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Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH) is an increase in pulmonary artery pressure that occurs on the basis of portal hypertension. As a member of the BMP family, bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) not only has the osteogenic activity, but can also protect endothelial integrity and maintain vascular homeostasis. This article reviews the pathogenesis of POPH, the physiological expression and role of BMP9, and related research advances in the BMP9 signaling pathway and its involvement in pulmonary hypertension and vascular remodeling, thereby exploring the possibility of BMP9 as a new biomarker for POPH to assist in the diagnosis of POPH.
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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women of childbearing age, with the clinical manifestations of oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea, hyperandrogenism, and anovulatory infertility, and it is often accompanied by metabolic disorders such as obesity, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and glucose and lipid metabolism disorders. Women with PCOS often have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and other metabolic-associated diseases, and PCOS and NAFLD are related in terms of pathogenesis and treatment. This article reviews the research advances in PCOS with NAFLD in recent years.
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Objective:To investigate the safety and effectiveness of laparoscopic radical resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.Methods:Data of 61 hilar cholangiocarcinom patients operated at Affiliated Tongji Hospital from Jan 2014 to Jul 2019 were analyzed. Ninteen patients underwent laparoscopic surgery (LS) and 42 underwent open surgery (OS). Perioperative complications, pathological characteristics and follow-up results were compared between LS group and OS group.Results:Operation time in LS group was significantly longer than OS group. While, the time of taking food orally was earlier, hospital and ICU stay were shorter than in OA group ( P<0.05). The higher R 0 resection rate, the more harvested lymph nodes and the positive lymph nodes were also observed in LS group than those in OS group ( P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the incidence of postoperative complications and 90-day mortality between the two groups ( P>0.05). Though, the incidence of pulmonary infection in LS group was higher than that in OS group ( P=0.015). Conclusions:Laparoscopic surgery is safe and feasible for hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
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Background and AimsThe outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may affect the disease status of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study aimed to assess the disease status of IBD patients in Hubei province by questionnaire online and guide to the self-management of IBD patients during this epidemic. MethodsA questionnaire was designed containing the Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI), the Partial Mayo Score (PMS), the short inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (SIBDQ) and distributed to Hubei IBD patients online within one month of traffic control after the outbreak of COVID-19. This questionnaire also included some questions about patients self-report disease conditions and their epidemiological history of COVID-19. ResultsA total of 102 eligible questionnaires were included in the analysis. No patient reported infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in our study. Our result showed that 69.64% of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 80.44% of patients with Crohns disease (CD) were in remission. There was not a statistically significant difference in the proportion of the active disease stage between the two types of disease (p=0.103). The majority of patients (85.29%) had a good health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (SIBDQ[≥]50). The reduction in physical exercise is a risk factor for worsening in conditions (OR=17.593, 95%CI 2.035 to 152.097, p=0.009). ConclusionsThe outbreak of COVID-19 might not have a significant impact on most Hubei IBD patients within one month after the traffic control. The patients disease condition could be assessed by our questionnaires. Doctors utilized the information and advised for IBD patients about self-management during the period of COVID-19.
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AIM: The Seahorse XFe96 analyzer was used to evaluate the effects of thirteen types of international first-line antimalarial drugs in six categories on the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 (P. falciparum 3D7). METHODS: The antimalarial activity of in vitro drugs acting on P. falciparum 3D7 was evaluated using the three-day inhibition method and SYBR Green I fluorescence analysis method. MACS technology was used to separate and purify P. falciparum 3D7. The mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of Seahorse XF analysis system was used to characterize the bioenergy of P. falciparum 3D7 mitochondria at different times to investigate the effects of antimalarial drugs on mitochondrial aerobic respiration of Plasmodium falciparum. RESULTS: The results of flow cytometry showed that the Plasmodium of trophozoite stages was enriched successfully. The results of in vitro antimalarial activity evaluation showed that, except for the antimalarial drug proguanil (Pro), the other twelve antimalarial drugs were all of the nmol/L level against P. falciparum 3D7. The results of the mitochondrial aerobic respiration showed that the five concentrations of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and chloroquine (CQ) (0.4, 1, 5, 10, 50×IC
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Objective:To study the relationship of macrophage migration inhibitory factor(MIF)/activator protein-1(AP-1)/matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9)expression with inflammatory response and coronary artery lesion(CAL)in Kawasaki disease(KD).Methods:Forty-six children with KD were enrolled as the KD group, and divided into CAL group( n=17)and non-coronary artery lesion(NCAL)group( n=29). Fifteen age-and gender-matched children with lower respiratory infections and twenty children for selective operation were chosen as the control groups.Fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot were used to detect c-Jun/c-Fos mRNA and protein expression respectively.Serum levels of MIF/phospho-c-Jun/MMP-9 were measured by ELISA. Results:The c-Jun/c-Fos mRNA and protein expression as well as phospho-c-Jun level increased significantly in acute phase of KD as compared with those in control groups(comparison between groups: c-Jun mRNA: F=654.318, P<0.001; c-Fos mRNA: F=580.998, P<0.001; phospho-c-Jun: F=74.756, P<0.001; all P<0.05), and they were even higher in the CAL group(c-Jun mRNA: t=6.820, P<0.001; c-Fos mRNA: t=8.047, P<0.001; phospho-c-Jun: t=2.361, P=0.029; all P<0.05), then decreased in subacute phase.Serum protein levels of MIF and MMP-9 in acute phase of KD were higher than those of control groups(comparison between groups: MIF: F=104.008, P<0.001; MMP-9: F=182.798, P<0.001), and much higher in CAL group than those in NCAL group(MIF: t=2.163, P=0.043; MMP-9: t=2.104, P=0.048). There were positive correlations among serum MIF, phospho-c-Jun and MMP-9 in acute phase of KD(MIF and phospho-c-Jun: r=0.552, P<0.001; phospho-c-Jun and MMP-9: r=0.731, P<0.001; MIF and MMP-9: r=0.421, P=0.004). Conclusion:MIF/AP-1/MMP-9 signaling pathway may participate in the pathological progress of KD vasculitis and CAL.AP-1 expression and activation level in acute phase may be helpful to assess the inflammatory status and to predict CAL.
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Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) refers to liver injury caused by one or more drugs or their metabolites after use. Due to the various types of drugs and large differences between individuals, there are many difficulties in the clinical diagnosis of DILI, and the search for new biomarkers has become a research hotspot. Related studies have shown that cytokines play a key role in DILI, especially idiosyncratic DILI. This article outlines the role of different cytokines in DILI and their value in predicting the severity and evaluating prognosis of DILI. It is pointed out that cytokines have a broad application prospect as biomarkers for DILI.
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@#To establish a high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)method to determine the content of bacteriostats in the ocular extractives eye drops, Diamonsil C18(4. 6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm)column was used, with gradient elusion by 1% triethylamine solution(pH 3. 0)(mobile phase A)and methanol(mobile phase B). The detection wavelength was 256 nm; the column temperature was 40 °C; and the flow rate was 1. 0 mL/min. Under these conditions, the three bacteriostats of methylparaben, ethylparoben and chlorhexidine acetate showed good resolution. The bacteriostats exhibited good linear relationship between the peak area and the concentration in the concentration range of 0. 1- 80 μg/mL(r> 0. 999 1). The recoveries were from 97. 2% to 104. 1%, and the RSD was 0. 8% to 1. 2%. The content of bacteriostats in all the five batches of ocular extractives eye drops was less than 10% of the prescription amount. It was found that the activated carbon used in the production process had strong adsorption effect on the bacteriostat, and that the lower the temperature and the higher the concentration of activated carbon, the stronger the adsorption of bacteriostatic agent. The adsorption capacity of activated carbon for different bacteriostats is: chlorhexidine acetate > ethylparoben > methylparaben. The results showed that the established HPLC method was easy to operate with high sensitivity and good repeatability. It can be used to determine the content of bacteriostat in ocular extractives eye drops quickly and accurately. In addition, this study reveals for the first time the effect of impurity removal process on bacteriostat in the production of ocular extractives eye drops. It is not suitable to use activated carbon to remove impurities before adding parabens and chlorhexidine acetate bacteriostats. The current work provides a new guiding basis for the monitoring and improvement of the quality of ocular extractives eye drops.
