Objective:To evaluate pulmonary hypertension (PH) in Chinese people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) receiving long-term anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and those who had not received ART for HIV infection, and to analyze the risk factors for PH in HIV infected individuals, so as to provide evidence for the monitoring and management of cardiovascular diseases in people living with HIV in China.Methods:HIV infected individuals who received long-term ART were from the NCT04463810 study cohort. In addition, using propensity score matching method, gender matched HIV infected individuals who had not received ART were selected as controls from the NCT00872417 and NCT01844297 studies. This study was a retrospective and observational clinical study. Basic data, clinical visit and cardiac Doppler ultrasonography data were collected to analyze the prevalence of PH and risk factors for PH in people living with HIV. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.Results:Among the 318 HIV infected individuals, 159 underwent long-term ART and 159 did not receive ART, which were divided into long-term ART group and ART-na?ve group, respectively. Among 318 HIV infected individuals, 30 cases (9.4%) experienced PH, including 23 cases (7.2%) with critical PH, six cases (1.9%) with mild PH, one case (0.3%) with moderate PH, and there was no severe PH. The prevalence of PH in the long-term ART group was 5.0%(8/159), which was lower than that in the ART-na?ve group (13.8%, 22/159). The difference was statistically significant ( χ2=7.21, P=0.012). Multivariate analysis showed that older age (odds ratio ( OR)=1.064, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.019 to 1.111, P=0.016) and unsuppressed HIV status ( OR=2.660, 95% CI 1.041 to 6.797, P=0.041) were independent risk factors for PH of people living with HIV. Conclusions:The prevalence of PH in people living with HIV with long-term ART is lower than that of ART-na?ve people living with HIV. Older age and unsuppressed HIV status are independent risk factors for PH in people living with HIV. Cardiac Doppler ultrasonography is helpful for the early screening of PH in people living with HIV. ART should be actively performed to reduce the incidence of PH in people living with HIV.

Recently, the number of severe obesity in China has now ranked first in the world. The amount of metabolic and bariatric surgery in China is increasing year by year, and has made rapid development. As more and more new hospitals, surgical teams, and physicians join the field of metabolic and bariatric surgery, suboptimal operations and managements will inevitably accompany, causing problems and hidden dangers related to bariatric surgery. To a certain extent, this is in line with the law of development, but it does not mean that we can leave it alone and let it develop. In order to ensure the sustainable, healthy and orderly development of metabolic and bariatric surgery in China in the future, the standardized construction and quality improvement have become an urgent task. This paper reviews the current status of standardized construction of metabolic and bariatric surgery at home and abroad, the necessities and paths to quality improvement of standardized construction of metabolic and bariatric surgery in China, in order to put forward some thoughts and arouse extensive discussions for the development of the subject.

Recently, the number of severe obesity in China has now ranked first in the world. The amount of metabolic and bariatric surgery in China is increasing year by year, and has made rapid development. As more and more new hospitals, surgical teams, and physicians join the field of metabolic and bariatric surgery, suboptimal operations and managements will inevitably accompany, causing problems and hidden dangers related to bariatric surgery. To a certain extent, this is in line with the law of development, but it does not mean that we can leave it alone and let it develop. In order to ensure the sustainable, healthy and orderly development of metabolic and bariatric surgery in China in the future, the standardized construction and quality improvement have become an urgent task. This paper reviews the current status of standardized construction of metabolic and bariatric surgery at home and abroad, the necessities and paths to quality improvement of standardized construction of metabolic and bariatric surgery in China, in order to put forward some thoughts and arouse extensive discussions for the development of the subject.

Objective:To investigate the clinical diagnostic value of joint test of retinol-binding protein (RBP), cystatin C (CYSC) and urinary (albumin/creatinine ratio, ALB/Cr) ALB/Cr in early diabetes nephropathy.Methods:Data of 50 early diabetic nephropathy patients (EDN group) from Jan. 2020 to Jun. 2021 in our hospital, another 50 pure type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM group), and 50 healthy subjects (control group) were compared and analysed. RBP, CYSC and urinary ALB/Cr were tested for the 3 groups. Then the clinical diagnostic value between single index test and joint test for the early diabetes nephropathy were compared.Results:Group EDN had higher RBP, CYSC and urinary ALB/Cr [ (114.66±0.56) mg/L, (2.64±0.33) mg/L, (351.81±15.48) ] mg/g than group T2DM [ (83.58±0.83) mg/L, (1.41±0.29) mg/L, (113.65±12.55) mg/g] and control group[ (38.61±0.66) mg/L, (0.53±0.26) mg/L, (16.36±5.61) mg/g]. The difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). The specificity and sensitivity of early diabetes nephropathy were 95.38% and 96.21%, both higher than single index test. Conclusion:The combined detection of serum RBP, CYSC and urine ALB/Cr has certain reference value for the clinical diagnosis of early diabetic nephropathy.

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Didang Xianxiong decoction on the ultrastructure of myocardium and the expression of connective tissue growth factor （CTGF） and low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein （LRP） in diabetic rats. MethodThe diabetic rat model was established by the intraperitoneal injection of high-dose streptozotocin （55 mg·kg^-1） and the rats were further fed for 3 weeks. Forty model rats were randomly assigned into model group， a Xiao Xianxiongtang （4.05 g·kg^-1·d^-1） group， Xuefu Zhuyutang （6.30 g·kg^-1·d^-1） group， Didang Xianxiong decoction （8.10 g·kg^-1·d^-1） group， and alagebrium chloride （ALT-711， 3 mg·kg^-1·d^-1） group， with 8 rats in each group. Ten normal healthy rats were randomly selected as the blank group. The corresponding drugs were administrated by gavage， and the blank group and the model group were given distilled water at a dose of 10 mL·kg^-1·d^-1 for 8 weeks. The myocardial tissue was collected from the rats under anesthesia at the end of the 8^th week for pathological examination. The expression of CTGF and its receptor LRP in the myocardial tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. ResultCompared with the blank group， the modeling led to obvious ultrastructural damage of the myocardium， up-regulated the expression of CTGF （P<0.01）， and did not significantly change the expression of LRP. Compared with the model group， the drugs alleviated the damage in myocardium ultrastructure， down-regulated the expression of CTGF （P<0.01）， and did not significantly change the expression of LRP. Moreover， Didang Xianxiong decoction showed better performance than Xiao Xianxiongtang and Xuefu Zhuyutang （P<0.01）. ConclusionDidang Xianxiong decoction may protect myocardial tissue by down-regulating the high expression of CTGF in myocardial tissue of diabetic rats， thereby delaying myocardial fibrosis. The results indicate that the therapy of treating both phlegm and blood stasis has better performance than the simple method of resolving phlegm or stasis.

Objective:To explore the risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and influencing factors in human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients with long-term combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART).Methods:The baseline data from the multi-center prospective cohort of HIV/AIDS patients who received long-term cART from 2018 to 2020 were collected. cART-naive HIV/AIDS patients were matched by age and gender using the propensity score matching (PSM) as controls. Data collection adverse events of anti-human immunodeficiency virus drugs reduced model (D: A: D[R]) score, Framingham risk score (FRS) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score were used to assess the 10-year CVD risk in patients with long-term cART treatment and in cART-naive patients. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the risk factors related to high 10-year CVD risk.Results:A total of 301 HIV/AIDS patients received long-term cART and 300 cART-naive HIV/AIDS patients were included, with an average age of 39.8 years old. There were 490 male accounting for 81.5%. Based on the D: A: D [R] score, 4.3%(13/301) of patients in the long-term cART group had a 10-year CVD risk assessment of ≥10%, and 6.3%(19/300) of patients in the cART-naive group. Based on the FRS, 13.4%(36/269) of patients in the long-term cART group had a 10-year CVD risk assessment of ≥10%, and 10.6%(28/264) in the cART-naive group. Based on the ASCVD risk score, 10.4%(14/135) of patients in the long-term cART group had a 10-year CVD risk assessment of ≥7.5%, and 13.8%(17/123) in the cART-naive group. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of high 10-years CVD risk between the long-term cART group and the cART-naive group assessed by any of risk equations (all P>0.050). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the risk factors associated with 10-year CVD risk ≥10% assessed by D: A: D[R] model were age≥50 years, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and CD4 + T lymphocyte count <200×10 6 cells/L (adjusted odds ratio ( AOR)=697.48, 4 622.28, 23.11, 25.95, 27.72 and 18.25, respectively, all P<0.010). The risk factors associated with 10-year CVD risk ≥10% assessed by FRS were age≥50 years, male, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia ( AOR=53.51, 4.52, 36.93, 36.77, 6.15 and 3.84, respectively, all P<0.050). The risk factors associated with 10-year CVD risk ≥7.5% assessed by ASCVD risk score were age≥50 years, male, smoking, hypertension, diabetes ( AOR=18.48, 14.11, 14.81, 13.42 and 12.41, respectively, all P<0.050). Conclusions:Long-term cART has no significant effect on the 10-year CVD risk in HIV/AIDS patients. Higher CVD risk in HIV/AIDS patients are mainly associated with CD4 + T lymphocyte counts<200×10 6 cells/L and traditional CVD risk factors, including age≥50 years old, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of traditional Chinese medicine for intervention of phlegm and blood stasis in regulating TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling and relieving nephropathy in diabetic rats. METHODS: SD rats were divided into blank group (NC), diabetic model group (MC group), intervention of phlegm and blood stasis (RPDBS) group, phlegm-removing (RP) group and blood-removing (DBS) group. Diabetic models were established in all the rats except for those in the blank group. After 4 weeks of feeding, the rats in RPDBS group, RP group and DBS group were given corresponding drug intervention for 8 weeks. HE staining was used to observe the changes in renal histopathology. Western blotting and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR were used to detect the expression levels of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and Smad3. RESULTS: The structure and arrangement of the glomeruli and renal tubules improved significantly in the treatment groups in comparison with those in the MC group. The expression levels of TGF-β1, Smad3 and p-Smad3 were significantly downregulated at both the protein and mRNA levels in the treatment groups ( < 0.05), and the down-regulation was more obvious in RPDBS group than in RP group and DBS group ( < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Intervention of phlegm and blood stasis may inhibit the activation of TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway and delay diabetic nephropathy and fibrosis to protect the renal function in diabetic rats.
Animals ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Kidney ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction ; Smad3 Protein ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1

The outbreak of corona virus disease-19 (corona virus disease-19, COVID-19) caused a huge human disaster from the end of 2019 which is caused by SARS-CoV-2. It will cause damage to multiple organs function in the disease occurrence and development, viral nucleic acid, antibody and serological biochemical immune indicators are mainly indicators of clinical laboratory. The results of these indicators can reflect the organs function of patients and further guide clinical treatment. In this paper, the detection and clinical application of COVID-19 laboratory indicators are reviewed.

The outbreak of corona virus disease-19 (corona virus disease-19, COVID-19) caused a huge human disaster from the end of 2019 which is caused by SARS-CoV-2. It will cause damage to multiple organs function in the disease occurrence and development, viral nucleic acid, antibody and serological biochemical immune indicators are mainly indicators of clinical laboratory. The results of these indicators can reflect the organs function of patients and further guide clinical treatment. In this paper, the detection and clinical application of COVID-19 laboratory indicators are reviewed.