Objectives: To investigated the safety and efficacy of treating patients with acute non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and elevated levels of N-terminal pro-hormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) with levosimendan within 24 hours of first medical contact (FMC). Methods: This multicenter, open-label, block-randomized controlled trial (NCT03189901) investigated the safety and efficacy of levosimendan as an early management strategy of acute heart failure (EMS-AHF) for patients with NSTEMI and high NT-proBNP levels. This study included 255 patients with NSTEMI and elevated NT-proBNP levels, including 142 males and 113 females with a median age of 65 (58-70) years, and were admitted in the emergency or outpatient departments at 14 medical centers in China between October 2017 and October 2021. The patients were randomly divided into a levosimendan group (n=129) and a control group (n=126). The primary outcome measure was NT-proBNP levels on day 3 of treatment and changes in the NT-proBNP levels from baseline on day 5 after randomization. The secondary outcome measures included the proportion of patients with more than 30% reduction in NT-proBNP levels from baseline, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) during hospitalization and at 6 months after hospitalization, safety during the treatment, and health economics indices. The measurement data parameters between groups were compared using the t-test or the non-parametric test. The count data parameters were compared between groups using the χ² test. Results: On day 3, the NT-proBNP levels in the levosimendan group were lower than the control group but were statistically insignificant [866 (455, 1 960) vs. 1 118 (459, 2 417) ng/L, Z=-1.25,P=0.21]. However, on day 5, changes in the NT-proBNP levels from baseline in the levosimendan group were significantly higher than the control group [67.6% (33.8%,82.5%)vs.54.8% (7.3%,77.9%), Z=-2.14, P=0.03]. There were no significant differences in the proportion of patients with more than 30% reduction in the NT-proBNP levels on day 5 between the levosimendan and the control groups [77.5% (100/129) vs. 69.0% (87/126), χ²=2.34, P=0.13]. Furthermore, incidences of MACE did not show any significant differences between the two groups during hospitalization [4.7% (6/129) vs. 7.1% (9/126), χ²=0.72, P=0.40] and at 6 months [14.7% (19/129) vs. 12.7% (16/126), χ²=0.22, P=0.64]. Four cardiac deaths were reported in the control group during hospitalization [0 (0/129) vs. 3.2% (4/126), P=0.06]. However, 6-month survival rates were comparable between the two groups (log-rank test, P=0.18). Moreover, adverse events or serious adverse events such as shock, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia were not reported in both the groups during levosimendan treatment (days 0-1). The total cost of hospitalization [34 591.00(15 527.46,59 324.80) vs. 37 144.65(16 066.90,63 919.00)yuan, Z=-0.26, P=0.80] and the total length of hospitalization [9 (8, 12) vs. 10 (7, 13) days, Z=0.72, P=0.72] were lower for patients in the levosimendan group compared to those in the control group, but did not show statistically significant differences. Conclusions: Early administration of levosimendan reduced NT-proBNP levels in NSTEMI patients with elevated NT-proBNP and did not increase the total cost and length of hospitalization, but did not significantly improve MACE during hospitalization or at 6 months.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Aged ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain ; Simendan/therapeutic use* ; Non-ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction ; Heart Failure/drug therapy* ; Peptide Fragments ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Biomarkers ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence of extrauterine growth retardation (EUGR) and its risk factors in very preterm infants (VPIs) during hospitalization in China. METHODS: A prospective multicenter study was performed on the medical data of 2 514 VPIs who were hospitalized in the department of neonatology in 28 hospitals from 7 areas of China between September 2019 and December 2020. According to the presence or absence of EUGR based on the evaluation of body weight at the corrected gestational age of 36 weeks or at discharge, the VPIs were classified to two groups: EUGR group (n=1 189) and non-EUGR (n=1 325). The clinical features were compared between the two groups, and the incidence of EUGR and risk factors for EUGR were examined. RESULTS: The incidence of EUGR was 47.30% (1 189/2 514) evaluated by weight. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher weight growth velocity after regaining birth weight and higher cumulative calorie intake during the first week of hospitalization were protective factors against EUGR (P<0.05), while small-for-gestational-age birth, prolonged time to the initiation of total enteral feeding, prolonged cumulative fasting time, lower breast milk intake before starting human milk fortifiers, prolonged time to the initiation of full fortified feeding, and moderate-to-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia were risk factors for EUGR (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS It is crucial to reduce the incidence of EUGR by achieving total enteral feeding as early as possible, strengthening breastfeeding, increasing calorie intake in the first week after birth, improving the velocity of weight gain, and preventing moderate-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia in VPIs.
Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Gestational Age ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Aim To study the mechanism of anti-plate- let aggregation of sorghum root active parts. Methods The effects of active fraction (WEAE-M 30%) from sorghum roots on platelet aggregation induced by collagen, thrombin and adenosine diphosphate were investigated in vitro. Western blot, enzyme-linked immunoas-say, flow cytometry and fluorescence techniques were used to explore the mechanism of the antiplatelet aggregation effect of WEAE-M 30% . Results WEAE-M 30% had a significant inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation induced by the three agonists mentioned above. The inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation induced by collagen was the most significant, with an inhibitory rate of (72. 91 ±2. 42)%. It was found that WEAE-M 30% had a significant inhibitory effect on the collagen- mediated platelet (IPVI signaling pathway protein Src, MAPK signaling pathway protein p38 and ERK phosphorylation. It also significantly inhibited the levels of ATP, P-selection and Ca2+ in platelets. Conclusions It is suggested that the mechanism of WE-AE-M 30% antiplatelet aggregation may be related to the inhibition of platelet activation pathway GPV1, MAPK and the release of typical platelet representative particles.

Objective:Aphanamixis grandifolia，a perennial herb of genus Aphanamixis （Meliaceae），has effects in soothing activating collaterals，dredging paisy，expelling wind-evil and removing wetness. This paper aimed to investigate terpenoids from the stems and leaves of A. grandifolia and reveal the effective substances. Method:Totally 22 kg leaves and twigs of A. grandifolia were extracted with 90% EtOH for three times by heating reflux. These extracts were decompressed and concentrated，and then dissolved in water. The solvent was successively extracted with petroleum ether and ethyl acetate. The chemical constituents from petroleum ether and ethyl acetate fractions were isolated by macroporous，silica gel，Sephadex LH-20 and ODS columns，and their chemical structures were determined through MS，NMR analysis（¹H and ¹³C-NMR）and spectroscopic data from literatures，respectively. Result:Twelve compounds were obtained and identified as 16α-hydroxy-3-oxo-24-methyllanosta-7，9（11），24（31）-triene-21-oic acid （1），23（E）-cycloart-en-25-ethoxy-3-ol（2），23（Z）-9，19-cycloart-ene-3β，25-diol（3），23（E）-cycloart-en-3β，25-diol（4），labda-8，13-（E）-dien-15-ol（5），labda-7，13-（E）-dien-15-ol（6），vulgarol（7），（S，E）-6-[6-（5，5-dimethyl-4-oxo-4，5-dihydrofuran-3-yl]-2-methylhepta-1，6-dien-1-yl]-4-methyl-5，6-dihydro-2H-pyran-one（8），nemoralisin（9），nemoralisin C（10），1S，4R，5S，6R，7S，10S-1（5），6（7）-diepoxy-4-guaiol（11） and 1S，4S，5S，10R-4，10-guaianediol（12），respectively. Conclusion:The structures involves triterpenoids，diterpenoids and sesquiterpennoids，and eight of them （1-3，5-8 and 12） are obtained from A. grandifolia for the first time. Those compounds are also isolated from the geneus Aphanamixis for the first time.