Comparison between original SARS-CoV-2 strain and omicron variant on thin-section chest CT imaging of COVID-19 pneumonia.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated different computed tomography (CT) features between Omicron-variant and original-strain SARS-CoV­2 pneumonia to facilitate the clinical management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records were retrospectively reviewed to select patients with original-strain SARS-CoV­2 pneumonia from February 22 to April 22, 2020, or Omicron-variant SARS-CoV­2 pneumonia from March 26 to May 31, 2022. Data on the demographics, comorbidities, symptoms, clinical types, and CT features were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were 62 and 78 patients with original-strain or Omicron-variant SARS-CoV­2 pneumonia, respectively. There were no differences between the two groups in terms of age, sex, clinical types, symptoms, and comorbidities. The main CT features differed between the two groups (p = 0.003). There were 37 (59.7%) and 20 (25.6%) patients with ground-glass opacities (GGO) in the original-strain and Omicron-variant pneumonia, respectively. A consolidation pattern was more frequently observed in the Omicron-variant than original-strain pneumonia (62.8% vs. 24.2%). There was no difference in crazy-paving pattern between the original-strain and Omicron-variant pneumonia (16.1% vs. 11.6%). Pleural effusion was observed more often in Omicron-variant pneumonia, while subpleural lesions were more common in the original-strain pneumonia. The CT score in the Omicron-variant group was higher than that in the original-strain group for critical-type (17.00, 16.00-18.00 vs. 16.00, 14.00-17.00, p = 0.031) and for severe-type (13.00, 12.00-14.00 vs 12.00, 10.75-13.00, p = 0.027) pneumonia. CONCLUSION: The main CT finding of the Omicron-variant SARS-CoV­2 pneumonia included consolidations and pleural effusion. By contrast, CT findings of original-strain SARS-CoV­2 pneumonia showed frequent GGO and subpleural lesions, but without pleural effusion. The CT scores were also higher in the critical and severe types of Omicron-variant than original-strain pneumonia.

Preliminary Study on Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells in Lung Cancer by EGFR/Vimentin/Folic Acid Magnetic Sphere / 中国肺癌杂志

BACKGROUND@#Circulating tumor cells (CTC) play an important role in the screening and prognosis of lung cancer, but the low efficiency and specificity of CTC isolation obviously restrict its clinical application. The purpose of this study is to explore a new and efficient isolation method of CTC in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in order to achieve the purpose of early diagnosis of NSCLC.@*METHODS@#Three kinds of immunolipid magnetic spheres of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vimentin and folic acid (FA) were prepared by thin film method. After characterization, the sorting scheme of cell line was explored, the optimal sorting scheme of NSCLC CTC was constructed, and its clinical application value was studied.@*RESULTS@#The average capture efficiency of EGFR, Vimentin and FA magnetic spheres used alone and in combination to lung cancer cell lines was 78%, 79%, 82% and 91%, respectively. In 60 patients with lung cancer, using 2 CTC per 7.5 mL blood as cutoff value, the positive rates of EGFR, Vimentin and FA magnets used alone and in combination were 65.0%, 33.3%, 93.3% and 100%, respectively. It was also found that the number of CTC detected by combined use of the three magnetic spheres was correlated with clinical stages (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The combination of three kinds of magnetic spheres can separate EGFR+, Vimentin+, FA+ expressed CTC, which is beneficial to the downstream analysis of CTC correlation. This study provides a new method to improve the efficiency of NSCLC CTC capture, and verifies that the captured CTC counting method can be used in the auxiliary diagnosis of lung cancer.

An integrated strategy of TCM and western medicine to prevent and treat acute abdomen during the outbreak of COVID-19 / 中国医师杂志

At present,the prevention and control of the COVID-19 is still severe,its pathogen SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and pathogenic,and the population is generally susceptible.Thus,it requires a higher standard to diagnose and treat patients with acute abdomen.The first step is to carry out procedures to identify whether the patient is infected or not.Those who are not infected can go through the normal treating procedures.For patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspected patients,the second step is to achieve classified diagnoses and treatments,and to adopt a treating plan that integrates TCM and western medicine.In order to protect patients and medical staff,the COVID-19 in hospital transmission must be avoided.For patients with COVID-19 who need emergency surgery,we must strictly comply with the hospital 's protection regulations,closely coordinate the relevant departments of surgery,perform the three-level protection,operate in accordance with the principle of damage control in the negative pressure surgery room,and return to the isolation ward according to the prevention and control process after operation.For units without surgical conditions,patients should be transferred to hospital in time on the premise of maximum damage control,and patients must not be delayed for timely diagnosis and treatment due to the epidemic.

Prevention and treatment strategies of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine for acute abdomen during the outbreak of COVID-19 / 中国医师杂志

At present, the prevention and control of the COVID-19 is still severe, its pathogen SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and pathogenic, and the population is generally susceptible. In order to deal with the epidemic, selective operation can be postponed, but most of the patients with acute abdominal diseases are commonly in clinic, with acute onset and severe condition, and most of them are accompanied with fever and gastrointestinal symptoms, so emergency operation is needed.Under the condition of the current epidemic—COVID-19, it requires a higher standard to diagnose and treat patients with acute abdomen. The first step is to carry out procedures to identify whether the patient is infected or not. Those who are not infected can go through the normal treating procedures.For patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspected patients, the second step is to achieve classified diagnoses and treatments, and to adopt a treating plan that integrates TCM and western medicine.In order to protect patients and medical staff, the COVID-19 in hospital transmission must be avoided. For patients with COVID-19 who need emergency surgery, we must strictly comply with the hospital's protection regulations, closely coordinate the relevant departments of surgery, perform the three-level protection, operate in accordance with the principle of damage control in the negative pressure surgery room, and return to the isolation ward according to the prevention and control process after operation. For units without surgical conditions, patients should be transferred to hospital in time on the premise of maximum damage control, and patients must not be delayed for timely diagnosis and treatment due to the epidemic.

MicroRNA-148b is a potential prognostic biomarker and predictor of response to radiotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer

miR-148b has been found to be aberrantly expressed in various tumor types. It has recently been reported to be involved in regulating radioresistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. However, its expression level and association with radiosensitivity in human patient samples have not been investigated. Real-time PCR was used to evaluate the expression levels of miR-148b. Χ2 test was performed to analyze the association between miR-148b expression levels and clinicopathological factors or radiosensitivity. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was constructed to estimate the overall survival (OS), and the differences in survival were compared using the log-rank test. Cox regression analysis was conducted to determine the prognostic value of miR-148b. The relative level of miR-148b was significantly decreased in NSCLC tissues compared with matched non-cancerous tissues (P < 0.0001), and it was higher in tissues of patients who are good responders compared to those who are poor responders to radiotherapy (P < 0.0001). Lower expression of miR-148b was positively associated with high tumor stage (P = 0.0407) and radioresistance (P = 0.0002), and it predicted poor survival in patients with (P = 0.0129) or without (P = 0.0094) radiotherapy treatment. miR-148b was an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC as demonstrated by Cox proportional hazards risk analysis. miR-148b may serve as a prognostic biomarker of poor survival and a novel predictor of response to radiotherapy treatment in NSCLC (AU)

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Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for treatment of emphysema:intravenous versus intratracheal approach / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND:Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s transplantation can inhibit experimental emphysema inflammatory reaction and apoptosis, and has been experimental y confirmed to treat severe lung function impairment. OBJECTIVE:To explore the inhibitory effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s transplantation via different ways on inflammatory reaction and apoptosis due to experimental emphysema. METHODS:Female Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group, intravenous group and endotracheal group fol owing model establishment using fumigation plus intratracheal instil ation of porcine pancreatic elastase. In the latter two groups, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s from male rats were injected via the tail vein and the trachea, respectively. In the control group, rats were given PBS via he tail vein and trachea. At 14 days after transplantation, pathological changes of rat lung tissues were observed, cel apoptotic index in alveolar wal cel s and tumor necrosis factorαlevel in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were detected. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the control group, in the intravenous and endotracheal groups,the pathological changes of lung tissues were relieved, tumor necrosis factorαlevel and apoptosis index were reduced significantly (P0.05). These findings indicate that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cel s transplantation via the tail vein and trachea both can exert obvious therapeutic effects on emphysema. Moreover, cel transplantation via the tail vein is more convenient and easier than that via the trachea in the treatment of emphysema.

Effect of early normobaric hyperoxia on cerebral oxygenation in patients with extremely severe craniocerebral injury / 中华创伤杂志

Objective To observe the changes of brain oxygenation in patients with extremely severe craniocerebral injury and the therapeutic effect of early normobaric hyperoxia.Methods Sixtyeight patients with extremely severe craniocerebral injury treated from January 2011 to January 2013 were assigned to two groups according to the random number table:50％ oxygen breathing for one week in control group (34 cases) and 80％ oxygen breathing for one week in treatment group (34 cases).Blood samples from jugular vein and radial artery were collected at 1,3,5,and 7 days to measure indices of blood gas analysis,i.e.,PaO2,PjvO2,CaO2,CjvO2,Da-jvO2,CERO2 and Djv-a Lac.GCS and content of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were recorded as well.Results Values of PaO2 at each time point and GCS at 5 and 7 days were significantly higher in treatment group than in control group (P ＜0.05).Djv-a Lac at 3,5 and 7 days and NSE at 7 days revealed significantly higher levels in treatment group than in control group(P ＜ 0.05).Whereas at each time point,there were no significant differences between the two groups in aspects of PjvO2,CaO2,CjvO2,Da-jvO2 and CERO2 (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Early use of 100％ oxygen in patients with extremely severe craniocerebral injury may be beneficial to the prognosis.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation suppresses emphysema-induced inflammation and apoptosis / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND:Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells transplantation can change the surrounding microenvironment through paracrine mechanisms, and can be employed for treatment of serious damage to lung function through the promotion of angiogenesis, inhibition of apoptosis and maintaining functional stability of autonomic nervous system. OBJECTIVE:To observe the inflammatory reaction in experimental emphysema and inhibition of apoptosis through bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells transplantation. METHODS:Twenty-four Wistar female rats were randomly divided into three groups:healthy control group, model group and experimental group. In the latter two groups, smoking and endotracheal instil ation of porcine pancreatic elastase were performed to establish emphysema models. After modeling, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were injected via tail vein in the experimental group. Pathological changes of the lung, the level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and cellnumber in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid as wel as apoptotic index in lveolar wal s were detected after celltransplantation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In the model and experimental groups, pathological changes of lung tissues were observed to different extent. The lung pathological changes were slighter in the experimental group than the model group (P<0.01). The level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and apoptotic index in lung tissue were lower in the experimental group than the model group (P<0.01). These findings indicate that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can improve emphysema pathological y through inhibition of inflammatory response and apoptosis in experimental emphysema.

The effect of nitric oxide on the pressure of the acutely obstructed ureter.

Acute ureteral obstruction leads to changes in pressure inside the ureter, interrupting ureter function. The aim of our study is to explore the relationship between nitric oxide (NO) concentration and pressure in the ureter and to observe the effects of nitric oxide on the revival of renal function. We created the animal models by embedding balloons in the lower ureters of anesthetized dogs and expanding them to simulate acute ureteral obstruction. First, the test animals were pre-treated intravenously with different doses of L-NAME (non-selective nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) to inhibit nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and 10 min later, each subject was administered an intravenous dose of isoproterenol (10 µg/kg). We measured ureter pressure (UP), total and peak concentrations of NO (using an NO monitor, model inNO-T) in ureteral urine, and the volume of the urine (UFV) leaking from the balloon edge. After a certain amount of time had elapsed, it became clear that the dose of L-NAME was inversely related to the total and peak concentrations of NO, the rate of change in UP, and the volume of urine produced. We conclude that L-NAME prevents the NOS from inhibiting the release of NO, then inhibits the effect of isoproterenol reducing the pressure of the acute obstructive ureter. Inversely, we think that NO can reduce the pressure of the acute obstructive ureter and make the obstructive ureter recanalization. And when more the concentration of nitric oxide, the more the pressure will be reduced, and more urine will be collected.