BACKGROUND: Red-cell transfusion is critical for surgery during the peri-operative period; however, the transfusion threshold remains controversial mainly owing to the diversity among patients. The patient's medical status should be evaluated before making a transfusion decision. Herein, we developed an individualized transfusion strategy using the West-China-Liu's Score based on the physiology of oxygen delivery/consumption balance and designed an open-label, multicenter, randomized clinical trial to verify whether it reduced red cell requirement as compared with that associated with restrictive and liberal strategies safely and effectively, providing valid evidence for peri-operative transfusion. METHODS: Patients aged >14 years undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery with estimated blood loss > 1000 mL or 20% blood volume and hemoglobin concentration <10 g/dL were randomly assigned to an individualized strategy, a restrictive strategy following China's guideline or a liberal strategy with a transfusion threshold of hemoglobin concentration <9.5 g/dL. We evaluated two primary outcomes: the proportion of patients who received red blood cells (superiority test) and a composite of in-hospital complications and all-cause mortality by day 30 (non-inferiority test). RESULTS: We enrolled 1182 patients: 379, 419, and 384 received individualized, restrictive, and liberal strategies, respectively. Approximately 30.6% (116/379) of patients in the individualized strategy received a red-cell transfusion, less than 62.5% (262/419) in the restrictive strategy (absolute risk difference, 31.92%; 97.5% confidence interval [CI]: 24.42-39.42%; odds ratio, 3.78%; 97.5% CI: 2.70-5.30%; P <0.001), and 89.8% (345/384) in the liberal strategy (absolute risk difference, 59.24%; 97.5% CI: 52.91-65.57%; odds ratio, 20.06; 97.5% CI: 12.74-31.57; P <0.001). No statistically significant differences were found in the composite of in-hospital complications and mortality by day 30 among the three strategies. CONCLUSION: The individualized red-cell transfusion strategy using the West-China-Liu's Score reduced red-cell transfusion without increasing in-hospital complications and mortality by day 30 when compared with restrictive and liberal strategies in elective non-cardiac surgeries. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01597232.
Humans ; Adult ; Postoperative Complications ; Erythrocyte Transfusion/adverse effects* ; Blood Transfusion ; Hospitals ; Hemoglobins/analysis*

Objective To investigate the synergistic protective effects of WR-2721 combined with lentinan and cytokines against radiation damage in mice, and to provide a new treatment for acute radiation injury. Methods Seventy Institute of Cancer Research mice were divided into seven groups: a control group, a model group, WR-2721 group, Lentinan & cytokine group, WR-2721 & Lentinan group, WR-2721 & cytokine group and WR-2721 & Lentinan & cytokine group. All groups except the control group were irradiated with ⁶⁰Co γ-rays at a dose rate of 0.8 Gy/min and a cumulative dose of 5.0 Gy. The mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation 14 d after irradiation to measure their spleen index, thymus index, and serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), interleukin-11 (IL-11), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Results For the mice treated with WR-2721, lentinan, and cytokines, the spleen index was 7.33 ± 2.84, the thymus index was 1.70 ± 0.30, the serum SOD level was 114.0 ± 8.3, the MDA level was 7.33 ± 1.16, the IL-11 level was 155.8 ± 49.4, and the TNF-α level was 174.0 ± 37.8. All these indicators except the spleen index in the combination group significantly differed from those of the model group (P < 0.05 or 0.01), indicating the combined treatment promoted recovery from radiation damage. Conclusion WR-2721 combined with lentinan and cytokines has significant synergistic protective effects, which is a promising treatment for acute radiation injury.

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) is a common clinical problem after hepatectomy and liver transplantation and is the main cause of liver dysfunction and liver failure after transplantation. In recent years, autophagy-mediated pathways have become a research hotspot in alleviating HIRI. Autophagy refers to the process in which a large number of substrates such as cytoplasm and damaged organelles are transported into lysosomes for digestion and degradation, so as to constantly renew, reshape, and reuse cells. This article summarizes the research advances in the mechanism of targeting autophagy to alleviate HIRI from the aspects of gene, protein, signaling pathway, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum stress, as well as existing problems and prospects in research, in order to provide theoretical support for the future research on alleviating HIRI by targeting autophagy.

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) is a very common complication of liver transplantation, liver resection, and shock. At present, many studies have been conducted on HIRI, but there is still a lack of drugs for radical treatment in clinical practice. Many factors, such as related cells, molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways, reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress response, nitric oxide, and mitochondria, mediate the development and progression of HIRI, which leads to the decline of patients' quality of life and even endangers their life safety. Based on the pathogenesis of HIRI and related articles, this article summarizes the research advances in the prevention and treatment of HIRI with traditional Chinese medicine components, so as to provide theoretical support for basic research and clinical research on HIRI.

OBJECTIVE： To study the effects of cimetidine on low dose rate irradiation-induced liver cell apoptosis in Beagle dogs. METHODS： Healthy male Beagle dogs were randomly divided into normal control group， model control group， positive drug group （lentinan， 21.33 mg/kg） and cimetidine low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （5.33， 10.67， 21.33 mg/kg）， with 4 Beagle dogs each. Except for normal control group， other groups were given 60Co-γ accumulative irradiation （dosage rate： 0.040 8 mGy/min） for 23 d； the medication groups were given relevant medicine orally before irradiation， once a day. Twenty-four hours after stopping irradiation， TUNEL method was used to detect the apoptosis of liver cells in Beagle dogs. The percentage of apoptotic cells was calculated. The expression level of apoptosis-related proteins （Bax， Bcl-2， Caspase-3， p53） in liver tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS： Compared with normal control group， apoptotic cells and Bax， Caspase-3， p53 positive cells were increased significantly in liver tissue of Beagle dogs in model control group； the percentage of apoptotic cells， protein expression levels of Bax， Caspase-3 and p53 were increased significantly； Bcl-2 positive cells were decreased significantly， and its protein expression level was decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with model control group， above positive cells of liver tissue in Beagle dogs were changed to different extents in medication groups； the percentage of apoptotic cells and protein expression levels of p53 in medication groups， protein expression levels of Bax in positive drug group， cimetidine low-dose and high-dose groups as well as protein expression levels of Caspase-3 in cimetidine groups were decreased significantly； protein expression levels of Bcl-2 were increased significantly in cimetidine groups. The percentage of apoptotic cells in cimetidine medium-dose and high-dose groups as well as protein expression levels of Caspase-3 in cimetidine groups were all lower than positive control group. Protein expression level of p53 in cimetidine low-dose group was significantly higher than positive drug group （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： Cimetidine can inhibit the low dose rate irradiation-induced apoptosis of liver cells in Beagle dogs， and certainly protect liver cells against irradiation. The mechanism of it may be associated with up-regulating the protein expression of Bcl-2 and down-regulating the protein expression of Bax， Caspase-3 and p53 in liver cells.

Objective To discuss clinical application,value and effect of tracheal stent in surgical operation for tracheostenosis caused by thyroid tumor.Methods Clinical data of 6 patients with tracheal stenosis and dyspnea caused by thyroid tumor invasiveness or tracheal compression from Oct.2015 to Sep.2016 were retrospectively analyzed.Of the 6 patients,1 case had nodular goiter and 5 cases had differentiated thyroid carcinoma(DTC).Results All patients had dyspnea caused by thyroid tumor invasiveness or tracheal compression.Dyspnea relieved dramatically after tracheal stent was implantated under local anesthesia.Thyroidectomy was given later,with intraoperative tracheal intubation as well as anesthesia,and the surgery finally succeeded.One case with benign multinodular goiter received complete resection and 5 cases with DTC invading the trachea received complete resection of thyroid and neck lymph node dissection,followed by end-to-end anastomosis of invaded trachea sleeve resection.All patients got stage Ⅰ healing in surgical wound.Five cases received radioactive 131I treatment as well as TSH suppression therapy after DTC surgery.All patients were alive and disease-free after a follow-up of 4 to 15 months.Conclusions For patients with tracheostenosis caused by thyroid tumor invasiveness or tracheal compression,operation under cardiopulmonary bypass is necessary if tracheal intubation is difficult.For hospitals without cardiopulmonary bypass,tracheal stent implantation can effectively relieve dyspnea symptom and reduce risk of tracheal intubation under anesthesia,which provides possibility for surgical treatment.

Objective To investigate the radioprotective effect of cimetidine on survival rate and hematopoietic system in acutely irradiated mice.Methods The total body irradiation doses were 6.0Gy and 8.0Gy respectively at 1.01Gy/min rate. Sixty healthy male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group, model group, positive-drug (523) group and cimetidine groups (33.3mg/kg, 100mg/kg and 300mg/kg). Each group had ten mice. The mice were given intragastric administration of cimetidine for 6d before the irradiation in cimetidine groups, and 523 was administered before irradiation once a day for one day in 523 group, and at 5h after irradiation, was given again. The 30d survival rate after 8.0Gy irradiation was recorded. The peripheral blood cells, bone marrow DNA content and frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (fMNPCE) were determined 30d after 6.0Gy irradiation.Results After 8.0Gy irradiation, all the mice died on 21th day in model control group. The survival rates in cimetidine groups were 50%, 20% and 30%, respectively. After 6.0Gy irradiation on 30th day, compared with control group, the peripheral white blood cells (WBC) and bone marrow DNA content were decreased significantly (P<0.01,P<0.05) in model group, and fMNPCE was increased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with model group, WBC was significantly increased in 300mg/kg cimetidine group (P<0.01). In cimetidine groups, the bone marrow DNA content was increased significantly after irradiation (P<0.01 orP<0.05), and the fMNPCE was decreased significantly (P<0.01 orP<0.05) and tended towards normal.Conclusion Cimetidine could improve 30d survival rate of acutely irradiated mice and has good protective effect on hematopoietic system.

Objective:To observe the temperature vaxiation in the pulp chamber during Nd-YAG laser irradiation at tooth cervical portion.Methods:60 extracted permanent teeth were divided into 3 groups (anterior teeth,premolars and molars,n =20).The teeth in each group were further divided into 4 subgroups according to the laser power setting (0.4 W,0.8 W)and interval time(1 0 s,20 s)(n =5).After canal preparation the teeth were fixed and filmed using the parallel projection technique.the thickness of the buccal pulp chamber wall was measured by graphic analyzing software.The buccal cervical portion of the teeth was irradiated through 200 μm optical fiber,Temperature in the pulp was measured by K type thermo-electric couples fixed to the pulp chamber wall.Re-sults:The temperature inside the chamber increased with the higher power setting(P <0.01 ),under the same power setting,longer irradiation duration caused higher temperature rise(P <0.01 ).Greater chamber wall thickness was associated with lower temperature rise.Conclusion:The temperature rise in the pulp chamber during laser irradiation is correlated with laser power setting and the thickness of the irradiated tooth tissue.