ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in patients with severe/critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this retrospective study, data were collected from 662 patients with severe/critical COVID-19 who were admitted to a designated hospital to treat patients with severe COVID-19 in Wuhan before March 20, 2020. All patients were divided into an exposed group (CHM users) and a control group (non-users). After propensity score matching in a 1:1 ratio, 156 CHM users were matched by propensity score to 156 non-users. No significant differences in seven baseline clinical variables were found between the two groups of patients. All-cause mortality was reported in 13 CHM users who died and 36 non-users who died. After multivariate adjustment, the mortality risk of CHM users was reduced by 82.2% (odds ratio 0.178, 95% CI 0.076-0.418; P < 0.001) compared with the non-users. Secondly, age (odds ratio 1.053, 95% CI 1.023-1.084; P < 0.001) and the proportion of severe/critical patients (odds ratio 0.063, 95% CI 0.028-0.143; P < 0.001) were the risk factors of mortality. These results show that the use of CHM may reduce the mortality of patients with severe/critical COVID-19.
Subject(s)
Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Age Factors , COVID-19/therapy , China , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Odds Ratio , Propensity Score , Retrospective Studies , Survival RateABSTRACT
Objective To explore the role and possible mechanism of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β autocrine in CDH17 regulating invasion of gastric cancer cells.Methods Construction and transfection of siRNA-CDH17 into MKN-45 gastric cancer cell line to silence the expression of CDH17.Expression of TGF-β and concentrations of TGF-β in supernatants were detected before and after CDH17 silence by immunofluorescence,immunoblotting and ELISA.The autocrine situation of TGF-β was observed.Meanwhile,the activation of TGF-β/Smad3 signaling pathway was also detected by immunoblot.After giving signaling pathway inhibitor,the changes of invasion ability of MKN-45 cells were observed by Transwell invasion experiment.The role of TGF-β autocrine and related signaling pathway activation in CDH17-regulated invasion of gastric cancer cells was evaluated.Results After transfecting siRNA-CDH17 for silencing CDH17 expression in MKN-45 cells,the expression of TGF-β was significantly decreased compared with non-transfection group,its concentration in supernatants was also significantly reduced[(510 ±55)pg/mL vs.(115±20) pg/mL,P<0.01].The immunoblots revealed that phosphorylation level of Smad3 after CDH17 silence was also significantly diminished.However,giving the TGF-β/Smad3 signaling inhibitor SIS3 (10 μmol/L) could also suppress the phosphorylation level of Smad3 when CDH17 was highly expressed,meanwhile silencing CDH17 and inhibiting Smad3 phosphorylation could significantly decrease the invasion of MKN-45 gastric cancer cells (P<0.05).Conclusion CDH17 could participate in the invasion of gastric cancer cells by promoting TGF-β autocrine to activate TGF-β/Smad3 signaling pathway.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the clinical results and prognosis between proximal and total gastrectomy in proximal advanced gastric cancer.Methods The clinicopathological data of 221 patients with proximal advanced gastric cancer who undcrwent radical gastrectomy were retrospectively analyzed.82 patients and 139 patients underwent proximal and total gastrectomy respectively.The number of dessected lymph nodes,postoperative complications and mortality were compared.Kaplan-Meier survival rate curves and Log-rank test were drawn and compared.Results A total of 1 411 (11-34) and 3 345 (14-35) lymph nodes were harvested from the surgical specimens of 82 and 139 patients with proximal and total gastrectomy respectively,the average number of harvested lymph nodes was 17 ± 11 and 24 ± 10 (t =2.586,P ＜0.05).The overall complications in proximal gastrectomy were higher than total gastrectomy (73.2％ vs.30.2％,x2 =38.291,P ＜0.01).The ratio of functional delayed gastric emptying,anastomotic leakage and stenosis,reflux esophagitis in proximal gastrectomy patients was higher than total gastrectomy.The survival rate in proximal gastrectomy were lower than total gastrectomy in proximal advanced gastric cancer (P ＜0.01).Conclusion Total gastrectomy is recommended for proximal advanced gastric cancer.
ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effect of preoperative oral administration of carbohydrate on blood glucose,insulin resistance(IR) and inflammatory reaction after gastrointestinal operation.Methods 48 patients receiving gastrointestinal operation were randomly divided into the study group(n =23)and the control group(n =25).Patients in the study group were orally given 25％ glucose solution 300 ml 3 hours before operation.Before anesthesia induction,gastric contents were aspirated through nasogastric tube to examine its volume and pH.Serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hsCRP),fasting blood glucose,insulin level and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance(HOMA-IR) were detected before operation and on the first morning after operation between the two groups.Results No anesthesia or operation related complications occurred in either groups.Patients had similar gastric contents volume and the PH value of gastric contents.There was no significant difference in serum hsCRP,fasting blood glucose and HOMA-IR between the two groups before operation.But on the first day,fasting blood glucose,HOMA-IR and hsCRP were significantly lower in the study group than in the control group(6.51 ±1.15 vs 7.49 ±0.57 mmol/L,P =0.038;4.34 ± 1.60 vs 6.09 ±2.81,P =0.043;40.45 ± 27.02 vs 80.02 ± 38.98 mg/L,P =0.03).Conclusion Preoperative oral administration of carbohydrate can obviously lower the postoperative blood glucose level and insulin resistance and alleviate postoperative inflammatory reaction.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the correlation between the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and clinicopathological features and long-term prognosis of gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy.Methods The clinical data of 135 gastric cancer patients who underwent radical gastrectomy in this hospital from 2002 to 2006 was analyzed retrospectively.The PNI value was calculated by serum albumin (g/L) + 5 x lymphocyte count (× 109/L).The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and Youden index was used to determine the cutoff value of the PNI.Survival curves were described by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the Log-rank test.The univariate and multivariate analyses were performed with the Cox proportional hazard model to identify the prognostic factors.Result The mean PNI value was 47.3 ± 5.9.The mean values of the PNI in age (t =2.909,P =0.004),tumor size (t =2.227,P =0.028),tumor depth (t =3.314,P =0.001),negative lymph node (t =2.381,P =0.019),negative lymphovascular invasion (t =2.781,P =0.006) were significantly higher than those in patients without such factors.When the PNI was 47,the Youden index was maximal,with a sensitivity of 70％ and specificity of 63％.The mean age in high PNI group was significantly lower than that in low PNI group (x2 =6.443,P =0.011).Tumor infiltration depth in high PNI group was less than in low PNI group (x2 =7.394,P =0.007).The proportion of lymphovascular invasion in high PNI group was significantly lower than in low PNI group (x2 =4.540,P =0.033).The overall survival rate in high PNI group was higher than in low PNI group (P =0.002).The univariate and multivariate analyses showed that tumor location (OR,2.144 ; 95 ％ CI 1.239-3.712 ; P =0.006),lymph node metastasis (OR,4.887 ; 95 ％ CI 1.856-12.866 ; P =0.001),lymphovascular invasion (OR,1.842 ; 95％ CI 1.078-3.145 ; P =0.025) and the PNI value (OR,2.282 ; 95 ％ CI 1.344-3.874 ; P =0.002) were independent factors for predicting overall survival rate.Conclusions The PNI value is a simple and useful tool to predict the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.
ABSTRACT
Antimicrobial peptides ( AMPs) are a kind of micromolecular peptides with antibacterial , antivirus and anti-tumor activities.Unlike conventional antibiotics , acquisition of resistance by a sensitive microbial strain against AMPs is surprisingly improbable .AMPs are not widely used clinically due to their toxicity , susceptibility to proteolysis and high manufacturing cost .Researchers have obtained some AMPs with high activity and low toxicity by structure modifications . The molecular design of AMPs as well as their development in the future are reviewed .