Objective To study the effect and mechanism of paeonol(PAE)on renal interstitial fibrosis in rats.Methods The rats were randomly divided into sham operation(Sham)group,unilateral ureteral obstruction(UUO)group,PAE low dose(PAE-L)group,PAE medium dose(PAE-M)group,PAE high dose(PAE-H)group and irbesartan(IRB)group.Except for the Sham group,the UUO model was established in other groups.Each group was given a corresponding intervention for two weeks.Serum creatinine(Scr),blood urea nitrogen(BUN),serum 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine(8-OHdG)levels,renal tissue superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GPX)activities,α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA),type Ⅰ collagen(Col-Ⅰ),fibronectin(FN),silent information regulator 1(SIRT1),nuclear factor E2-related factor 2(Nrf2)protein expression were detected;observe pathological changes of kidney tissue and calculate collagen volume fraction(CVF).Results Compared with the UUO group,the serum levels of Scr,BUN,and 8-OHdG in each dose group of PAE were decreased,the activities of SOD and GPX in kidney tissue were increased,the positive expressions of α-SMA,Col-Ⅰ and FN in kidney tissue were decreased,and the protein expressions of SIRT1 and Nrf2 were increased.Masson staining showed a decrease of CVF in renal tissue(all P<0.05),and HE staining showed a different degree of improvement in pathological changes such as inflammatory cell infiltration and tubular dilatation in renal tissue;PAE improves renal interstitial fibrosis in rats in a dose-dependent manner(P<0.05),and the effect of large dose PAE on renal interstitial fibrosis in rats was similar to that of IRB.Conclusion PAE can alleviate UUO-induced rat renal interstitial fibrosis and oxidative stress,and improve rat renal function.And this mechanism may be related to the activation of the SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Humans ; COVID-19/genetics* ; SARS-CoV-2/genetics* ; Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/genetics* ; CRISPR-Cas Systems/genetics* ; RNA, Viral/genetics*

Objective:The research was aimed to investigate the association between serum total homocysteine (tHcy) and subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord (SCD).Methods:A retrospective survey of 106 newly diagnosed patients with SCD were enrolled in this research who were treated in the department of neurology of Xijing Hospital from January 2008 to February 2019, meanwhile, 121 patients with spinal cord lesion (not SCD) and 104 neurology mild outpatients were selected as controls. Serum tHcy level was determined by using the chemiluminescent immunoassay assay. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors for SCD. The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of tHcy. Spearman correlation analysis was used to observe the correlation between tHcy and SCD severity. The SCD patients were categorized into normal or mild tHcy group, moderate tHcy group, and severe tHcy group based on tHcy levels. Clinical symptoms, nerve conduction velocity, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings from the patients were studied.Results:The serum tHcy levels in SCD patients were 64.3(26.5, 98.8) μmol/L, while in patients with spinal cord lesion (not SCD) group were 13.7(10.8, 19.2) μmol/L, neurology mild outpatients were 10.6(8.2, 13.0) μmol/L, which was higher in SCD group ( H=112.020, P<0.001), ( H=165.525, P<0.001).The multivariate logistic regression model showed tHcy is the impact factor of SCD ( OR=1.107, 95% CI:1.077-1.139, P<0.001). At ROC analysis, tHcy showed diagnostic value with an optimal cut-off value of 24.9 μmol/L (AUC 0.913, 95% CI: 0.875-0.951, sensitivity 79.2%, specificity 91.6%). Spearman correlation analysis showed that tHcy was positively correlated with functional disability rating scale ( r=0.254, P=0.009). Conclusions:Serum tHcy is the risk factor for SCD and related to its disability. Focus on the increased level of tHcy plays a positive role in the diagnosis of SCD.

Objective:The research was aimed to investigate the association between serum total homocysteine (tHcy) and subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord (SCD).Methods:A retrospective survey of 106 newly diagnosed patients with SCD were enrolled in this research who were treated in the department of neurology of Xijing Hospital from January 2008 to February 2019, meanwhile, 121 patients with spinal cord lesion (not SCD) and 104 neurology mild outpatients were selected as controls. Serum tHcy level was determined by using the chemiluminescent immunoassay assay. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors for SCD. The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of tHcy. Spearman correlation analysis was used to observe the correlation between tHcy and SCD severity. The SCD patients were categorized into normal or mild tHcy group, moderate tHcy group, and severe tHcy group based on tHcy levels. Clinical symptoms, nerve conduction velocity, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings from the patients were studied.Results:The serum tHcy levels in SCD patients were 64.3(26.5, 98.8) μmol/L, while in patients with spinal cord lesion (not SCD) group were 13.7(10.8, 19.2) μmol/L, neurology mild outpatients were 10.6(8.2, 13.0) μmol/L, which was higher in SCD group ( H=112.020, P<0.001), ( H=165.525, P<0.001).The multivariate logistic regression model showed tHcy is the impact factor of SCD ( OR=1.107, 95% CI:1.077-1.139, P<0.001). At ROC analysis, tHcy showed diagnostic value with an optimal cut-off value of 24.9 μmol/L (AUC 0.913, 95% CI: 0.875-0.951, sensitivity 79.2%, specificity 91.6%). Spearman correlation analysis showed that tHcy was positively correlated with functional disability rating scale ( r=0.254, P=0.009). Conclusions:Serum tHcy is the risk factor for SCD and related to its disability. Focus on the increased level of tHcy plays a positive role in the diagnosis of SCD.

Betacoronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; Single-Cell Analysis

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome, hypercoagulability, hypertension, and multiorgan dysfunction. Effective antivirals with safe clinical profile are urgently needed to improve the overall prognosis. In an analysis of a randomly collected cohort of 124 patients with COVID-19, we found that hypercoagulability as indicated by elevated concentrations of D-dimers was associated with disease severity. By virtual screening of a U.S. FDA approved drug library, we identified an anticoagulation agent dipyridamole (DIP) , which suppressed SARS-CoV-2 replication . In a proof-of-concept trial involving 31 patients with COVID-19, DIP supplementation was associated with significantly decreased concentrations of D-dimers ( < 0.05), increased lymphocyte and platelet recovery in the circulation, and markedly improved clinical outcomes in comparison to the control patients. In particular, all 8 of the DIP-treated severely ill patients showed remarkable improvement: 7 patients (87.5%) achieved clinical cure and were discharged from the hospitals while the remaining 1 patient (12.5%) was in clinical remission.

Objective To assess the clinical value of preoperative CT-guided microcoil positioning of small solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) in assisting video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) procedure to more quickly and more precisely remove small pulmonary lesions.Methods The clinical data of 90 patients with SPN,who were admitted to authors' hospital during the period from June 2014 to May 2016 to receive VATS,were retrospective analyzed.Preoperative CT-guided microcoil positioning of SPN was employed in 45 patients (group A),while other 45 patients (group B) did not receive preoperative positioning of SPN.The pulmonary lobar wedge resection time,the transfer rate of changing to open chest operation,postoperative hospitalization time,the success rate of microcoil positioning of SPN,complications,etc.of both groups were statistically analyzed.The safety of preoperative CT-guided microcoil positioning of SPN was evaluated,and its benefit-enhancing value for VATS was discussed.Results In group A,the success rate of VATS was 100％ and the success rate of SPN positioning was 95.6％.Postoperative complications included pneumothorax (n=5),pulmonay surface hemorrhage (n=6),and dislodgement of microcoil (n=2).In group B,the success rate of VATS was 84.4％ and the transfer rate of changing to open chest operation was 15.6％.In group A,the manipulation time of VATS was (17.7±2.8) min,the postoperative hospitalization time was (6.2±1.7) days,and the transfer rate of changing to open chest operation was 0％,which were strikingly lower than those in group B;the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion Preoperative CT-guided microcoil positioning of small SPN can assist VATS procedure to remove small pulmonary lesions more quickly and more precisely,it can effectively reduce the transfer rate of changing to open chest operation,shorten the manipulation time of VATS as well as the postoperative hospitalization time.

This article presents a transcutaneous electric stimulator that is based on chaotic signal. Firstly, we in the study used the MATLAB platform in the PC to generate chaotic signal through the chaos equation, and then we transferred the signal out by data acquisition equipment of USB-6251 manufactured by NI Company. In order to obtain high-power signal for transcutaneous electric stimulator, we used the chip of LM3886 to amplify the signal. Finally, we used the power-amplified chaotic signal to stimulate the internal nerve of human through the electrodes fixed on the skin. We obtained different stimulation effects of transcutaneous electric stimulator by changing the parameters of chaotic model. The preliminary test showed that the randomness of chaotic signals improved the applicability of electrical stimulation and the rules of chaos ensured that the stimulation was comfort. The method reported in this paper provides a new way for the design of transcutaneous electric stimulator.
Electrodes ; Humans ; Models, Theoretical ; Skin ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of catheter radiofrequency ablation of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.Methods From Jul 2003 to Jan 2011,1106 cases with narrow QRS complex tachycardia who were treated by catheter radiofrequency ablation were recruited from our center and followed up for the rates of successful treatment,rcurrence and complications.Results There were in total 1106 patients (atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia:588 ; atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia:477; atrial tachycardia:41 ),with a sex proportion of 1∶1.Successful ablation rate was 98.3 ％ (1087/1106).Of the 1087 successful ablation cases,43 (3.9％ )were warranted repeated ablation.The recurrent rates for trioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia,atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia,left accessory pathway and right accessory pathway were 1.5％,5.6％,3.9％,and 9.1％ respectively.Complication rate was 1.5％.The major complications included pheumothorax ( 6 cases ),pulmonary embolism ( 1 case ),transient third-degree atrioventricular block ( 2 cases ),first-degree atrioventricular block ( 3 cases ),and persistent third-degree atrioventricular block(2 cases)with pacemaker implantation.There was one case of cardiogenic sudden death 5 days after the treatment procedure.The cause of his death was chronic stroke-related but not related to the operation procedure.Conclusion Catheter ablation has high efficacy and low complication rate in long-term follow-up,and is a promising treatment for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.

Objective To investigate the influence of erythropoietin in the metabolism of extracellular matrix after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.Methods The langendroff reperfusion system was applied to investigate the protective function of EPO in ischemia-reperfusion condition in rats.The effects of EPO on extracellular matrix were observed by Western blot and signal pathway blocker.The LVEDP and infarction area were observed at the same time.Results EPO significantly improved LVEDP [(19.8±0.2) mmHg vs (35.9±0.2) mmHg,IR group vs EPO +IR group,P＜0.05]and decreased infarction area (35.26%±7.13% vs 62.70%±7.23%,IR group vs EPO+IR group,P＜0.05).The expression of MMPs was significantly decreased and the expression of collagenase Ⅰ/Ⅲ was significantly enhanced by EPO (MMP2 53.2+2.6 vs 21.2+2.5;MMP9 57.6±3.1 vs 19.2±2.6;IR group vs IR+EPO group (P＜0.05);collagen Ⅰ 43.2±2.2 vs 11.4±2.3;collagen Ⅲ 55.3±3.2 vs 18.1 vs 2.3;IR+EPO group vs IR group (P＜0.05).This function can be inhibited by Mek-Erk inhibitor.Conclusion EPO plays a role in the metabolism of extracellular matrix by Mek-Erk signal pathway,which can protect the heart tissue from ischemia-reperfusion injury.