Efficacy of mitral valve repair in combination with coronary revascularization for moderate ischaemic mitral regurgitation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of mitral valve repair (MVR) in combination with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for moderate ischaemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) remains unclear. To evaluate whether MVR + CABG is superior to CABG alone, the authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: The authors searched PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for eligible RCTs from the date of their inception to October 2023. The primary outcomes were operative (in-hospital or within 30 days) and long-term (≥ 1 year) mortality. The secondary outcomes were postoperative stroke, worsening renal function (WRF), and reoperation for bleeding or tamponade. The authors performed random-effects meta-analyses and reported the results as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs. RESULTS: Six RCTs were eligible for inclusion. Compared with CABG alone, MVR + CABG did not increase the risk of operative mortality (RR, 1.244; 95% CI, 0.514-3.014); however, it was also not associated with a lower risk of long-term mortality (RR, 0.676; 95% CI, 0.417-1.097). Meanwhile, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of postoperative stroke (RR, 2.425; 95% CI, 0.743-7.915), WRF (RR, 1.257; 95% CI, 0.533-2.964), and reoperation for bleeding or tamponade (RR, 1.667; 95% CI, 0.527-5.270). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that MVR + CABG fails to improve the clinical outcomes of patients with moderate IMR compared to CABG alone.

Understanding of promoting enzymatic hydrolysis of combined hydrothermal and deep eutectic solvent pretreated poplars by Tween 80.

In this study, lignin blockers including non-catalytic protein and surfactants were employed to promote enzymatic digestibility of pretreated poplars. Among them, Tween 80 exhibited the most pronounced facilitation, improving the glucose yield from 26.6% to 99.6% at a low enzyme loading (10 FPU/g glucan), and readily reduced the required cellulase loading by 75%. The underlying mechanism for this remarkable improvement on glucose yields by Tween 80 was elucidated. The impacts of Tween 80 on the enzyme-lignin interaction were explored by quartz crystal microbalance analysis, revealing that the binding rate of Tween 80 on lignin surfaces was 3-fold higher than that of enzyme. More importantly, Tween 80 remarkably decreased the binding capacity and binding rate of enzyme on lignins. Furthermore, the substrate properties dominating the increase in glucose yields with Tween 80 were explored. The results facilitate to understand the underlying mechanism of the promotion of surfactants on enzymatic hydrolysis.

Synergistic effects of hydrothermal and deep eutectic solvent pretreatment on co-production of xylo-oligosaccharides and enzymatic hydrolysis of poplar.

Full utilization of lignocellulose is critical for its biorefinery development. In this study, a sustainable biorefinery process based upon poplar sawdust was established using sequential hydrothermal and deep eutectic solvent treatment (HP-DES). Results showed that single hydrothermal pretreatment (HP) could produce 53.2% xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) (based on raw xylan), while the enzymatic digestibility was low. Conversely, single DES treatment achieved effective enzymatic digestibility but low XOS yields. As compared to HP, both DES treatment and HP-DES showed high selectivity for lignin removal and high glucose yield. Surprisingly, most of HP-DES residues had obviously lower enzymatic digestibilities than those of single DES residues. This was mainly explained by the differences of the surface lignin contents between DES and HP-DES residues. Moreover, nearly complete enzymatic hydrolysis of HP-DES residues was achieved with the addition of bovine serum albumin. This work demonstrated this HP-DES yielded XOS, fermentable sugar, and pure lignin with high processibility.

Alterations in the Iron Homeostasis Network of Hepatocytes Caused by Hepatitis B Virus.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether hepatitis B virus (HBV) itself causes iron metabolism disorder in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). In this study, we investigated the effect of HBV on iron metabolism at the clinical and cellular levels to determine the pathogenesis of CHB. MATERIALS: We enrolled 41 CHB patients and 20 healthy controls (HCs) in a retrospective study. Parameters of iron status included serum iron (SI), ferritin (SF), transferrin (TRF), soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), transferrin saturation (TS), total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), unsaturated iron-binding capacity (UIBC), and hepcidin. Liver function indicators included serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and albumin. Furthermore, we investigated the correlations between iron markers and liver function indicators. Finally, the alterations in SF, TRF, transferrin receptor (TfR), and hepcidin expression were detected by RT-PCR, western blot, and cell immunofluorescence after HepG2 cells and Huh7 cells were transfected with the pSM2-HBV plasmid. We also measured these alterations between HepG2 cells and HepG2.215 cells. The significance of differences was analyzed by SPSS version 17.0. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, the CHB patients were more likely to have lower levels of serum hepcidin, TRF, sTfR, TIBC, and UIBC and higher levels of SI, SF, and TS (p < 0.05, all). In CHB patients, the levels of SI and SF correlated positively with ALT concentrations, and the serum hepcidin concentrations correlated positively with albumin concentrations (p < 0.05, all). The expression levels of ferritin, transferrin, and hepcidin mRNA and protein were significantly higher in HepG2.215 cells than in HepG2 cells, while expression levels of TfR were lower. The alterations in these iron markers in HepG2 and Huh7 cells that were transfected with pSM2-HBV plasmid were consistent with those in HepG2.215 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Serum iron markers tended to be abnormal in CHB patients. In hepatocytes, HBV promoted the expression of ferritin, transferrin, and hepcidin, while it inhibited the expression of TfR.

Air pollution and children's respiratory symptoms in six cities of Northern China.

OBJECTIVE: The associations between air pollution and children's respiratory health in the high pollution range have not yet been clearly characterized. We evaluated the effects of outdoor air pollution on respiratory morbidity in children selected from multiple sites in a heavy industrial province of northeastern China. METHODS: The study included 11,860 children aged 3-12 years, selected from 18 districts of 6 cities in Liaoning province, the participation rate is 89.9%. Informed consent and written responses to surveys about children's historic and current health status, personal and household characteristics, and other information were obtained from parents. A two-stage regression approach was applied in data analyses. RESULTS: There were wide gradients for TSP (188-689 µg/m(3)), SO(2) (14-140 µg/m(3) and NO(2) (29-94 µg/m(3)) across the 18 districts of 6 cities. The three air pollutants significantly increased the prevalence of persistent cough (21-28%), persistent phlegm (21-30%) and current asthma (39-56%) for each interquartile range increment (172 µg/m(3) for TSP, 69 µg/m(3) for SO(2), 30 µg/m(3) for NO(2)), showing larger between-city effects than within-city. Rates of respiratory symptoms were significantly higher for children with younger age, atopy, respiratory disease in early age, family history of asthma or chronic bronchitis, and tobacco smoke exposure. CONCLUSION: The high levels of outdoor air pollution in north China are positively associated with children's respiratory symptoms, the associations with TSP appear to be stronger than SO(2) and NO(2).