Preliminary adipose removal did not prevent diet-induced metabolic disorders in mice / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Obesity is a fundamental factor in metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, fatty liver, and atherosclerosis. However, effective preventive measures are still lacking. This study aimed to investigate different surgical protocols for removing partial adipose tissue before the onset of obesity and determine whether, and by which protocol, preliminary adipose removal could exert potent preventive effects against diet-induced metabolic disorders.@*METHODS@#Male low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) knockout (KO) mice were randomly divided into four groups and subjected to epididymal fat removal (Epi-FR) surgery, subcutaneous fat removal (suQ-FR) surgery, both subcutaneous and epididymal fat removal (Epi + suQ-FR) surgery, or sham-operation. After 1 week of recovery, all mice were given a high-fat diet (HFD) for 10 weeks to induce metabolic disorders.@*RESULTS@#In the Epi-FR group and the sham-operated group, the mean numbers of the residual subcutaneous fat were 28.59 mg/g and 18.56 mg/g, respectively. The expression of relative genes such as Pparg, Cebpa, Dgat2, Fabp4 and Cd36 in the residual subcutaneous fat increased 2.62, 3.90, 3.11, 2.06, 1.78 times in the Epi-FR group compared with that in the sham-operated group. Whereas in the other fat-removal groups, the residual fat depots had no significant change in either size or gene expression, as compared with those of the sham-operated group. Plasma lipid and glucose levels and insulin sensitivity, as detected by the glucose tolerance test, were not significantly alleviated in the three fat removal groups. Liver mass or lipid content was not attenuated in any of the three fat removal groups. The atherosclerosis burdens in the entire inner aorta and aortic root did not decrease in any of the three fat removal groups.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Our data suggest that removal of epididymal adipose or subcutaneous adipose alone or in combination before the onset of obesity did not protect against hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, fatty liver, or atherosclerosis in LDL-R KO mice fed with a HFD. Hence, adipose removal possibly does not represent a potential approach in preventing obesity-related metabolic disorders in the obesity-susceptible population.

Agreement of Spatiotemporal Gait Characteristics between Gaitboter Gait Analysis System and Noraxon Gait Analysis System / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To assess the agreement between measurements of spatiotemporal gait characteristics made with Gaitboter and Noraxon gait analysis systems. Methods:From February to April, 2019, 35 healthy adults were recruited to participate in gait analysis using Gaitboter and Noraxon gait analysis apparatuses, respectively. Stance phase, swing phase, stride length, cadence, velocity and toe out were recorded and computed. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate the agreement between the two gait analysis systems. Results:There was a good reliability in spatiotemporal gait characteristics between two gait analysis systems (ICC 0.691 to 0.835). Bland-Altman plots also showed good agreement. Conclusion:The measurements of temporal and spatial parameters with Gaitboter and Noraxon gait analysis systems yield acceptable agreement, and further study needs to be conducted on the validity of the Gaitboter gait analysis system.

Effect of Individualized Memory Rehabilitation Based on Forgetting Characteristics of Patients with Brain Injury / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To investigate the effect of individualized memory rehabilitation based on the forgetting characteristics in patients with brain injury (BI). Methods:From September, 2018 to October, 2019, 60 BI patients were randomly divided into routine memory training group (control group, n = 30) and individualized memory training group (observation group, n = 30). The observation group group was tested with forgetting characteristics pre-training. Both groups received memory training for four weeks, respectively. All patients were evaluated with Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test-2nd Edition (RBMT-II) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) pre- and post-training. Results:The total post-training scores of RBMT-II and MoCA were higher than the pre-training scores in both groups (|t| > 3.885, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the total scores between two groups pre- and post-training (P > 0.05). The differences between post- and pre-training total scores of RBMT-II and MoCA were significantly higher in the observation group group than in the control group (|Z| > 3.757, P < 0.001). Conclusion:Memory rehabilitation training could improve memory abilities and general cognitive function of BI patients, and it is more effective to carry out individualized memory rehabilitation training based on the forgetting characteristics.

Advance in Ankle Isokinetic Test for Lower Limb Joint Injuries (review) / 中国康复理论与实践

This article reviewed the changes of ankle muscle strength after lower limb joint injuries and the isokinetic test mode which could reflect this characteristic better. The varus plantarflexion strength decreased significantly after plantarflexion injury of ankle joint. The dorsiflexor strength of ankle joint could not reach the level of the healthy side for a long time after anterior cruciate ligament rupture and Achilles tendon injury. Ankle isokinetic muscle test included testing direction, muscle contraction form and testing speed. It is meaningful to test varus/valgus and plantar/dorsal flexion in ankle joint sprain and functional ankle instability; however, the muscle contraction form and testing speed have little effect on the result.

Temperature Sensation Threshold of Trunk Skin in Healthy Adults / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To measure the temperature sensation threshold of trunk skin in healthy adults. Methods The threshold of cold sensation, warm sensation, cold pain sensation and heat pain sensation of trunk skin key points (T3, T7 and T11) were measured with Thermal Sensory Analyzer in 123 healthy adults. Results The thresholds of cold, warm, cold pain and heat pain sensations were obtained. The standard deviation of cold and warm threshold was less than that of heat pain. The range of cold sensation threshold was the largest. The heat pain sensation threshold increased with segmental declining and the sensation threshold increased with age. Conclusion Normal reference value should be established variously with the segment and age. The threshold of cold, warm varies less, while the threshold of cold pain and heat pain varies too much.

MicroRNA expression profile and pathogenetic initial study in essential hypertension / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the differential microRNAs expression between patients with essential hypertension and healthy controls.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Whole blood from 15 hypertensive patients and 5 controls healthies were separated into plasma at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. MicroRNAs were harvested using kit, and stored at -80°C. MicroRNAs profiling were performed using Exiqon microRCURY(TM) LNA microRNAs array, and were quantitative RT-PCR for the differential microRNAs expression. In addition, we used a set of plasma samples from 24 hypertensive patients and 22 healthy donors to independently validate the expression of these signature microRNAs.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>MicroRNAs expression profile was found to be differentially in the essential hypertensive patients compared with the healthy donors. Of 1700 microRNAs detected on the microarray, 46 microRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in the essential hypertensive patient, 27 microRNAs were collected in Sanger microRNAs data-bank, the function of remaining 19 microRNAs were unknown. In the 27 microRNAs, 9 microRNAs were up-regulated in the hypertension patient samples, while 18 known microRNAs were down-regulated. MiR-296-5p (Fold change 0.47, P = 0.013) and miR-133b (Fold change 0.57, P = 0.033) were consistently down-regulated in the patient plasma, whereas let-7e (Fold change 1.62, P = 0.009) and hcmv-miR-UL112 (Fold change 2.72, P = 0.004), one human cytomegalovirus encoded microRNAs, were up-regulated in the patient samples. The microRNAs expression was independently validated using another sample. We showed that MHC class I polypeptide-related chain B (MHC class I polypeptide-related chain B, MICB) and Interferon regulatory factor 1 (Interferon regulatory factor 1, IRF1) were functional targets of hcmv-miR-UL112 by fluorescent reporter assays.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The hypertensive patients have distinct microRNAs expression Profile. Hcmv-miR-UL112 may have important implications toward pathogenesis of essential hypertension.</p>

Comparison of benazepril monotherapy to amlodipine plus benazepril in the treatment of patients with mild and moderate hypertension: a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, parallel-controlled study / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the fixed combination of amlodipine 5 mg/benazepril 10 mg once-daily therapy, compared with benazepril, 10 mg, monotherapy in patients with mild and moderate hypertension, and to evaluate the 24 h antihypertensive efficacy and the duration of action by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel controlled trial, 356 cases of hypertensive patients after 2 weeks wash-out, and then given 4 weeks of benazepril 10 mg monotherapy, 220 patients with mean seated diastolic blood pressure (SeDBP) remained ≥ 90 mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa) were randomly divided into benazepril 10 mg/amlodipine 5 mg (BZ10/AML5) fixed-dose combination therapy group (once a day, n = 113), and benazepril monotherapy group (daily 20 mg, n = 107). In the two groups the patients with SeDBP ≥ 90 mm Hg were doubled the dosage of the initial regimen at the end of 4-week treatment for additional 4 weeks, and the patients with SeDBP < 90 mm Hg remained the initial regimen for additional 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the improvement of SeDBP at the end of 8-week treatment. There were 74 patients (the combination therapy group n = 38, monotherapy therapy group n = 36) completed the 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring which was included in the final efficacy analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The randomized, double-blind treatment for 8 weeks, the mean value of SeDBP reduction, the reaching target blood pressure rate and total successful response rate to the treatment (a SeDBP < 90 mm Hg or a decrease of 10 mm Hg or more from baseline) were (11.7 ± 6.8) mm Hg, 65.7% and 88.5% in the combination therapy group, respectively, and were (7.7 ± 6.9) mm Hg, 35.5% and 65.5% in the monotherapy group, respectively. There were statistically significant difference between the combination therapy and the monotherapy groups in all the 3 indexs (P < 0.001). The fixed combination significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values throughout the 24 h. The trough to peak ratios of DBP/SBP in the fixed compound of benazepril/amlodipine (10 mg/5 mg) and benazepril (20 mg) alone were 83.1%/76.0% and 85.8%/79.5%, respectively. Adverse events rates were 16.8% in the combination therapy group and 35.5% in the monotherapy group (P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The combination therapy with benazepril/amlodipine was superior to benazepril monotherapy and was well tolerated in patients with essential hypertension and allowing a satisfactory BP control for 24 hours.</p>

Impacts of coronary artery calcium on the diagnostic accuracy in detecting stenoses using 64-slice spiral CT / 中华放射学杂志

Objective To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice spiral computed tomography(MSCT)in detecting coronary artery lesions and to analyze the impacts of coronary artery calcium on its diagnostic accuracy.Methods Sixty patients underwent 64-MSCT coronary angiography and conventional coronary angiography(CCA).Calcium scoring was estimated on plain scans.The diagnostic accuracy of MSCT to detect significant lesions(≥50%)was evaluated referring to quantitative coronary angiography(QCA).The impacts of coronary artery calcium on the diagnostic accuracy was analyzed.Results A total of 797 segments were diagnositc.The overall sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 64-MSCT were 96%(174/182),98%(601/615),93% (174/188),and 99%(601/609),respectively.When calcium score ≥100(Agatston score),the specificity and positive predictive value of 64-MSCT was 63%(12/19)and 81%(30/37), respectively.Conclusion In patients with no or mild coronary calcification,the 64-MSCT coronary angiography had a reliable detection of coronary artery stenoses.But severe calcification in coronary artery may degrade diagnostic specificity and positive predictive value of MSCT coronary angiography.