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Objective: To investigate whether grain-sized moxibustion at Xinshu (BL15) and Shenshu (BL23) can alleviate cognitive decline and other pathologic features in early-stage Alzheimer disease (AD) using transgenic mice with 5 familial AD mutations (5XFAD). Methods: The genotype of transgenic mice was detected by polymerase chain reaction. A total of 40 transgenic mice (1.5 months old) were randomly and equally allocated to an AD model group (5XFAD group) or a grain-sized moxibustion group (5XFAD + GM group), with 20 wild-type (WT) mice (C57BL/6J) serving as the normal control group (WT group). Mice in the 5XFAD + GM group were treated by grain-sized moxibustion at bilateral Xinshu (BL15) and Shenshu (BL23). Mice in the WT group and 5XFAD group received no treatment but were restrained to ensure exposure to a similar experimental condition. Cognitive function and memory were assessed with the Morris water maze and Y-maze tests. The amyloid β 40 (Aβ40) and amyloid β 42 (Aβ42) levels in the brain were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; amyloid plaque deposition in brain tissue sections was detected by thioflavin-S staining; the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), cluster of differentiation 11b (CD11b), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Results: In the Morris water maze test, compared with the 5XFAD group, mice in the 5XFAD + GM group had a shorter escape latency and more target area crossings and spent more time in the target quadrant (P<0.05). In the Y-maze test, compared with the 5XFAD group, the number of training times of the 5XFAD + GM group was significantly decreased (P<0.05), together with more correct responses (P<0.05). Compared with the 5XFAD group, the levels of Aβ40 and Aβ42 in the brain tissue of the 5XFAD + GM group were significantly lower (P<0.05); in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, the total number of amyloid β plaque deposition were significantly lower (P<0.05); the expression levels of GFAP and CD11b were significantly reduced (P<0.05); and the expression levels of ChAT and BDNF were significantly increased (P<0.05).Conclusion: Grain-sized moxibustion at Xinshu (BL15) and Shenshu (BL23) greatly improves learning and memory functions, decreases the levels of Aβ40 and Aβ42, inhibits amyloid β plaque deposition, decreases the expression of GFAP and CD11b, and increases the expression of ChAT and BDNF in AD mice to inhibit the progression of AD.
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Objective:To investigate the intention of medical students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and to analyze the influencing factors.Methods:A self-filled electronic questionnaire survey was conducted among medical students from a medical school in Shanghai randomly selected from June 21 to 29, 2021. The questionnaire contained items of basic information, intention for COVID-19 vaccination, awareness of COVID-19 prevention measures and awareness of COVID-19 vaccine. Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors.Results:The average age of the 966 respondents was (20.4±2.9) years, and 63.6% (614/966) of them were female;23.7% (229/966) of them had family members or relatives who had participated in anti-pandemic work or volunteer service;90.6% (875/966) of the respondents expressed they were very willing or willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The majority of the respondents thought that “COVID-19 infection is very serious” (94.3%, 911/966), “good protection can effectively prevent COVID-19 infection” (92.4%, 893/966), and “they can fully implement all kinds of protection measures” (73.5%, 710/966). About half of the respondents (51.8%, 501/966) knew about the adverse reactions and contraindications of COVID-19 vaccine. The low protected capability (47.4%, 458/966), short duration of protection (50.6%, 489/966), and many side effects (48.7%, 470/966) were the major concerns about COVID-19 vaccine. Logistic regression analysis showed that people thought that “COVID-19 infection is very serious” ( OR=5.30, 95 %CI:2.60-10.81, P<0.001), thought that “good protection can effectively prevent COVID-19 infection” ( OR=2.46, 95 %CI:1.26-4.81, P=0.009), thought that “they can fully implement all kinds of protection measures” ( OR=2.55, 95 %CI:1.53-4.25, P<0.001) were more willing to receive COVID-19 vaccination. While those concerned about vaccine quality did the opposite ( OR=0.29, 95 %CI:0.13-0.65, P=0.003). Conclusions:Medical students have a high intention of vaccination against COVID-19. The vaccine-related knowledge quality should be emphasized in future publicity to further enhance the intention of COVID-19 vaccination.
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BACKGROUNDA recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection occurs mainly in China, with rapidly increasing the number of cases (namely COVID-19). Abnormal liver functions are frequently present in these patients, here we aimed to clarify the clinical features of COVID-19-related liver damage to provide some references for the clinical treatment. METHODSIn this retrospective, single-center study, we included all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center from January 20 to January 31, 2020. The outcomes were followed up until February 19, 2020. A total of 148 cases were analyzed for clinical features, laboratory parameters (including liver function tests), medications and the length of stay. FINDINGSOf 148 confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, 49.3% were females and 50.7% were males. The median age was 50.5 years (interquartile range, 36-64). Patients had clinical manifestations of fever (70.1%), cough (45.3%), expectoration (26.7%) at admission. 75 patients (50.7%) showed abnormal liver functions at admission. Patients (n = 75) who had elevated liver function index were more likely to have a moderate-high degree fever (44% vs 27.4%; p = 0.035) and significantly present in male patients (62.67% vs 38.36%; p = 0.005). The numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were significantly lower in abnormal liver function group than those in normal liver function group. There was no statistical difference in prehospital medications between normal and abnormal liver function groups, while the utilization rate of lopinavir/ritonavir after admission was significantly higher in patients with emerging liver injury than that in patients with normal liver functions. Importantly, the emerging abnormal liver functions after admission caused a prolonged length of stay INTERPRETATIONSARS-CoV-2 may cause the liver function damage and the Lopinavir/ritonavir should be applied carefully for the treatment of COVID-19. FUNDINGShanghai Science and Technology Commission Fund Project and National Science and Technology Major Project
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Objective The aim of this study was to investigate and analyze the etiology, seizure type and anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) utilization of in-patients with epilepsy Methods The study included 5563 cases in-patients with epilepsy. The etiology and seizure type and the date of type, quantity of AEDs in-patient department were collected and their usage frequency were analyzed statistically. Results The most common etiology of epilepsy was traumatic brain injury(13.64%), followed by hippocampal sclerosis (11.52%), stroke (5.24%), nervous system infection (4.98%), perinatal injury ( 5 . 28 % ) and undefined etiology ( 40 . 80 % ) . The most common seizure type was partial seizures (45.43% ). The AEDs of carbamazepine and valproate were the most common used drugs in the clinical and their average usage frequency were 36.88% and 30.80%, respectively. The newer AEDs of Lamotrigine and Levetiracetam were used more frequently. The use of Lamotrigine increased from 16.16% to 28.44% and the Levetiracetam from 0.61% to 20.87% whereas the use of Oxcarbazepine and Topiramate remained a stable level of 15.07% and 9.42%. Conclusion The etiology of epilepsy is complicated and the seizure type of epilepsy was diverse. Among a great variety of anti-epileptic drugs, the newanti-epileptic drugs are being increasingly used.
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Objective To investigate the relationship among Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori),CD4 positive cells and CD8 positive cells in gastric mucosa of the AIDS patients with gastritis.Methods Fiftyeight AIDS patients with upper abdominal pain were diagnosed with chronic gastritis through gastroscopy.The gastric biopsies from them were used for H.pylori detection with rapid urease test and Giemsa staining,pathology examination with HE staining,and immunohistochemistry analysis for CD4,CD8 positive cells in Gastric mucosa.And the application of flow cytometry was for the detection of peripheral blood CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes from the patients.Results H.pylori was positive in 26 cases,and negative was in 32 cases.CD8 cell expression in gastric mucosa of the AIDS patients with H.pylori positive was significantly higher than H.pylori negative patients(P＜0.05).There is no difference CD4 cell expression in gastric mucosa between the AIDS patients with H.pylori positive and H.pylori negative patients.Moreover,CD8 positive lymphocytes in gastric mucosa of those patients with H.pyloriinfection were significantly stronger than the CD4 positive lymphocytes.However,the peripheral blood CD4 lymphocytes from the patients with H.pylori infection were more than those from H.pylorinegative patients significantly(P＜0.05).Conclusion The expression level of CD8 cells in gastric mucosal tissues of AIDS patients with H.pylori infection were higher than those without H.pylori infection.The CD4 lymphocytes from the peripheral blood of the patients with H.pylori infection were more than those without H.pylori negative patients.
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Objective To explore the pathogenic genes relevant to Behcet's disease (BD) by building the differentail gene expression profiles of peripheral blood leukocytes in BD. Methods Oligonucleotide gene array from Affymetrix Company was applied to study the differed expression levels of whole genome between three age and sex matched BD patients and normal controls. Four genes, BCL6, LRAP, ICOSLG and MME, were selected to be tested for gene expression levels by real-time PCR in the groups of BD, normol controls (NC), Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) peticnts. Results ① Differential gene expression profile of BD compared to that of normal controls was built up. It contained 89 up-regulated and 57 down-regulated genes. ② Four genes mentioned above had significantly higher expression levels in active BD patients than those in NC but had lower exoression levels in stable BD patients. The expression levels of BCL6 and MME were also proved to be increased significantly in BD than in RA and SLE patients. Conclusion ① Our work shed some light on further research of the etiopathogenesis of BD. ② The expression levels of the four genes are proved to be relevant to BD the first time by us. Further analysis showes that TNF-α and IFN-γ can up-regulate the expression levels of BCL6, LRAP and ICOSLG which may be novel to BD. The MME gene is expressed on the surface of cells, which is convenient for test and may potentially be a marker for the diagnosis of BD.
