Kidney fibrosis is an inevitable result of various chronic kidney diseases(CKDs)and significantly contributes to end-stage renal failure.Currently,there is no specific treatment available for renal fibrosis.ELA13(amino acid sequence:RRCMPLHSRVPFP)is a conserved region of ELABELA in all vertebrates;however,its biological activity has been very little studied.In the present study,we evaluated the therapeutic effect of ELA13 on transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1)-treated NRK-52E cells and unilateral ureteral occlusion(UUO)mice.Our results demonstrated that ELA13 could improve renal function by reducing creatinine and urea nitrogen content in serum,and reduce the expression of fibrosis biomarkers confirmed by Masson staining,immunohistochemistry,real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),and western blot.Inflammation biomarkers were increased after UUO and decreased by administration of ELA13.Furthermore,we found that the levels of essential molecules in the mothers against decapentaplegic(Smad)and extracellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK)pathways were reduced by ELA13 treatment in vivo and in vitro.In conclusion,ELA13 protected against kidney fibrosis through inhibiting the Smad and ERK signaling pathways and could thus be a promising candidate for anti-renal fibrosis treatment.

Objective:To investigate the long-term safety and effectiveness of stent implantation for residual pulmonary artery stenosis after complicated congenital heart disease.Methods:The symptoms, signs, echocardiography, cardiac CT, cardiac catheterization, six-minute walking distance, and BNP of 41 patients diagnosed from January 1996 to January 2020. In this group, 41 patients, 30 males and 11 females, aged 1.3-14.5 years old, mean (6.1±3.6) years old, and weighed 8-43 kg, mean (18.9±9.4)kg, compared the diameter of the target vessel, pressure difference across stenosis, cardiac function before and postoperative follow-up, and evaluated the long-term effect of stent implantation in the treatment of pulmonary artery stenosis.Results:All 41 patients were not lost to follow-up, no death, and there were no serious adverse events such as stent fracture, artery dissection and pulmonary embolism during follow-up. The median follow-up time was 7.1 years (3.1 to 13.8 years). As of January 2023, the echocardiographic results showed that the diameter of the target vessels in 41 patients increased from preoperative (3.9±1.5) mm to (6.0±1.5) mm ( P<0.05), the pressure difference across the stenosis decreased from preoperative (51.4±19.1) mmHg to (33.1±19.7) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa, P<0.05); Heart spiral CT showed that the ratio of target vessel diameter to distal vessel diameter increased from preoperative 0.4±0.2 to 0.9±0.3( P<0.05). All patients had no slow growth and development, no recurrent lung infection, 39 patients (95.1%) had gradeⅠcardiac function, and 2 patients (4.9%) had gradeⅡcardiac function.As children in school age, the walking distance of 6 min was 462 to 633 m, mean( 529.9±57.1)m, the respiratory score was 0.5-1, and the lower limb force score was 6-12. There were 5 long-term adverse events, including 4 cases of target vessel restenosis (9.7%), and 1 case (2.4%), two of the patients with restenosis with repeated target vessel stenosis and lateral pulmonary hypertension were surgically intervention: stent removing and pumonary expanding, after 4, 13 years of stent implantation.And the others were still in follow-up, and no further intervention was made. The Cox multivariate survival analysis suggested that right ventricular systolic blood pressure was a risk factor for endpoint events before stent implantation ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The treatment of residual pulmonary artery stenosis after complicated congenital heart disease after percutaneous stent implantation can effectively relieve the right heart pressure overload, improve pulmonary blood flow, stabilize cardiac function, improve the long-term prognosis of patients with complicated congenital heart disease, reduce the chest opening rate of reoperation, and have stable long-term curative effect.

Objective:To evaluate the strategy and safety of the radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) originating from the pulmonary sinus cusp (PSC) in pediatric patients.Methods:Retrospective study.Fifteen patients with VAs originating from the PSC who were intervened by RFA in the Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Guangdong Provincial People′s Hospital between March 2014 to July 2020 were enrolled.All the patients met the indication criteria for RFA in pediatric patients.The electrocardiogram, ablation method of ablation were analyzed.Different curved catheters were selected for RFA according to the age and weight of the patients.The catheter was then inserted in a " U" or inverted " P" shape to the PSC.The long-term effect of ablation were reviewed.Results:The mean age and body weight of 15 patients with VAs originating from the PSC were (11.6±2.6) (6-15) years and (39.9±12.2) (19-65) kg, respectively.The electrocardiogram recorded during VAs originating from the PSC showed left bundle branch block and inferior axis with monomorphic R pattern, as well as a QS-wave in aVR and aVL.The electrocardiogram characteristics varied in patients with VAs originating from the PSC.The ideal excitation point was not found in the right ventricular outflow tract or the ablation was unsuccessful in all patients, and the earliest target was mapped and RFA was successful.Among the 15 patients, the successful ablation site was in the lower regions of the PSC, involving the right cusp in 11 patients(73.3%), the anterior cusp in 3 patients(20.0%), and the left cusp in 1 patient(6.7%). The earliest potential recorded at the PSC ablation site preceded the QRS complex onset by (27.3±6.0) ms.During the follow-up period for (2.7±2.0) years, no recurrence of VAs or complications were recorded.Conclusions:Under the premise of gentle catheterization procedure and appropriate radiofrequency energy, ablation was effective, safe and with low recurrence rate to eradicate VAs originating from the PSC in children.

MicroRNA (miRNA) is a short noncoding RNA, which can regulate gene expression.miR-21 is one of the human miRNAs identified earlier.As an oncovirus, it is involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene and plays important roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation.In addition, miR-21 promotes inflammatory responses and also plays a key role in regulating the function of immune system.Recent studies have shown that miR-21 could be detected in corneal fibroblasts cells, retinal pigment epithelial cells, retinal microvascular endothelial cells, retinal microglia and other eye-derived cells.Furthermore, miR-21 plays an important part in the development of various eye diseases including retinoblastoma, uveal melanoma, corneal alkali burn, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, diabetic retinopathy and uveitis.Further studies have shown that inhibited expression of miR-21 can treat retinoblastoma and rescue vision loss caused by corneal neovascularization and diabetic retinopathy, while overexpression of miR-21 can promote corneal epithelial healing and treat primary open-angle glaucoma and retinal degeneration.This review summarized the recent research progress of the role of miR-21 in eye diseases.

Objective To investigate the clinical feature and treatment outcome of paediatric posttraumatic endophthalmitis.Methods A retrospective case study was performed.Twenty-six paediatric posttraumatic endophthalmitis children with 26 eyes were enrolled in Shandong Eye Hospital from April 2014 to April 2017.The clinical features,causes of trauma,time and mode of treatment,complications and visual acuity were analyzed.The subjects were graded according to the prognostic status,and the prognosis of the children was compared among different treatment time,vitrectomy time,operation frequency and antibiotic application.Results Of 26 cases,including 20 males and 6 females,aged from 1 year to 13 years,the average age was (6.56±3.25) years.The subjects were divided into infant group (2 cases,7.69％),preschool group (10 cases,38.46％) and school age group (14 cases,53.85％).The main cause of injury was wire,accounting for 34.62％ (9/26).Syringe needles accounted for 15.38％ (4/26).Fireworks accounted for 11.54％ (3/26).All of the 26 cases received vitrectomy,24 cases combined with lens extraction (92.31％).Among the 26 cases,8 cases had no primary visual acuity record;in the remaining 18 cases,the visual acuity at last follow-up was significantly improved when compared with the preoperative primary visual acuity (x2 =7.385,P =0.033).The positive rate of pathogenic bacteria culture in aqueous humor and vitreous humor was 23.08％ (6/26),gram-positive cocci was the main pathogenic bacteria of posttraumatic endophthalmitis,which account for 83.3％ (5/6).The prognostic grade was grade 1 in 15 cases (57.7％),grade 2 in 7 cases (26.9％) and grade 3 in 4 cases (15.4％).There were significant differences in the number of prognostic grading cases among children with different hospitalizing time or vitrectomy time (all at P＜0.05).The hospitalizing time,time of vitrectomy,number of operations and systemic application of antibiotics were positively correlated with the prognosis grade (rs =0.580,0.414,0.428,0.535;all at P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Children with posttraumatic endophthalmitis should undergo vitrectomy as early as possible,which can receive better prognosis.

BACKGROUND:Recent studies have shown that adipose-derivedmesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) not only have multilineage differentiation potential, but also exert an important role in blood sugar balance and hormone production.OBJECTIVE:To observe the differentiation potential of human ADMSCs (hADMSCs) into functional islet-like cells and the therapeutic effect of hADMSCs transplantation in diabetic rats.METHODS:PDX-1 gene was transfected into hADMSCs by adenovirus. Cell differentiation and insulin secretion were identified and detected by dithizone staining and ELISA, respectively. Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group (n=4), diabetes group (n=8) and transplantation group (n=8). Rats in the latter two groups were subjected to making diabetic models by 65 mg/kg streptozotocin injection. Afterwards, rats in the transplantation group were given PDX-1 transfected ADMSCs via the tail vein.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At 15 days after transfection, the number of insulin positive cells and insulin secretion were both increased significantly (P < 0.05). Fasting glucose levels in the transplantation group decreased significantly (P < 0.05), while the body weight increased significantly (P < 0.05). In the diabetic group, the fasting glucose level still maintained at a high level, and the body weight of rats was significantly decreased. These results implicated that PDX-1 gene could induce hADMSCs differentiating into functional islet-like cells. PDX-1 transfected ADMSCs transplantation is effective in treating diabetic rats, but the mechanism needs further study.

Background Corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) shows good clinical effects for keratoconus,and de-epithelized CXL appears to be benefit to the distribution and absorption of riboflavin in cornea stroma.However,de-epithelization of CXL will increase the infective risk and corneal healing time.It is very important to understand and control the affecting factors of corneal repair after de-epithelization of CXL.Objective This study was to evaluate the characteristics of corneal epithelial repair and analyze the relevant factors affecting corneal healing time after de-epithelized CXL.Methods A series-cases observational study was performed.De-epithelized CXL was performed on 77 eyes of 68 keratoconus patients in Shandong Eye Hospital from September 2013 to September 2015 under the approval of Ethic Committee of this hospital and informed consent of each patient.The age,corneal curvature,corneal thickness,breakup time of tear film (BUT),corneal front astigmatism (Astig) and epithelial healing time of the patients were recorded after surgery.The correlations between corneal epithelium healing time and above-mentioned factors were analyzed.Results De-epithelized CXL was smoothly finished in all the eyes.The corneal epithelium healing time was 2-12 days after surgery,with the average healing time 5 (4,6) days.The mean age,thickness at corneal thinnest point,minimal cornea curvature (Kf),maximal corneal curvature (Ks),corneal average curvature (Km) and Astig was 22.00 (18.00,25.00) years,436 (412,470) μm,47.40 (44.70,50.45) D,52.10 (49.00,54.55) D,50.00 (47.15,53.15) D and-3.30 (-5.45,1.70) D,respectively.Spearman rank correlation analysis showed significant negative correlations between corneal epithelium healing time and BUT or the thickness at corneal thinnest point (BUT:rs =-0.334,P =0.003;corneal thickness:rs =-0.417,P =0.000),and thesignificant positive correlations were found between corneal epithelium healing time and Km,Kf and Ks (Km:rs =0.449,P =0.000;Kf:rs =0.300,P =0.008;Ks:rs =0.432,P =0.000).There were no considerable correlarions between corneal epithelium healing time and age or Astig (age:rs =0.023,P =0.845;Astig:rs =-0.190,P =0.098).Multiple linear regression analysis were carried out to study the dependent variable and independent factors.Because of the multiple co-linearity between variables,this paper corrects the model by using ridge regression.There is significant negative correlation between BUT,corneal thickness and corneal healing time,respectively (both at P＜0.05),corneal curvature Km and Kf is positively correlated with corneal healing time (both at P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The corneal thickness,Kf,Km,as well as BUT are influencing factors of epithelial healing after CXL.

BACKGROUNDAutophagy has been found to be involved in animal and cell models of atherosclerosis, but to date, it lacks general observation in human atherosclerotic plaques. Here, we investigated autophagy in smooth muscle cells (SMCs), endothelial cells (ECs), and macrophages in human atherosclerotic plaques via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), western blotting, and immunohistochemistry analysis.

METHODSThe histopathologic morphology of these plaques was observed via hematoxylin and eosin staining. The ultrastructural morphology of the SMCs, ECs, and macrophages in these plaques was observed via TEM. The localization of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (MAP1-LC3), a relatively special maker of autophagy, in plaques was observed by double fluorescent immunochemistry and western blotting.

RESULTSAll of these human atherosclerotic plaques were considered advanced and unstable in histologically observation. By double fluorescent immunochemistry, the expression of LC3-II increased in the SMCs of the fibrous cap, the macrophages, and the microvascular ECs of the plaque shoulders. The protein level of LC3-II by western blotting significantly increased in plaques compared with normal controls. In addition, TEM observation of plaques revealed certain features of autophagy in SMCs, ECs, and macrophages including the formation of myelin figures, vacuolization, and the accumulation of inclusions in the cytosol. These results indicate that autophagy is activated in SMCs, ECs, and macrophages in human advanced atherosclerotic plaques.

CONCLUSIONSOur study is to demonstrate the existence of autophagy in human atherosclerotic plaques by different methods, which may contribute to the development of pharmacological approaches to stabilize vulnerable and rupture-prone lesions.

Atherosclerosis ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Autophagy ; physiology ; Endothelial Cells ; pathology ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; metabolism ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; pathology ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; ultrastructure

Objective To analyze the causes of failed transcatheter closure for ventricular septal defects (VSD)in children. Methods One thousand two hundred and eighty children aged 13 to 141 months who underwent transcatheter closure from June 2009 to September 2013 in Guangdong General Hospital were selected. There were 43 failures(3. 36% ). The clinical data including transthoracic echocardiograph( TTE),radiography,interventional ap-proach and surgical findings were analyzed. Results Forty - three patients included 25 male and 18 female. The pa-tients' ages ranged from 13 to 141(43. 0 ± 31. 9)months and their weight ranged from 10 to 35(16. 3 ± 5. 59)kg. The causes of failure including doubly committed subarterial VSD misdiagnosed as perimembranous VSD(PMVSD)or intracristal VSD were in 6 patients. The size of occluder was too small in 13 cases,and there were statistical differences between three measurements of size of VSD(F = 19. 134,P = 0. 001). The size of VSD measured by left ventricular an-giography was significantly smaller than that measured by TTE,and there was statistical difference[(4. 78 ± 1. 11) mm vs(6. 48 ± 1. 43)mm,t = 4. 50,P = 0. 001]. The dimension of VSD measured by left ventricular angiography was significantly smaller than that measured by surgical findings,and there was statistical difference[(4. 78 ± 1. 11) mm vs(7. 02 ± 1. 08)mm,t = 5. 92,P = 0. 001]. But,the size of VSD measured by TTE had no significant difference compared with that measured by surgical findings(t = 1. 42,P = 0. 168). Aortic regurgitation occurred in 14 cases;atrioventricular block or left bundle branch block in 3 patients;tricuspid stenosis in 2 cases and residual shunt in 5 pa-tients. Conclusions Doubly committed subarterial VSD may be misdiagnosed as PMVSD or intracristal VSD. In the ca-ses of VSD concomitant with aortic valve prolapse,size of the occluders should be referred to VSD dimensions measured by TTE. In the cases of VSD adjacent to aortic valve,suitable occluders should be selected and operation technique should be improved to avoid aortic regurgitation.

ObjectiveToanalyzetheclinicalandimagingcharacteristicsinpatientswithcarotidsteal syndrome ( CSS ) and to investigate its compensatory pathw ays, diagnosis, and treatment. Methods The medical history and imaging data of the patients with CSS were colected. Their vascular lesions, colateral circulation, treatment, and prognosis w ere analyzed. Results A total of 11 patients w ith CSS (8 males and 3 females, mean age 66.7 ±5.1 years) were enroled in the study. Their clinical manifestations were posterior circulation transient ischemic attack (TIA) ( n=9, 81.8%), posterior circulation infarction ( n=1, 9.1%), and anterior circulation TIA ( n=1, 9.1%). A total of 19 pathological arteries w ere found:12 (63.1%) w ith occlusion, 2 (10.5%) w ith subtotal occlusion, 4 (21.0%) w ith severe stenosis and 1 (5.2%) w ith artery dissection. Seven patients (63.6%) w ere bilateral internal carotid artery lesions, 3 (27.2%) w ere unilateral bilateral internal carotid artery lesions, and 1 (9.1%) w as bilateral common carotid artery occlusion. Eleven patients had primary col ateral circulation, including posterior communicating artery patency in 10 patients (90.9%) and anterior communicating artery patency in 1 patient (9.1%). Four patients (36.3%) had secondary col ateral circulation and 1 (9.1%) had tertiary col ateral circulation. Al patients w ere treated w ith medication on the basis of the management of risk factors. Three patients w ere treated w ith stenting and tw o were treated with carotid endarterectomy. No stroke occurred in al patients during folow -up til September 2014. Conclusions The vascular lesions of patients w ith CSS often occur in the extracranial segment of internal carotid artery. Usual y the compensatory blood is through the circle of Wil is. The presentation is ischemia in the stolen arteries. Its diagnosis needs to be examined by digital subtraction angiography. On the basis of medication therapy, some patients may be treated w ith surgery or endovascular intervention.