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Cardiac hypertrophy is initially an adaptive response to physiological and pathological stimuli. Although pathological myocardial hypertrophy is the main cause of morbidity and mortality, our understanding of its mechanism is still weak. NFAT3 (nuclear factor of activated T-cell-3) is a member of the nuclear factor of the activated T cells (NFAT) family. NFAT3 plays a critical role in regulating the expression of cardiac hypertrophy genes by inducing their transcription. Recently, accumulating evidence has indicated that NFAT3 is a potent regulator of the progression of cardiac hypertrophy. This review, for the first time, summarizes the current studies on NFAT3 in cardiac hypertrophy, including the pathophysiological processes and the underlying pathological mechanism, focusing on the nuclear translocation and transcriptional function of NFAT3. This review will provide deep insight into the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and a theoretical basis for identifying new therapeutic targets in the NFAT3 network.
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Objective To analyze the changes of postoperative pulmonary function in lung transplant recipients. Methods Clinical data of 81 recipients undergoing bilateral lung transplantation and combined heart-lung transplantation were collected, and postoperative status of the recipients was analyzed. Pulmonary ventilation and diffusion function indexes at 1 month, 3 months, every 3 months (3-18 months after lung transplantation) and every 6 months (18-36 months after lung transplantation) were analyzed in the recipients. The characteristics of the optimal pulmonary function in the recipients were assessed. Results Postoperative mechanical ventilation time was 4 (2, 9) d, and the length of postoperative ICU stay was 10 (7, 20) d. Among 81 recipients, 27 recipients developed primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after lung transplantation, with an incidence rate of 33%. Postoperative forced vital capacity (FVC) to predicted value ratio (FVC%pred), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) to predicted value ratio (FEV1%pred), FEV1/FVC to predicted value ratio (FEV1/FVC%pred) and corrected diffusion lung capacity for CO to predicted value ratio (DLCOc%pred) were changed over time (all P<0.001). FVC%pred and FEV1%pred were gradually increased within postoperative 9 months, and DLCOc%pred was gradually elevated within postoperative 3 months (all P<0.05). Thirty-six recipients had FVC%pred≥80%, FEV1%pred≥80% in 41 cases, FEV1/FVC%pred≥92% in 76 cases, FVC%pred≤40% in 1 case and FEV1%pred≤40% in 1 case, respectively. Sixteen recipients had DLCOc%pred≥80%, corrected diffusion lung capacity for CO/alveolar volume to predicted value ratio (DLCOc/VA%pred) ≥80% in 63 cases, DLCOc%pred≤40% in 4 cases and DLCOc/VA%pred≤40% in 1 case, respectively. Postoperative FVC%pred, FEV1/FVC%pred and DLCOc%pred in recipients with a primary disease of obstructive pulmonary disease were significantly higher than those in their counterparts with restrictive pulmonary disease (all P<0.05). Postoperative DLCOc%pred in recipients with PGD was significantly lower than that in those without PGD (P<0.05). Conclusions Pulmonary ventilation function in lung transplant recipients reaches the optimal state and maintains a steady state at postoperative 9 months, and pulmonary diffusion function reaches a steady state at postoperative 3 months. Primary diseases and the incidence of PGD may affect postoperative pulmonary function.
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BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) spreads rapidly around the world. ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between comorbidities and the risk of death in patients with COVID-19, and to further explore potential sex-specific differences. MethodsWe analyzed the data from 18,465 laboratory-confirmed cases that completed an epidemiological investigation in Hubei Province as of February 27, 2020. Information on death was obtained from the Infectious Disease Information System. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the association between comorbidities and the risk of death in patients with COVID-19. ResultsThe median age for COVID-19 patients was 50.5 years. 8828(47.81%) patients were females. Severe cases accounted for 20.11% of the study population. As of March 7, 2020, a total of 919 cases deceased from COVID-19 for a fatality rate of 4.98%. Hypertension (13.87%), diabetes (5.53%), and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CBVDs) (4.45%) were the most prevalent comorbidities, and 27.37% of patients with COVID-19 reported having at least one comorbidity. After adjustment for age, gender, address, and clinical severity, patients with hypertension (HR 1.55, 95%CI 1.35-1.78), diabetes (HR 1.35, 95%CI 1.13-1.62), CBVDs (HR 1.70, 95%CI 1.43-2.02), chronic kidney diseases (HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.47-2.98), and at least two comorbidities (HR 1.84, 95%CI 1.55-2.18) had significant increased risks of death. And the association between diabetes and the risk of death from COVID-19 was prominent in women (HR 1.69, 95%CI 1.27-2.25) than in men (HR 1.16, 95%CI 0.91-1.46) (P for interaction = 0.036). ConclusionAmong laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hubei province, China, patients with hypertension, diabetes, CBVDs, chronic kidney diseases were significantly associated with increased risk of death. The association between diabetes and the risk of death tended to be stronger in women than in men. Clinicians should increase their awareness of the increased risk of death in COVID-19 patients with comorbidities.
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Objective@#To explore the relationship between weight change and the changes in blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipid profiles in middle-aged and elderly Chinese people.@*Methods@#All participants were from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort study. The study included 16 606 middle-aged and elderly Chinese people with complete information in the baseline survey in 2008 and the first follow-up survey in 2013. We collected the data on demographic characteristics, lifestyle, history of diseases and medication, and the results of medical health examinations, including height, weight, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and lipid profiles. We divided the weight change into five groups, moderate or above weight loss (<-8.0%), slight weight loss (-8.0%, -3.1%), weight maintenance (-3.0%, 3.0%), slight weight increased (3.1%, 8.0%), and moderate or above weight increased (>8.0%). Generalized linear regression model was used to analyze the relationship between weight change and the changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG). Subgroup analyses were used to explore the influences of gender, age and baseline BMI level on the relationship between weight change and the above-mentioned metabolic indicators.@*Results@#The average age of participants in baseline survey was (62.19±7.28) years with a range of 45 to 89 years. During the five-year period, there were 18.86% (2 633), 28.03% (4 655), 35.87% (5 956), 13.96% (2 319), 6.28% (1 043) people with moderate or above weight loss, slight weight loss, weight maintenance, slight weight increased, and moderate or above weight increased, respectively. Regression analyses showed that body weight change were positively correlated with changes in SBP, DBP, FBG, TC, LDL-C and TG, and negatively correlated with change in HDL-C (all linear trend P values were<0.05); As every 10% of weight changed, the β (95%CI) of changes in SBP (mmHg) (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), DBP (mmHg), FBG (mmol/L), TC (mmol/L), LDL-C (mmol/L), HDL-C (mmol/L) and TG (mmol/L) were 4.94 (4.32, 5.55), 2.50 (2.11, 2.88), 0.05 (0.02, 0.08), 0.13 (0.11, 0.16), 0.14 (0.12, 0.16), -0.05 (-0.07, -0.04) and 0.16 (0.14, 0.18), respectively. Furthermore, subgroup analyses showed that weight change can lead to greater changes in blood pressure in older and overweight or obesity elderly people (all P for interaction<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Weight loss was beneficial for middle-aged and elderly people to improve the blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipid profiles, regardless of the weight at the baseline, while weight gain was not.
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Objective To evaluate the diagnosis and surgical treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma(H-CC). Methods Retrospective analysis was made on the clinical feature, surgical treatment and the effect on 73 patients with H-CC. Results Diagnosis was made in all of the patients preoperatively and the correct diagnostic rate of BUS was 69.9%. In the treatment, radical resection was performed on 15 patients with good results in a short-term period. Of the 43 patients who underwent biliary tract internal drainage or exterrnal drainage, 37 patients had good results in a short-term period, while 6 died after operation. Laparotomy or hepatic artery cannulization with chemotherapy was performed on 15 patients and no change occurred in a short-term period after operation. In 15 cases subjected to radical resection, 11 cases were followed up. The 1,3-year survival rates was 90.9%, 20.0% respectively, but none of the patients survived for over 5 years. In patients undergoing other operations, none survived more than 9 months. Conclusions It's still difficult to mak early diagnosis of H-CC, which mainly depends on imaging technics. The BUS should be choiced first. Radical resection rate is still low nowadays. The lobus quadratus resection is helpful to select the operation.
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Objective To evaluate the risk factors associated with operative death after pancreatoduodenectomy(PD) and thus be able to decrease mortality. Methods The data of 123 consecutive patients undergoing PD during 9 years were reviewed. The variables analyzed were clinical data, laboratory data, operative factors , pathological diagnosis, and complications. Results The 30-day postoperative mortality rate was 7.3 percent. Postoperative intra-abdominal hemorrhage(OR=17.954), diabetes(OR=7.097), gastrointestinal hemorrhage (OR=7.789), preoperative serum albumin concentration(OR=10.689) and amount of operative blood loss(OR=5.473) were independent risk factors. Conclusions The chief risk factors associated with operative death after PD are low concentration of preoperative serum albumin, diabetes, large amount of operative blood loss, and postoperative intra-abdominal and gastrointestinal hemorrhage. These risk factors should be specifically considered in the perioperative management of the patients.
