Objective:To investigate the impact of QiliQiangXin Capsules on ventricular remodeling and cardiac contraction and relaxation function in aging rats with heart failure following myocardial infarction.Methods:From August 2022 to August 2023, a total of 30 old rats were randomly assigned to three groups: sham-operated group, model group, and treatment group, with 10 rats in each group selected through a digital lottery method.The model and treatment groups were created by ligating the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery.The rats in the treatment group received daily administration of Astragalosa hebecarpa Drabanemerosa Strong Heart Capsule(1.0 g/kg)via gavage after 4 weeks.After the 4-week drug administration period, echocardiography was performed to measure various parameters including left ventricular end-diastolic internal diameter(LVIDd), left ventricular end-systolic internal diameter(LVIDs), left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), left ventricular anterior wall myocardial thickness(LVAWd), mitral valve early diastolic peak flow velocity(E peak), and early diastolic velocity of mitral annulus(e peak)detected by tissue Doppler(TDI). The E/e value was calculated based on these measurements.Additionally, serum levels of B-type brain natriuretic peptide(BNP), matrix metalloproteinase 2(MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase 9(MMP-9), and tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α)were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining was employed to observe the morphological changes in myocardial tissue.Results:Compared to rats in the model group, rats in the treatment group exhibited lower left ventricular internal dimension at end-diastole(LVIDd)(9.1±0.6 mm vs.11.4±0.8 mm, P<0.01), lower left ventricular internal dimension at end-systole(LVIDs)(5.9±0.8 mm vs.8.7±0.9 mm, P<0.01), lower E/e ratio(13.4±2.0 vs.16.3±2.8, P<0.05), higher left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)(68.8±7.1% vs.52.0±8.4%, P<0.01), and elevated left ventricular anterior wall thickness at end-diastole(LVAWd)(1.5±0.2 mm vs.1.2±0.3 mm, P<0.05). In addition, compared to rats in the model group, the treatment group showed a decrease in brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)(0.26±0.04 μg/L vs.0.34±0.05 μg/L, P<0.01), decreased matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2)(3697.0±857.7 μg/L vs.4719.5±703.5 μg/L, P<0.01), decreased matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9)(87.3±13.8 μg/L vs.116.5±9.6 μg/L, P<0.01), decreased tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α)(165.3±36.9 μg/L vs.269.8±35.0 μg/L, P<0.01), and lower TNF-α levels(165.3±36.9 μg/L vs.269.8±35.0 μg/L, P<0.01). Histological examination using hematoxylin and eosin(HE)staining revealed that the treatment group had less severe cardiac myocyte arrangement disorder and inflammatory reaction compared to the model group. Conclusions:Qiliqiangxin Capsules were found to effectively delay ventricular remodeling and improve myocardial contraction and relaxation function in aging rats with heart failure after acute myocardial infarction.

Humans ; Nutrition Surveys ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/chemically induced* ; Environmental Exposure/analysis* ; Environmental Monitoring ; Phthalic Acids/toxicity* ; Environmental Pollutants/toxicity*

【Objective】 To investigate the changes in left wrist pulse wave transit time （PTT） in patients with hypertension， as well as the effects of serological indicators and unhealthy lifestyle. 【Methods】 We recruited 321 hypertensive patients admitted to Chinese PLA General Hospital Hainan Branch from June 2020 to April 2021 and divided them into two groups according to the simple randomization method. Totally 135 patients in the control group drank 20 mL of water after getting up in the morning and 186 patients in the observation group took the nifedipine controlled release tablets on the basis of the control group. A smart watch was used to collect the PTT at 0.5 h， 4.5 h， and 8.5 h after taking the medicine （drinking water） for the two groups. Repeated measurement analysis of variance was used to observe the influences of the time， interaction effect， and medicine on PTT. The data of gender， age， height， weight， left arm circumference， left arm length， resting heart rate， smoking， and alcohol drinking were collected. Fasting blood of 4 mL was collected to detect indicators such as fasting blood glucose （FBG）， total cholesterol （TC）， triglyceride （TG）， and uric acid （UA） to analyze possible factors affecting PTT. 【Results】 The time effect was statistically significant （F=12.065， P<0.001）， while the interaction effect was not （F=0.089， P=0.915）. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups （F=2.074， P=0.155）. FBG， TC， TG， resting heart rate， and limited alcohol drinking differed significantly （P<0.05）. 【Conclusion】 PTT gradually shortens with time， and it has no significant relationship with antihypertensive drugs， but may be related to FBG， TC， TG， resting heart rate， alcohol drinking and other indicators.

BACKGROUND: Shenyankangfu Tablet (SYKFT) is a Chinese patent medicine that has been used widely to decrease proteinuria and the progression of chronic kidney disease. OBJECTIVE: This trial compared the efficacy and safety of SYKFT, for the control of proteinuria in primary glomerulonephritis patients, against the standard drug, losartan potassium. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: This was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Primary glomerulonephritis patients, aged 18-70 years, with blood pressure ≤ 140/90 mmHg, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 45 mL/min per 1.73 m MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was change in the 24-hour proteinuria level, after 48 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: A total of 735 participants were enrolled. The percent decline of urine protein quantification in the SYKFT group after 48 weeks was 8.78% ± 2.56% (P = 0.006) more than that in the losartan 50 mg group, which was 0.51% ± 2.54% (P = 1.000) less than that in the losartan 100 mg group. Compared with the losartan potassium 50 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 50 mg group had a 13.39% ± 2.49% (P < 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein level. Compared with the losartan potassium 100 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 100 mg group had a 9.77% ± 2.52% (P = 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein. With a superiority threshold of 15%, neither was statistically significant. eGFR, serum creatinine and serum albumin from the baseline did not change statistically significant. The average change in TCM syndrome score between the patients who took SYKFT (-3.00 [-6.00, -2.00]) and who did not take SYKFT (-2.00 [-5.00, 0]) was statistically significant (P = 0.003). No obvious adverse reactions were observed in any group. CONCLUSION: SYKFT decreased the proteinuria and improved the TCM syndrome scores of primary glomerulonephritis patients, with no change in the rate of decrease in the eGFR. SYKFT plus losartan potassium therapy decreased proteinuria more than losartan potassium therapy alone. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT02063100 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effects of noninvasive ventilation on heart failure(HF)after acute myocardial infarction(AMI)in rats.Methods:A rat model of HF after AMI was established by ligation of the left ventricular branch.Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups according to the random number table method: sham operation group, non-treatment group and noninvasive ventilation treatment group(n=30, each group). Echocardiography was performed on the third day after surgery, and parameters including left atrial diameter(LAD), left ventricular end diastolic diameter(LVEDD), interventricular septum thickness(IVS)and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)were recorded.Serum levels of brain natriuretic peptide 45(BNP45), tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α), matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9), and heat-shock protein 70(HSP70)were measured at day 3 after operation by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays(ELISA). Morphological changes of myocardial tissue were analyzed with hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling(TUNEL).Results:Compared with the non-treatment group, LVEDD decreased[(153.9±8.1)mm/m 2vs.(164.7±10.4)mm/m 2, P<0.05]and LVEF increased[(63.9±7.6) % vs. (54.4±9.4) %, P<0.05]in the noninvasive ventilation group .Compared with the non-treatment group, serum levels of BNP45[(0.65±0.07) % vs. (0.73±0.07) μg/L, P<0.05], TNF-α(361.5±13.1) μg/L vs. (399.1±12.6) μg/L( P<0.05), MMP-2(6 892.8±530.2) μg/L vs. (7 406.0±667.5) μg/L( P<0.05)and MMP-9(143.8±5.9) μg/L vs. (151.1±8.3) μg/L( P<0.05)decreased and levels of HSP70[(1.7±0.1)μg/L vs.(1.4±0.1)μg/L, P<0.05]increased in the noninvasive ventilation group.HE staining showed focal accumulation of neutrophils in the epicardium, loss of muscle striation, disorganized cell polarity and enlarged nuclei in the non-treatment group.Meanwhile, alleviated inflammation, scattered neutrophils between cardiomyocytes and misaligned muscle striation were observed in the noninvasive ventilation group.TUNEL results showed that the myocardial apoptotic index was lower in the noninvasive ventilation group than in the non-treatment group( P<0.05). Conclusions:Noninvasive ventilation can effectively improve heart function, reduce inflammatory response and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in rats with AMI-induced HF and may be an effective treatment for HF after AMI.

Objective To study the effect of noninvasive ventilation on heart failure(HF)in rats after acute myocardial infarction(AMI)and the mechanisms involved.Methods A total of 30 Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups:the noninvasive ventilation group,the non-treatment group and the sham operation group(n=10 in each group).The model for HF after AMI was established by left anterior descending coronary artery ligation.Serum levels of B-type natriuretic peptide-45 (BNP-45),70 000 heat-shock protein(HSP70),matrix metalloproteinases(MMP-2 and-9),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and echocardiography parameters,such as left atrium(LA)diameter,left ventricular(LV)end-diastolic diameter,interventricular septal(IVS)thickness,and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF),were measured at 3,5,7 and 14 days after operation in each group.Results Compared with the non-treatment group,LVEDD was reduced and LVEF was increased in the noninvasive ventilation group at 14 days after operation(155.92±14.74)mm/m2 vs.(149.35±11.29)mm/m2,(92.13±3.72)％ vs.(76.39±9.24)％,(P＜0.05),while LA diameter and IVS thickness showed no significant difference(P＞0.05).Compared with the non-treatment group,serum levels of BNP45,MMP-2,MMP-9,and TNF-α were decreased and HSP70 levels were increased in the noninvasive ventilation group at 3,5,7,and 14 days after operation (P ＜ 0.05).In the noninvasive ventilation group,serum levels of BNP45,MMP-2,MMP-9 and TNF-α at 5,7,and 14 days after operation were lower than those at 3 days after operation,and serum HSP70 levels at 7 and 14 days after operation were higher than those at 3 days after operation (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Noninvasive ventilation can effectively reduce the inflammatory response in rats with HF after AMI and reduce myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.It is an effective treatment for HF after AMI.

Background: Mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia (MSIMI) is closely associated with adverse cardiac events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and we aimed to determine whether biomarkers and blood pressure could be potential predictors of MSIMI. Methods: This study enrolled 82 patients with documented CAD between June 1, 2017 and November 9, 2017. Patient blood samples were obtained at resting period and at the end of mental arithmetic. Then, patients were assigned to MSIMI positive group and MSIMI negative group. The main statistical methods included linear regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and logistic regression. Results: Patients with CAD with MSIMI had significantly greater median resting N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP, 141.02 [45.85–202.76] pg/mL vs. 57.95 [27.06–117.64] pg/mL; Z = -2.23, P = 0.03) and mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) (145.56 ± 16.87 mmHg vs. 134.92 ± 18.16 mmHg, Z = -2.13, P = 0.04) when compared with those without MSIMI. After 5-min mental stress task, those who developed MSIMI presented higher elevation of median post-stressor high sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI, 0.020 [0.009–0.100] ng/mL vs. 0.009 [0.009–0.010] ng/mL; Z = -2.45, P = 0.01), post-stressor NT-proBNP (138.96 [39.93–201.56] pg/mL vs. 61.55 [25.66–86.50] pg/mL; Z = -2.15, P = 0.03) compared with those without MSIMI. Using the ROC curves, and after the adjustment for basic characteristics, the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that patients presenting a post-stressor hs-cTnI ≥ 0.015 ng/mL had seven-fold increase in the risk of developing MSIMI (odds ratio [OR]: 7.09; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.65–30.48; P = 0.009), a rest NT-proBNP ≥ 80.51 pg/mL had nearly eight-fold increase (OR: 7.85; 95% CI: 1.51–40.82; P = 0.014), a post-stressor NT-proBNP ≥ 98.80 pg/mL had 35-fold increase (OR: 34.96; 95% CI: 3.72– 328.50; P = 0.002), a rest SBP ≥ 129.50 mmHg had 11-fold increase (OR: 11.42; 95% CI: 1.21–108.17; P = 0.034). Conclusions The present study shows that CAD patients with higher hs-cTnI level, and/or greater NT-proBNP and/or SBP are at higher risk of suffering from MSIMI when compared with those without MSIMI, indicating that hs-cTnI, NT-proBNP, SBP might be potential predictors of MSIMI.

Objective To observe the value of MRI in evaluation on the morphology and function of iliococcygeal muscles in fertile and nulliparous women.Methods Totally 50 healthy fertile women (fertile group,further divided into cesarean section subgroup and spontaneous delivery subgroup according to the mode of delivery) and 17 nulliparous healthy women (nulliparous group) underwent MR scanning in both natural and increased abdominal pressure state.Iliococcygeus thickness (ICT),coronal iliococcygeal angle (cICA) and sagittal iliococcygeal angle (sICA) of different states were measured and compared between the groups.Results In the natural state,the right and bilateral average sICA in the fertile group were larger than those in nulliparous group (both P＜0.05),while no statistical difference of ICT,right,left and bilateral average cICA and left sICA were found between two groups (all P＞0.05);the bilateral average sICA in spontaneous delivery subgroup was larger than that in cesarean section subgroup (P＜0.05).In increased abdominal pressure state,left,right sICA and bilateral average sICA in fertile group were larger than those in nulliparous group (all P＜0.05),while there was no statistical difference of ICT and cICA between two groups (all P＞0.05);no statistical difference of ICT,cICA nor sICA was found between spontaneous delivery subgroup and cesarean section subgroup (all P＞0.05).Conclusion MRI can accurately evaluate morphological and functional changes of iliococcygeal muscle in females.

Objective: To analyze the therapeutic effect on HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients treated with Peg-IFNα-2a combined with NAs to obtain the influencing factors for predicting HBsAg clearance. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the effect of pegylated interferon alpha-2a combined with nucleoside analogues (lamivudine/adefovir dipivoxil) on HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B. The treatment course was 96 weeks. Patients were followed up 120 weeks after the treatment. HBsAg clearance at 120 weeks was taken as the objective of the study. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis screened the related factors affecting HBsAg clearance. χ ² test was used to compare count data. Results: 111 patients were treated with pegylated interferon alpha-2a combined with nucleoside analogues, and 107 patients completed the scheduled course of treatment and follow-up. HBsAg clearance rate at120 week was 29.0% (31/107). The influencing factors for analysis were: (1) gender had no effect on HBsAg clearance rate; age and baseline levels of HBV DNA and alanine aminotransferase had no significant effect on HBsAg clearance; low baseline level of HBsAg (< 3.023 lgIU/ml) was beneficial to HBsAg clearance. The area under the working characteristic curve of the subjects was 0.746, the positive predictive value was 44.4%, and the negative predictive value was 86.8%. (2) HBsAg quantification or decline in 24 weeks and 48 weeks of treatment had a good predictive effect on HBsAg clearance, and the 48 weeks predicted value was higher than 24 weeks. When the HBsAg quantification was≤2.070 lgIU/ml at 48 weeks, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.931, the positive predictive value was 52.8%, and the negative predictive value was 94.4%. When HBsAg decreased from baseline to≥0.991 lgIU/ml, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.888, the positive predictive value was 50.8%, and the negative predictive value was 97.9%. (3) The analysis of HBsAg subgroup levels at 48 weeks suggested that the "interval analysis" can forecast HBsAg clearance more exactly than "nodal analysis" .The final HBsAg clearance rate of 100 IU/ml < HBsAg≤1 000 IU/ml, 10 IU/ml < HBsAg≤100 IU/ml and HBsAg≤10 IU/ml groups reached 6.7%, 31.8% and 67.7%, respectively. (4) The ALT abnormal group in the course of treatment obtained a higher HBsAg clearance rate (48.0%, 12/25). Conclusion 96-weeks long-term treatment with pegylated interferon-alpha -alpha-2a combined with nucleoside analogues for HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B has a good predictive value for HBsAg clearance at baseline and during treatment. The "interval level" of HBsAg at 48-weeks is more accurate in predicting HBsAg clearance, suggesting that HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients with low HBsAg levels at 48-weeks are the advantageous populations with HBsAg clearance. These patients are worthy of prolonged treatment to pursue "clinical cure".

A sensitive electrochemical sensor for the detection of semicarbazide ( SEM ) based on the glassy carbon electrode modified with carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotube ( CMWCNTs ) was constructed in this work. The modified materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results showed that the CMWCNTs exhibited a certain degree of changes, such as the appearance of the characteristic peaks of carbon oxygen double bonds in carboxyl group, a decrease in diameter and length and a remarkable reduction of the impedance value. The electrochemical behavior of SEM on CMWCNTs/GCE was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and amperometric i-t curve in 1 mol/L HAc-NaAc buffer solution. An irreversible oxidation peak of SEM appeared at CMWCNTs/GCE. Compared to the bare electrode, the current of the oxidation peak was significantly increased. Under the optimal conditions such as HAc-NaAc solution ( pH 7 ) and scan rate of 0. 1 V/s, the obtained sensor presented linear response to SEM concentration in the range of 5. 0 × 10-6 mol/L-1. 09×10-3 mol/L, the linear regression equation was Ip(μA)=-0. 472+0. 0599C (μmol/L) with linear correlation coefficient of 0. 997. The detection limit was 1. 88×10-7 mol/L. At the same time, the recovery was from 92. 8% to 98. 0% in the test of pork liver samples.