BACKGROUND: The primary limitation to kidney transplantation is organ shortage. Recent progress in gene editing and immunosuppressive regimens has made xenotransplantation with porcine organs a possibility. However, evidence in pig-to-human xenotransplantation remains scarce, and antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is a major obstacle to clinical applications of xenotransplantation. METHODS: We conducted a kidney xenotransplantation in a brain-dead human recipient using a porcine kidney with five gene edits (5GE) on March 25, 2024 at Xijing Hospital, China. Clinical-grade immunosuppressive regimens were employed, and the observation period lasted 22 days. We collected and analyzed the xenograft function, ultrasound findings, sequential protocol biopsies, and immune surveillance of the recipient during the observation. RESULTS: The combination of 5GE in the porcine kidney and clinical-grade immunosuppressive regimens prevented hyperacute rejection. The xenograft kidney underwent delayed graft function in the first week, but urine output increased later and the single xenograft kidney maintained electrolyte and pH homeostasis from postoperative day (POD) 12 to 19. We observed AMR at 24 h post-transplantation, due to the presence of pre-existing anti-porcine antibodies and cytotoxicity before transplantation; this AMR persisted throughout the observation period. Plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin treatment mitigated the AMR. We observed activation of latent porcine cytomegalovirus toward the end of the study, which might have contributed to coagulation disorder in the recipient. CONCLUSIONS 5GE and clinical-grade immunosuppressive regimens were sufficient to prevent hyperacute rejection during pig-to-human kidney xenotransplantation. Pre-existing anti-porcine antibodies predisposed the xenograft to AMR. Plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin were safe and effective in the treatment of AMR after kidney xenotransplantation.
Transplantation, Heterologous/methods* ; Kidney Transplantation/methods* ; Heterografts/pathology* ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous/administration & dosage* ; Graft Survival/immunology* ; Humans ; Animals ; Sus scrofa ; Graft Rejection/prevention & control* ; Kidney/pathology* ; Gene Editing ; Species Specificity ; Immunosuppression Therapy/methods* ; Plasma Exchange ; Brain Death ; Biopsy ; Male ; Aged

General anesthesia, pivotal for surgical procedures, requires precise depth monitoring to mitigate risks ranging from intraoperative awareness to postoperative cognitive impairments. Traditional assessment methods, relying on physiological indicators or behavioral responses, fall short of accurately capturing the nuanced states of unconsciousness. This study introduces a machine learning-based approach to decode anesthesia depth, leveraging EEG data across different anesthesia states induced by propofol and esketamine in rats. Our findings demonstrate the model's robust predictive accuracy, underscored by a novel intra-subject dataset partitioning and a 5-fold cross-validation method. The research diverges from conventional monitoring by utilizing anesthetic infusion rates as objective indicators of anesthesia states, highlighting distinct EEG patterns and enhancing prediction accuracy. Moreover, the model's ability to generalize across individuals suggests its potential for broad clinical application, distinguishing between anesthetic agents and their depths. Despite relying on rat EEG data, which poses questions about real-world applicability, our approach marks a significant advance in anesthesia monitoring.
Animals ; Machine Learning ; Electroencephalography/methods* ; Ketamine/administration & dosage* ; Rats ; Male ; Propofol/administration & dosage* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Anesthesia, General/methods* ; Brain/physiology* ; Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring/methods*

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and the effectiveness of comprehensive rehabilitation thera-py in patients with late-onset methylmalonic acidemia(MMA). Method:A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data of 8 patients with late-onset MMA,including the main symptoms,physical signs,auxiliary examinations,and comprehensive rehabilitation therapy.Compre-hensive rehabilitation therapy consisted of medication and rehabilitation interventions.Medication included,meth-ylcobalamin,betaine,and L-carnitine,while rehabilitation interventions focused on lower limb muscle strength training,balance training,and gait training.Manual muscle testing,Holden walking function classification,and SF-36 quality of life scores were collected from 6 patients before and after comprehensive rehabilitation therapy,and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for pre-and post-treatment analysis. Result:Among the 8 patients,1 was asymptomatic,while the remaining 7 exhibited initial symptoms such as neuropsychiatric abnormality including dull reaction,memory loss,and mental apathy,as well as motor impair-ments including unstable gait.Multiple systemic impairments such as joint pain,anemia,and thrombosis were also observed.The most prominent finding on cranial MRI in 6 patients was cerebral atrophy,while l patient showed abnormal signal in the cerebellum on cranial MRI.The two most common mutations in the MMACHC gene were c.482G＞A and c.394C＞T.After 12 weeks of treatment,the patients exhibited disappear-ance of psychiatric symptoms,improvement in lower limb muscle strength,Holden walking function classifica-tion,and SF-36 scores,with statistically significant differences(P＜0.05). Conclusion:Late-onset MMA demonstrates high clinical heterogeneity.For patients presenting with motor im-pairments and psychiatric abnormalities,the possibility of this metabolic disorder should be considered.Compre-hensive rehabilitation therapy can significantly ameliorate psychiatric and behavior symptoms,muscle strength,walking function,and health-related quality of life in late-onset MMA patients.

Objective:To determine whether insulin resistance is associated with all-cause mortality in subjects without diabetes.Methods:A total of 505 participants without diabetes, 198 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and 307 with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), were recruited from the Daqing Diabetes Study. The participants were followed up for 30 years. They were stratified into three groups (tertiles) according to baseline homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance(HOMA-IR) levels, as the HOMA-IR 0, the HOMA-IR 1 and the HOMA-IR 2 groups, to assess the predictive effect of insulin resistance on risk of all-cause mortality.Results:During the 30-year follow-up, 52, 56 and 78 participants died across the three HOMA-IR groups, respectively. The corresponding mortality per 1 000 person-years (95 %CI) were 12.12 (9.56-15.01), 13.10 (10.46-16.03) and 19.91 (16.73-23.15), respectively. Participants in the HOMA-IR 2 group had a significantly higher risk of death than those in the HOMA-IR 0 group after adjustment of age, sex and smoking status ( HR=1.97,95 %CI 1.38-2.81, P<0.001). Cox analyses showed that a one standard deviation increase in HOMA-IR was associated with a 22% increase in the mortality after adjustment of potential confounders ( HR=1.22, 95 %CI 1.08-1.39, P=0.002). Conclusions:Insulin resistance is associated with increased risk of all-cause death in Chinese people without diabetes, suggesting that improving insulin resistance could be beneficial for people without diabetic in reducing risk of long-term all-cause mortality.

Objective:To quantify any correlation between the severity of spinal curvature of an adolescent with idiopathic scoliosis and their cardiopulmonary exercise endurance.Methods:The cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) results and the full-length spinal X-rays in a standing position of 64 adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis were reviewed retrospectively. Independent t-tests were used to compare the two datasets obtained from those with left or right thoracic scoliosis. The correlation between the Cobb angle and cardiopulmonary exercise endurance was analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple factor linear regression and two-stage linear regression.Results:After adjusting for gender, age, height and weight, the multiple linear regression analysis showed that the Cobb angle was significantly negatively correlated with maximum tidal volume (β=-0.013) and significantly positively correlated with the rate of respiration (β=0.421). The relationship between the Cobb angle and cardiopulmonary exercise endurance was non-linear. With a Cobb angle > 34°, a 1° increase reduces cardiopulmonary exercise endurance by a factor of 1.4 on average. At smaller Cobb angles the corresponding increase is about 0.87 times.Conclusions:The Cobb angle is a negative predictor of ventilation during exercise among adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. The more severe a patient′s spinal curvature, the lower the cardiopulmonary exercise endurance is likely to be.

Objective:To analyze the relationship between renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to essential hypertension (EH) in military secret service personnel.Methods:In October 2019, military secret service personnel (162 people) who were recuperating in a sanatorium from January to December 2017 were selected as the research subjects, all of whom were Han and male. The patients (79 people) who were diagnosed with EH according to the diagnostic criteria of hypertension in the "Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension" (2016 Revised Edition) were the case group, and the people with normal blood pressure (83 people) were the control group. Occupational epidemiological investigation was conducted, 5 ml of fasting cubital venous blood was collected, genomic DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform method, and RAAS gene polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The distribution differences of genotype and allele frequency between groups were compared, and the relationship between genotype, allele frequency and EH was analyzed.Results:The average age of military secret service personnel was (38.2±5.3) years old, and there was no statistical significance in the average age and the age distribution over 40 years old of the case group and the control group ( P>0.05) . There were significant differences in the distribution of AGT gene M235T locus, ACE gene I/D polymorphism genotype and allele between the case group and the control group ( P<0.05) . The TT genotype with AGT gene M235T locus ( OR=3.28, 95% CI: 1.21-8.91) and DD genotype with ACE gene ( OR=2.86, 95% CI: 1.17-7.00) were risk factors for EH in military secret service personnel. Conclusion:The TT genotype of AGT gene M235T and the DD genotype of ACE gene may be the susceptibility genotypes of military secret service personnel for EH.

Objective:To analyze the relationship between renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to essential hypertension (EH) in military secret service personnel.Methods:In October 2019, military secret service personnel (162 people) who were recuperating in a sanatorium from January to December 2017 were selected as the research subjects, all of whom were Han and male. The patients (79 people) who were diagnosed with EH according to the diagnostic criteria of hypertension in the "Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension" (2016 Revised Edition) were the case group, and the people with normal blood pressure (83 people) were the control group. Occupational epidemiological investigation was conducted, 5 ml of fasting cubital venous blood was collected, genomic DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform method, and RAAS gene polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The distribution differences of genotype and allele frequency between groups were compared, and the relationship between genotype, allele frequency and EH was analyzed.Results:The average age of military secret service personnel was (38.2±5.3) years old, and there was no statistical significance in the average age and the age distribution over 40 years old of the case group and the control group ( P>0.05) . There were significant differences in the distribution of AGT gene M235T locus, ACE gene I/D polymorphism genotype and allele between the case group and the control group ( P<0.05) . The TT genotype with AGT gene M235T locus ( OR=3.28, 95% CI: 1.21-8.91) and DD genotype with ACE gene ( OR=2.86, 95% CI: 1.17-7.00) were risk factors for EH in military secret service personnel. Conclusion:The TT genotype of AGT gene M235T and the DD genotype of ACE gene may be the susceptibility genotypes of military secret service personnel for EH.

Objective:To investigate the long-term effects of metabolically healthy obesity on the risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease events, and its mortality over a 23-year follow-up.Methods:Based on the results of an oral glucose tolerance test, there were 519 participants with normal glucose tolerance and 630 with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes enrolled in 1986 and then given to assess the long-term clinical outcomes during the 23-year follow-up in Daqing. Metabolically healthy obesity was defined as the overweight and obese individuals with no metabolic abnormalities (diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia). Finally, we identified 682 participants (350 with normal glucose tolerance and 332 with newly diagnosed diabetes). They were divided into five groups: 211 individuals with metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW group), 58 with metabolically healthy overweight and obesity (MHO group), 81, 109, 223 were metabolically unhealthy overweight and obesity with hypertension (MUHO group), type 2 diabetes (MUDO group), hypertension and diabetes (MUHDO group). Incidences of type 2 diabetes, morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease were compared among these groups.Results:Over 23 years, instead of the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease, the incidence of type 2 diabetes in MHO group was two times higher than in MHNW group ( 24.1%, 12.5/1 000 person years vs 10.9%, 5.2/1 000 person years, P=0.01), with an age, sex, and smoking history-adjusted hazard ratio ( HR) of 2.42 (95% CI 1.24-4.74, P=0.01). The morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease in the groups of overweight and obesity with metabolically unhealthy were higher than in MHNW group, and increased across the subjects with MUHO, MUDO, MUHDO ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with metabolically healthy normal weight participants, the metabolically healthy obese group was at increased risk of type 2 diabetes but not cardiovascular disease events and its mortality. On the contrary, the overweight and obese groups with metabolic abnormalities had significant higher incidence of type 2 diabetes, morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases.

Objective To evaluate the objective sleep status of patients with chronic insomnia by cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) technique, and evaluate the characteristics of cognitive dysfunction to explore the correlation between objective sleep and cognitive dysfunction in patients with chronic insomnia. Methods Forty-three patients with chronic insomnia, admitted to our hospital from October 2017 to April 2019, were enrolled in our study;15 age-, gender-and education-matched healthy volunteers were recruited as control group. All subjects followed their daily routine at home and completed CPC examination. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Auditory Vocabulary Learning Test (AVLT), Trail Making Test (TMT) and Stroop Color Word Test were used to evaluate the general and single cognitive functions, respectively. The correlation of objective sleep with cognitive function was analyzed. Results (1) As compared with those in the control group, high frequency coupling (stable sleep) ratio was significantly decreased, low frequency coupling (un-stable sleep) ratio and extremely low frequency coupling (rapid-eye-movement sleep/waking) ratio were significantly increased, and latency of high frequency coupling was significantly prolonged in chronic insomnia group (P<0.05). (2) Chronic insomnia group had significantly lower MoCA total scores than control group (P<0.05), specifically manifested as decrement of visuospatial ability and execution and attention abilities; specific cognitive test showed that chronic insomnia group performed worse in immediate recall, and had delayed recall of AVLT, longer time consumption in TMT-B, smaller number of wired arrival numbers, and longer time consumption in Stroop color word test than the control group, with significant differences (P<0.05). (3) There was a correlation between CPC sleep structure and Cognitive Function Scale scores in patients with chronic insomnia. Conclusion In patients with chronic insomnia, stable sleep is reduced, un-stable sleep and rapid-eye-movement sleep/waking are increased; the impaired cognition domains are visual space and executive function, attention and memory; disturbed sleep structure aggravates the memory and execution impairment of patients with chronic insomnia.

Objective To investigate the evaluation and suggestion of the courses of Chinese Medicine for clinical students majoring in medical college. Methods In January 2017, at the end of the Chinese Medicine courses, a total of 35 clinical students of Capital Medical University were investigated through a questionnaire, mainly related to students' understanding of Chinese medicine; evaluation and suggestions for Chinese Medicine education and teaching. Results The majority of students believed that Chinese medicine was safe and effective. The proportion of believing worthing learning that the Chinese medicine accounted for 94.3% (33/35), and who believed Chinese medicine helpful for the clinical work accounted for 82.9% (29/35). However, the proportion of satisfaction with the current teaching method was 60% (21/35). Conclusions Most of the clinical students in this investigation have recognized the role of Chinese medicine, and have shown great interest in studying the course, but they are not satisfied with the current teaching. To improve the teaching quality of Chinese Medicine through the reform should be the direction of teachers' efforts in the future.