Cardiovascular diseases that develop from hypercholesterolemia-induced atherosclerosis have emerged as a significant threat to human health.Recently,probiotics exhibiting cholesterol-lowering properties have emerged as a prominent area of research.Numerous studies have demonstrated that Lactobacillus reuteri can effectively reduce endogenous cholesterol synthesis,regulate cholesterol transport,and promote cholesterol degradation by modulating the expression of key genes,such as sterol-regulatory element binding protein 2,3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A reductase,and cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase,in both the liver and intestinal epithelial cells of the host.This leads to a notable decrease in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the host serum.The present paper offers a comprehensive overview of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the cholesterol-lowering effects exerted by L.reuteri,aiming to provide valuable insights into the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and the development of probiotics with cholesterol-lowering properties.

Cardiovascular diseases that develop from hypercholesterolemia-induced atherosclerosis have emerged as a significant threat to human health.Recently,probiotics exhibiting cholesterol-lowering properties have emerged as a prominent area of research.Numerous studies have demonstrated that Lactobacillus reuteri can effectively reduce endogenous cholesterol synthesis,regulate cholesterol transport,and promote cholesterol degradation by modulating the expression of key genes,such as sterol-regulatory element binding protein 2,3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A reductase,and cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase,in both the liver and intestinal epithelial cells of the host.This leads to a notable decrease in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the host serum.The present paper offers a comprehensive overview of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the cholesterol-lowering effects exerted by L.reuteri,aiming to provide valuable insights into the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and the development of probiotics with cholesterol-lowering properties.

Objective:To investigate the short-term effects of acute fructose intake on serum antioxidant capacity and liver enzymes in healthy young adults.Methods:From January to June 2019, 64 healthy young subjects were recruited, and divided into 75 g glucose group, 25 g fructose group, 50 g fructose group and 75 g fructose group by random digits table method with 16 cases each. The subjects took corresponding amounts of glucose or fructose according to grouping. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), C-Jun amino terminal kinase (JNK), malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-OH deoxyguanine (8-OHdG) before taking sugar and 30, 60, 120, 180 min after taking sugar, and the changes of ALT, AST and LDH at 30, 60, 120 and 180 min after taking sugar compared with that before taking sugar.Results:One case in 50 g fructose group, 2 cases in 75 g fructose group and 1 case in 75 g glucose group dropped out due to adverse reaction; finally, 15 cases in 75 g glucose group, 16 cases in 25 g fructose group, 15 cases in 50 g fructose group and 14 cases in 75 g fructose group completed the study. The increase of ALT and AST after taking sugar in 25 g fructose group, 50 g fructose group and 75 g fructose group was significantly higher than that in 75 g glucose group, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05); there was no statistical difference in the change of LDH after taking sugar among 4 groups ( P>0.05). One hundred and eighty min after taking sugar, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis result showed that there were no statistical differences in the areas under curve of ALT, AST and LDH among 4 groups ( P>0.05). There was no statistical difference in SOD before taking sugar among 4 groups ( P>0.05); the SOD 60 min after taking sugar in 50 g fructose group and 75 g fructose group, and SOD 180 min after taking sugar in 25 g fructose group, 50 g fructose group and 75 g fructose group were significantly lower than those in 75 g glucose group: (4.84 ± 1.88) and (4.38 ± 1.12) μg/L vs. (6.25 ± 1.65) μg/L, (4.46 ± 1.66), (5.22 ± 1.66) and (3.99 ± 0.96) μg/L vs. (6.55 ± 1.78) μg/L, and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05). There were no statistical differences in the changes of JNK, GPX, MDA and 8-OHdG before and after taking sugar among 4 groups ( P>0.05). The ROC curve 180 min after taking sugar analysis result showed that the area under curve of SOD in 75 g fructose group was significantly lower than that in 75 g glucose group (9.06 ± 1.88 vs. 12.74 ± 3.15), and there was statistical difference ( P<0.05); there were no statistical differences in the areas under curve of GPX, JNK, MDA and 8-OHdG among 4 groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Acute fructose intake can lead to the decrease of antioxidant capacity, and the increasing of oxidative damage and liver enzymes in healthy adults.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between serum uric acid levels and thyroid hormones in hospitalized elderly gout patients.Methods:A total of 646 hospitalized gout patients, including 616 males and 30 females, aged(68.8±5.1)years, who were hospitalized at the Department of Gout, Chu Hsien-I Memorial Hospital from April 2014 to December 2019, were retrospectively analyzed.Clinical information was collected and relevant biochemical tests were conducted.Serum uric acid (SUA)levels were divided into quartiles and their associations with thyroid hormone levels were analyzed.Results:With the increase of SUA, body mass index, the prevalence of obesity, the prevalence of dyslipidemia, and the prevalence of fatty liver, the number of involved joints, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and homeostasis model assessment trended upward significantly( P<0.05); FUA showed a downward trend( F=9.42, P>0.05). The prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism in older patients was 11.3%(73 cases). With the increase of SUA, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism and free triiodothyronine levels showed an upward trend, whereas free thyroxine levels showed a downward trend( P<0.01). Conclusions:In elderly gout patients, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism increases with SUA levels.Hyperuricemia and multiple metabolic disorders are independent risk factors for subclinical hypothyroidism in these patients.

Objective:To explore the accuracy of intelligent calculation (IC) method for risk assessment of hospitalization for patients, aiming to build a more advantageous risk assessment system.Methods:The "Search Engine" program was developed based on hospital information system (HIS) of the Fifth Center Hospital in Tianjin, which automatically captured patient information and generated nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS 2002) score, Caprini thrombosis risk assessment model and Padua thrombosis risk assessment model for venous thromboembolism (VTE), the CHA 2DS 2-VASc for predicting stroke risk stratification in atrial fibrillation and the HAS-BLED for predicting bleeding risk in anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation. A randomized controlled trial was conducted. According to the applicable conditions of each risk assessment, 100 risk scores from "Search Engine" program belonged to each risk assessment were randomly selected, defined as the IC group. Manual scoring with the data of the same case at the same time, defined as the traditional calculation (TC) group, compared the consistency of the scores and the difference in time-consuming between the two groups. Results:The Bland-Altman plots showed that the 95% limits of agreement (95% LoA) of NRS 2002 score, Caprini score, Padua score, CHA 2DS 2-VASc score and HAS-BLED score was -0.46 to 0.41, -0.49 to 0.52, -0.50 to 0.41, -0.67 to 0.60, -0.44 to 0.43, respectively, all P > 0.05. In this study, the Bland-Altman plot showed that 95%, 96%, 97%, 97%, 95% plots fell within the 95% LoA in NRS 2002 score, Caprini score, Padua score, wwCHA 2DS 2-VASc score and HAS-BLED score by the two methods, respectively. The all plots of 95% LoA were within the clinically acceptable range (-0.5 to 0.5 scores). The time-consuming of NRS 2002 score, Caprini score, Padua score, CHA 2DS 2-VASc score and HAS-BLED score in IC group were significantly shorter than those in TC group [0.72 (0.71, 0.73) seconds vs. 361.02 (322.41, 361.02) seconds, 0.72 (0.72, 0.73) seconds vs. 196.68 (179.99, 291.20) seconds, 0.72 (0.72, 0.73) seconds vs. 105.75 (92.32, 114.70) seconds, 0.72 (0.71, 0.72) seconds vs. 72.66 (56.24, 84.20) seconds, 0.72 (0.71, 0.72) seconds vs. 51.30 (38.88, 57.15) seconds, respectively, all P < 0.001]. Conclusion:For the above five risk assessments, the TC method and IC method has good consistency in scores, and the IC method is faster, which has good application prospect for clinical application.

Objective:To explore the characteristics of the changes in risk score for intensive care unit (ICU) patients during hospitalization by the intelligent calculation method, and to provide evidence for the risk prevention.Methods:In this retrospective study, ICU patients of the Fifth Central Hospital in Tianjin from November 3, 2021 to March 28, 2022 were enrolled and divided into ≥ 14 days group, 10-13 days group, 7-9 days group, and 3-6 days group according to the ICU length of stay. Risk scores assessed by the intelligent calculation method of the ICU patients were collected, including nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS 2002), Caprini score and Padua score. NRS 2002 score for all patients, Caprini score for surgical patients and Padua score for internal medicine patients were selected. Trends in change of each score were compared between patients admitted to ICU 1, 3, 7 (if necessary), 10 (if necessary), and 14 days (if necessary).Results:A total of 138 patients were involved, including 79 males and 59 females, with an average age of (61.71±18.86) years and an average hospital stay of [6.00 (4.00, 9.25)] days. ① in the group with ICU length of stay ≥ 14 days (21 cases): there was no significant change in the NRS 2002 scores of the patients within 10 days, but the NRS 2002 score was significantly decreased in 14 days as compared with 1 day [3.00 (2.50, 3.50) vs. 4.00 (3.00, 5.00), P < 0.05]; both Caprini and Padua score were increased with prolonged hospital stay and compared with 1 day, the scores at the other time points were significantly increased, especially at 14 days [Caprini score: 5.00 (3.25, 7.00) vs. 2.50 (1.25, 5.50), Padua score: 6.00 (6.00, 7.00) vs. 3.00 (1.00, 3.00), both P < 0.05].② in the group with ICU length of stay from 10-13 days (15 cases): with the prolonged hospital stay, there was no significant change in NRS 2002 score, but both Caprini and Padua score were increased at 3, 7, 10 days, especially at 10 days [Caprini score: 3.00 (2.00, 4.75) vs. 2.00 (0.25, 2.75), Padua score: 5.00 (3.50, 6.00) vs. 2.00 (0.50, 4.00), both P < 0.05].③ in the group with ICU length of stay from 7-9 days (23 cases): compared with 1 day, the NRS 2002 score at 3 days and7 days were decreased, but the Caprini and Padua score were increased, especially at 7 days [NRS 2002 score: 2.00 (1.00, 4.00) vs. 2.00 (2.00, 4.00), Caprini score: 3.00 (2.00, 5.50) vs. 2.00 (0.25, 3.00), Padua score: 5.00 (4.00, 6.00) vs. 2.00 (0, 2.00), all P < 0.05]. ④ in the group with ICU length of stay from 3-6 days (79 cases): compared with 1 day, the NRS 2002 score at 3 days was decreased [NRS 2002 score: 2.00 (1.00, 3.00) vs. 2.00 (1.00, 3.00), P < 0.05], Caprini and Padua score were significantly increased [Caprini score: 3.00 (2.00, 4.00) vs. 2.00 (1.00, 3.00), Padua score: 5.00 (4.00, 5.00) vs. 2.00 (1.00, 3.00), both P < 0.05]. Conclusion:Based on dynamic assessment of intelligent calculation methods, the risk of thrombosis in ICU patients increased with hospital length of stay, and the nutritional risk was generally flat or reducing in different hospitalization periods.

Objective:To investigate the acute effect of fructose intake on serum uric acid, plasma glucose, and insulin levels in healthy young adults.Methods:Sixty-four healthy young subjects were recruited, and randomized to 25 g, 50 g, 75 g fructose group, and 75 g glucose group( n=16) by random number table. The anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, heart rate were measured. Several biochemistry parameters were measured, which were serum uric acid, plasma glucose, plasma insulin, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) at 0, 60, 120, and 180 min before and after ingestion of fructose or glucose. Results:(1) The serum uric acid level after fructose administration increased significantly than after glucose over 3 h, and peaked at 60 min. The increment of uric acid at 60 min and area under curve of uric acid at 3 h after fructose administration were significantly higher than those of glucose. The increment of uric acid at 60 min increased significantly as fructose dose was increased, especially in the 75 g fructose (increment rate of uric acid at 60 min in 25g, 50g, 75g fructose groups were 9.33%, 13.11%, 17.69% vs 0.75% respectively; Areas under curve of uric acid were 1 674.1±410.38, 1 598.3±417.03, 1 504.6±292.46 vs 1 434.8±328.94, P<0.01). (2) The glucose and insulin levels increased after fructose/glucose intake in four groups with top augment in glucose followed by 75 g fructose. The increase peaked at 30 min, began to decline at 120 min, and returned to fasting level at 180 min. The area under curve of insulin at glucose group was significantly higher than those among fructose groups. With the increase of fructose dose, the increment rate of glucose and insulin at 60 min also increased obviously, especially in the 75 g fructose (the increment rates of glucose at 60 min in 25 g, 50 g, 75 g fructose, 75 g glucose were 7.40%, 8.29%, 13.74%, 28.22% respectively; The increment rates of insulin at 60 min were 54.29%, 115.25%, 185.58%, 730.31% respectively, P<0.01). (3) There were no difference of cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-C after fructose/glucose ingestion. Conclusion:Acute fructose intake can lead to the increase of uric acid and insulin; Moreover, the increments of uric acid and insulin after fructose consumption were dependent on fructose dose.

Objective:To compare the cuff pressure and leakage volume and the related complications of filling the tracheal tube cuff by minimum air leakage method and cuff pressure manometer method after endotracheal intubation, so as to provide theoretical basis for patients who was intubated to obtain appropriate cuff pressure.Methods:A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted. 100 patients admitted to the department of critical care medicine of the Fifth Center Hospital in Tianjin from December 2015 to June 2019 were enrolled. According to the random number table method, the patients were divided into the experimental group and control group, with 50 patients in each group. After successful endotracheal intubation, all patients were placed in a supine position with the head of the bed raised by 30°. The experimental group used the minimum air leakage method, and used the cuff pressure manometer to obtain the cuff pressure. In the control group, cuff pressure was maintained at 25-30 cmH 2O (1 cmH 2O = 0.098 kPa). Parameters such as cuff pressure and ventilator leakage volume at the beginning and 4 hours, 8 hours after the inflation were compared between the two groups, as well as the incidence of ventilation-associated pneumonia (VAP) and airway complications after extubation. Results:Among the 100 cases, 53 were males and 47 were females. The age ranged from 23 to 87 years old, with an average of (68.53±8.46) years old. The intubation time ranged from 1 to 16 days.① At 4 hours and 8 hours after inflation, the cuff pressures of the two groups were lower than that of the first time of inflation, and the air leakage of the ventilator increased gradually with the extension of time. Compared with the control group, cuff pressures at each time point in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group [mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa): 33.72±9.14 vs. 25.68±5.26 at 0 hour, 30.54±7.81 vs. 24.35±4.93 at 4 hours, 26.57±5.64 vs. 22.42±4.14 at 8 hours, all P < 0.05], and ventilator leakage volumes were smaller than those in the control group (mL: 25.57±8.51 vs. 34.65±9.47 at 0 hour, 40.54±8.51 vs. 60.34±7.85 at 4 hours, both P < 0.05). ② The incidence of VAP in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (4% vs. 10%, P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of other airway complications between the experimental group and control group (airway mucosal edema: 14% vs. 12%, ulcer: 8% vs. 6%, tracheal esophageal fistula: 0% vs. 0%, hoarseness: 4% vs. 6%, cough: 30% vs. 34%, sore throat: 28% vs. 32%, tracheal softening: 0% vs. 0%, cuff rupture: 10% vs. 8%, all P > 0.05). Conclusions:The optimal cuff pressure is very important for preventing VAP and reducing airway complications. The minimum air leakage method makes the clinical obtained endotracheal intubation cuff pressure more accurately, with less air leakage, safe and effective, and it is worthy of clinical promotion.

Objective To investigate the effect of daily quality checklist on intensive care unit (ICU) the incidence of severe patients with hospital associated infection (HAI). Methods A historical control study was conducted. In Tianjin Fifth Center Hospital from June 2016 to May 2017, 286 severe patients with mechanical ventilation (MV) and using ICU daily quality checklist were assigned as the experimental group, and from June 2015 to May 2016, 291 severe patients who did not use the daily quality checklist were selected as the control group. In the control group, the routine treatment, nursing care and ward rounds were the daily ordinary work; in the experimental group, the severe disease ICU quality checklist system was strictly carried out, and every day the doctor and nurse on duty applied the checklist to assess and verify the medical quality given to the patient, including sedation, analgesia, MV, glycemic control, nutrition, etc 16 items. The incidences of ventilation associated pneumonia (VAP), catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), 28-day mortality, time of MV and the length of ICU stay were compared between the two groups. Results Compared with the control group, the incidences of VAP, CRBSI and CAUTI of experimental group were obviously decreased (VAP: 1.78‰ vs. 5.09‰, CRBSI: 1.46‰vs. 5.21‰; CAUTI: 1.39‰ vs. 4.41‰, all P ＜ 0.05), the time of MV and the length of ICU stay in experimental group were significantly shorter than those in the control group [the time of MV (days): 7.81±2.74 vs. 10.62±3.67, the length of ICU stay (days): 8.40±1.94 vs. 11.35±2.47, both P ＜ 0.05]; there was a decreasing tendency of 28-day mortality in experimental group compared with that in control group [5.24% (15/286) vs. 6.19% (18/291)], but no statistical significant difference was seen (P ＞ 0.05). Conclusion Implementation of daily quality checklist can effectively decrease the incidence of HAI in ICU patients, reduce the time of MV and the length of ICU stay.

Objective To investigate the status quo of nurses' comfort about physical touch and to analyze the influencing factors.Methods Totally 398 nurses were selected during March to May 2017 from three tertiary hospitals in Tianjin with convenience sampling.General information questionnaire,Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS),and Nurses' Comfort with Touch Scale (NCTS) were used to collect data and analyze influencing factors.Results The score of nurses' comfort with touch was (44.18±6.27).The average score of nurses' comfort was (5.84±1.43) in task-oriented contact dimension,higher than scores of the other three dimensions.Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that age and emotional exhaustion were main influencing factors.Conclusion The nurses' comfort with touch was at a moderate level.Nurses aged between 25 and 46 years,with emotional exhaustion scored less than 27,had higher comfort with touch.