Impact of insulin injection induced lipohypertrophy on multidimensional glucose variability in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

Objective:This study aimed to investigate the effect of lipohypertrophy induced by insulin injection on blood glucose fluctuation in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.Methods:A total of 80 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus were recruited between June 2021 and December 2021 from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. And these patients all received insulin injection more than six months. Lipohypertrophy was assessed by ultrasound scanning, and blood glucose fluctuation was evaluated using the flash glucose monitoring system(FGM). Univariate analysis and multivariate linear regression were used to analyze the relationship of lipohypertrophy and and core indicators of blood glucose fluctuation.Results:Compared with patients without lipohypertrophy, patients with lipohypertrophy had higher mean amplitude of glycemic excursions(MAGE), coefficient of variation(CV), mean of daily differences(MODD), standard deviation(SD) of blood glucose, time above range(TAR), and high blood glucose index(HBGI; all P<0.05), while time in range(TIR) of glucose markedly become lower( P<0.01). Moreover, multivariate linear regression analysis showed that lipohypertrophy detected by ultrasound was an independent influencing factor of TIR( β=-9.423, P=0.032), MAGE( β=1.114, P=0.039), CV( β=4.304, P=0.041), MODD( β=0.717, P=0.046) after adjusting for age at diagnosis, duration of insulin injection, fasting C-peptide, and daily dose of insulin per unit weight. Conclusion:Lipohypertrophy increases glycemic variability and imposes negative impact on glycemic control rate in patients type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Correlation between cognitive impairment and cortical atrophy in elderly patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis / 中华健康管理学杂志

Objective:To analyze the correlation between cognitive impairment and cortical atrophy in elderly patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS).Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 40 consecutive elderly patients with ACAS treated in the Department of Neurology, Northern Jiangsu People′s Hospital from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 (ACAS group), and 40 elderly healthy controls who accepted physical examination during the same period (control group) were included. Cognitive assessment was performed using the Mental State Examination Scale (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA), and brain magnetic resonance imaging scanning was performed in the ACAS group. The artificial intelligence technique was applied for brain lobe segmentation and cortical volume calculation. The χ2-test, independent sample t-test and Wilcoxon non-parametric test were used to analyze the difference of clinical data and cognitive scores between the two groups. In the ACAS group, the cortical volumes of the side with carotid stenosis was compared with that of the normal side, and Spearman′s correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between cognitive scores and cortical atrophy. Results:Compared with the control group, the ACAS group got significantly lower scores of MMSE and MoCA, as well as lower scores of visuospatial executive function, attention and calculation, language function, abstraction ability and delayed recall [(25.60±2.49) vs (27.18±1.01), (22.05±3.59) vs (25.60±1.43), (2.73±1.04) vs (4.08±0.62), (4.53±0.93) vs (5.03±0.66), 2.00 (0.00) vs 3.00 (0.00), 1.00 (1.00) vs 2.00 (0.00), and (2.95±0.96) vs (3.35±0.62)] (all P<0.05). There was not significant differences in naming and orientation ability between the two groups (both P>0.05). The volume of cortical, temporal lobe, frontal lobe, parietal lobe and insular lobe on the side with carotid stenosis in the ACAS group were significantly smaller than those on the normal side [186.23 (177.97, 202.53) vs 194.67 (185.65, 204.82) cm 3, 54.74 (50.66, 56.95) vs 55.61 (51.24, 58.49) cm 3, 72.98 (70.76, 78.34) vs 75.27 (72.34, 80.66) cm 3, 53.66 (51.11, 57.86) vs 56.59 (52.80, 60.09) cm 3, 6.57 (6.35, 7.07) vs 6.72 (6.46, 7.34) cm 3] (all P<0.05). The MoCA score in the ACAS group was positively related to the cortical volume ratio of the two sides ( r=0.427, P<0.01). The attention ( r=0.353) and abstraction ( r=0.226) ability scores were positively correlated with the temporal lobe volume ratios of the two sides (both P<0.05). The visuospatial executive ( r=0.187) and language ( r=0.373) ability scores were positively correlated with frontal lobe volume ratios of the two sides (both P<0.05), and visuospatial executive ( r=0.386), naming ( r=0.344), language ( r=0.517), abstraction ( r=0.335) and delayed recall ( r=0.333) ability scores were positively correlated with parietal lobe volume ratios of the two sides (all P<0.05). Conclusion:In elderly patients with ACAS, the cognitive impairment and cortical atrophy on the sides with carotid stenosis are significant and a positive correlation is detected between them.

Research progress on cirrhosis reversal and recompensation / 中华肝脏病杂志

Previously, liver lesions in cirrhosis were considered irreversible, especially because the condition aggravated gradually after entering the decompensated phase, thus making it difficult to return to the compensated phase. At present, more and more evidence shows that some patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis can be recompensated after the cause is controlled and complications are managed. This article explores the research progress related to LC reversal and recompensation from three aspects: liver histopathology, liver function, and clinical complications.

Impact of the depth of lipohypertrophy assessed by ultrasound on glycemic control in diabetic patients / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

To evaluate the impact of the depth of lipohypertrophy on glycemic control in diabetic patients, 498 diabetic patients were recruited from July 2017 to July 2020 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. Their demographic and clinical data were collected. Lipohypertrophy was assessed with ultrasound. 85.1%(424/498) of patients had lipohypertrophy. The average depth of lipohypertrophy was(5.62±2.49) mm. Compared with HbA 1C≤7%, patients with HbA 1C>7% had significantly higher proportion of lipohypertrophy with depth >5 mm(69.7% vs 81.3%, P<0.05). After adjusting potential confounders, the level of HbA 1C in patients with the depth of lipohypertrophy>5 mm was still significantly higher than those with the depth of lipohypertrophy≤5 mm( OR=1.716, 95% CI 1.104-2.668, P<0.05). The depth of lipohypertrophy may be an independent risk factor for suboptimal HbA 1C. However, prospective studies are still needed to confirm.

Radiomics features on ultrasound imaging for the prediction of disease-free survival in triple negative breast cancer: A multi-institutional study / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective:To investigate the effectiveness of radiomics model based on preoperative ultrasound in predicting disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) from multicenter data.Methods:A total of 418 patients with TNBC between July 2012 and December 2016 were consecutively recruited for this study from three different institutions including the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine and General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command. In the training cohort ( n=271) from institution 1(the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression algorithm was employed to select recurrence-related radiomics features and build a signature derived from the grayscale US images. The relationship between the radiomics score (Rad-score) and DFS was evaluated. Univariate and multivariate cox regression were utilized to identify the significant radiomics features and clinical-pathologic variables, which were integrated into a radiomics nomogram. An independent external cohort ( n=147) from the other two institutions was validated for evaluating the calibration and discrimination of the predictive nomogram. Results:Higher Rad-score was an independent risk predictor of worse DFS in two cohorts (both P<0.05). The radiomics model, comprising axillary lymph node status, Ki-67 index and radiomics signature, showed better prognostic performance ( P<0.01) than those of the clinical-pathologic model or tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging system with the concordance index (C-index) of 0.75 (95% CI=0.72-0.78) and 0.73(95% CI=0.71-0.75) in the training and validation cohorts respectively. Furthermore, the calibration curves achieved satisfactory agreement and the decision curves further confirmed the clinical utility of the radiomics nomogram. Conclusions:The US-based radiomics signature is a powerful predictor for the assessment of DFS in patients with TNBC. Moreover, the proposed radiomics model integrating the optimal radiomics signature and clinical-pathologic data could improve personalized DFS estimation.

Integrator Complex: Versatile Players in Transcriptional Regulation / 中国生物化学与分子生物学报

The discovery of integrator complex (INT) expanded our understanding of noncoding U-rich small nuclear RNA (U snRNA) maturation and transcriptional regulation, and has revived the research boom in related fields. This complex consists of at least 14 subunits, weighting over 1. 4 MD. On one hand, it functions by the cleavage of transcripts; on the other hand, it interacts with protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and dephosphorylates the C-terminal repeat sequence of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), thus regulating the transcriptional activity of RNA Pol II, and functions in the production of various RNAs (messenger RNA, small nuclear RNA, enhancer RNA, etc.). INT is recruited to the CTD during transcriptional initiation stage and moves along the U small nuclear RNA (snRNA) gene during transcription. Upon the recognition of 3' maturation sequence element, its cleavage activity is triggered and the matured transcripts are released. Besides, it is also involved in many other processes, including protein-coding gene transcription pause-release, transcriptional elongation, regulation of enhancer RNA transcription, and DNA and RNA metabolism etc. Meanwhile, the significance of INT complex or its components in tumorigenesis, pathogenesis, and ontogeny has being gradually highlighted. Nevertheless, the structural and compositional studies just took a new breakthrough recently. The 14 subunits that make up the complex are characterized by a large number of α-helices, which are further assembled into a huge transcription regulation machine based on the formation of functional modules. This article will mainly discuss about the composition, structural characteristics, functional studies, disease-association, and problem outlook of the integrator complex.

The Gut Microbiota Changed by Short-term Low-dose Ethanol Withdrawal and Related to the Anxiety like Behavior in Male Rats / 中国生物化学与分子生物学报

Long-term regular ethanol intake could change the gut microbiota and affect anxiety and depression-like behaviors․ It is not clear that whether ethanol withdrawal after short-term low-dose drinking has an effect on the gut microbiota or whether it is related to anxiety-like behaviors․ In this study, 30 male Sprague￣Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: Ethanol-C: ethanol treatment group, treated with (5 g / kg, 25% V / V) ethanol for 14 days; Ethanol-2: ethanol withdrawal group, treated with (5 g / kg, 25% V / V) ethanol for 14 days and then withdrawal for one day; Ethanol-0: Control group, the rats were given the same amount of distilled water for 14 days․ Feces were collected from all rats, and high-throughput sequencing methods were used to analyze the effect of ethanol withdrawal after short-term low-dose drinking on the gut microbiota․ The open-field test and elevated plus-maze test were used to determine anxiety-like behaviors, and analyze the correlation between gut microbes and anxiety-like behaviors caused by alcohol withdrawal․ Taxonomic analysis of gut microbiota found that the composition and abundance in the ethanol withdrawal group were significantly different from those in the control group and the alcohol-treated group․ The Alpha diversity of gut microbiota in the ethanol withdrawal group was not significantly different from the control group and the ethanol treatment group, whereas the microbial community structure was significantly different․ The percentage of time spent in the open arms and total distance of rats in the ethanol withdrawal group were significantly reduced (P < 0․ 05) , and behavioral parameters were significantly positive correlated with Bacteroides, Fusobacterium, and Escherichia-Shigella (P < 0․ 05) , but significantly negative correlated with Rumenococcus, Trichospirillum and other bacteria (P < 0․ 05) ․ This study suggests that short-term low-dose ethanol withdrawal does not affect the Alpha diversity, but can change the abundance and community structure of the gut microbiota in rats, and the gut microbiota are correlated with anxiety-like behaviors in rats․ This study clarified the changes of gut microbiota after short-term low-dose ethanol withdrawal, and provided a new direction for the study of anxiety-like behaviors caused by short-term low-dose ethanol withdrawal․

Visual analysis of research progress of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma based on CiteSpace / 中国中药杂志

To analyze the study advance of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma, this study utilized CiteSpace 5.6.R5 software to conduct bibliometrics analysis on the Chinese literatures of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma from 1990 to 2020 included in the CNKI database retrieval platform. The analysis contents involved the number of published papers, co-authors, cooperative institutions, emergence, co-occurrence and clustering of keywords. A total of 808 Chinese literatures were included in the study, of which 17 were published by SUN Rong, the author with the most published papers, and formed a research team centered on SUN Rong; the analysis of the cooperation of publishing institutions showed that the Drug Safety Evaluation Research Center, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine was the organization with the largest number of publications, with a total of 29 articles. It also formed a scientific research coorperation institution with Shandong Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine as the core, and formed a relatively close cooperative network relationship. The analysis of literature keywords showed that the research direction was concentrated on the traditional Chinese medicine of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma, pharmacological mechanism, and side effects, active ingredients, etc. Among them, the research on the efficacy and toxicity of the active ingredients of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma has become a hot trend.

Knowledge map analysis of research progress of Strychni Semen based on CiteSpace / 中国中药杂志

To analyze the study advance of Strychni Semen, a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, this study systematically retrieved the related Chinese literatures about Strychni Semen from CNKI database platforms and the core database of Web of Science, and used bibliometrics and CiteSpace 5.6.R5 software to visually display the authors, research institutions, keywords and other contents. A total of 1 895 Chinese literatures and 1 599 English literatures were included in the study. The analysis of Chinese and English literature authors showed that CAI Bao-chang and CHEN Jun had the most publications on Strychni Semen, and CAI Bao-chang's team was the core research team. According to the analysis of publishing institutions, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Academy of Science were the research institutions with the largest number of Chinese and English literatures, respectively. But there was less cooperation between Chinese and English study institutions. The analysis of keywords in Chinese and English literatures showed that the research contents of Strychni Semen mainly focused on component analysis, research methods, receptor targets, clinical application, synergistic and attenuation measures. Break analysis showed that the apoptosis induced by Strychni Semen was a hot research topic, and research on components, toxicity and pharmacokinetics will be the research hotspot in future. The research on Strychni Semen is still in the developing period. This study has provided reference for the rapid grasp of the research contents and the judgment of research hotspots.

Nosocomial treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes: An important cause of painful and autonomic neuropathy in hospitalized diabetes mellitus patients

@#Treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes (TIND) is an acute painful autonomic small-fiber neuropathy that develops following an abrupt improvement in glycaemia control. Recent reports suggest TIND is a significant problem in tertiary neuropathy clinics. TIND in hospitalized patients with poor initial glycaemia control, that we refer to as nosocomial TIND, has not been well-studied. We describe the demographic, clinical features and indices of glycaemia control in 5 consecutive nosocomial TIND patients. TIND was defined using recently published criteria. Pre-meal capillary blood glucose recordings performed during the period of HbA1c decline was used to calculate glycaemic variability. All the nosocomial TIND patients were hospitalized for prolonged periods for serious medical conditions that warranted good glycaemia control, namely severe sepsis, diabetic ketoacidosis, stroke, heart failure and traumatic head injury. They had raised, double-digit, HbA1c levels at admission that subsequently dropped precipitously with tight in-patient glycaemia control protocols. These patients had multiple, largely asymptomatic, hypoglycaemic episodes. Glycaemic variability also appeared to be high in this cohort. TIND may be a significant cause of morbidity in hospitalized diabetic patients with poor glycaemia control. Not all patients developed both autonomic and painful neuropathies, raising the possibility of forme-fruste TIND

Diagnostic value of pyruvate kinase M2 gene for papillary thyroid carcinoma in fine-needle aspiration specimens / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of pyruvate kinase M2 ( PKM2) gene expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma ( PTC). Methods Quantitative real-time PCR ( RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of PKM2 mRNA in benign thyroid nodules, PTC, and normal thyroid cells around nodules of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens. Immunohistochemistry ( IHC) was used to detect the expression of PKM2 protein in thyroid tissue after thyroidectomy. The receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic value of PKM2 in PTC. Results The expression of PKM2 mRNA was detectable in FNA specimens of thyroid nodules,higher in PTC than those in normal thyroid tissue and benign thyroid nodules (P<0.01). PKM2 expression level was correlated with diameter of PTC ( P<0.05) , but had no correlation with lymph node metastasis, BRAFV600E mutation, and American Joint Committe on Cancer( AJCC) stage ( P>0.05) . The expression level of PKM2 mRNA in FNA specimens of thyroid nodules was paralleled with the expression level of PKM2 protein in postoperation pathological tissues. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity of PKM2 gene in the diagnosis of PTC were 62.8％, 46.9％, and 95.7％, respectively. The accuracy and sensitivity of PKM2 combined with BRAFV600E were increased to 87.6％and 83.7％. Conclusion Detection of PKM2 gene in FNA specimens is highly specific in the diagnosis of PTC, making it a valuable molecular marker for preoperative diagnosis. The combination of PKM2 and BRAFV600E detection shows a higher diagnosis efficiency.

Prediction of stroke-associated pneumonia in patients with acute ischemic stroke: comparison of 6 scores / 国际脑血管病杂志

Objective To investigate the predictive values of Kwon's score,Chumbler's score,Age,Atrial Fibrillation,Dysphagia,Sex,Stroke Severity (A2DS2) score,the Preventive ANtibacterial THERapy in Acute Ischemic Stroke (PANTHERIS) score,Acute Ischemic Stroke-Associated Pneumonia Score (AIS-APS),and prestroke Independence,Sex,Age,NIHSS (ISAN) score for stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods The patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled retrospectively.They were grouped according to whether to be complicated with SAP or not.The demography and baseline characteristics were compared between the SAP group and the non-SAP group.Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent risk factors for SAP.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the predictive values of the 6 kinds of scores for SAP.Results A total of 1 427 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled.Three hundred ninety-five patients (27.7％) complicated with SAP within 7 d after onset.There were significant differences in age,gender,past history (pneumonia,atrial fibrillation,smoking),laboratory tests (white blood cell count ＞11 × 109/L,baseline blood glucose ≥ 11.1 mmol/L),Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project (OCSP) classification,falling at the time of onset,dysphagia,mechanical ventilation and the modifiel Rankin Scale (mRS) score before onset,baseline Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score,baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and 6 scores between the SAP group and the non-SAP group (all P ＜ 0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (odds ratio [OR] 1.034,95％ confidence interval [CI] 1.019-1.049;P=0.001),white cell count ＞ 11 × 109/L (OR 4.386,95％CI 2.763-6.905;P=0.001),baseline blood glucose ≥ 11.1 mmol/L (OR 1.933,95 ％ CI 1.305-2.864;P =0.001),dysphagia (OR 7.839,95％ CI 4.892-12.563;P =0.001),baseline NIHSS (OR 1.120,95％ CI 1.077-1.165;P =0.001),and baseline GCS score (OR 1.132,95％ CI 1.019-1.257;P =0.021) were the independent risk factors for SAP.The areas under the ROC curves of SAP predicted by the Chumbler's,AIS-APS,A2DS2,ISAN,Kwon's and PANTHERIS scores were 0.830 (95％ CI 0.805-0.855),0.827 (95％ CI 0.802-0.852),0.818 (95％ CI 0.792-0.845),0.788 (95％ CI 0.762-0.814),0.774 (95％CI 0.774-0.803),and 0.727 (95％ CI 0.695-0.758),respectively.There were no significant differences in the area under ROC curves of Chumbler's,A2DS2 and AIS-APS scores between the pairwise comparisons.There were significant differences in the area under ROC curves of the Chumbler's,A2DS2,AIS-APS and ISAN scores between the pairwise comparisons (AIS-APS compared with ISAN:P =0.001;the rests P ＜ 0.001).Conclusions The accuracies of predicting SAP with the Chumbler's,AIS-APS and A2DS2 scores are superior to the ISAN,Known's and PANTHERIS scores,and have higher clinical application value.

An investigation on smoke-free environment and smoking statusat or below county-level governments / 预防医学

Objective To learn the smoke-free environment and smoking status at or below county-level governments of Zhejiang Province, and to promote a smoke-free government.Methods By multi-stage random sampling method, 4 cities were selected in Zhejiang Province, then 4 counties were selected in 4 cities, finally12 governments were selected in 4 counties.With the methods of field observation,interview and questionnaire survey,smoke-free environment and smoking behavior , tobacco related knowledge of civil servants were investigated.Results A total of 12 governments and 405 civil servants were investigated.The smoke-free environment of 12 governments were relatively well.The total smoking rate of civil servants was 17.78%, and the highest was 26.67% in Jiande City, and the lowest were 9.00% in Zhuji City.For the civil servants ,male(26.62%), aged 50-(40.74%),divorced or widowed(40.00%),graduation of technical secondary school (33.33%),cadre of section rank(57.14%),above 20 years' work(28.81%),smoking anywhere at home(50.00%), smoking in certain areas at work(22.95%)were significantly higher.The rate of cognition on the hazards of smoking was lower among the smokers than that of non-smokers (P<0.05).The rate of agreement on MPOWER tobacco control strategies and smoking bans in public places were lower among the smokers than that of non-smokers (P<0.05).Non-conditional logistic regression analysis showed that age of 30-39(OR=9.87,95%CI:1.45-67.29),50-(OR=9.87,95%CI:1.45-67.29), smoking anywhere at home(OR=12.28,95%CI:2.95-51.18),and smoking in certain areas at home(OR=6.57,95%CI:3.07-14.08) may be the risk factors about smoking behavior.Conclusion The situation of smoking control at or below county-level governments in Zhejiang Province was good, and smoking rates has declined.But tobacco related knowledge and behavior of civil servants were relatively insufficient.Aiming at the problems found in the investigation, it is necessary to strengthen education on smoking control among civil servants, and to promote a smoke-free government.

Effects of the water channel aquaporin 4 deficiency on bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of water channel aquaporin 4 (AQP4) on bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In wild type and AQP4 gene knockout (AQP4-/-) mice, lung fibrosis was induced by injection of bleomycin (3 mg/kg) into the trachea and saline injection was used as a control. At d3, 7, 14, 28 after bleomycin-treatment, mice were randomly sacrificed in batch and the lung coefficient was determined. Serum levels of TGF-β1 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA and hydroxyproline contents in lung tissue were determined by Alkaline hydrolysis method. H-E staining and Masson's staining were performed to examine the pathological changes of lung tissues after bleomycin-treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>On d14 after bleomycin-treatment, the lung coefficients in wild type mice and AQP4-/- mice were 1.9-fold (12.69 ± 6.05 vs 6.80 ± 0.82, q=4.204, P<0.05) and 2.3-fold (14.05 ± 5.82 vs 6.05± 0.58, q=5.172, P<0.01) of that in control, respectively, but no significant difference was found between wild type and AQP4-/- mice in the lung coefficient value (P>0.05). The hydroxyproline contents in the lung increased after bleomycin-treatment; on d28, the lung hydroxyproline contents in wild type and in AQP4-/- mice were 1.55-fold (0.85 ± 0.22 g/mg vs 0.55 ± 0.14 μg/mg, q=4.313, P<0.05) and 1.4-fold (0.84 ± 0.13 μg/mg vs 0.60 ± 0.14μg/mg, q=4.595，P<0.05) of that in control, respectively, but no significant difference was noticed between wild type and AQP4-/- mice in lung hydroxyproline contents. There was a tendency that serum TGF-β1 and TNF-α levels increased in bleomycin-treated mice, but no significant difference was found between wild type and AQP4-/- mice. AQP4-knockout showed no effects on pathological changes of lung tissues with H-E staining and Masson's staining in mice with bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>AQP4 might not be involved in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice.</p>

Analysis of a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, controlled, multicenter study confirmed the similar therapeutic efficacies of entecavir maleate and entecavir for treatment of HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety of entecavir maleate (ETV) versus ETV in Chinese patients with hepatitis B e antigen(HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B(CHB).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The patient population of this previously published randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, controlled, multicenter study was expanded by patients in the 0.5 mg/day ETV maleate group (total n = 110) and patients in the 0.5 mg/day ETV group (total n = 108). At treatment weeks 12, 24 and 48, hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels were measured by the Roche Cobas Ampliprep/Cobas Taqman PCR assay. Adverse events (AE) were recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>As in the original analysis, the two treatment groups showed similar characteristics at baseline. In addition, the results for the all therapeutic effects showed identical trends to the results obtained in the original analysis, including the statistically similar effects of ETV and ETV maleate treatment-induced decreases in mean HBV DNA level at weeks 12, 24, and 48 (ETV: by 4.28, 5.00, and 5.53 log10 IU/ml vs. ETV maleate: by 4.46, 4.99, and 5.51 log10 IU/ml, respectively; all vs. baseline P more than 0.05), achievement of undetectable levels of serum HBV DNA ( less than 20 IU/ml) at week 48 (ETV: 38.18% vs. ETV maleate: 35.19%; P more than 0.05), HBeAg loss rates at week 48 (ETV: 10.91% vs. ETV maleate: 12.96%; P more than 0.05), HBeAg seroconversion rates at week 48 (ETV: 7.77% vs. ETV maleate: 10.38%; P more than 0.05), normalization of alanine aminotransferase at week 48 (ETV: 75.47% vs. ETV maleate: 82.86%; P more than 0.05), and overall incidence of AE (ETV: 18.02% vs. ETV maleate: 17.43%; P more than 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Performing analysis of the therapeutic efficacies of entecavir maleate versus entecavir with a larger study population confirmed our original findings of similar efficacy and safety profiles for these two drugs in patients with HBeAg-positive CHB.</p>

A randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, controlled, multicenter study of entecavir maleate versus entecavir for treatment of HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B: results at week 48 / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety of entecavir (ETV) maleate versus ETV in Chinese patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This was a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, controlled, multicenter study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 48 weeks of treatment with 0.5 mg/day ETV (group A; n = 26) or 0.5 mg/day ETV maleate (n = 31). Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels were measured at weeks 12, 24, and 48 by the Roche Cobas Ampliprep/Taqman PCR assay. Adverse events (AE) were recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups. At weeks 12, 24, and 48, the mean HBV DNA level had similarly decreased from baseline in both groups (A: by 4.24, 4.61 and 4.88 log10 IU/mL vs. B: 4.01, 4.50 and 4.99 log10 IU/mL, respectively; all P more than 0.05). Patients who achieved undetectable levels of serum HBV DNA (less than 20 IU/mL) at week 48 were similar in the two groups (A: 69.23% vs. B: 80.65%; P more than 0.05). Both groups achieved similar normalization of ALT at week 48 (A: 96.00% vs. B: 83.87%; P more than 0.05). The overall AE incidence was similar for the two groups (A: 22.22% vs. B: 9.38%; P more than 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Entecavir maleate and entecavir showed similar efficacy and safety in patients with HBeAg-negative CHB.</p>

Analysis on evaluation of medical device adverse events monitoring and some factors influencing MDAE's reporting by medical personnels / 中国医疗器械杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the knowledge level related to medical device adverse events (MDAEs) among medical personnels, some factors influencing the reporting behavior and supervision and administrative strategies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Stratified sampling, cluster sampling and random sampling were adopted together and a questionnaire survey was conducted among 1897 subjects from 33 hospitals.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Medical personnels knew a very little about MDAEs and medical devices' post-market monitoring, but their attitudes towards its benefits were positive. Their intentions to report MDAEs were relatively strong, but there were still some barriers about it.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A monitoring system and a professional training model about MDAEs reporting should be established and improved in hospitals.</p>

Diagnosis and Treatment of Biliary Ascariasis / 대한소화기내시경학회지

In 1, 345 patients suspected of having pancreatic or biliary tract disease, 23 patients were shown to have biliary ascariasis demonstrated by endseopic retrograded cholangiopancreatog raphy, at Kwang Ju Christian Hospital from Sep. 1976 to Aug. 1983. Authors report the clinical study and ERCP finding of 23 cases of biliary ascariasis. The result were as follows. 1) Out of 1,345 cases of ERCP, biliary ascariasis were 28 cases, The ascaris were found in CHD & IHD in 21 cases, and 2 casee were found in Ampulla of Vater. 2) There was no specifia age incidence and male to female ratio was 1: 1.9, 3) The disease was more prevalent in spring & summer, and more prevalent in rural area than urban area. 4) The chief eomplaints were RUQ and epigastric abdominal pain. The cases which were admitetted within 2weeks of onset were 16 cases. 5) Ascaris in biliary tract were removed by operation in 14 cases, and EST were performed in 5 cases. Two cases werere moved by DORMIA basket under the endoscopic direct visualization. 6) We report E.S.T. as a new therapeutic method of biliary ascariasis.