen (PCNA), and oncogene c-Myc were detected by immunohistochemistry. Flow cytometry was used to analyze cell cycle and Cytoscape was used to construct drug-disease protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Our results showed that TanIIA inhibits breast tumor progression by delaying malignancy from adenoma to early carcinoma, and inhibits blood vessel formation during tumor development. TanIIA (60 mg·kg^-1·day^-1) inhibits the expression levels of PCNA and c-Myc, upregulates the expression of E-cadherin. In addition, cell cycle experiments showed that the cell cycle of PyMT primary mammary cells in the high-dose TanIIA group was arrested in the G0/G1 phase. Our study demonstrated that TanIIA can significantly inhibit breast tumor progression in MMTV-PyMT mouse model, which may be related to the inhibition of angiogenic switch and cell cycle arrest.

The ventral part of the anteromedial thalamic nucleus (AMv) is in a position to convey information to the cortico-hippocampal-amygdalar circuit involved in the processing of fear memory. Corticotropin-releasing-factor (CRF) neurons are closely associated with the regulation of stress and fear. However, few studies have focused on the role of thalamic CRF neurons in fear memory. In the present study, using a conditioned fear paradigm in CRF transgenic mice, we found that the c-Fos protein in the AMv CRF neurons was significantly increased after cued fear expression. Chemogenetic activation of AMv CRF neurons enhanced cued fear expression, whereas inhibition had the opposite effect on the cued fear response. Moreover, chemogenetic manipulation of AMv CRF neurons did not affect fear acquisition or contextual fear expression. In addition, anterograde tracing of projections revealed that AMv CRF neurons project to wide areas of the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. These results uncover a critical role of AMv CRF neurons in the regulation of conditioned fear memory.

Tumor metastasis is an important cause of death in tumor patients. Once metastasis occurs, cancer will become more difficult to treat. Many studies have observed circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the circulatory system of patients with metastasis. CTCs may occasionally appear in the form of clusters during the process of hematogenous metastasis. These aggregated tumor cell clusters have higher efficacy than the single CTC. The development of circulating tumor cell cluster capture technology provides new insights into tumor metastasis. The molecular mechanism of CTC clusters formation and their role in tumor hematogenous metastasis are discussed here, and their use as biomarkers and target in therapy is evaluated.

Objective To study the temporal and spatial expressions of G protein-coupled receptor, putative receptor protein related to angiotensin type 1 receptor (APJ), in mammal cochlea postnatal development. Methods The cochlear tissues of each group 11 C57BL/ 6 mice at postnatal day 7 (P7), P14, P28 and postnatal month 2(P2M) were taken out under a stereo microscope. Real-time PCR, Western blotting and immunofluorescent staining were used to detect the expressions of APJ in hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons. Results The expression pattern of APJ in cochleae showed an upward trend during the period from P7 to P2M. The temporal expressions of APJ in hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons increased obviously at P14 and P2M. The spatial expression patterns of APJ in hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons followed a declined gradient from base turns to apex turns at P14. Conclusion APJ expression exhibits a specific spatial and temporal pattern during mouse cochlea postnatal development, and may play a role in cochleae maturation and hearing formation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status of empirical antibiotic therapy for children with Staphylococcus aureus sepsis and the effect of therapeutic paradigm on prognosis based on a retrospective analysis. METHODS: A total of 78 children with Staphylococcus aureus sepsis who were admitted from January 2014 to August 2017 were enrolled. According to the preferred empirical antibiotics before the detection of Staphylococcus aureus by blood culture, these children were divided into a carbapenem group with 16 children, a β-lactam group with 37 children, a vancomycin group with 15 children and a vancomycin+β-lactam group with 10 children. A retrospective analysis was performed for related clinical data including general status, underlying diseases, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, history of use of immunosuppressant, drug resistance to methicillin and prognosis. A logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the effect of empirical antibiotic therapy on the clinical outcome and prognosis of children with Staphylococcus aureus sepsis. RESULTS: There were no significant differences among these groups in general status, underlying diseases, history of use of immunosuppressant, APACHE II score, nosocomial infection and detection rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (P>0.05). There were significant differences in the incidence rate of septic shock and in-hospital mortality among these four groups (P<0.05). The carbapenem group had the highest incidence rate of septic shock and in-hospital mortality (69% and 50% respectively). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that empirical antibiotic therapy with different antibiotics had different risks for septic shock and in-hospital death in children with Staphylococcus aureus sepsis (P<0.05), and that an APACHE II score of ≥15 was an independent risk factor for septic shock in these children (P<0.05). The carbapenem group had significantly higher risks of septic shock and in-hospital death than the vancomycin group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Inappropriate empirical use of antibiotics may lead to a poor prognosis in children with Staphylococcus aureus sepsis. Empirical use of carbapenems is not recommended for children suspected of Staphylococcus aureus sepsis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Humans ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Staphylococcal Infections ; drug therapy ; Staphylococcus aureus

Objective:In the study of urine metabolomics of rats,necessary antiseptic measures should be taken for collection of urine samples,the effect of several antiseptic measures on the endogenous metabolites in urine was studied. Method:The urine samples of rats were collected on ice,sodium azide was added,and both of them were used together to prevent corrosion.Differences of antiseptic measures were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics. Result:The results of NMR metabolomics showed that sodium azide+ice group and ice group had many overlaps,but they clearly separated with the control group and sodium azide group;sodium azide group and the control group had a small part overlap,but there was a tendency of separation.The antiseptic effect of sodium azide+ice group and ice group was similar;compared with control group,valine,betaine and hippuricacid in these two groups increased,but the alanine and 2-ketoglutaric acid decreased. Conclusion:In the study of rat urine metabolomics,low temperature antiseptic measures must be taken when urine samples are collected,and the addition of sodium azide can improve the antiseptic effect slightly under protective conditions.