Objective To evaluate early outcomes of transthoracic pulmonary valve implantation for the treatment of moderate and severe pulmonary regurgitation by using homemade self-expanding valve (SalusTM). Methods Patients with severe pulmonary regurgitation who underwent transthoracic pulmonary valve implantation in Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital from September 2, 2021 to November 25, 2022 were prospectively enrolled. The early postoperative complications and improvement of valve and heart function were summarized and analyzed. Results A total of 25 patients were enrolled, including 16 males and 9 females, with an average age of 24.5±1.5 years and an average weight of 57.0±3.0 kg. The mean systolic diameters of the bifurcation near the main pulmonary artery, the stenosis of the middle segment of the aorta and near the valve of the right ventricular outflow tract of the patients were 31.8±7.4 mm, 30.6±5.9 mm and 38.4±8.0 mm, respectively. All patients were successfully implanted with valves, and there were no serious complications such as death, coronary compression, stent fracture, valve displacement and infective endocarditis in the early postoperative period. The indexed left atrial longitudinal diameter, indexed right atrial longitudinal diameter, and indexed right ventricular outflow tract anteroposterior diameter decreased significantly after the operation. The degree of tricuspid and pulmonary valve regurgitation and the indexed regurgitation area decreased significantly. The above differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion The early outcomes of transthoracic pulmonary valve implantation with homemade self-expanding pulmonary valve (SalusTM) in the treatment of severe pulmonary regurgitation is relatively good, and the long-term outcomes need to be verified by the long-term follow-up studies with large samples.

Objective To develop a novel transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement device and test its performance. Methods The transcatheter tricuspid valve stent consisted of double-layer self-expanding nitinol stent, biotissue-derived bovine pericardial leaflets, and PTFE woven. The delivery system, mainly consisting of a handle control unit and a delivery sheath, was sent to the correct position via right atrium or jugular vein. The sheath had a visualization feature, and the handle control unit could realize the functions of stable release and partial recovery of the interventional valve. In addition, this study performed animal survival experiments on the basis of in vitro experiments. A large-white pig was used as the experimental animal. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established through median thoracotomy, then the right atrium was opened, and the interventional valve was released under direct vision without cardiac arrest. Approximately 1 month after interventional valve implantation, the maneuverability and stability of the interventional tricuspid device were evaluated by autopsy. Results Through the animal experiment, the interventional valve was successfully released, and the anchoring was satisfactory. Postoperative transthoracic echocardiography showed that the interventional valve opened and closed well, the flow rate of tricuspid valve was 0.6 m/s, and there was no obvious tricuspid regurgitation. One month after the operation, we dissected the large-white pig and found the interventional valve was not deformed or displaced, the leaflets were well aligned, and there was thrombus attachment in the groove between the inner and outer layers of the interventional valve. Conclusion Animal experiment shows that the novel device can stably and firmly attach to the tricuspid annulus, with good anchoring effect, and effectively reduce paravalvular leakage.

AIM:To investigate the mechanism of hyperplasia of mammary gland(HMG)and the potential differential metabolites in rats based on the serum metabolomics assessment by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(LC-MS).METHODS:Twelve specific-pathogen-free(SPF)-grade female Wistar rats were randomly and equally as-signed to the normal and model groups.The model group received intramuscular injections of estradiol benzoate(0.5 mg·kg-1·d-1)for 21 d,followed by intramuscular injections of progesterone(4 mg·kg-1·d-1)for 7 d for preparing the HMG model.The body weight and nipple diameter of the rats were measured,and the histopathological changes in their mamma-ry gland were monitored.After the successful establishment of the model,rat serum was collected for LC-MS metabolomics analysis,the differential metabolites in the serum of the normal and model group rats were analyzed by principal compo-nent analysis(PCA)and partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA),and the metabolic pathway analysis of dif-ferential markers through the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)open database was performed.RE-SULTS:Compared with the normal rats in the control group,no significant change was observed in the body weight(P>0.05),the diameter of the nipple was significantly enlarged(P<0.01),the hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining section of the mammary gland displayed typical HMG morphology,which together indicated that the modeling was successful.The metabolic patterns of the serum samples from both groups were significantly different,and 30 potentially differential metab-olites were identified based on the variable importance in projection(VIP)≥2.0 and P<0.05,mainly including 3-dehydro-cholic acid,alcoholic acid,glycocholate-3-sulfate,glycine-deoxycholan-3-sulfate,glycine-deoxycholan-3-sulfate,3a,7b,and 12a trihydroxycholan-3-sulfate,cholic acid,and glycolic acid.Further receiver operating characteristic(ROC)analysis revealed that the area under the curve(AUC)of the 13 metabolites was>0.9,implying the possible high sensitiv-ity for the diagnosis of HMG.According to the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis,most of the differential metabolites were mainly concentrated in aldosterone synthesis and secretion,sphingomyelin metabolism,arachidonic acid metabo-lism,apoptosis and cholesterol metabolism.CONCLUSION:The pathogenesis of estrogen-and progesterone-induced HMG in rats may be related to the altered bile acids,their derivatives metabolism,and the lipid metabolism pathways.The 13 differential metabolites identified by serum metabolomics with high sensitivity may thus provide a reference for the diagnosis of HMG.

Background: Metabolic dysregulation is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), in which the abnormalities in brown adipose tissue (BAT) play important roles. However, the cellular composition and function of BAT as well as its pathological significance in diabetes remain incompletely understood. Our objective is to delineate the single-cell landscape of BAT-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and their characteristic alterations in T2DM rats. Methods: T2DM was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of low-dose streptozotocin and high-fat diet feeding. Single-cell mRNA sequencing was then performed on BAT samples and compared to normal rats to characterize changes in T2DM rats. Subsequently, the importance of key cell subsets in T2DM was elucidated using various functional studies. Results: Almost all cell types in the BAT-derived SVF of T2DM rats exhibited enhanced inflammatory responses, increased angiogenesis, and disordered glucose and lipid metabolism. The multidirectional differentiation potential of adipose tissue-derived stem cells was also reduced. Moreover, macrophages played a pivotal role in intercellular crosstalk of BAT-derived SVF. A novel Rarres2+macrophage subset promoted the differentiation and metabolic function of brown adipocytes via adipose-immune crosstalk. Conclusion BAT SVF exhibited strong heterogeneity in cellular composition and function and contributed to T2DM as a significant inflammation source, in which a novel macrophage subset was identified that can promote brown adipocyte function.

Objective:Heme chloride(Hemin)is an in vitro purified form of natural heme and an important raw material for anti-anemia and antitumor drugs.This study aims to analyze the protective effect of Hemin on tissue damage in low-pressure oxygen chamber simulated plateau hypoxic mice,and explore its role in anti-plateau hypoxia. Methods:Thirty male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into a blank group,a positive drug group(acetazolomide,200 mg/kg),a Hemin low-dose group(15 mg/kg),a Hemin medium-dose group(30 mg/kg),and a Hemin high-dose group(60 mg/kg)with intraperitoneal injection.The anti-hypoxic activity of Hemin was explored by atmospheric closed hypoxia experiment and the optimal dose was screened.Thirty-six male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into a blank group,a hypoxia group,a positive drug group,and a Hemin high-dose group.The plasma inflammatory factor levels and oxidative stress indicators malondialdehyde(MDA),glutataione(GSH),and superoxide dismutase(SOD)levels of myocardium,brain,lung,and liver tissues were measured in different groups with hypoxia for 24 h.The degree of histopathological damage of mice was observed with HE staining.The degree of protection of Hemin against tissue hypoxia injury was detected with the hypoxia probe piperidazole. Results:Compared with the blank group,the survival time of mice in the positive drug group,the Hemin medium-dose group,and high-dose group was significantly extended(all P<0.05),with the highest prolongation rate in the Hemin high-dose group.Compared with the hypoxia group,mice in the Hemin high-dose group showed a significant increase in SOD level and GSH content of brain tissue,and a significant decrease in MDA content of lung tissue(all P<0.05).The results of HE staining and hypoxia probe showed that Hemin had a significant protective effect on the damage of liver,heart,brain and lung tissues of mice with hypoxia,and the most obvious effect on that of the brain tissue. Conclusion:Hemin has an effect of improvement on oxidative stress and inflammatory response caused by hypoxia,and has obvious protective effect on tissue damage caused by hypoxia.

Objective:To evaluate the calf muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and fat fraction (FF) in amateur marathon runners based on T 2WI-Flex fat-suppression sequence and iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetrical and least-squares estimation quantitation sequence (IDEAL-IQ) technique, and to explore the correlation between them and age, body mass index (BMI), running age, speed exercise, and monthly exercise. Methods:From September to November 2022, 37 amateur marathon group (marathon group) and 12 healthy volunteers (control group) who did not often exercise were recruited in Shijiazhuang. T 2WI-Flex fat-suppression sequence and IDEAL-IQ sequence were performed on all subjects. The anterior group of the right calf (tibialis anterior, extensor hallucis longus, extensor digital longus), external group of the calf (peroneus longus, peroneus brevis), soleus, medial head and lateral head of the gastrocnemius were delineated along the edge of the muscle contour as regions of interest, and the CSA and FF values of the muscles were obtained. Twelve subjects matched with the clinical data of the control group were selected from the marathon group (marathon matched group), and the differences in CSA and FF were compared by independent sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between CSA and FF values of the right calf and running-related indicators including age, BMI, running age, speed exercise, and monthly exercise in 37 amateur marathon runners. Results:The CSA of the right calf soleus muscle in the marathon matched matched group was larger than that in the control group ( t=-2.09, P=0.048). There was no significant difference in CSA of other calf muscles between the two groups ( P>0.05). The FF values of the right calf anterior group, the outer group, the soleus muscle, the medial head and the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle in the marathon matched group were lower than those in the control group ( P<0.05). The BMI of 37 amateur marathon runners was positively correlated with the CSA and FF values of the anterior group, the outer group, the soleus, the medial head and the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle (CSA: r=0.628, 0.468, 0.680, 0.566, 0.615, respectively, all P<0.05; FF value: r=0.395, 0.567, 0.631, 0.482, 0.516, respectively, all P<0.05). The FF values of the anterior group, the outer group, the soleus, the medial head and the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle were negatively correlated with monthly exercise ( r=-0.337, -0.405, -0.437, -0.338, -0.446, respectively, all P<0.05). Conclusions:Long-term running training can reduce the FF value of each calf muscle group, and the FF value of calf muscles is negatively correlated with the amount of running each month. Long-term running training has the greatest effect on the CSA of soleus muscle.