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Objective:To determine the characteristics of hospitalized newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with high disease activity, and identify the risk factors.Methods:Data from 194 newly diagnosed SLE patients at Shanghai Renji Hospital between May 2013 and December 2018 were collected retrospectively. All patients were followed up for 1 year or until death. Patients' demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics on admission and medication history were retrospectively collected as baseline data. Patients were divided into two groups, lupus patients with infection (51 cases) and lupus patients without infection (143 cases). The method of univariate analysis of data depended on the data distribution type. Variables that suggested association in the univariate analysis ( P<0.05) were entered into Cox regression model. Results:Among 194 patients with newly diagnosed SLE, 21 cases (11%) died and 51 cases (26%) were infected during 1-year follow-up. Regarding the infection site, 34 cases (67%) had lung infection, 9 cases (18%) had central nervous system infection and 9 cases (18%) had blood stream infection. Common bacteria were identified in 19 cases (45%), followed by fungal infection in 18 cases (43%) and mycobacterium infection in 7 cases (17%). Among the 51 patients with infection, 38 patients (75%) had infection within the first 3 months after diagnosis, and mortality in this group was significantly higher than that in the uninfected group (39%, 15/38 vs 2%, 3/143 , P<0.01). Comparing baseline parameters between patients with 3-month infection and without, significant differences ( P<0.05) were detected in age (≥40 years), systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) score (>10 points), Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinic (SLICC)/American College of Rheumatology(ACR) systemic lupus erythematosus damage index (SDI) (≥1 point), pericardial effusion, nephritis, gastrointestinal vasculitis, diabetes, lymphocyte count <0.8×10 9/L platelet count <100×10 9/L, serum creatinine >104 mmol/L and serum globulin level <20 g/L. Finally, clinically meaningful candidate predictors were included in the Cox regression model and it showed that lymphocyte count <0.8×10 9/L, nephritis and gastrointestinal vasculitis were independently predictive for 3-month infection in new-onset lupus patients. Conclusion:Understanding disease spectrums and risk factors of infection in newly diagnosed SLE patients will help clinicians to manage those patients with infection effectively to achieve favorable prognosis.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the association of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD) in a Chinese population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>For 275 CD patients and 495 controls, the genotypes of VEGF gene rs699947 and rs3025039 loci were determined with a SNaPshot method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The allelic and genotypic frequencies of the rs699947 and rs3025039 loci did not differ between the two groups (all P>0.05). By stratification analysis, allele A and genotype CA+AA of rs699947 were more frequent in patients with colonic CD compared with the controls (P=0.006, 95%CI:1.143-2.234; P=0.005, 95%CI:1.203-2.900, respectively). Compared with the controls, the allele A and genotype CA+AA of rs699947 were less frequent in patients with ileal lesions including ileal CD and ileocolonic CD (P=0.033, 95%CI:0.524-0.974;P=0.043, 95%CI:0.481-0.989, respectively). The frequency of TT homozygote of rs3025039 was lower in patients with non-stricturing and non-penetrating CD compared with the controls (P=0.036, 95%CI:0.016-0.870).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Polymorphisms of the VEGF gene rs699947 locus may contribute to an increased risk for colonic CD, but may play a protective role in patients with ileal lesion. Individuals carrying the TT genotype for VEGF rs3025039 locus may be less susceptible to non-stricturing and non-penetrating CD.</p>
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Objective To investigate the correlations between the level of blood lactic acid (Lac),lactate clearance rate (LCR) and emergency stratification Ⅰ or Ⅱ as well as the prognosis in patients.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted.The clinical data of 370 critically ill patients with emergency stratification Ⅰ or Ⅱ accompanying with hyperlactacidemia admitted to emergency center of People's Hospital of Wuwei City during January 2013 to April 2015 were analyzed.The patients were allocated into two groups:Lac ≥ 10 mmol/L (n =181) and Lac 4-10 mmol/L (n =189).Base excess (BE),acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score and hospital mortality were compared between the two groups.The differences in initial Lac,6-hour LCR and APACHE Ⅱ score were compared between survival group and death group as well as emergency stratification Ⅰ and Ⅱ groups.The correlation between initial Lac,6-hour LCR and APACHE]Ⅱ score was analyzed by Pearson correlation method.Results ① With the increase in Lac level,the negative deviation extent of BE and APACHE Ⅱ score in critical patients were gradually increased [BE (mmol/L):-16.74 ± 8.21 vs.-5.98 ± 8.43,APACHE Ⅱ score:27.6 ± 5.6 vs.20.1 ± 4.8],and hospital mortality was increased [76.79％ (139/181) vs.43.39％ (82/189),all P ＜ 0.01].② The initial Lac and APACHE Ⅱ score of the death group were significantly higher than those of the survival group [initial Lac (mmol/L):8.81 ± 4.71 vs.4.43 ± 2.82,APACHE Ⅱ score:23.6 ± 5.6 vs.17.3 ± 3.7],and 6-hour LCR was significantly decreased [(12.26 ± 6.47)％ vs.(35.16± 10.63)％,all P ＜ 0.01].③ Patients in emergency stratification Ⅰ group had a higher initial Lac and a higher APACHE Ⅱ score but a lower 6-hour LCR level than those in emergency stratification Ⅱ group [initial Lac (mmol/L):8.7±2.6 vs.6.8±2.0,APACHE Ⅱ score:25.2±6.3 vs.16.3±4.7,6-hour LCR:(14.8±4.7)％ vs.(33.5±5.8)％,both P ＜ 0.01].④ It was shown by correlation analysis that initial Lac was significantly positively correlated with APACHE Ⅱ score (r =0.731,P =0.017) in 370 emergency critical ill patients,while 6-hour LCR was negatively correlated with APACHE Ⅱ score (r =-0.694,P =0.010).Conclusions The early arterial blood Lac of patients with emergency stratification Ⅰ was significantly higher than emergency stratification Ⅱ,and the 6-hour LCR in patients with emergency stratification Ⅱ was significantly higher than emergency stratification Ⅰ.Furthermore,the Lac level and LCR were simple and easy to implement as compared with APACHE Ⅱ score in emergency critical ill patients.