Objective To evaluate the application of serum soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2(sST2),glo-merular filtration rate(GFR),and serum iron(SI)combined test for predicting prognosis of acute decompensated heart failure(ADHF)patients.Methods A total of 575 ADHF patients were included in this study.Serum sST2,GFR,SI levels and other biomarkers were measured and followed up.Patients were divided into poor prognosis and good prognosis groups based on the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events(MACEs).Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to evaluate the prognostic value of these indicators,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were employed to compare the prediction outcome of single and combined indicators.Results In the poor prognosis group,heart rate,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pres-sure and fasting blood glucose level were all significantly higher than in those in the control group(P＜0.05).Ad-ditionally,the poor prognosis group had higher level of sST2 and total iron-binding capacity,while GFR,SI and transferring saturation were lower as compared to control group(P＜0.05).Cox multivariate survival analysis showed that sST2,GFR,and SI were independent predictors of poor prognosis in ADHF patients(P＜0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that higher level of sST2 was associated with poor survival prognosis.ROC curve analysis showed that when the biomarkers like sST2,GFR and SI were used together,the area under the curve(AUC)in-creased to 0.834,with a sensitivity of 80.2%and a specificity of 75.6%.Conclusions Combination test of serum sST2,GFR and SI significantly supports the predictive function for ADHF patients'prognosis.The highest AUC val-ue from the combined biomarker prediction may contribute to a more accurate assessment of patient risk.This com-bined test of indicators provides a more reliable tool for clinicians in terms of early identification of high-risk pa-tients,guiding treatment decisions and improving the prognosis management of patients.

Objective:To investigate the value of multimodal ultrasound features combined with peripheral blood inflammatory cell ratios in evaluating the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer.Methods:A total of 106 breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated with NAC at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from May 2021 to April 2024 were retrospectively collected, resulting in the conclusion of 61 patients (61 masses) in the study. All patients underwent multimodal ultrasound and peripheral blood routine examinations before NAC and after two cycles of NAC treatment. The patients were divided into a major histological response (MHR) group and a non-major histological response (NMHR) group as indicators for evaluating NAC efficacy. The differences in multimodal ultrasound features and inflammatory cell ratios before NAC and after two cycles of NAC treatment between the MHR and NMHR groups were compared. Binary logistic multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine the independent predictors of NAC efficacy in breast cancer. ROC curves were plotted to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of predicting NAC efficacy.Results:Among the 61 breast masses, 25 (40.98%) were in the MHR group, and 36 (59.02%) were in the NMHR group.Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that the change rate of maximum tumor diameter after the second cycle (ΔD 2), change rate of vascular index after the second cycle (ΔVI 2), change rate of elastic strain ratio after the second cycle (ΔE-Strain 2), change rate of reverse imaging score after the second cycle (ΔI-imaging score 2), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) before NAC were independent predictors of NAC efficacy ( OR=1.145, P=0.019; OR=1.055, P=0.016; OR=1.036, P=0.033; OR=1.276, P=0.016; OR=1.054, P=0.047). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the combined diagnosis of the above parameters was 0.928 (95% CI=0.866~0.990), with a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 91.7%. Conclusions:The combination of ΔD 2, ΔVI 2, ΔE-Strain 2, ΔI-imaging score 2 and PLR before NAC has high clinical application value for early prediction of NAC efficacy in breast cancer.

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of "concurrent treatment of the brain and heart" on angiogenesis and cortical vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in rats with focal cerebral ischemia, and to explore the mechanism of EA in cerebral ischemia treatment. Methods: A total of 108 Sprague-Dawley rats, 27 rats were randomly selected as the sham-operation group, and the rest rats received the right middle cerebral artery occlusion operation for model preparation firstly, and then were divided into a model group, a traditional acupoint group, and a concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group, with 27 rats in each group. In the sham-operation group, only the carotid artery was isolated. EA at Shuigou (CV26), Quchi (LI11), Hegu (LI4), and Zusanli (ST36) in the traditional acupoint group, and EA at Fengfu (GV16), Baihui (GV20), Xinshu (BL15), and Neiguan (PC6) in the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group were performed 4 h after the operation, once a day, for 14 consecutive days. Rats in the sham-operation group and the model group were identically fixed without any treatment. Before and after treatment, the modified neurological severity score (mNSS), regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and CD34 positive expression by immunohistochemistry were measured. The positive protein expression levels of VEGF and BDNF were detected by immunofluorescence, and the mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF were detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Compared with the sham-operation group, the mNSS, rCBF, and ischemic side cortical micro-vessel density (MVD) decreased, and the protein and mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF increased in the model group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the mNSS of the two EA groups decreased, and the mNSS of the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group was lower than that of the traditional acupoint group on the 14th day (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the rCBF in the two EA groups increased, and the rCBF reached the highest on the 14th day (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the rCBF in the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group was higher than that in the traditional acupoint group (P<0.05); the MVD of the two EA groups was higher than that of the model group, and the MVD of the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group was higher than that of the traditional acupoint group on the 7th and 14th days (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the protein and mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF in the two EA groups increased (P<0.01). The VEGF expression level was the highest on the 7th day in the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group (P<0.05), and the BDNF expression level was higher on the 7th and 14th days than on the 3rd day (P<0.05). The mRNA expression levels of VEGF and BDNF in both EA groups reached the highest on the 7th day (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: EA therapy can up-regulate the VEGF and BDNF expression levels and increase the rCBF in the cortex of rats with focal cerebral ischemia, which may be one mechanism of EA in the cerebral ischemia treatment. The therapeutic effect is accumulated with the effective time, and the concurrent treatment of the brain and heart group is superior to the traditional acupoint group in promoting angiogenesis.

Objective: To investigate the influencing factors of hyperuricemia in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Methods: A retrospective study was performed in patients with renal biopsy diagnosed as IgAN in the Department of Nephrology, Provincial Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2016 to October 2018. According to the blood uric acid level, they were divided into two groups: patients with hyperuricemia and patients without hyperuricemia. The general clinical indicators and renal pathological data were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of hyperuricemia in IgAN patients. Results: A total of 125 IgAN patients with age of (35.70±11.16) years old were enrolled, including 63 males and 62 females. The morbidity of hyperuricemia was 44.0%(55/125). Compared with the normal blood uric acid group, the blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and the proportion of chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3-5, small arterial wall thickening, fibrous crescents/globules, renal interstitial fibrosis, renal tubular atrophy, glomerular sclerosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in the hyperuric acid group were higher, while the level of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was lower. And the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the level of serum creatinine was an independent related factor of hyperuricemia in IgAN patients (OR=1.034, 95%CI 1.005-1.064, P=0.021). Conclusions IgAN patients with hyperuricemia presented more severe glomerular, tubular and interstitial lesions, and the level of serum creatinine is an independent related factor of hyperuricemia in IgAN patients. High uric acid level may have an important influence on the progression of IgAN, so good control of serum uric acid may improve the prognosis of patients with IgAN.

We retrieve and analyze the articles on body surface temperature of acupoints in the recent 50 years. Surface temperatures have been compared between acupoints and nonacupoints, and among acupoints in different states. The impacts of interventions for acupoint temperature are explored, including acupuncture,moxibustion and cupping, etc. We summarize the features and the rules of acupoint skin temperature. It is considered that there exists distribution rule for healthy people's acupoint skin temperature. That means acupoints have higher surface temperature than nonacupoints. In the same meridian the nearer acupoints close to the head and trunk, the higher the temperature is. The difference in symmetrical acupoints temperatures between the left and right side is about 0.5℃. In the different meridians the skin temperatures of adjacent acpoints are similar. The changes of acupoint's skin temperature in illness can be used as the auxiliary diagnosis. Acupuncture, moxibustion and cupping can produce acupoints stimulating, metabolism improving,balance, acupoint temperature regulating. Thus,diseases are relieved. The specificity and regularity that acupoint's skin temperature presents may be one of the manifestations of the acupoint specificity, also it is an important starting point of the research on acupoint sensitization. The further studies should consider different diseases and modern biological engineering techniques, so that more rules of acupoints temperature can be found by more sensitive and objective temperature measurements as well as experimental and the mathematical models.

OBJECTIVETo investigate brazilein's role in energy metabolism of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in mice.

METHODFourty mice were randomly divided into the sham group, ischemia group, brazilein 5 mg x kg(-1) group and brazilein 10 mg x kg(-1) group, each with ten cases. Cerebral ischemia model was the built. Mice were injected with brazilein three days before the operation, then they were killed. Cerebrum homogenate was prepared for the detecting of ATP, ADP, AMP and lactic acid by HPLC, expressions of MCT1 and MCT2 in mRNA level by RT-PCR.

RESULTThe lactic acid in cerebrum increased sharply 20 minutes after cerebral ischemia and decreased 1 hour after reperfusion, then returned to the normal level 24 hours after reperfusion. The charge of energy decreased significantly at the beginning of the ischemia-reperfusion, and the charge restored 1 hour after reperfusion though it was still much lower than the normal level at the time point of 24 hours. Moreover, MCT1 and MCT2 upregulated accompanied with the increase of lactate, MCT2 mRNA enhanced in brazilein 5 mg x kg(-1) group (P < 0.05) while both the two factors increased in brazilein 10 mg x kg(-1) group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONBrazilein might protect neurons by changing the charge of energy.

Animals ; Benzopyrans ; administration & dosage ; Brain Ischemia ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Energy Metabolism ; drug effects ; Gene Expression ; drug effects ; Humans ; Indenes ; administration & dosage ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Monocarboxylic Acid Transporters ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Reperfusion Injury ; drug therapy ; genetics ; metabolism ; Symporters ; genetics ; metabolism