Comparative Analysis of 95 Patients with Different Severity in the Early Outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with different severity in the early outbreak of COVID-19, hoping to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 95 COVID-19 patients in Wuhan Red Cross Hospital of China from January 17 to February 13, 2020. All patients were investigated with epidemiological questionnaires. Outcomes were followed up until April 1, 2020. RESULTS: There were 53 males and 42 females, aged 22-84 years (mean 57.3 years). Clinical classification included 54 cases of common type, 27 cases of severe type, and 14 cases of critical type. Six patients had been exposed to the local Huanan seafood market. There were 38 clusters of COVID-19, including 27 family clusters and 11 work unit clusters. Common symptoms included fever (86 (90.5%) of 95), cough (73 (76.8%)), and fatigue (50 (52.6%)). Laboratory findings showed that the most common abnormalities were lymphopenia (75 (78.9%)), elevated D-dimer (60 (63.2%)), and elevated C-reactive protein (56 (58.9%)) on admission. All patients had abnormal chest computed tomography, showing patchy shadows or ground-glass opacities. Severe and critical cases were older, more likely to have shortness of breath, more likely to have underlying comorbidities, and more likely to have abnormal laboratory findings than common cases. The prognosis of patients with different degrees of severity was significantly different. All common and severe patients (100%) were cured and discharged from the hospital, while 10 (71.4%) of 14 critical patients died. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has fast transmission speed and high pathogenicity. We must assess the severity of the disease and take corresponding treatment measures as early as possible.

Diffuse panbronchiolitis: A case report from a Chinese consanguineous marriage family and literature review.

Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) is a chronic diffuse airway inflammatory disease, which is strongly associated with the class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. Here, we report a pair of sisters who have been suffering from chronic cough, expectoration and wheezing for many years. They were previously misdiagnosed as chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma, and were recently diagnosed as diffuse panbronchiolitis. The 36-year-old elder sister suffered from diffuse panbronchiolitis complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis. The 30-year-old younger sister suffered from diffuse panbronchiolitis complicated with bronchial asthma and bronchiectasis. We have performed HLA genotyping research on the two sisters, their parents and younger brother. The results showed that all family members were positive for HLA-A24 and HLA-B13. The younger sister and mother were positive for HLA-A2. The younger brother and father were positive for HLA-A11. We suspect that the two sisters' disease susceptibility may be caused by their parents' consanguineous marriage. In this study, we reported the clinical characteristics of the two sisters with diffuse panbronchiolitis and shared the associated HLA genotyping results of this family cluster, hoping to provide reference for the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Evaluation of carotid atherosclerosis and related risk factors using ultrasonic B-Flow technology in elderly patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to identify the risk factors for carotid atherosclerotic plaque formation using B-Flow ultrasound. METHODS: In total, 120 patients who underwent bilateral carotid ultrasound examination were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The intima-media thickness was measured, and the risk factors for carotid atheromatous plaque formation were investigated. RESULTS: Age, sex, medical history of hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes were risk factors for carotid atheromatous plaque formation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the main risk factors for carotid atheromatous plaque formation were male sex, advanced age, a high hemoglobin concentration, a high red cell distribution width, and a high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration. CONCLUSION: The risk factors for carotid atheromatous plaque formation were basically the same as those for stroke. Early ultrasound examination of the carotid artery enables the identification of risk factors associated with stroke.

Possible involvement of alpha B-crystallin in the cardioprotective effect of n-butanol extract of Potentilla anserina L. on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat.

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that n-butanol extract of Potentilla anserina L (NP) had protective effect against acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in mice. Because of limited phytochemical study on NP, its bioactive compounds and underlying protective mechanisms are largely unclear. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the major bioactive compounds and possible mechanism for the cardioprotective effect of NP on rat with I/R injury. METHODS: We analyzed the phytochemical isolation of NP and identified the structure of compounds, which was elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic analyses. An I/R model was established by I-30 min/R-2 h in Sprage-Dawley rats. The rats were given intragastric administration of NP (49.3, 98.6, and 197.2 mg•kg-1) continuously for 10 days before I/R operation. The morphological changes and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes were observed by H&E staining, Transmission electron microscope and TUNEL staining respectively. The activities or contents of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) in plasma were detected. Apoptosis related factors were also measured by RT-PCR and western blot. In order to discover the underlying mechanism of NP on I/R, we performed proteomic analysis using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) to describe differential proteins expression. Potential target protein resulted from 2D-DIGE coupled to MALDI-TOF/MS analysis were further confirmed by immunohistochemical staining, RT-PCR, and western blot. RESULTS: We isolated and identified 14 compounds, of which 7 compounds belong to triterpenes. Rats pretreated with NP showed a significant increase on the activities of GSH, SOD and CAT, and remarkable decrease on the content of MDA. NP significantly inhibited the apoptosis of cardiomyocyte and decreased the expression of Cyt C and cleaved-caspase-3. Proteomic analysis revealed that alpha B-crystallin (CryAB) might participate in the NP protective effect against I/R. NP enhanced the level of pCryAB Ser59, whereas the expression of CryAB was decreased. CONCLUSION: NP was showed to alleviate I/R injury and inhibit myocardial apoptosis, which might be associated with reduction on oxidative stress and apoptosis. CryAB as a possible target involved in the NP protective effect. This study supplied valuable information to develop novel cardioprotective agents from NP extract.

Protective Effect of Rosamultin against H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in H9c2 Cardiomyocytes.

Rosamultin is one of the main active compounds isolated from Potentilla anserina L., which belongs to a triterpene compound. Few studies have examined the effect of rosamultin on oxidative stress and its molecular mechanism. The aim of this present study was to elucidate the protective effect of rosamultin on H2O2-induced oxidative damage and apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyocytes and its mechanism. The results showed that the pretreatment of rosamultin not only increased cell viability but also reduced the release of LDH and CK. Rosamultin inhibited a H2O2-induced decrease in SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px activities and an increase in MDA content. Meanwhile, ROS level, intracellular (Ca2+) fluorescence intensity, and apoptosis rate in the rosamultin pretreated group were markedly decreased compared with the model group. Rosamultin pretreatment significantly reversed the morphological changes and attenuated H2O2-induced apoptosis. Western blot analysis showed that rosamultin enhanced the expression of Bcl-2 and pCryAB and downregulated the expression of Bax, Cyt-c, Caspase-3, and Caspase-9 expression. Additionally, rosamultin might activate PI3K/Akt signal pathways and CryAB relative factors. Therefore, we suggest that rosamultin could have the potential for treating H2O2-induced oxidative stress injury through its antioxidant and antiapoptosis effect.

Predictive value of respiratory symptoms for the diagnosis of pollen-induced seasonal asthma among children and adults in Inner Mongolia.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of asthma is made on the basis of variable respiratory symptoms and supported by objective evidence of variable airflow limitation. However, spirometry and bronchoprovocation tests may not be routinely available in resource-scarce settings or in the context of large-scale epidemiological studies. There is a gap in knowledge about the predictive value of respiratory symptoms for the diagnosis of pollen-induced asthma. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of self-reported respiratory symptoms for diagnosing pollen-induced asthma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We recruited 1,161 patients with respiratory symptoms who presented to the respiratory medicine outpatient clinic of two central hospitals in Inner Mongolia during the pollen season of July-September 2015. All patients were interviewed by a respiratory physician and completed a questionnaire survey, lung function tests and skin prick tests for common inhaled allergens. RESULTS: A total of 392 patients (33.8%) were diagnosed with asthma and 292 (25.2%, 160 adults, 132 children) with pollen-induced asthma. Respiratory symptoms of cough, wheezing, dyspnea, chest pain and nocturnal awakenings due to breathlessness were all associated with increased odds of being diagnosed with pollen-induced asthma, with cough being the most common symptom in both adults and children, giving a sensitivity of 90.6% in adults and 88.6% in children. Wheezing was the most specific symptom (78% and 89.5% in adults and children, respectively) compared to other symptoms. Overall, the positive predictive value of respiratory symptoms was poor for diagnosing pollen-induced asthma, with the exception of wheezing in children which had a high positive predictive value of 72.7%. CONCLUSION: Cough was the predominant symptom in adults and children with pollen-induced asthma. Wheezing was a reliable predictor of pollen-induced asthma in children. In adults, respiratory symptoms were not sufficiently reliable for diagnosing pollen-induced asthma.

Puerarin stimulates proliferation and differentiation and protects against cell death in human osteoblastic MG-63 cells via ER-dependent MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt activation.

Puerarin, the main isoflavone glycoside found in the Chinese herb radix of Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi, has received increasing attention because of its possible role in the prevention of osteoporosis. Previously, we showed that puerarin could inhibit the bone absorption of osteoclasts and promote long bone growth in fetal mouse in vitro. Further study confirmed that puerarin stimulated proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts in rat. However, the mechanisms underlying its actions on human bone cells have not been well defined. Here we show that puerarin increases proliferation and differentiation and opposes cisplatin-induced apoptosis in human osteoblastic MG-63 cells containing two estrogen receptor (ER) isoforms. Puerarin promotes proliferation by altering cell cycle distribution whereas puerarin-mediated survival may be associated with up-regulation of Bcl-xL expression. Treatment with the ER antagonist ICI 182,780 abolishes the above actions of puerarin on osteoblast-derived cells. Using small interfering double-stranded RNA technology, we further demonstrate that the effects of puerarin on proliferation, differentiation and survival are mediated by both ERα and ERß. Moreover, we also demonstrate that puerarin functions at least partially through activation of MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt signaling. This agent also shows much weaker effect on breast epithelial cell growth than that of estrogen. Therefore, puerarin will be a promising agent that prevents or retards osteoporosis.

[Protective effects of n-butanol extract of Potentilla anserina on acute myocardial ischemic injury in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effects of the n-butanol extract of Potentilla anserina L. (NP) on pituitrin-induced acute myocardial ischemic injury in mice. METHODS: Ninety healthy female mice were randomly divided into normal control group, untreated group, Salvia miltiorrhiza group and low-, medium- and high-dose NP groups. Except for the normal control group, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with pituitrin (20 U/kg) to induce acute myocardial ischemic injury. Thirty minutes after induction, electrocardiogram was monitored, and height of the J spot was measured also. Activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum of the mice were detected. The degree of myocardial ischemic injury in mice was observed by Nagar-Olsen staining. RESULTS: The moving up of J spots in the treated groups was significantly inhibited when comparing with the untreated group (P<0.01). Compared with untreated group, high- and medium-dose NP and Salvia miltiorrhiza could significantly decrease the activities of LDH, CK (P<0.01, P<0.05), increase the SOD activity (P<0.01) and decrease the content of MDA (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed between low-dose NP group and untreated group (P>0.05). Nagar-Olsen staining showed that high- and medium-dose NP and Salvia miltiorrhiza could significantly diminish the areas of cardiac muscles injured by ischemia, but low-dose NP had no effect on that. CONCLUSION: NP has a remarkable protective effect on acute myocardial ischemic injury in mice.

[Expression of TMV coat protein gene RNAi in transgenic tobacco plants confer immunity to tobacco mosaic virus infection].

RNAi technique has been proved as a powerful tool for plant breeding. In this paper, the coat protein of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was used for constructing the RNAi interference vector. The tobacco varieties K326 and Longjiang 911 were transformed via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, and transgenic plants were generated. The expression analysis with real-time PCR indicated that TMV RNA had been degraded varied in different transgenic lines. Field assay revealed that 83% and 90 % transgenic plants showed immunity resistance to TMV in K326 and Longjiang 911 respectively.