Background::To date, there is no effective medicine to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the antiviral efficacy of arbidol in the treatment for COVID-19 remained equivocal and controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of arbidol tablets in the treatment of COVID-19.Methods::This was a prospective, open-label, controlled and multicenter investigator-initiated trial involving adult patients with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Patients were stratified 1:2 to either standard-of-care (SOC) or SOC plus arbidol tablets (oral administration of 200 mg per time, three times a day for 14 days). The primary endpoint was negative conversion of SARS-CoV-2 within the first week. The rates and 95% confidential intervals were calculated for each variable.Results::A total of 99 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled; 66 were assigned to the SOC plus arbidol tablets group, and 33 to the SOC group. The negative conversion rate of SARS-CoV-2 within the first week in patients receiving arbidol tablets was significantly higher than that of the SOC group (70.3% [45/64] vs. 42.4% [14/33]; difference of conversion rate 27.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.7%-48.1%; P = 0.008). Compared to those in the SOC group, patients receiving arbidol tablets had a shorter duration of clinical recovery (median 7.0 days vs. 12.0 days; hazard ratio [HR]: 1.877, 95% CI: 1.151-3.060, P = 0.006), symptom of fever (median 3.0 days vs. 12.0 days; HR: 18.990, 95% CI: 5.350-67.410, P < 0.001), as well as hospitalization (median 12.5 days vs. 20.0 days; P < 0.001). Moreover, the addition of arbidol tablets to SOC led to more rapid normalization of declined blood lymphocytes (median 10.0 days vs. 14.5 days; P > 0.05). The most common adverse event in the arbidol tablets group was the elevation of transaminase (5/200, 2.5%), and no one withdrew from the study due to adverse events or disease progression. Conclusions::SOC plus arbidol tablets significantly increase the negative conversion rate of SARS-CoV-2 within the first week and accelerate the recovery of COVID-19 patients. During the treatment with arbidol tablets, we find no significant serious adverse events.Trial registration::Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, NCT04260594, www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04260594?term= NCT04260594&draw=2&rank=1

In order to explore the roles of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema, male Wistar rats were random-ized into group A<,1>, group A<,2.5> and group A<,4>, each with smoke exposure for 1 month, 2.5 months or 4 months, respectively. Group B<,1>, group B<,2.5> and group B<,4> were used as non smoking controls at corre-sponding time points. TNF-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and expression of VEGF in lung tissue was determined by ELISA or by SABC immunohistochemistry assay either. Lung slices were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE). Results showed that in animal with smoke exposure the mean linear interceptor (Lm), an index of pulmonary emphysema and the content of TNF-α in BALF increased gradually, on contrary, the expression of VEGF in lung tissue decreased (P<0.05).This phenomenon was not obvious in animals without smoke exposure. Lm was negatively correlated to the VEGF expression (γ=-0.81, P<0.01) and positively correlated to TNF-α concentration (γ=0.52, P<0.004), which implies that smoke exposure decreased the expression of VEGF and increased the expression of TNF-α. It is plausible to speculate that the imbalance of TNF-α and VEGF may play an important role in the pathogenesis of smoke-induced pulmonary emphysema.

In this study, the effect of prophylactic anti-inflammation on the development of smoke-induced emphysema was investigated. Young male guinea-pigs aged 1.5-2 months (weighing 198.3+/-26.9 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups: group A (cigarette smoke exposure only), group B (cigarette smoke exposure plus pentoxifylline-rich (PTX, 10 mg/d) forage feeding), group C (cigarette smoke exposure plus intermittent cortical steroid injection (Triamcinolone acetonide, 3 mg, i.m., every three weeks) and control group (group D: animals with sham smoke exposure, raised under the same conditions). Animals in group A, B and C were exposed to smoke of cigarettes for 1 to 1.5 h twice a day, 5 days a week. All animals were killed at the 16th week and followed by morphometrical analysis of the midsagittal sectioned lung slices. Smoke exposure of 16 weeks resulted in visible emphysematous development in Group A but not in Group B and C. It was evidenced by the indicator of air-space size, mean linear intercept (Lm): 120.6+/-16.0 microm in Group A; 89.8+/-9.2 microm in Group B and 102.4+/-17.7 microm in Group C. The average Lm in either group B or group C was shorter than that in Group A (ANOVA and Newman-Keuls test, F=8.80, P=0.0002) but comparable to that (94.8+/-13.2 microm) in group D (P>0.05). It is concluded that long-term prophylactic anti-inflammation inhibits pulmonary emphysema induced by cigarette smoking in the guinea pigs.
Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; pharmacology ; Guinea Pigs ; Male ; Pentoxifylline ; pharmacology ; Pulmonary Emphysema ; etiology ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Random Allocation ; Smoking ; adverse effects ; Triamcinolone Acetonide ; pharmacology

In this study, the effect of prophylactic anti-inflammation on the development of smoke-induced emphysema was investigated. Young male guinea-pigs aged 1.5-2 months (weighing 198.3+/-26.9 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups: group A (cigarette smoke exposure only), group B (cigarette smoke exposure plus pentoxifylline-rich (PTX, 10 mg/d) forage feeding), group C (cigarette smoke exposure plus intermittent cortical steroid injection (Triamcinolone acetonide, 3 mg, i.m., every three weeks) and control group (group D: animals with sham smoke exposure, raised under the same conditions). Animals in group A, B and C were exposed to smoke of cigarettes for 1 to 1.5 h twice a day, 5 days a week. All animals were killed at the 16th week and followed by morphometrical analysis of the midsagittal sectioned lung slices. Smoke exposure of 16 weeks resulted in visible emphysematous development in Group A but not in Group B and C. It was evidenced by the indicator of air-space size, mean linear intercept (Lm): 120.6+/-16.0 microm in Group A; 89.8+/-9.2 microm in Group B and 102.4+/-17.7 microm in Group C. The average Lm in either group B or group C was shorter than that in Group A (ANOVA and Newman-Keuls test, F=8.80, P=0.0002) but comparable to that (94.8+/-13.2 microm) in group D (P>0.05). It is concluded that long-term prophylactic anti-inflammation inhibits pulmonary emphysema induced by cigarette smoking in the guinea pigs.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/*pharmacology ; Pentoxifylline/pharmacology ; Pulmonary Emphysema/etiology ; Pulmonary Emphysema/pathology ; Pulmonary Emphysema/*prevention & control ; Random Allocation ; Smoking/*adverse effects ; Triamcinolone Acetonide/*pharmacology

One hundred and sixteen senile patients (older than 65 years) with chronic heart failure (CHF) were analyzed retrospectively in order to verify if old patients with CHF would benefit from long-term (one year) angiotension-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) treatment. The frequency of drugs (including ACEI, digitalis and diuretic) used was stratified into four degrees accordingly. Development of the CHF was scored with regard to relapse rate and severity of this disease. Stepwise regression analysis was applied to explore the relationship between the scored outcome of CHF and the frequency of individual drug administration. A significant relationship of the scored outcome of CHF to the frequency of ACEI usage but not to digitalis nor to diuretics was found (partial coefficient of the correlation r = 0.42, P = 0.002). It was concluded that the long-term administration of ACEI improves the outcome of CHF in senile patients.
Aged ; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ; administration & dosage ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Heart Failure ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; Male ; Myocardial Ischemia ; complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

One hundred and sixteen senile patients (older than 65 years) with chronic heart failure (CHF) were analyzed retrospectively in order to verify if old patients with CHF would benefit from long-term (one year) angiotension-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) treatment. The frequency of drugs (including ACEI, digitalis and diuretic) used was stratified into four degrees accordingly. Development of the CHF was scored with regard to relapse rate and severity of this disease. Stepwise regression analysis was applied to explore the relationship between the scored outcome of CHF and the frequency of individual drug administration. A significant relationship of the scored outcome of CHF to the frequency of ACEI usage but not to digitalis nor to diuretics was found (partial coefficient of the correlation r = 0.42, P = 0.002). It was concluded that the long-term administration of ACEI improves the outcome of CHF in senile patients.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/*administration & dosage ; Chronic Disease ; Heart Failure, Congestive/*drug therapy ; Heart Failure, Congestive/etiology ; Hypertension/complications ; Myocardial Ischemia/complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

To validate the accuracy and consistency of respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) in measuring tidal volume after an overnight sleep, tidal volumes of 18 patients with suspected sleep-disordered breathing and 8 normal volunteers were measured simultaneously with RIP (VTRIP) and with an ultrasonic airflow meter (VTUFM) before and after an unstrained overnight sleep on supine and lateral decubitus. The bias of the VTRIP was expressed as (VTRIP-VTUFM)/ VTUFM*100 %, limits of agreement between VTRIP and VTUFM was measured by averaged bias ±2 s. Results showed that in normal subjects, the bias of RIP before and after overnight sleep was precise and consistent in both supine (0.7 % and -1.6 %) and lateral decubitus (3.7 % and -0.56 %). In these patients, the bias of RIP before and after sleep in supine also remained small (1.9 % and 1.7 %), but it became larger in lateral decubitus (24.5 % and 20.4 %) and 11.5 % exceeded the limits of agreement observed in the evening. The patients′ body mass indices (BMI) were higher than those of normal subjects (median 34.2 vs. 27.8 kg/m2). Pooled data showed that the bias of VTRIP in the morning on lateral decubitus but not on supine was correlated to BMI (Spearman R=0.32, n=52, P=0.02). Thus, we were led to conclude that the accuracy of VTRIP overnight was precise and consistent in normal subjects, but the deviation of VTRIP measured on lateral decubitus in patients especially in those with excessive obesity was greater, thus, the method should not be used for quantitative determination.

To validate the accuracy and consistency of respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) in measuring tidal volume after an overnight sleep, tidal volumes of 18 patients with suspected sleep-disordered breathing and 8 normal volunteers were measured simultaneously with RIP (VTRIP) and with an ultrasonic airflow meter (VTUFM) before and after an unstrained overnight sleep on supine and lateral decubitus. The bias of the VTRIP was expressed as (VTRIP-VTUFM)/ VTUFM*100 %, limits of agreement between VTRIP and VTUFM was measured by averaged bias ±2 s. Results showed that in normal subjects, the bias of RIP before and after overnight sleep was precise and consistent in both supine (0.7 % and -1.6 %) and lateral decubitus (3.7 % and -0.56 %). In these patients, the bias of RIP before and after sleep in supine also remained small (1.9 % and 1.7 %), but it became larger in lateral decubitus (24.5 % and 20.4 %) and 11.5 % exceeded the limits of agreement observed in the evening. The patients′ body mass indices (BMI) were higher than those of normal subjects (median 34.2 vs. 27.8 kg/m2). Pooled data showed that the bias of VTRIP in the morning on lateral decubitus but not on supine was correlated to BMI (Spearman R=0.32, n=52, P=0.02). Thus, we were led to conclude that the accuracy of VTRIP overnight was precise and consistent in normal subjects, but the deviation of VTRIP measured on lateral decubitus in patients especially in those with excessive obesity was greater, thus, the method should not be used for quantitative determination.

AIM: To localize the expression of forkhead/winged helix transcription factor(FOXP3) gene in different types of pathological lung tissues and explore its biological role in pathogenesis of human lung cancer.METHODS: By using RT-PCR and Western blotting,the expressions of FOXP3 mRNA and related protein in 153 samples including lung cancer(n=63),lung benign lesion(n=45) and normal lung tissues(n=45) were analyzed.RESULTS: The positive expressions of FOXP3 mRNA and its protein were observed in lung cancer and in benign lesion lung tissue samples with significant difference(P0.05).CONCLUSION: FOXP3 is a biomarker of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cell.They are expressed both in lung cancer and benign lesion lung tissues,but not in normal lung tissue.The expression of FOXP3 is more intensive in cancer tissues than that in benign lesions.

The effects of tetramethylpyrazine ( TMPZ ) on the contraction of isolated guinea pig trachea induced by leukotrienes,histamine,prostagladin F2a , acetylcholine were observed. It was found that TMPZ exerts an inhibitory effect on the contraction induced by these asthmogenic mediators. It is non-competitive antagonist.