Chr9∶52042693|52047844⁃miR⁃351⁃5p⁃Pten Is Involved in the Development and Progression of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome through a ceRNA Mechanism / 中国生物化学与分子生物学报

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) is an important pathophysiological feature of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but its molecular mechanism is still unclear. We aim to investigate the role of endogenous competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network in the development of IH in OSA rats. An intermittent hypoxic rat model of OSA was constructed by hypoxic and reoxygenation cycles. CircRNAs and mRNAs were detected in rat bronchial tissues, and 230 up-regulated and 181 down-regulated circRNAs and 1238 up-regulated and 608 down-regulated mRNAs were analyzed and screened. The results of Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of the differential circRNAs and mRNAs suggested that they were mainly associated with metabolic pathways and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. The key circRNAs (the top six circRNAs with the largest differences) were further validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), chr9:52042693| 52047844 and chr4: 64889575|64899587 were expressed in bronchial tissues consistent with the sequencing results, which were used to further construct the ceRNA regulatory network. Four potential ceRNA regulatory networks were identified by TargetScan and miRanda database, combined with the results of differential circRNA and mRNA. The expression of molecules in the four potential ceRNA regulatory networks was detected by qRT-PCR in bronchial and lung tissues, and the results suggested that the expression of this regulatory network, chr9:52042693|52047844-miR-351-5p-Pten, was consistent with the sequencing results. The findings indicate that chr9:52042693 | 52047844-miR-351-5p-Pten may be involved in the development and progression of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome through a ceRNA mechanism.

Effects of Elastic Resistance Exercise on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Meta-analysis / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To systematically evaluate the effects of elastic resistance exercise on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods:Randomized clinical trials about elastic resistance exercise for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were searched in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Database and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database from inception to September, 2020. Finally, eleven literatures were included, including 9 in English and 2 in Chinese, with a total of 485 patients. The quality of the articles was evaluated using the Cochrane Library systematic review criteria and Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale, and the data were analyzed with RevMan 5.2. The system review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020208659). Results:There was no significant difference in 6 Minute Walking Distance (6WMD) (MD = 1.19, 95%CI -7.02 to 9.39, P = 0.78), COPD Assessment Test (CAT) (MD = -0.43, 95%CI -2.42 to 1.57, P = 0.68) and the muscle strength (MD = 0.23, 95%CI -1.06 to 1.52, P = 0.73), with no high heterogeneity, between elastic resistance exercise group and the conventional resistance exercise group (such as weight training machine, weight training). There was no significant difference in 6MWD (MD = 18.30, 95%CI -8.92 to 45.52, P = 0.19) and CAT (MD = 0.59, 95%CI -3.78 to 2.60, P = 0.72) between the elastic resistance exercise group and the non-resistance exercise group, however, the heterogeneity between them was high. Conclusion:Elastic resistance exercise may be potentially alternative to conventional resistance training. However, the effects of elastic resistance exercise on exercise endurance, quality of life and lung function are still unclear.

Analysis on the Chinese medicine syndromes and demographic characteristics of patients with influenza-like illness in clinics of China / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate Chinese medicine (CM) patterns and epidemiological characters of patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) syndromes in clinics in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A prospective multi-center observational epidemiology survey on the clinical CM patterns of ILI and its prevalence was conducted from September 2009 to April 2010. A unified survey questionnaire was developed for data collection of ILI symptoms and CM patterns. Totally 45 hospitals from 22 provinces, municipality cities and autonomous regions of China participated this study. The collected data were input by EPI-data v3.1 and analyzed by SPSS 18.0, which included descriptive analysis and Chi-square test for group comparison.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 5,967 ILI patients were included in the study. The proportion of the 18-34 aged group (56.2%) was the largest; students (41.0%) were more than other occupations. Majority of the patients had the wind-heat invading Lung (Fei) syndrome (76%), while in Southwest China mainly wind-heat invading Lung syndrome and wind-cold tightening the exterior syndrome occurred. The typical symptoms of ILI were ranked as fatigue (80.9%), cough (72.2%), sore throat (67.2%), muscular soreness (67.1%), headache (65.4%), aversion to cold (60.1%), thirst (55.1%) and nasal obstruction (48.1%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The ILI patients in clinics were mainly teenagers and young adults. In regard to CM syndrome, wind-heat invading Lung syndrome prevailed in all regions except the Southwest China. The characteristics of CM syndrome of ILI patients may be relevant to age and region distribution.</p>

Changes of upper airway of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome patients after the treatment of Silensor snoreguard / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the changes of upper airway of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) patients after the treatment of Silensor snoreguard.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>42 patients with OSAS were treated with dental appliance. Cephalometric analysis was carried out to compare the changes of upper airway before and after the treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SPP-SPPW increased from (9.10 +/- 2.25) mm to (12.24 +/- 2.61) mm. PAS increased from (8.99 +/- 3.20) mm to (11.24 +/- 3.79) mm. CL decreased from (26.26 +/- 6.04) mm to (14.37 +/- 8.14) mm. H-MP decreased from (21.27 +/- 6.12) mm to (12.14 +/- 5.89) mm. V -RGn decreased from (55.15 +/- 5.61) mm to (51.63 +/- 5.87) mm. OPAA increased from (7.01 +/- 1.54) mm2 to (7.85 +/- 1.61) mm2. HPAA increased from (3.02 +/- 0.89) mm2 to (3.61 +/- 1.61)mm2.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Dental appliance worked with the effect of enlarging upper airway.</p>

Expression of endotoxin receptors on hepatic stellate cells during their activation / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the role of endotoxin receptor expression in the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HSCs were isolated from normal rats and the expression of endotoxin receptors on quiet HSCs and in vitro activated HSCs was determined using RT-PCR and immunocytochemical staining methods. A rat model of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis was established. The expressions of CD14 and alpha-SMA in liver tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Freshly isolated HSCs had a low level of CD14 mRNA expression and no expression of TLR4 mRNA was detected. The in vitro activated HSCs had increased expressions of CD14 mRNA and TLR4 mRNA and LPS up-regulated the expression of endotoxin receptors. Immunocytochemical staining showed cytoplasmic and nucleolus staining for CD14 in the cultured HSCs. LPS played a further role on CD14 protein expression. In the development of liver fibrosis, the number of CD14-positive cells in the livers was increased and these cells were distributed along the sinusoids. In the later stage of liver fibrosis, the CD14-positive cells were gathered in the fibrotic septae, which also contained alpha-SMA positive cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The activated HSCs expressed endotoxin receptors. The endotoxin receptors may be involved in the role in which HSCs played in the inflammatory process and liver fibrosis development.</p>

Evaluation of the value of ultrasonography in diagnosis of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>It is important to use noninvasive methods to differentiate liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the validity of ultrasonography (US) in evaluating the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis in reference to the pathologic diagnosis of their liver biopsy specimens.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The liver fibrosis status of 324 chronic viral hepatitis patients was evaluated by both needle biopsy and US. Histologically their liver fibrosis was graded as S0-S4, and the inflammatory reaction in the liver was graded as G1-G4. The US examination included qualitative description of the liver surface and liver parenchyma, and the quantitative parameters were vascular diameters, blood flow volume and spleen size.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>US qualitative description of the liver surface and liver parenchyma was correlated to the severity of fibrosis and the degree of the inflammation seen in the liver biopsies. An analysis of US quantitative parameters showed that a cut-off value of 12.1 cm for the length of spleen had a sensitivity of 60.0%, and specificity of 75.3% in detecting early liver fibrosis. For other quantitative parameters, the cut-off values were 8mm for the diameter of the splenic vein, 30.5 cm/sec for maximal blood flow velocity in the portal vein and 12 mm in diameter of the main portal vein. The diagnostic sensitivities for these parameters were 60.0%, 78.6% and 76.7%; the diagnostic specificities were 78.1%, 66.9% and 44.6% respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Early cirrhosis can be detected by US, and the sonographic results were well paralleled with their pathologic diagnoses made by liver biopsies. Individual US parameter has limited sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing early cirrhosis. In clinical practice a combination of 2-3 parameters could be used to detect or exclude severe liver fibrosis.</p>

Effects of Chinese herbal compound on the expression of hepatocyte cytochrome P450IIE1 in rats with alcoholic fatty liver / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of Chinese herbal compound (CHC) on the expression of hepatocyte cytochrome P450IIE1 in rat model of alcoholic fatty liver (AFL).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The AFL rats models were established by administering the drinking water with 40%(v/v) ethanol, and the changes of pathology in liver and hepatocyte P450IIE1 expression, as well as the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), vitamin E (VitE) in liver were detected and compared with those in the control group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fatty degeneration in liver recovered normally in the CHC-treated group. Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization examination showed that CHC could inhibit the hepatocyte cytochrome P450IIE1 expression markedly, and restore the contents of MDA, SOD, GSH, VitE to nearly normal range.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CHC can prevent AFL through inhibiting the hepatocyte cytochrome P450IIE1 expression markedly</p>