Objective To investigate the sleep structure of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and its correlations with cognitive function, depressive state and motor function. Methods A total of 120 PD patients were enrolled in this study, and divided into PD+RBD group (n=45) and PD group (n=75) based on the presence or absence of RBD. Sleep structure was recorded for both groups. The scores of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part Ⅲ (UPDRS-Ⅲ) and Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT) were compared between the two groups. The correlations of MoCA, HAMA, HAMD, UPDRS-Ⅲ and SCOPA-AUT scores with sleep structure in the PD+RBD group were analyzed. Results The PD+RBD group showed significantly higher percentage of non-rapideye movement (NREM) at stage 1, arousal index, periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS) and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) compared to the PD group, while the percentages of NREM at stage 3, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, sleep efficiency and lowest oxygen saturation were significantly lower (P < 0.05). The PD+RBD group also had significantly higher HAMA, HAMD, UPDRS-Ⅲ and SCOPA-AUT scores, and significantly lower MoCA scores compared to the PD group (P < 0.05). In the PD+RBD group, the percentages of NREM at stage 1, arousal index, PLMS and AHI were positively correlated with HAMA, HAMD, UPDRS-Ⅲ and SCOPA-AUT scores, and negatively correlated with MoCA scores (P < 0.05). Conversely, the percentages of NREM at stage 3, REM sleep, sleep efficiency and lowest oxygen saturation were negatively correlated with HAMA, HAMD, UPDRS-Ⅲ and SCOPA-AUT scores, and positively correlated with MoCA scores (P < 0.05). Conclusion PD patients with RBD exhibit disrupted sleep structure, which is closely associated with cognitive function, depressive state, motor function, and autonomic nervous system function.

Objectives:To investigate the prevalence,clinical characteristics and risk factors of coronavirus disease-2019(COVID-19)in patients with pulmonary hypertension(PH). Methods:A questionnaire survey was conducted from December 30,2022 to January 6,2023 through the WeChat official account of the PH Patients Mutual Aid Organization.PH patients aged≥18 years from 26 province(municipality/autonomous region)were recruited to fill in the electronic survey questionnaire. Results:A total of 293 valid questionnaires were collected from PH patients.The mean age of patients was(40.6±12.7)years,and 226 patients(77.1%)of them were female.The vaccination rate was 59.7%(175/293),117 patients(39.9%)received three or more doses of vaccine,145 patients(49.5%)received inactivated vaccine.242 patients(82.6%)had COVID-19.The most common symptoms during infection were fever(85.5%),cough(77.7%),and fatigue(66.5%).10.7%of the patients had severe or critical COVID-19.Age(OR =1.057,95%CI:1.027-1.087,P<0.001)and comorbid pulmonary disease(OR=3.341,95%CI:1.215-9.184,P=0.019)were associated with severe or critical COVID-19.After adjusting for confounding factors,age was an independent risk factor for severe or critical COVID-19(OR=1.049,95%CI:1.019-1.080,P=0.001).Severe or critical COVID-19 was an independent risk factor for worsening heart failure in PH patients during COVID-19 pandemic(OR=10.522,95%CI:4.311-25.682,P<0.001). Conclusions:The immunization coverage of PH patients is insufficient.PH patients have a higher risk of developing severe or critical COVID-19 than general population.Ageing is an independent risk factor for severe or critical COVID-19,and the risk of worsening heart failure in PH patients with severe or critical COVID-19 is significantly increased during COVID-19 pandemic.

Background::The CHA 2DS 2–VASc score was initially applied to stratify stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and was found to be effective in predicting all-cause mortality outcomes. To date, it is still unclear whether circulating long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as emerging biomarkers, can improve the predictive power of the CHA 2DS 2–VASc score in stroke and all-cause mortality. Methods::Candidate lncRNAs were screened by searching the literature and analyzing previous RNA sequencing results. After preliminary verification in 29 patients with AF, the final selected lncRNAs were evaluated by Cox proportional hazards regression in 192 patients to determine whether their relative expression levels were associated with stroke and all-cause mortality. The c-statistic, net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement of the patients were calculated to evaluate the discrimination and reclassification power for stroke and all-cause mortality when adding lncRNA expression levels to the CHA 2DS 2–VASc score model. Results::Five plasma lncRNAs associated with stroke and all-cause mortality in AF patients were selected in our screening process. Patients with elevated H19 levels were found to have a higher risk of stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 3.264, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.364–7.813, P = 0.008). Adding the H19 expression level to the CHA 2DS 2–VASc score significantly improved the discrimination and reclassification power of the CHA 2DS 2–VASc score for stroke in AF patients. In addition, the H19 level showed a marginally significant association with all-cause mortality (HR 2.263, 95% CI: 0.889–5.760, P = 0.087), although it appeared to have no significant improvement for the CHA 2DS 2–VASc model for predicting all-cause mortality. Conclusions::Plasma expression of H19 was associated with stroke risk in AF patients and improved the discriminatory power of the CHA 2DS 2–VASc score. Therefore, lncRNA H19 served as an emerging non-invasive biomarker for stroke risk prediction in patients with AF.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and influencing factors of mortality in patients with intra-abdominal candidiasis (IAC).Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 203 IAC patients who were admitted to 7 medical centers from June 2018 to June 2020 were collected, including 54 cases in Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 31 cases in Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, 25 cases in Beijing Hospital, 25 cases in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 24 cases in China-Japan Friendship Hospital, 22 cases in General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command of Chinese PLA and 22 cases in Chongqing University Cancer Hospital. There were 130 males and 73 females, aged (64±15)years. Observation indicators: (1) candida infection and treatment of IAC patients; (2) analysis of influencing factors for mortality of IAC patients. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range), and comparison between groups was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Count data were expressed as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed by Logistic regression model. Results:(1) Candida infection and treatment of IAC patients: 134 cases of candida albicans were cultured in the initial abdominal drainage fluid or intraoperative abdominal specimens of 203 patients, and 49 cases were treated with fluconazole. Of 69 cases infected with non candida albicans, 13 cases were treated with fluconazole. The resistance rate of candida albicans to fluconazole was 5.91%(12/203). Of 203 patients, there were 68 cases with infections shock, 53 cases with renal failure, 84 cases with respiratory failure and 63 cases with multiple organ failure, respectively. There were 148 of 203 patients admitted to intensive care unit for 9 days(range, 3-20 days), and the total hospital stay was 28 days(range, 17-50 days). Of 203 patients, 86 cases were cured and discharged, 50 cases were improved and transferred to local hospitals, 32 cases gave up treatment and discharged automatically, 19 cases died, 16 cases had no follow-up data. The mortality was 25.12%(51/203). (2) Analysis of influencing factors for mortality of IAC patients. Results of univariate analysis showed that acute physiology and chronic health evaluation score, sequential organ failure assessment score, the Cr, bilirubin, albumin, procalcitonin, and PLT on the first day of candida positive culture, of the lowest value in a week and the highest in a week, heart disease, diabetes, infections shock, renal failure, respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, anti-fungal therapy were the related factors for mortality of IAC patients ( t=-2.322, Z=-2.550, -2.262, -4.361, t=2.085, Z=-3.734, -5.226, -2.394, -5.542, t=3.462, Z=-4.957, -5.632, 3.670, -5.805, t=3.966, Z=-3.734, -5.727, χ2=4.071, 4.638, 27.353, 18.818, 13.199, 26.251, 13.388, P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the bilirubin, procalcitonin on the first day of candida positive culture and infections shock were independent risk factors for mortality of IAC patients ( odds ratio=1.021, 1.022, 6.864, 95% confidence interval as 1.010-1.033, 1.001-1.044, 1.858-25.353, P<0.05). Conclusions:The common fungus of IAC was candida albicans, and fluconazole can be used as the initial empirical treatment. The prognosis of patients with abdominal candidiasis is poor. Bilirubin, procalcitonin on the first day of candida positive culture and infections shock are indepen-dent risk factors for mortality of IAC patients.

Objective:To explore the therapeutic effects of intravenous injection of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) in mice.Methods:MSCs from human umbilical cord were cultured and the supernatant was collected.The sEVs were isolated by ultracentrifugation method and a NanoSight instrument was used to analyze the particle size.The expression of surface markers sEVs, CD9, CD81 and CD63 was determined via Western blot.The morphology of sEVs was observed with a transmission electron microscope.Forty-eight 7-week-old female C57BL/6 mice were seclected to establish the EAU model through immunization with interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein peptide 651-670 (IRBP 651-670). The mice were divided into sEVs treatment group and phosphate buffer solution (PBS) control group using a random number table, with 24 mice in each group.The mice in the sEVs treatment group were injected with 50 μg of MSCs-derived sEVs via tail vein on the 11th day after modeling.In the PBS control group, the mice were injected with the same volume of PBS.Six mice in each group were randomly selected to observe the inflammation of the retina after mydriasis with an ophthalmoscope every other day from 8th day following modeling and the inflammation scores were evaluated.Six mice were randomly selected and sacrificed on the 14th day and 6 on the 18th day following modeling in each group, and both eyeballs of the mice were enucleated.Retinal tissue sections of the 6 mice sacrificed on the 18th day were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and the pathological scores were evaluated.The infiltration of helper T 1 (Th1) cells and Th17 cells in the eyeballs of the 6 mice sacrificed on the 18th day following modeling was detected by flow cytometry.T cells were isolated from spleen and lymph nodes of the 6 mice sacrificed on the 14th day, and the proliferation of T cells under different concentrations of IRBP 651-670 (0, 1, 10 and 20 μg/ml) was detected using a 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) method.To further study the effects of MSCs-derived sEVs on Th1/Th17 cells differentiation, naive T cells of spleen from another 3 normal mice were isolated by magnetic bead negative sorting and incubated with 10 μg/ml MSCs-derived sEVs or 10 μg/ml PBS, and then were cultured under Th1/Th17 cell differentiation conditions, respectively.Flow cytometry was used to measure the differentiation of naive T cells into Th1/Th17 cells.This study protocol complied with the regulations of the care and use of laboratory animals in China and was approved by an Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University (No.TJYY2019103022). Results:The isolated human MSCs-derived sEVs was with an average diameter of (102.4±33.6) nm and showed a double-layer membrane vesicle structure under the transmission electron microscope.The CD9, CD63 and CD81 proteins were highly expressed in sEVs.The inflammation scores of the sEVs treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group on day 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22 after modeling (all at P<0.05). The pathological score of mice in the sEVs treatment group was significantly lower than that of PBS control group on the 18th day following modeling ( P<0.05). The flow cytometry results showed that on day 18 after modeling, the proportions of Th1 and Th17 cells in eyeballs in the sEVs treatment group were (15.55±2.03)% and (15.67±2.15)%, respectively, which were significantly lower than (21.35±0.72)% and (20.90±1.10)% in the PBS control group ( t=6.58, 5.31; both at P<0.01). BrdU results showed that when the IRBP 651-670 concentration was 20 μg/ml, the T cell proliferation ability in the sEVs treatment group was inhibited obviously compared with the control group ( P<0.05). The proportions of naive T cells differentiated into Th1 cells and Th17 cells in the sEVs treatment group were (28.15±1.32)% and (11.60±2.23)% respectively, which were significantly lower than (31.58±1.75)% and (23.52±1.76)% of the PBS control group, and the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.93, 10.26; both at P<0.05). Conclusions:Intravenous injection of human umbilical cord MSCs-derived sEVs can reduce the inflammation in EAU mice.The mechanism may be related to inhibiting the differentiation of naive T cells to Th1 and Th17 cells, and reducing the infiltration of Th1 and Th17 cells in the eyeballs.

Objective:To evaluate the role of long-chain non-coding RNA-lung cancer metastasis-related transcript 1/microRNA-145/Bcl-2 and adenovirus E1B19k Da interacting protein 3 (Lnc-MALAT1/miRNA-145/BNIP3) signaling pathway in sufentanil preconditioning-induced cardioprotection in rats.Methods:Rat H9C2 cells were inoculated in 6-well culture plates or flasks at a density of 1×10 6 cells/ml and divided into 5 groups ( n=30 each) using a random number table method: control group (group C), hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) group, sufentanil preconditioning group (S group), eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.0 group (pcDNA group) and pcDNA-MALAT1 group (MALAT1 group). Cells were incubated with 10 μmol/L sufentanil for 2 h, and then the H/R injury model was established in group S. In pcDNA group and MALAT1 group, cells were transfected with pcDNA3.0 and pcDNA-MALAT1, respectively, and then incubated with 10 μmol/L sufentanil for 2 h starting from 24 h after transfection, and then the H/R injury model was established.At 2 h after reoxygenation, the expression of Lnc-MALAT1, miRNA-145 and BNIP3 mRNA was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction, the cell survival rate was detected by CCK-8, the apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry, the malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and amount of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) released were detected, and the expression of Bcl-2, Bax and cleaved-caspase-3 was detected by Western blot. Results:Compared with group C, the survival rate was significantly decreased, apoptosis rate was increased, the MDA level and amount of LDH released were increased, SOD levels were decreased, the expression of LncRNA-MALAT1, BNIP3 mRNA, Bax, and cleaved-caspase-3 was up-regulated, and miRNA-145 and Bcl-2 expression was down-regulated in the other four groups ( P<0.05). Compared with group H/R, the cell survival rate was significantly increased, apoptosis rate was decreased, the MDA level and amount of LDH released were decreased, SOD levels were increased, the expression of LncRNA-MALAT1, BNIP3 mRNA, Bax, and cleaved-caspase-3 was down-regulated, and miRNA-145 and Bcl-2 expression was up-regulated in S and pcDNA groups ( P<0.05). Compared with group S, the survival rate was significantly decreased, apoptosis rate was increased, MDA level and amount of LDH released were increased, SOD levels were decreased, the expression of LncRNA-MALAT1, BNIP3 mRNA, Bax, and cleaved-caspase-3 was up-regulated, and miRNA-145 and Bcl-2 expression was down-regulated in group MALAT1 ( P<0.05). Conclusion:The mechanism of sufentanil preconditioning-induced cardioprotection is related to inhibiting Lnc-MALAT1/miRNA-145/BNIP3 signaling pathway in rats.

Esophageal varices (EV) are the most common complication in patients with liver cirrhosis. Although achievements have been made in the development of endoscopy and other hemostatic techniques, the 6-week mortality rate is still as high as 16%-26% in patients with esophageal variceal bleeding, and therefore, early diagnosis of EV, especially high-risk EV, is of great importance. At present, gastroscopy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of EV, but its clinical application is limited by invasiveness, high cost, and patient discomfort. In recent years, several noninvasive tests have been proposed for the diagnosis of EV, among which the original Baveno VI criteria and its expanded criteria are the most commonly used ones. This article summarizes and reviews the advances in serological marker, ultrasound, CT, MRI, elastography, capsule endoscopy, and ultrathin endoscopy in the noninvasive diagnosis of EV and emphasizes the development of simple noninvasive technology, so as to provide help for the early diagnosis of EV.

Aim To investigate the changes of serum metabolism after the treatment of DOA and DOO on myocardial ischemia reperfusion ( MI/R ) injury in rats, and to explore the pathogenesis of MI/R injury and drug action mechanism. Method The serum samples of Sham group, Model group, DOA group and DOO group of rats were acquired, gas phase time of flight mass spectrometry ( GC-TOF-MS) was applied to analyze the metabolic profiles of the samples. After da-ta preprocessing, they were processed into SIMCA 14. 1 software for multivariate statistical analysis. Results By principal components analysis ( PCA ) , partial least squares analysis ( PLS-DA) and orthogonal partial least squares analysis ( OPLS-DA ) , the Model group and Sham group were obviously separated, the drug in-tervention group and Model group were separated and close to Sham group. The therapeutic effect of DOO and DOA on MI/R injury in rats was proved. The ex-perimental results identified 13 endogenous biomark-ers, which were related to the glucose metabolism,lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism pathway. Con-clusion DOA and DOO may protect the MI/R injured rats by regulating the glucose metabolism, lipid metab-olism and amino acid metabolism pathway.

Objective To investigate the effects of pramipexole on serum cystatin C, antioxidant indexes and brain derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF) in the treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease.Methods Retrospective a total of 96 patients with Parkinson’s disease were collected and randomly divided into experimental group and control group with 48 cases in each group.Patients in the control group were treated by levodopa,patients in the experimental group were treated on the basis of the control group with pramipexole, movement and non-movement symptoms were assessed by unified Parkinson’ s disease rating scale ( UPDRS), the serum cystatin C, antioxidant indexes and brain derived neurotrophic factor levels were measured, and the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions were compared.Results The effective rate of the control group (68.75%) was lower than the experimental group (87.50%), with statistical significance (P<0.05); compared with the control group, the movement and non-movement symptoms of the experimental group reduced after treatment, after treatment the serum CRP, serum cystatin C decreased, serum BDNF increased, after treatment the glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidate (GPX) levels increased, with statistical significance (P<0.05).Conclusion Pramipexole in the treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease could reduce serum cystatin C, improve the levels of BDNF and antioxidant capacity, the effect is remarkable.

Objective To investigate the clinical charactors and treatment of IgM nephropathy with nephrotic syndrome(NS) in children.Methods Thirty-six IgM nephropathy patients hospitalized in Hunan Children's Hospital as research group(group A),from June 2005 to June 2012.One hundred and six patients with minimal change disease (MCD) as control group (group B),followed up for 1 ～ 8 years.Results (1) Hematuria at presentation of the two groups respectly 3.8％ vs 30.6％ (x2 =20.403,P ＜ 0.05).(2) Renal pathology revealed that there were 26 (72.2％)patients with minimal change disease,9 cases (72.2 ％)with moderate membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis,1 cases with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.(3) According to renal pathology,group A patients were divided into two sub groups:mild group and moderate group.To compared with group B,the steroid-resistant incidence of the 3 group were respectly 12.3％,19.2％,77.8％ (x2 =24.369,P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference between control group and mild group.(4)The remission rate of proteinuria in steroid-resistant patients who combined to use mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) with the two groups were respectively 50％ and 85.7 ％ (x2 =3.60,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Incidence of hematuria is higher in IgM nephropathy patients and patients with renal pathology for moderate lesions have a high steroid-resistant,and need use immunosuppressive early.MMF may be a good immunosuppressive for theses patients.