ABSTRACT
Objective:To assess the left ventricular (LV) systolic function in amateur marathoners by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.Methods:A total of 59 amateur marathon runners were recruited from January 2019 to June 2020 in Hangzhou and were divided into group A (>2-5 years) and group B (>5 years) based on their time of participating in marathon. Thirty-one healthy volunteers were enrolled from Affiliate Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University during the same period as a control group. Conventional echocardiography combined with two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging were applied to all the subjects to obtain interventricular septum diastolic thickness (IVSd), LV posterior wall thickness(PWd), LV end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd), relative wall thickness(RWT) and LV mass(LVM), LV end-diastolic volume(EDV), LV end-systolic volume(ESV) and stroke volume(SV), LV ejection fraction(LVEF), LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), and global circumferential strain (GCS). Pre-marathon, 1 hour and 4th day post-marathon echocardiography were performed in amateur marathon runners.Results:Compared with the control group, group A amateur marathon runners showed significant increases in IVSd, PWd, LVEDd, RWT and LVM(all P<0.05); In addition, the IVSd, PWd, LVEDd, RWT, LVM, EDV, ESV and SV in group B runners were further increased compared to those of group A runners (all P<0.01). The LVEF and pre-marathon GCS showed no statistically significant differences among the three groups (all P>0.05), while the pre-marathon GLS showed a statistically significant difference among the three groups ( P<0.01). Compared with group A runners, the pre-marathon, 1 hour and 4th day post-marathon GLS and 1 hour post-marathon GCS were significantly decreased in group B runners (all P<0.01); In intra-group comparison, 1 hour post-marathon GLS was significantly decreased in relative to pre-marathon and 4th day post-marathon GLS in both group A and B (all P<0.05). One hour post-marathon GCS was significantly decreased compared with pre-marathon GCS in group B ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Amateur runners who have participated in long time marathon have reduced LV longitudinal strains and transient post-marathon decreases in LV systolic function.
ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the clinical significance of cytokine levels and routine cytology in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in children with severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (SMPP).Methods:A total of 207 children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia who underwent parallel bronchoalveolar lavage in the Department of Respiratory, Shanghai Children′s Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University from July 2018 to February 2019 were enrolled in this study.There were 121 patients in the SMPP group and 86 patients in the non-SMPP group.Flow cytometry was used to determine the level of cytokines in BALF.Meanwhile, the cells in BALF were stained and cytokines levels and routine cytology were compared between the 2 groups.Receive operating characteristic(ROC) curves were used to analyze the predictive value of cytokine levels and routine cytology for SMPP.Results:The levels of interleukin(IL)-8, IL-1βand IL-6 and white blood cell count in BALF of SMPP group were significantly higher than those of non-SMPP group [1 717.77 (784.31, 3 304.03) ng/L vs.1 013.03 (469.27, 2 040.52) ng/L, 373.18 (70.08, 941.56) ng/L vs.107.50 (0.10, 489.88) ng/L, 200.74 (41.09, 570.61) ng/L vs.95.47 (0.10, 337.68) ng/L, 1 890.00 (955.00, 3 600.00)×10 6/L vs.1 430.00 (467.50, 2 724.00)×10 6/L]( Z=3.27, 3.45, 2.47, 2.57, all P<0.05). The percentage of macrophages in the non-SMPP group was significantly higher than that in the SMPP group [0.04 (0, 0.12) vs. 0 (0, 0.06)] ( Z=-2.67, P=0.01). The optimal critical value and the area under curve (AUC) of IL-8 were 722.69 ng/L and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.56-0.71, P<0.01), respectively. The optimal critical value and AUC of IL-1β were 166.33 ng/L and 0.64, respectively (95% CI: 0.56-0.72, P<0.01). The optimal critical value and AUC of IL-6 were 142.95 ng/L and 0.60, respectively (95% CI: 0.52-0.68, P<0.05). The optimal critical value and AUC of the total white blood cells were 970×10 6/L and 0.61, respectively (95% CI: 0.53-0.69, P<0.05). The optimal critical value and AUC of the percentage of macrophages were 0.19 and 0.60, respectively (95% CI: 0.32-0.48, P<0.05). Conclusions:Children with SMPP have higher levels of cytokines IL-8, IL-1β and IL-6, a higher white blood cell count, and a lower percentage of macrophages in BALF than children with no SMPP. However, cytokine levels and cytology are inadequate to predict SMPP since they are not effective in the clinical diagnosis of SMPP.
ABSTRACT
The animals have made huge contribution for the medical research of human life, and researching on animal welfare is crucial for developing biomedicine and enhancing human health. However, during the research of medical experiment, abusing laboratory animals happens a lot, many of them have suffered great damage and pain, even lose lives. Consequently, the legal issues related to the protection of laboratory animals become the focus con-cerned by people. Through analyzing the legislation status and existing problems in our country, elaborating the rel-evant legal institutions in foreign countries, as well as using the successful legislative experiences from abroad, this paper puts forward the countermeasures and suggestions for the laboratory animal welfare act that accords with our national condition.