OBJECTIVE: Clinical characteristics and outcome in COVID-19 with brucellosis patients has not been well demonstrated, we tried to analyze clinical outcome in local and literature COVID-19 cases with brucellosis before and after recovery. METHODS: We retrospectively collected hospitalization data of comorbid patients and prospectively followed up after discharge in Heilongjiang Infectious Disease Hospital from January 15, 2020 to April 29, 2022. Demographics, epidemiological, clinical symptoms, radiological and laboratory data, treatment medicines and outcomes, and follow up were analyzed, and findings of a systematic review were demonstrated. RESULTS: A total of four COVID-19 with brucellosis patients were included. One patient had active brucellosis before covid and 3 patients had nonactive brucellosis before brucellosis. The median age was 54.5 years, and all were males (100.0%). Two cases (50.0%) were moderate, and one was mild and asymptomatic, respectively. Three cases (75.0%) had at least one comorbidity (brucellosis excluded). All 4 patients were found in COVID-19 nucleic acid screening. Case C and D had only headache and fever on admission, respectively. Four cases were treated with Traditional Chinese medicine, western medicines for three cases, no adverse reaction occurred during hospitalization. All patients were cured and discharged. Moreover, one case (25.0%) had still active brucellosis without re-positive COVID-19, and other three cases (75.0%) have no symptoms of discomfort except one case fell fatigue and anxious during the follow-up period after recovery. Conducting the literature review, two similar cases have been reported in two case reports, and were both recovered, whereas, no data of follow up after recovery. CONCLUSION These cases indicate that COVID-19 patients with brucellosis had favorable outcome before and after recovery. More clinical studies should be conducted to confirm our findings.
Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Brucellosis ; COVID-19 ; Retrospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Treatment Outcome ; Case Reports as Topic

Objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB) are major public health and social issues worldwide. The long-term follow-up of COVID-19 with pulmonary TB (PTB) survivors after discharge is unclear. This study aimed to comprehensively describe clinical outcomes, including sequela and recurrence at 3, 12, and 24 months after discharge, among COVID-19 with PTB survivors. Methods From January 22, 2020 to May 6, 2022, with a follow-up by August 26, 2022, a prospective, multicenter follow-up study was conducted on COVID-19 with PTB survivors after discharge in 13hospitals from four provinces in China. Clinical outcomes, including sequela, recurrence of COVID-19, and PTB survivors, were collected via telephone and face-to-face interviews at 3, 12, and 24 months after discharge. Results Thirty-two COVID-19 with PTB survivors were included. The median age was 52 (45, 59) years, and 23 (71.9％) were men. Among them, nearly two-thirds (62.5％) of the survivors were moderate, three (9.4％) were severe, and more than half (59.4％) had at least one comorbidity (PTB excluded). The proportion of COVID-19 survivors with at least one sequela symptom decreased from 40.6％ at 3 months to 15.8％ at 24 months, with anxiety having a higher proportion over a follow-up. Cough and amnesia recovered at the 12-month follow-up, while anxiety, fatigue, and trouble sleeping remained after 24 months. Additionally, one (3.1％) case presented two recurrences of PTB and no re-positive COVID-19 during the follow-up period. Conclusion The proportion of long symptoms in COVID-19 with PTB survivors decreased over time, while nearly one in six still experience persistent symptoms with a higher proportion of anxiety. The recurrence of PTB and the psychological support of COVID-19 with PTB after discharge require more attention.

Objective: Several COVID-19 patients have overlapping comorbidities. The independent role of each component contributing to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown, and how some non-cardiometabolic comorbidities affect the risk of COVID-19 remains unclear. Methods: A retrospective follow-up design was adopted. A total of 1,160 laboratory-confirmed patients were enrolled from nine provinces in China. Data on comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio ( Results: Overall, 158 (13.6%) patients were diagnosed with severe illness and 32 (2.7%) had unfavorable outcomes. Hypertension (2.87, 1.30-6.32), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (3.57, 2.32-5.49), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3.78, 1.81-7.89), fatty liver disease (7.53, 1.96-28.96), hyperlipidemia (2.15, 1.26-3.67), other lung diseases (6.00, 3.01-11.96), and electrolyte imbalance (10.40, 3.00-26.10) were independently linked to increased odds of being severely ill. T2DM (6.07, 2.89-12.75), CVD (8.47, 6.03-11.89), and electrolyte imbalance (19.44, 11.47-32.96) were also strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease on admission (5.46, 3.25-9.19), while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes (6.58, 1.46-29.64) within two weeks. Conclusion Besides hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, other lung diseases, and electrolyte imbalance were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity and poor treatment outcome. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease, while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes.
Adult ; Aged ; COVID-19/virology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome

Objective:To explore application of quantitative goal exercise (QGE) combined with whole-process refined nutrition management (WP-RNM) in rehabilitation quality management after chemotherapy for hematologic diseasespatients.Methods:By the convenient sampling method, a total of 125 patients with hematologic diseases who underwent chemotherapyand were admitted to Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2017 to January 2019 were selected as research objects. The patients were divided into groups A, B, C and D according to the difference of intervention methods, with 31, 32, 31 and 31 cases in every group in turn. Group A was given routine intervention, group B was given QGE, group C was givenWP-RNM and group D was given QGE combined withWP-RNM. The nutritional status and quality of life of the 4 groups before and after intervention were compared.Results:The nutritional indexes such as prealbumin, albumin, transferrin and hemoglobin of four groups after intervention were improved, group D was higher than those of groups A, B, and C, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05) . Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment scores of group D were lower than other groups, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05) . The scores of all dimensions of Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 after intervention of 4 groups were declined, the scores of each dimension of group D were lower than those of groups A, B, and C, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The scientific and rational implementation of QGE combined with f WP-RNM for hematologic diseases after chemotherapy can effectively improve the nutritional intake quality of patients and improve the immune function and quality of life of patients, which has good auxiliary application value. It can be targeted for promotion and application during chemotherapy for hematologic diseases.

OBJECTIVETo explore the intrinsic connection between activation of classical nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway and gefitinib resistance in human lung adenocarcinoma H1650 cells.

METHODSHuman lung adenocarcinoma H1650 cells were exposed to gefitinib continuously for 60 days to obtain resistant H1650 cells. The expressions of P-IκBα, P-p50 and P-p65 in the cytoplasm or nuclei were detected using Western blotting in human lung adenocarcinoma HCC827 cells, parental H1650 cells and gefitinib-resistant H1650 cells. The effects of gefitinib alone or in combination with PDTC on the survival rate and expressions of NF-κB P-p50 and P-p65 were compared among the 3 cell lines.

RESULTSGefitinib-resistant H1650 cells showed increased cytoplasmic and nuclear P-IκBα expressions. The expressions of P-p50 and P-p65 differed significantly among the 3 cell line, decreasing in the order of resistant H1650 cells, parental H1650 cells, and gefitinib sensitive HCC827 cell lines (P<0.05 or 0.01). Treatment with gefitinib alone resulted in a significantly lower cell inhibition rate in resistant H1650 cells than in the parental H1650 cells (P<0.05) and HCC827 cells (P<0.01). The resistant H1650 cells had a significantly higher expression of P-p50 and P-p65 than other two cell lines (P<0.05). In both the resistant and parental H1650 cells, gefitinib significantly lowered P-p50 and P-p65 expressions (P<0.05 or 0.01), and the combined treatment with gefitinib and PDTC significantly decreased the cell survival rate and further lowered the cytoplasmic and nuclear expressions of P-p50 and P-p65 (P<0.01 or 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe activation of classical NF-κB pathway is a key factor contributing to transformation of the parental H1650 cells into gefitinib-resistant cells. Gefitinib combined with PDTC can inhibit P-IκBα production and NF-κB P-p50 and P-p65 activation to suppress the survival of residual H1650 cells and the generation of gefitinib-resistant cells.

Objective: To observe the short- and long-term clinical outcomes of fraction flow reserve (FFR)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with SYNTAX score≥33 unsuitable for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods: A total of 117 CAD patients admitted in our hospital from 2012-01 to 2015-06 were enrolled. Since SYNTAX score≥33, EuroSCORE>6, the patients were unsuitable for CABG and treated in 2 groups: Medication group, n=20 and PCI group, during FFR-guided PCI procedure, patients received ROTA or IVUS according to physician's experience, n=97. All patients were followed-up for at least 12 months. Meanwhile, taking "coronary stent and bypass", "CABG and PCI" as key words, we searched relevant documents in VIP Chinese science and technology journal full-text database, WanFang medical database, ChinaNet and Chinese biomedical literature database from 2012-01-01 to 2015-12-31, patients' outcomes were compared with the above references to explore the clinical benefit. Results: ① PCI group and Medication group had similar SYNTAX score and EuroSCORE, P>0.05. The common pathogenesis was LAD involvement, chronic occlusion was 31.3% (5/16) in patients with partial revascularization.②PCI group had 18.6% (18/97) incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE), 2 patients died during follow-up period and 9 received revascularization; Medication group had 60% (12/20) incidence of MACCE, 3 patients died during follow-up period; the difference between 2 groups showed statistical meaning, P<0.05.③There were 22 relevant documents retrieved as comparison; in our research, PCI group had similar incidence of MACCE to the documents, P>0.05; Medication group had increased incidence of MACCE than the documents, P<0.05. Conclusion: FFR-guided PCI could bring clinical benefit in CAD patients with SYNTAX score≥33 unsuitable for CABG.

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of diallyl thiosulfinate (DATS) on the proliferation of side population (SP) cells in multiple myeloma (MM) and its mechanism.

METHODSRPMI-8226 and NCI-H929 cells were cultured, and the level of SP cells was detected by Hoechst33342 staining. The SP cells were cultured and treated with 10 µg/ml DATS, the CCK8 assay was carried out to examine the effect of DATS on the proliferation ability in SP cells, and plate colony-forming test was used to examine the colony-forming ability, the flow cytometry assay was carried out to examine the cell cycle, Western blot assay was used to examine the expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, CDK2 and CDK4.

RESULTSSP cells were detected in RPMI-8226 and NCI-H929 cells with a proportion of 3.17±0.98 and 2.65±0.61, respectively. DATS treatment could significantly inhibit the SP cells survival in a time-dependent manner, and also could significantly inhibit the colony forming. In addition, DATS treatment could significantly induce the G/S arrest and suppress the expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, CDK2 and CDK4.

CONCLUSIONDATS can inhibit the proliferation and colony-forming of SP cells in multiple myeloma, and induce the G/S arrest that may be carried out via suppressing the expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, CDK2 and CDK4.

AIM:To explore the effect of microRNA-221 (miR-221) on the proliferation of lung cancer A549 cells, and to investigate its mechanism .METHODS: The A549 cells were transfected with miR-221 mimics by Lipo-fectamine 2000.The expression of miR-221 was detected by RT-qPCR.The expression of PTEN at mRNA and protein le-vels was detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot , respectively .The cell proliferation was examined by CCK-8 assay and colony formation assay.The 3'-UTR of PTEN was cloned into luciferase reporter vector and its enzymatic activity was detec-ted to verify whether miR-221 targeted to PTEN.RESULTS:The expression level of miR-221 in the A549 cells was sig-nificantly increased after transfection with miR-221 mimics as compared with negative control group and blank group ( P<0.01).The mRNA and protein levels of PTEN were significantly down-regulated compared with control group and blank group ( P <0.05 ) .In addition , miR-221 over-expression significantly promoted the proliferation of A 549 cells ( P <0.05).Moreover, miR-221 inhibited the enzymatic activity of luciferase reporter vector of PTEN.CONCLUSION:Over-expression of miR-221 significantly promotes the proliferation ability of human lung cancer A 549 cells by down-regulation of PTEN.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation of serum sex hormones and parathyroid hormone (PTH) with the biochemical markers of bone turnover in aged men.

METHODSWe collected the laboratory data of 465 men aged 60- 93 (73. 1 +/- 8. 3) years old, who came for routine physical examinations in our hospital. We obtained the levels of serum follicle- stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), PTH, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3 (25(OH) D3), and bone turnover markers C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX), osteocalcin (OC) and amino-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP). We also determined free testosterone (FT) , bioactive testosterone (BT) , testosterone secretion index (TSI) and FT index (FTI), and analyzed the correlation of each index with the biochemical markers of bone turnover.

RESULTSThe concentrations of serum FSH, LH, and SHBG increased, while the levels of FT, BT, TSI, FTI, PTH, CTX, OC and PINP decreased with age, especially in those over 80 years old (P <0.05). PTH was positively correlated with CTX, OC and PINP (r =0. 227, 0. 269 and 0. 162, P <0. 01), even after the adjustment for age, while SHBG negatively correlated with OC (r = -0. 100, P <0.05). The bone turnover markers increased with the elevation of the PTH quartiles, with significant differences between the first and the fourth quartile (P <0. 01). Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that age was correlated inversely with CTX, OC and PINP ( beta = -0. 126, -0. 141 and -0. 122, P <0.05) , PTH positively with the three markers (beta = 0. 196, 0.279 and 0.189; P <0. 001), and SHBG negatively with OC ( beta = -0. 100, P <0.05) .

CONCLUSIONAging is the fundamental cause of reduced bone turnover in aged men. The levels serum PTH and SHBG are significantly associated with the biochemical markers of bone turnover.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; Bone Density ; Bone Remodeling ; physiology ; Bone and Bones ; metabolism ; Estradiol ; blood ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; blood ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones ; blood ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parathyroid Hormone ; blood ; Testosterone ; blood

BACKGROUNDData on the epidemiology of hypertension in Chinese non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the non-dialysis CKD patients through a nationwide, multicenter study in China.

METHODSThe survey was performed in 61 tertiary hospitals in 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China (except Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). Trained physicians collected demographic and clinical data and measured blood pressure (BP) using a standardized protocol. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg, and/or use of antihypertensive medications. BP < 140/90 mmHg and < 130/80 mmHg were used as the 2 thresholds of hypertension control. In multivariate logistic regression with adjustment for sex and age, we analyzed the association between CKD stages and uncontrolled hypertension in non-dialysis CKD patients.

RESULTSThe analysis included 8927 non-dialysis CKD patients. The prevalence, awareness, and treatment of hypertension in non-dialysis CKD patients were 67.3%, 85.8%, and 81.0%, respectively. Of hypertensive CKD patients, 33.1% and 14.1% had controlled BP to < 140/90 mmHg and < 130/80 mmHg, respectively. With successive CKD stages, the prevalence of hypertension in non-dialysis CKD patients increased, but the control of hypertension decreased (P < 0.001). When the threshold of BP < 130/80 mmHg was considered, the risk of uncontrolled hypertension in CKD 2, 3a, 3b, 4, and 5 stages increased 1.3, 1.4, 1.4, 2.5, and 4.0 times compared with CKD 1 stage, respectively (P < 0.05). Using the threshold of < 140/90 mmHg, the risk of uncontrolled hypertension increased in advanced stages (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of hypertension Chinese non-dialysis CKD patients was high, and the hypertension control was suboptimal. With successive CKD stages, the risk of uncontrolled hypertension increased.

Adult ; Aged ; Awareness ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; complications