[Furry animal allergen components diagnosis: identification of main components and clinical management strategies].

Furry animal allergens, particularly cat and dog hair and dander, are common allergens in indoor environments, affecting the health of people world widely. Key sensitizing components such as Fel d 1 from cats and Can f 1 from dogs have been extensively studied and identified by the scientific community. Component resolved diagnosis (CRD) technology in modern diagnostic methods provides an accurate way to identify and distinguish these components, which is extremely important for the prevention of furry animal allergies and the formulation of personalized treatment strategies. To enhance the understanding of furry animal component diagnosis and promote the alignment of the Chinese discipline of allergology with international standards, this article interprets and explains the content of the "Molecular Allergology User's Guide 2.0" recently released by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. It focuses on the epidemiological characteristics of furry animal components, the diversity of allergen protein families, and their clinical diagnosis and management.

[Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement with domestic prostheses for patients with severely stenotic bicuspid aortic valve].

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with domestic prostheses in patients with severely stenotic bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). Methods: This study was a prospective single-center non-randomized controlled study. Patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS), who underwent TAVR with domestic prostheses at the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University from January 2016 to April 2020 were consecutively included in our study. Patients were divided into BAV group and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) group according to the aortic valve morphology. Baseline characteristics, procedural outcomes were compared between the two groups, and the primary endpoint was one-month all-cause mortality. Results: A total of 100 patients aged (69.8±8.9) years were enrolled, including 71 (71%) males. There were 51 cases in BAV group and 49 cases in TAV group. Compared with TAV group, patient in the BAV group was younger ((67.1±8.6) years vs. (72.7±8.4) years, P=0.002) and had larger ascending aortic diameter at proximal part ((39.7±5.7) mm vs. (36.0±4.2) mm, P<0.001), lower Society of Thoracic Surgeons-Predicted Risk of Mortality (STS-PROM) score (3.1 (1.9, 5.4) % vs. 5.9 (2.6, 12.3) %, P=0.002). In BAV group and TAV group, the incidence of 2nd prosthesis implantation was 15.7% (8/51) and 18.4% (9/49) (P=0.721), the incidence of moderate or severe paravalvular regurgitation was 2.0% (1/51) and 0 (P=1.000), the rate of device success was 82.4% (42/51) and 81.6% (40/49) (P=0.925), respectively. One-month all-cause mortality was 2.0% (1/51) and 10.2% (5/49) (P=0.108), respectively. Echocardiography showed that postprocedural mean pressure gradient (PGmean) was higher in the BAV group (13.0 (10.0, 16.0) mmHg vs. 9.0 (7.0, 14.0) mmHg, P=0.003) (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), but the PGmean decrease post procedure as compared with that before TAVR was similar between the two groups ((36.7±16.6) mmHg vs. (36.2±17.5) mmHg, P=0.893). Conclusion: Favorable safety and efficacy are evidenced in patients with severely stenotic BAV undergoing TAVR with domestic prostheses.

[Correlation between spatial navigation disorder and white matter hyperintensity in patients with mild cognitive impairment].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between white matter lesions and spatial navigation ability in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: A total of 32 MCI patients [age (66±11) years, 16 males and 16 females] who were treated in the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School from January 2015 to February 2018 were selected, and matched with age, gender and education level of 28 healthy controls (NC) [age (70±11) years, 19 males and 9 females] underwent spatial navigation ability test and neuropsychology scale evaluation. In the cross-sectional study, all subjects simultaneously underwent 3.0T magnetic resonance three-dimensional liquid inversion recovery sequence and high-resolution T(1) weighted imaging scan. The Wisconsin White Matter Hyperintensities Segmentation Toolbox (W2MHS) was used to automatically mark and extract the volume of the white matter hyperintensity. Results: The average error distances of egocentric virtual (P=0.002) and allocentric virtual (P=0.039) of MCI patients are greater than that of the control group, but the average error distance of mixed (allocentric-egocentric virtual) navigation had no statistic difference between two groups (P=0.070). The volume of the whole white matter hyperintensity, periventricular white matter hyperintensity, and deep white matter hyperintensity showed no significant differences between two groups (all P>0.05). Partial correlation analysis showed that after controlling for age, gender, education level and whole brain volume, the average error distance of mixed (allocentric-egocentric virtual) navigation in MCI patients was positively correlated to the volume of the whole white matter hyperintensity, deep white matter intensity, and periventricular white matter hyperintensity (r=0.469, 0.434, 0.512, all P<0.05). The average error distance of allocentric virtual navigation is positively correlated with the volume of periventricular white matter hyperintensity (r=0.403, P=0.033). There is no correlation between the average error distance of egocentric virtual navigation and the hyperintensity of white matter. Conclusions: The spatial navigation ability of patients with MCI is related to white matter lesions, which is of great significance for further research on the potential biological mechanisms affecting human spatial navigation ability.

Rapamycin facilitates fracture healing through inducing cell autophagy and suppressing cell apoptosis in bone tissues.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in cell autophagy and the molecular mechanism of rapamycin affecting the fracture healing. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used to establish the right femoral shaft fracture models, and then underwent immunofluorescence assay to detect the autophagy level in bone tissues. After model establishment, SD rats were divided into two groups, the control group and the rapamycin group (1 mg/kg/d). Respectively, at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th week, rats were randomly selected from each group for X-ray and Micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) examinations to determine callus growth, immunofluorescence assay to detect the protein expression of light chain 3 II (LC3 II), immunohistochemistry to evaluate the autophagy level through detecting the expression of Beclin1 in rats, Western blotting assay to detect cell apoptosis in tissues, hematoxylin and eosin staining (HE staining) to evaluate the osteoblastic activity through count of osteoblast in bone tissue at the end of fracture, and measure the expression of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF). RESULTS: Significant increases were seen in protein expression of cells in bone tissues at the end of fracture. In rapamycin group, callus formation and calcification level in rats were all higher than those in control group; compared with control group, for rats in rapamycin group, cell autophagy was significantly elevated in bone tissues, while cell apoptosis at the end of fracture was reduced with a significant increase in osteoblastic activity. The expression of VEGF in rapamycin group was higher than that in control group. CONCLUSIONS: Rapamycin can facilitate fracture healing through inducing cell apoptosis and suppressing cell apoptosis in bone tissues.

Comparison of transvaginal surgery and methotrexate/mifepristone-combined transcervical resection in the treatment of cesarean scar pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the safety and efficiency of transvaginal surgical treatment of cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 54 CSP patients that received treatment in our hospital from October 2011 to September 2015 was performed, dividing two groups: Group A (n=34) received transvaginal cesarean scar pregnancy focus clearance surgery while Group B (n=20) received transcervical resection following methotrexate/mifepristone-combined treatment. The basic clinical findings were collected and analyzed, along with the curative effects between the two groups. RESULTS: Differences in age (30.91 ± 4.59 years vs. 31.91 ± 5.53 years) for gravidity (2.97 ± 1.24 times vs. 2.75 ± 1.48 times), cesarean section (1.24 ± 0.43 vs. 1.20 ± 0.41), time interval from last cesarean section (56.53 ± 32.93 months vs. 58.70 ± 39.44 months), menelipsis (51.35 ± 10.90 days vs. 57.85 ± 16.62 days), pre-operative serum-hCG (27953.65 ± 37517.10 mIU/L vs. 17368.24 ± 35094.14 mIU/L), operation time (43.34 ± 12.38 min vs 40.07 ± 16.88 min), menstruation recovery time (1.23 ± 0.53 months vs. 1.55 ± 0.76 months) were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The differences in the intraoperative blood loss (43.34 ± 12.38 ml vs. 40.07 ± 16.88 ml), average hospital stay (7.61 ± 2.47 days vs. 12.42 ± 3.64 days), time for ß-hCG to return to normal (18.50 ± 8.19 mIU/L vs. 29.00 ± 12.96 mIU/L) between the two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Group A was significantly lower than Group B. CONCLUSIONS: Transvaginal surgery is an effective and relatively safe treatment option for CSP patients.

Geniposide improves insulin production and reduces apoptosis in high glucose-induced glucotoxic insulinoma cells.

Our previous work revealed that in the pancreatic ß cell line, geniposide modulated ATP production and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) induced by the acute stimulation of high glucose concentration. However, the effects of geniposide on functional impairment and the mass of ß-cells exposed to elevated levels of glucose remains unknown. In the present study, impaired GSIS and restrained proliferation were observed in the prolonged culture of insulinoma INS-1 cells with 33mM of glucose (high glucose). Our results indicate that the glucose-induced impairment of insulin release was significantly reverted by the inclusion of 1 or 10µM of geniposide. Moreover, induction of the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was observed, which promoted the utilization of nutrient stores for energy production. AMPK phosphorylation was enhanced by an increased number of INS-1 cells, and the increased expression of AMPK downstream target heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), under high glucose concentration. Furthermore, geniposide protected rat insulinoma cells from apoptosis in high-glucose concentrations. We have shown that these effects were associated with an increased apoptosis-related Bcl-2/BAX protein ratio. In conclusion, geniposide dose dependently improves ß-cell function and increases the proliferation of ß-cells exposed to prolonged hyperglycemia.

Optical properties of Ce(3+)-Nd(3+) co-doped YAG nanoparticles for visual and near-infrared biological imaging.

Ce(3+)-Nd(3+) co-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG) nanoparticles, an average size of 20-30 nm clusters aggregated by 8-10 nm YAG nanoparticles, were synthesized by a solvothermal method. When excited by blue irradiation source, strong and broad yellow luminescence (centered at 526 nm) from Ce(3+) as well as near-infrared (NIR) luminescence (890, 1066 and 1335 nm) of Nd(3+) was observed simultaneously. It occurred by the effective dipole-dipole energy transfer from Ce(3+) to Nd(3+). Energy transfer efficiency from Ce(3+) to Nd(3+) was also calculated to be 50%. The optical property suggests that Ce(3+)-Nd(3+) co-doped YAG nanoparticles can be used as an efficient fluorescence imaging agent for not only visual but also near-infrared imaging.

Effects of feeding fatty acid calcium and the interaction of forage quality on production performance and biochemical indexes in early lactation cow.

Multiparous early lactation Holstein cows (n = 16) were used in a randomized complete block design to determine the effects of feeding fatty acid calcium and the interaction of forage quality on production performance and biochemical indexes in early lactation cow. Treatments were as follows: (i) feeding low-quality forage without supplying fatty acid calcium (Diet A), (ii) feeding low-quality forage with supplying 400 g fatty acid calcium (Diet B), (iii) feeding high-quality forage without supplying fatty acid calcium (Diet C) and (iv) feeding high-quality forage with supplying 400 g fatty acid calcium. This experiment consisted 30 days. The milk and blood samples were collected in the last day of the trail. Intakes were recorded in the last 2 days of the trail. Supplementation of fatty acid calcium decreased significantly dry matter intake (DMI) (p < 0.01). Addition fatty acid calcium decreased milk protein percentage (p < 0.01) and milk SNF percentage (p < 0.01), but increased MUN (p < 0.05). Supplemented fatty acid decreased concentration of blood BHBA (p < 0.05), but increased TG, NEFA, glucagon, GLP-1, CCK, leptin, ApoA-IV, serotonin and MSH concentration in blood, the CCK concentration and feed intake showed a significant negative correlation (p < 0.05).

Phytosterols elevation in bamboo shoot residue through laboratorial scale solid-state fermentation using isolated Aspergillus niger CTBU.

Aspergillus niger CTBU isolated from local decayed bamboo shoot residue was employed to solid-state fermentation (SSF) of bamboo shoot residue to elevate the content of phytosterols. Strain acclimatization was carried out under the fermentation condition using bamboo shoot as substrate for fermentation performance improvement. The optimal fermentation temperature and nitrogen level were investigated using acclimatized strain, and SSF was carried out in a 500-ml Erlenmeyer flask feeding 300-mg bamboo shoot residue chips under the optimal condition (33 °C and feeding 4 % urea), and 1,186 mg (100 g)(-1) of total phytosterol was attained after 5-day fermentation, in comparison, only 523 mg (100 g)(-1) of phytosterol was assayed in fresh shoots residue. HPLC analysis of the main composition of total phytosterols displays that the types of phytosterols and composition ratio of main sterols keep steady. This laboratorial scale SSF unit could be scaled up for raw phytosterols production from discarded bamboo shoot residue and could reduce its cost.

Immunosuppressive function of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on acute rejection of liver allografts in rats.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) demonstrate functions of immunologic regulation. However, little is known about the role of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on MSCs and whether MSCs alone can prevent allograft rejection. We purified MSCs, which were or were not treated with IFN-gamma, to act as regulatory cells in mixed lymphocyte reactions. We measured their expression of PDL-1, MHC-I, MHC-II, CD40, CD54, and CD86. The MSCs stained with carboxyfluorescein diacetate-succinimidyl ester were used to detect homing in vivo. The MSCs were injected into an orthotopic liver transplantation model. The result suggested that IFN-gamma enhances expression of PDL-1, MHC-I, MHC-II, and CD54 and boosts immunosuppressive ability in vivo. The MSCs demonstrated homing to the liver, alleviating acute immunologic rejection of an hepatic graft in rats. We conclude that IFN-gamma may enhance the immunosuppressive function of MSCs to protect liver allografts in rats from acute immunologic rejection.

[The change of vWF in vascular endothelial cells under different stress].

AIM: To correlate the injury of vascular endothelial cells during various pathological conditions with the change of vWF (von Willebrand Factor) in different VEC lines. METHODS: Flow cytometer(FCM) were used to defect the immunoflourescent stained vWF in pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) of pig and aortic endothelial cells(AEC) of rats. RESULTS: The positive rates of vWF in PAEC of pigs is similar with that in AEC of rats under normal condition, but it decreased differently after hypoxic or cold injury. It was very interesting that the mean fluorescence intensity of positive PAEC or AEC exposed to hypoxia or cold elevated significantly compared with those of control. CONCLUSIONS: The change of vWF in VEC can be used to evaluate the function of VEC under different stress.

[Protective effects of gangliosides on cerebral neuronal damage of rat during acute hypoxia].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the preventive and therapeutic effects of gangliosides on acute altitude hypoxic brain damage. METHOD: Fifteen Wistar rats, weighed 180-220 g, were randomly divided into 3 groups, hypoxia group A, hypoxia group B and normoxia group. The rats in hypoxia group A were exposed to a simulated altitude of 7000 m for 5 hours and the rats in hypoxia group B were exposed to hypoxia after intraperitoneal administration of mixed gangliosides (100 mg/kg/d) for 3 days. RESULT: Gangliosides could ameliorate the severity of damage in neuronal bodies, cellular skeletons and synapses, especially in synapses. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that gangliosides are effective in preventing and treating hypoxic brain damages by decreasing the accumulation of intracellular Ca2+, and stabilizing CaM and CaM PKII activity during acute hypoxia.

[Effects of acute hypoxia and hypoxic acclimatization on cardiac functions of rats].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of acute hypoxia and intermittent hypoxic acclimatization on cardiac systolic and diastolic functions in rats. METHOD: Cardiac functions were investigated after intermittent hypoxic acclimatizated (3000 m and 5000 m, 2 wk respectively, 4 h/d) and normoxic rats were exposed to hypoxia (8000 m) for 4 h. RESULT: The systolic functional parameters such as LVSP, +dp/dtmax, Vpm, Vmax and the diastolic functional parameter -dp/dtmax of acute hypoxic rats were reduced significantly as compared with normoxic control rats. After hypoxic acclimatization, the left ventricular functions of rats were increased significantly as compared with those of acute hypoxic rats. But they were still lower than those of normoxic control rats. CONCLUSION: Acute hypoxia can affect cardiac functions and hypoxic acclimatization can alleviate the hypoxic effects on cardiac functions.

Cylindroma of the nasopharynx: a chronic disease.

From March 1958 to October 1984, 10 patients with cylindroma (cystic adenoid epithelioma) arising in the nasopharynx were treated in our hospital. The presenting symptoms of these patients ranged in duration for 2 weeks to 8 years, with an average of 25 months. Eighty percent of the patients had destruction of the base of skull and 60% had cranial nerve involvement. Of these 10 patients, two had Stage II disease, two had Stage III, and six had Stage IV. Response was seen in this tumor at tissue doses between 5000-8000 rad. Of the seven patients at risk for 5 years, 86% survived, yet 36% of the patients died of tumor between the fifth to tenth year. Fifty percent of the patients lived beyond 10 years. Based on this experience, a dose of more than 8000 rad is advised for the primary lesion. For the neck region, radiation is indicated only when there are lymph node metastases; prophylactic radiation of the neck is not necessary. Local recurrence or single distant metastasis is amenable to radiation therapy. Among the six patients who failed in the course of follow-up, three had local recurrences, two had pulmonary metastases, and one died of cerebral vascular accident.

Microvascular free transfer of iliac bone based on the deep superior branches of the superior gluteal vessels.

The findings from dissection, injection studies, corrosion specimens, and angiograms in 300 specimens of the iliogluteal region taken from 150 cadavers are reported. These findings suggest that the deep superior branches of the superior gluteal vessels may serve a nutritive pedicle in microvascular free transfer of iliac bone. Therefore, the operative technique has been developed and applied clinically with good results. The selection of different vessels as a nutritive pedicle for the free transfer of iliac bone is discussed.

Current surgical interests in China.

Until recently, China had been isolated from Western countries for almost 30 years. Surgeons of Western countries, perhaps, are interested to know what is happening in surgery in China. This communication reviews the current interests in Chinese surgery. It is by no means complete, nor is that the intention. The intention is to introduce to our foreign colleagues a general overview of some highlights in Chinese surgery.