Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has yet to be proven to alter male reproductive function, particularly in the majority of mild/asymptomatic patients. The purpose of this study was to explore whether mild/asymptomatic COVID-19 affects semen quality and sex-related hormone levels. To find suitable comparative studies, a systematic review and meta-analysis was done up to January 22, 2022, by using multiple databases (Web of Science, PubMed, and Embase). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to identify and choose the studies. Meta-analysis was used to examine the semen parameters and sex-related hormones of mild/asymptomatic COVID-19 patients before and after infection. The effects of semen collection time, fever, and intensity of verification on semen following infection were also investigated. A total of 13 studies (n = 770) were included in the analysis, including three case-control studies, six pre-post studies, and four single-arm studies. A meta-analysis of five pre-post studies showed that after infection with COVID-19, sperm concentration (I² = 0; P = 0.003), total sperm count (I² = 46.3%; P = 0.043), progressive motility (I² = 50.0%; P < 0.001), total sperm motility (I² = 76.1%; P = 0.047), and normal sperm morphology (I² = 0; P = 0.001) decreased. Simultaneously, a systematic review of 13 studies found a significant relationship between semen collection time after infection, inflammation severity, and semen parameter values, with fever having only bearing on semen concentration. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in sex-related hormone levels before and after infection in mild/asymptomatic patients. Mild/asymptomatic COVID-19 infection had a significant effect on semen quality in the short term. It is recommended to avoid initiating a pregnancy during this period of time.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Semen Analysis ; Semen ; Infertility, Male ; Sperm Motility ; COVID-19 ; Sperm Count ; Spermatozoa ; Testosterone ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones

Drastic surges in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) induce cell apoptosis, while most chemotherapy drugs lead to the accumulation of ROS. Here, we constructed an organic compound, arsenical N-‍(4-(1,3,2-dithiarsinan-2-yl)phenyl)acrylamide (AAZ2), which could prompt the ROS to trigger mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in gastric cancer (GC). Mechanistically, by targeting pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1), AAZ2 caused metabolism alteration and the imbalance of redox homeostasis, followed by the inhibition of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and leading to the activation of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2)/Bcl2-associated X (Bax)/caspase-9 (Cas9)/Cas3 cascades. Importantly, our in vivo data demonstrated that AAZ2 could inhibit the growth of GC xenograft. Overall, our data suggested that AAZ2 could contribute to metabolic abnormalities, leading to mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis by targeting PDK1 in GC.
Humans ; Signal Transduction ; Stomach Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Apoptosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; Cell Line, Tumor

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety of epinephrine hydrochloride injection(EHI) given by nebulized inhalation in guinea pigs with the off-label drug use. METHODS The actual dose of inhalation administration was determined by establishing a nebulized administration drug concentration assay. The systemic allergic reactions and respiratory toxicity of EHI after nebulized inhalation were evaluated by guinea pigs using the allergy test protocol with the combination of frequency and dose of epinephrine hydrochloride administration and allergy test. Thirty-two guinea pigs were randomly divided into 4 groups according to body weight: negative control group(equal volume of saline), positive control group(sensitizing dose: 20 mg·kg-1 ovalbumin), low dose group(sensitizing dose: 15.5 μg·kg-1 EHI) and high dose group(sensitizing dose: 31 μg·kg-1 EHI). The excitation dose of each group was two times the sensitization dose, at the time of excitation, the symptoms of allergic reaction were observed. After excitation, blood and alveolar lavage fluid were collected, whole blood was collected for hematological testing and isolated serum and alveolar lavage fluid were used for IgE testing. Bronchial and lung tissues were taken for histological testing and immunohistochemistry after dissection. RESULTS Using a nebulizer device to administer EHI to guinea pigs at a clinically equivalent dose at 3.95 min of administration. The guinea pigs in all groups showed normal weight gain during sensitization administration. At the time of excitation, the guinea pigs in the positive control group showed strong positive allergic reactions, while the guinea pigs in the negative control group, low dose group and high dose group showed no significant allergic reactions. Compared with the negative control group, eosinophils in the blood of the positive control guinea pigs were significantly higher(P<0.05) and the IgE content in the serum and alveolar lavage fluid was significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Histopathological results showed that inflammatory cells infiltrated in the lung tissue of the positive control guinea pigs after excitation, and a large number of erythrocytes and exudate appeared in the alveoli. The immunohistochemical indiacated that the inflammatory symptoms in the lung tissues of the positive guinea pigs were associated with an increase in B lymphocytes. The hematological indexes, serum IgE content, immunohistochemical and histological examination results of guinea pigs in the low and high dose groups were not significantly different from those of the negative control group. CONCLUSION No allergic reaction and no respiratory toxicity occurred in guinea pigs given EHI by nebulization, and the administration of EHI by nebulized inhalation off-label drug use is safe and feasible.

In summer in 2020, Pinellia ternata in many planting areas in Hubei suffered from serious southern blight, as manifested by the yellowing and wilted leaves and rotten tubers. This study aims to identify the pathogen, clarify the biological characteristics of the pathogen, and screen fungicides. To be specific, the pathogen was isolated, purified, and identified, and the pathogenicity was detected according to the Koch's postulates. Moreover, the biological characteristics of the pathogen were analyzed. Furthermore, PDA plates and seedlings were used to determine the most effective fungicides. The results showed that the mycelia of the pathogen were white and villous with silk luster, which produced a large number of white to black brown sclerotia. The pathogen was identified as Athelia rolfsii by morphological observation and molecular identification based on LSU and TEF gene sequences. The optimum growth conditions for A. rolfsii were 30 ℃ and pH 5-8, and the optimum conditions for the germination of sclerotia were 25 ℃ and pH 7-9. Bacillus subtilis, difenoconazole, and flusilazole were identified as effective fungicides with PDA, and their half maximal effective concentration(EC_(50)) was all less than 5 mg·L~(-1). The effective fungicides screened with the seedlings were hymexazol and difenoconazole. Based on the screening experiments, difenoconazole can be used as the main agent for the prevention and treatment of southern blight.
Pinellia/genetics* ; Fungicides, Industrial/pharmacology* ; Seedlings ; Bacillus subtilis ; Mycelium

Objective: To explore the distribution patterns of cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) in elderly patients with colorectal cancer, and provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular metabolic diseases in these patients. Methods: Clinical data of 3 894 elderly patients with colorectal cancer from January 2008 to March 2018 admitted in the Chinese PLA General Hospital were recruited and the incidence rate of CMD was retrospectively analyzed. The influence factors of elderly patients with colorectal cancer combined with CMD were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression model. Results: The morbidity rate of CMD in elderly patients with colorectal cancer is 33.4% (1 301/3 894), among them, the morbidity rate of the male was 31.9% (768/2 409), and that of the female was 35.9% (533/1 485). There was not significant difference between these two sex (P=0.074). The morbidity rates of CMD in patients of 65-74 years, 75-84 years and ≥85 years were 30.6% (754/2 462), 37.0% (479/1 294) and 49.3% (68/138), respectively, with significant differences (P<0.001). Multiple Logistic regression analysis revealed that female (OR=1.213, 95%CI: 1.056-1.394), age (75-84 years group: OR=1.344, 95%CI: 1.164-1.552; ≥85 years group: OR=2.345, 95%CI: 1.651-3.331) and body mass index (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2) group: OR=1.319, 95%CI: 1.065-1.638; ≥25 kg/m(2) group: OR=2.041, 95%CI: 1.627-2.561) were independent risk factors for elderly colorectal cancer patients with CMD. Conclusion: The morbidity rate of CMD in elderly patients with colorectal cancer increases with age and it is urgent to strengthen multidisciplinary cooperation and develop reasonable treatment plans to extend the survival and life quality of these patients.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; China/epidemiology* ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Objective: To investigate the prognostic factors of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) who had undergone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in China. Methods: From November 2017 to October 2018, this retrospective multi-center study was conducted in 11 hospitals in China. It contained data from 281 cases who had undergone CPR and all of the subjects were divided into CHD group and non-CHD group. The general condition, duration of CPR, epinephrine doses during resuscitation, recovery of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), discharge survival rate and pediatric cerebral performance category in viable children at discharge were compared. According to whether malignant arrhythmia is the direct cause of cardiopulmonary arrest or not, children in CHD and non-CHD groups were divided into 2 subgroups: arrhythmia and non-arrhythmia, and the ROSC and survival rate to discharge were compared. Data in both groups were analyzed by t-test, chi-square analysis or ANOVA, and logistic regression were used to analyze the prognostic factors for ROSC and survival to discharge after cardiac arrest (CA). Results: The incidence of CA in PICU was 3.2% (372/11 588), and the implementation rate of CPR was 75.5% (281/372). There were 144 males and 137 females with median age of 32.8 (5.6, 42.7) months in all 281 CPA cases who received CPR. CHD group had 56 cases while non-CHD had 225 cases, with the percentage of 19.9% (56/281) and 80.1% (225/281) respectively. The proportion of female in CHD group was 60.7% (34/56) which was higher than that in non-CHD group (45.8%, 103/225) (χ²=4.00, P=0.045). There were no differences in ROSC and rate of survival to discharge between the two groups (P>0.05). The ROSC rate of children with arthythmid in CHD group was 70.0% (28/40), higher than 6/16 for non-arrhythmic children (χ²=5.06, P=0.024). At discharge, the pediatric cerebral performance category scores (1-3 scores) of CHD and non-CHD child were 50.9% (26/51) and 44.9% (92/205) respectively. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the independent prognostic factors of ROSC and survival to discharge in children with CHD were CPR duration (odds ratio (OR)=0.95, 0.97; 95%CI: 0.92~0.97, 0.95~0.99; both P<0.05) and epinephrine dosage (OR=0.87 and 0.79, 95%CI: 0.76-1.00 and 0.69-0.89, respectively; both P<0.05). Conclusions: There is no difference between CHD and non-CHD children in ROSC and survival rate of survival to discharge was low. The epinephrine dosage and the duration of CPR are related to the ROSC and survival to discharge of children with CHD.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Heart Arrest/therapy* ; Heart Defects, Congenital/therapy* ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

The advancement of the next generation sequencing (NGS) technology has promoted the development of ancient DNA research. Ancient DNA has made outstanding contributions in various fields such as human origin, animal evolution, etc. How to effectively extract and mine the genetic information from fossil and sub-fossil remains excavated from specific locations is a prerequisite for optimizing their important roles in many fields. In this study, we correlated the two main indicators of DNA damage (terminal base replacement rate, average fragment length) with the possible factors such as the burial time, geological epochs, tissue types, and sequencing library construction methods. The results show that the end base replacement rate of ancient DNA from Northeastern China is positively correlated with the water content of the environment and the ages of the samples. Among samples of different geological epochs, ancient DNA end base replacement rates have significant differences. On the contrary, different tissue types of the remains have no significant effects on the end base replacement rate of ancient DNA. The average fragment size of the molecules has no obvious correlation with the factors mentioned above. The results provide both solid data for investigating the characteristics of ancient DNA from specimens collected in Northeastern China, and valuable information for collecting appropriate samples from different geographical locations and the downstream storage before wet lab procedures after excavation.

Objective: To observe the gadolinium imaging findings of inner ear in patients with sudden deafness and to analyze its clinical features. Methods: From November 2017 to July 2020, 21 patients with sudden deafness in the People's Hospital of Dongsheng District, Ordos City were selected as the research objects, including 14 males and 7 females, aged 36-76 years, with a median age of 50 years. The course of disease was 1-19 days, with an average of 5.5 days. The patients received audiology tests, laboratory examination, and intravenous gadolinium angiography, each of whom was scanned twice by 3D-FLAIR sequence: once before intravenous gadolinium injection, and once again 4.5-6.0 h after intravenous gadolinium injection. The following corresponding clinical treatment was given. The imaging manifestations and clinical features were observed. Results: Among 21 cases of sudden deafness in acute stage, the signal intensity of 11 cases was significantly higher than that of the contralateral ear, and 2 cases had vestibular labyrinthine hydrops. In laboratory examination, only 2 cases of total deafness had increased WBC count and faster erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and the rest had no abnormality. The hearing types of 21 patients with sudden deafness were: total deafness in 8 cases, flat decline in 10 cases, low frequency decline in 1 case, high frequency decline in 2 cases. The total effective rate was 57% (12/21). The hearing types of 11 patients with abnormal gadolinium angiography were total deafness in 5 cases, flat decline in 5 cases and high frequency decline in 1 case. The total effective rate was 64% (7/11). Conclusion: Gadolinium angiography is abnormal in some patients with sudden deafness, and the permeability of blood labyrinth barrier may be increased, which is worthy of further study.
Angiography ; Deafness ; Female ; Gadolinium ; Hearing Loss, Sudden/diagnostic imaging* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Vestibule, Labyrinth

BACKGROUND: Bendamustine was approved in China on May 26th, 2019 by the National Medical Product Administration for the treatment of indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The current study was the registration trial and the first reported evaluation of the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of bendamustine in Chinese adult patients with indolent B-cell NHL following relapse after chemotherapy and rituximab treatment. METHODS: This was a prospective, multicenter, open-label, single-arm, phase 3 study (NCT01596621; C18083/3076) with a 2-year follow-up period. Eligible patients received bendamustine hydrochloride 120 mg/m2 infused intravenously on days 1 and 2 of each 21-day treatment cycle for at least six planned cycles (and up to eight cycles). The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR); and secondary endpoints were duration of response (DoR), progression-free survival (PFS), safety, and pharmacokinetics. Patients were classified according to their best overall response after initiation of therapy. Proportions of patients in each response category (complete response [CR], partial response [PR], stable disease, or progressive disease) were summarized along with a two-sided binomial exact 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the ORR. RESULTS: A total of 102 patients were enrolled from 20 centers between August 6th, 2012, and June 18th, 2015. At the time of the primary analysis, the ORR was 73% (95% CI: 63%-81%) per Independent Review Committee (IRC) including 19% CR and 54% PR. With the follow-up period, the median DoR was 16.2 months by IRC and 13.4 months by investigator assessment; the median PFS was 18.6 months and 15.3 months, respectively. The most common non-hematologic adverse events (AEs) were gastrointestinal toxicity, pyrexia, and rash. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was reported in 76% of patients. Serious AEs were reported in 29 patients and five patients died during the study. Pharmacokinetic analysis indicated that the characteristics of bendamustine and its metabolites M3 and M4 were generally consistent with those reported for other ethnicities. CONCLUSION: Bendamustine is an active and effective therapy in Chinese patients with relapsed, indolent B-cell NHL, with a comparable risk/benefit relationship to that reported in North American patients. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT01596621; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01596621.
Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; Bendamustine Hydrochloride/therapeutic use* ; China ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin/drug therapy* ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/drug therapy* ; Prospective Studies ; Rituximab/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of distal radius T-plate combined with suture anchor and distal clavicle anatomical locking plate combined with suture anchor in the treatment of Neer Ⅱb distal clavicle fracture. METHODS: From June 2014 to June 2018, 42 patients with Neer Ⅱb distal clavicle fractures were retrospectively analyzed. According to different surgical methods, they were divided into the observation group (T-shaped plate combined with suture anchor) and the control group (anatomical locking plate combined with suture anchor). There were 22 patients in the observation group and 20 patients in the control group. In the observation group, there were 13 males and 9 females, aged from 22 to 70 (45.78± 14.44) years old, 12 cases on the left side and 10 cases on the right side, 8 cases of traffic accident injury and 14 cases of fall. In the control group, there were 12 males and 8 females, aged from 24 to 66 (44.17±15.58) years, 13 cases on the left side and 7 cases on the right side, 6 cases of traffic accident injuryand 14 cases of fall. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss and fracture healing time were compared between the two groups, and Constant Murley score was used to evaluate shoulder joint function. RESULTS: The patients in both groups were followed up for 18 to 24 (20.96±2.02) months. The incisions of both groups were healed at stageⅠ. The fracture ends of both groups were bony healed at the last follow up. There was no significant difference in operation time, intraoperative blood loss and fracture healing time between two groups ( CONCLUSION The two methods can obtain satisfactory results in the treatment of Neer Ⅱb distal clavicle fractures, especially suitable for patients with comminuted distal clavicle fractures or osteoporosis; the clinical effect of the treatment of NeerⅡb distal clavicle fractures with T type distal radius plate combined with suture anchor is satisfactory, which provides another feasible treatment scheme for clinic.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Plates ; Case-Control Studies ; Clavicle/surgery* ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Fractures, Bone/surgery* ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Suture Anchors ; Treatment Outcome