Objective To investigate the clinical value of uric acid(UA)to albumin(Alb)ratio(UAR)in predicting the prognosis of the patients with heart failure.Methods A total of 1 893 patients with heart failure and complete clinical data in the Chinese Heart Failure Database were selected as the clinical research subjects for conducting the retrospective cohort analysis.The general clinical data,coagulation routine,tropo-nin Ⅰ(cTnⅠ),cardiac enzyme profile,liver function,B-type brain natriuretic peptide(BNP),uric acid(UA)and left ventricular ejection fraction in echocardiography in the study subjects were collected to calculate UAR.Ac-cording to the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve,the optimal cut-off value of UAR was selected as 17.48.Then the subjects were divided into the low UAR group(UAR＜17.48,n=1 525)and high UAR group(UAR≥17.48,n=368).The clinical data were compared between the two groups,and the effect of UAR on the all-cause mortality in the patients with heart failure was evaluated by the binary logistic regres-sion analysis.Results The follow up time in the patients was 90 d,and 37 cases(2.0％)of all-cause death oc-curred during the follow up period.The proportion of males,proportion of cardiac function grade Ⅳ,propor-tion of myocardial infarction,levels of uric acid,D-dimer,creatine kinase(CK),creatine kinase isoenzyme(CK-MB),lactate dehydrogenase(LDH),alanine aminotransferase(ALT),glutamyl transpeptidase(GGT),alkaline phosphatase(AKP)and BNP in the high UAR group were higher than those in the low UAR group,while the pulse,systolic pressure,diastolic pressure,proportions of heart function grade Ⅱ and grade Ⅲ and ALB level were lower than those in the UAR group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).The ROC curve analysis results showed that the area under the curve of UAR for assessing the all-cause death occurrence in heart failure was 0.715(95％CI:0.626-0.804,P＜0.001),the sensitivity was 56.8％and the specificity was 81.4％;the binary logistic regression analysis results showed that the incidence rate of all-cause mortality in the high UAR group was 1.09 times higher than that in the low UAR group(OR=1.09,95％CI:1.02-1.20,P=0.017).Conclusion UAR could serve as an independent predictive fac-tor of all-cause death occurrence in heart failure,which needs clinic to pay attention.

Humans ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Motor Cortex ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between altered levels of neurotransmitters in the frontal lobe and hippocampus and behavioral abnormalities in a Clock variant mice modeling bipolar disorder manic disorder. METHODS: Open field test and Elevated plus-maze test were carried out on the Clock mutant and wild-type control groups. The frontal lobe and hippocampus of Clock mutant mice and controls were dissected, and neurotransmitters in tissue extracts were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The concentration of neurotransmitters and behavioral indicators were assessed by t test and Pearson correlation analysis using SPSS 22.0. RESULTS: The Clock mutant mice showed a significant increase in activity, albeit with no difference in the level of anxiety from the wild-type controls, which suggested that the Clock mutant mice can be used as a model for manic attack of bipolar disorder. Altered neurotransmitter levels were detected in the frontal and hippocampal regions, including elevated histamine in the left hippocampus, reduced histamine in the right hippocampus, reduced gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in bilateral hippocampus, elevated dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) in the left frontal lobe and reduced DOPA in the right hippocampus, and decreased glutamine in bilateral frontal lobes. The reduced glutamine in the left frontal lobe and GABA in the right hippocampus correlated with the increased activity of Clock mutant mice. CONCLUSION Clock mutant mice showed abnormal behavior with increased activity. Reduced glutamine in the left frontal lobe and GABA in the right hippocampus were correlated with increased activity.

OBJECTIVE： To investigate the effects of Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides on gene expression profile of HUVEC. METHODS： HUVEC was selected as objects. MTS method was used to detect the effects of different doses of D. officinale polysaccharides （50， 100， 200， 400， 800 μg/mL） on the proliferation activity of HUVEC. The growth inhibitory concentration of 30％ cells （IC30） was calculated to screen the dose of follow-up tests. cDNA microarray assay was used to detect the changes of gene expression profile for HUVEC after treated with D. officinale polysaccharides for 24 h， so as to screen differentially expressed genes. GO enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed for top 5 differentially expressed genes by using DAVID bioinformatics resource database. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （qRT-PCR） was used to validate the results of microarray detection with immunity-related differentially expressed genes as objects. RESULTS： After treated with 100， 200， 400， 800 μg/mL D. officinale polysaccharides， survival rate of HUVEC  were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. IC30 value was 408 μg/mL. After treated with 400 μg/mL （by IC30） D. officinale polysaccharides， there were 91 differentially expressed genes in HUVEC cells， of which 84 were up-regulated and 7 were down-regulated. Top 5 genes of up-regulated and down- regulated expression were SELE， CCL2， CXCL6， IL8， ICAM1 as well as VWCE， CPT1A， CLU， CCL14， CINS4， which may be mainly associated with immune conditions and inflammatory responses. The differentially expressed genes mainly distributed in extracellular domain， and were enriched in biological processes such as production and response of cytokines and stimulus response， and played molecular functions such as chemokine and its receptor activity. The up-regulated genes as SELE， ICAM1 and CXCL2 were mainly enriched in TNF signaling pathway， influenza A （H1N1）， herpes simplex virus infection and other pathways. The down-regulated gene CCL14 was mainly enriched in chemokine signaling pathway. Results of qRT-PCR validation tests showed that relative expression of ICAM1 was increased significantly， while that of CCL14 was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）， which was in agreement with microarray detection results. CONCLUSIONS： After treated with D. officinale polysaccharides， the expression of 91 genes in HUVEC cells are different significantly， mainly being up-regulated. The differentially expressed genes may participate in immune regulation through TNF signaling pathway， influenza A （H1N1） and herpes simplex virus infection.

Objective To analyze the etiological characteristics of human Brucella strains isolated, and to improve the precision in control and prevention of brucellosis. Methods In 2016, blood samples were collected from patients in Jingyuan County Gansu Province, and tested via the Rose-Bengal Plate Agglutination Test (RBPT) and the tube agglutination test methods,and serological positive blood samples were inoculated to bidirectional blood culture bottle for culturing, and further identified by traditional biological classification method and the Brucella abortus, Brucella melitensis, Brucella ovis, and Brucella suis species-specific PCR (AMOS-PCR). Multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat sequence analysis (MLVA) -16 was used to detect molecular typing and do cluster analysis. Results The isolated strain was identified by the traditional biological classification method, bacteria could grow in thionine and reddened dye, A and M factors agglutination tests were positive, Bk2phage treatment of bacterial strain cracking, but Tb, Wb phages were not cracked. AMOS-PCR amplification result showed a 731 bp band, which was a strain of Brucella melitensis. The results of MLVA-16 showed that there was a difference in the number of repeats on some Variaable Number of Tandem Repeat(VNTR)sites of the isolated strain. Clustering analysis showed that, the isolated strain was clusted into the same clade with the clustering of Brucella melitensis type 3 from GS-201605 in Gansu. And the clustering was similar compared with that of Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian and Yunnan. Conclusion Human brucellosis is a inputting transmission in Gansu Province, there is a genetic variation of genotype 3 sheep Brucella between Gansu Province and other domestic provinces.

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of cognitive impairment and clinical symptoms in first-episode schizophrenia with the Val66Met (rs6265) polymorphism of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene.

METHODSFor 87 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 76 healthy controls, the Val66Met polymorphism was determined with a Taqman Assay-on-Demand method. Wechsler intelligence test was carried out for all participants. Correlation of cognitive impairment with clinical severity was also analyzed.

RESULTSThe patients were significantly lower in total IQ, verbal IQ and performance IQ compared to the controls. The lower total IQ (F=4.59, P= 0.01) and verbal IQ (F=4.44, P=0.01) were influenced by genetic factors and diagnostic interaction. The vertal IQ of Val/Val patients was significantly lower than those of Val/Met and Met/Met carriers. For the control group, the verbal IQ of Met/Met carriers was lower than that of Val/Met carriers, and the total IQ of Met/Met carriers was lower than those of Val/Met and Val/Val carriers. For the patient group, the total IQ of Val/Val carriers was negatively correlated with positive symptoms (r=-0.65, P=0.03) and thought disorders (r=-0.61, P=0.02).

CONCLUSIONCognitive impairment in first-episode schizophrenic patients is associated with the Val66Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene, and has an important clinical relevance.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Cognitive Dysfunction ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Schizophrenia ; genetics ; Young Adult

Objective To establish a stable animal model of transplanted human colorectal cancer.Methods BALB/c nude mice were randomly divided into orthotopic colorectal model group and subcutaneous inoculation model group by random number table,and separately inoculated with 0.1 ml human colon cancer cell HCT116 under the density of 2×107/ml into the orthotopic colorectal (with the self-made inoculator) and right forelimb pit subcutaneously.The mice were observed for 60 days to compare the tumor formation and tumor growth in the two groups.Results The tumor formation rate of all 18 animals was 100 ％ (18/18) in the orthotopic colorectal group.The average tumor weight was (2.78±1.86) g and the average survival time was (45.00±11.99) d.The tumor formation rate was 27.78 ％ (5/18) in the subcutaneous inoculation group.The average tumor weight was (1.74±0.82) g,and the average survival time was (60.00±0.00) d.Conclusion 0.1 ml (2×107/ml) human colon cancer cell suspension HCT116 inoculated into BALB/c nude mice orthotopic colorectal with self-made inoculator could establish human colorectal cancer animal model successfully.

Objective To investigate the related factors of intracranial infection and intracranial hemorrhage from invasive intracranial pressure monitoring so as to provide a reference for reducing the incidence rate of complications from invasive intracranial pressure monitoring.Methods The clinical data of 349 patients dealt with invasive intracranial pressure monitoring and admitted from October 2009 to June 2016 were retrospectively analyzed by case series study.The possible factors leading to intracranial infection included gender,age,disease classification,type of intracranial pressure probe,implantation method of the intracranial pressure probe,intracranial pressure probe retention time,implementation of craniotomy or not,surgery time,and combination with skull base fracture or not.The possible factors related to complicated intracranial hemorrhage included gender,age,hypertension,international standardized ratio (INR) before intracranial pressure probe implantation,platelet count,serum fibrinogen level,type of intracranial pressure probe,implantation method of the intracranial pressure probe,and the combination with brain contusion or bleeding around intracranial pressure probe implantation site or not.The related factors and independent risk factors of intracranial infection and intracranial hemorrhage were evaluated by univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression analysis.Results The univariate analysis showed disease classification (ruptured intracranial aneurysms vs other diseases (P ＜ 0.05),intracranial pressure probe implantation method (P ＜ 0.05),retention time of intracranial pressure probe (P ＜ 0.05),and combination of basal skull fracture (P ＜ 0.05) were the related factors of intracranial infection.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the disease classification (P ＜ 0.05) and implantation method of intracranial pressure probe (P ＜ 0.05) were independent risk factors for intracranial infection.In addition,probe type (P ＜ 0.05) and implantation method of intracranial pressure probe P ＜0.05) were independent risk factors for intracranial hemorrhage.Conclusions Ruptured intracranial aneurysms and implantation method for intracranial pressure probe (craniotomy or skull drilling) are independent risk factors for intracranial infection from invasive intracranial pressure monitoring.Type of probe (ventricular intracranial pressure probe) and implantation method for intracranial pressure probe (skull cone) are independent risk factors for intracranial hemorrhage from invasive intracranial pressure monitoring.In clinical practice,the indications of invasive intracranial pressure monitoring should be strictly supervised and the relevant risk factors should be prevented to reduce the complications of invasive intracranial pressure monitoring.

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of cognitive functions with gender, age, education and polymorphism of dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene in healthy adults.

METHODSFour hundred and fifty-five healthy participants have completed 3 cognitive function tests including Tower of Hanoi (TOH), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Trail Making Test (TMT). Peripheral blood samples were collected from all participants, and genomic DNA was extracted according to a standard phenol-chloroform procedure. Rs3758653 in the promoter region of the DRD4 gene was genotyped using Illumina GoldenGate genotyping assay.

RESULTSMales have performed better than females in terms of TOH executive time and TOH total score, but did worse in TOH planning time. Most of the measured cognitive domains were affected by age and education. Cognitive ability has decreased along with increased age and decline of educational years. The polymorphism of rs3758653 has mainly correlated with the TOH executive time. Compared with A allele carriers, G allele carriers did worse in TOH executive time.

CONCLUSIONGender, age, education and the rs3758653 polymorphism of the DRD4 gene play an important role in cognitive functions in healthy adults.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Cognition ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptors, Dopamine D4 ; genetics ; Sex Factors ; Young Adult