One-stop strategy for treatment of atrial fibrillation: feasibility and safety of combining catheter ablation and left atrial appendage closure in a single procedure / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Catheter ablation is effective in restoring sinus rhythm and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is increasingly used for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to observe the feasibility and safety of performing AF ablation and LAAC in a single (one-stop) procedure.@*METHODS@#Consecutive AF patients who underwent the combined procedure of AF ablation and LAAC with WATCHMAN device between March 2017 and September 2018 were prospectively enrolled. Baseline and intra-procedural parameters were evaluated. Three-month and subsequent 1-year follow-up were performed in all and earlier-enrolled subjects, respectively.@*RESULTS@#A total of 178 AF patients (94 males, 68.9 ± 8.1 years) underwent the one-stop procedure with CHA2DS2-VASc score 3.3 ± 1.5 and HAS-BLED score 1.6 ± 1.0, respectively. Pulmonary vein isolation was achieved in all patients while additional linear ablation was applied if the operator deemed necessary, yielding immediate ablation success rate of 98.9% (176/178). In the subsequent LAAC, satisfactory seal (residual leak <5 mm) was achieved in all patients. One stroke and four cardiac perforations occurred peri-operatively. At 3-month follow-up, sinus rhythm and satisfactory seal were maintained in 153/178 (86.0%) and 178/178 (100%) patients, respectively. One stroke and one delayed cardiac tamponade occurred, while no device-related thrombus or device migration was observed. During the 1-year follow-up for the earlier enrolled subjects, 52/72 (72.2%) of the patients maintained sinus rhythm. There was no stroke or systemic embolism observed.@*CONCLUSION@#Combining catheter ablation and LAAC in a single procedure can be successfully and safely performed in non-valvular AF patients of Chinese population.

Study on the effect of hydraulic delivery vertebroplasty on vertebral morphology and bone cement diffusion / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the effect of different bone cement injection methods during percutaneous vertebroplasty(PVP) on vertebral morphology and cement diffusion.@*METHODS@#The clinical data of 52 patients with single-segment osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture treated from January 2016 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into hydraumatic group (28 cases) and pusher group (24 cases) according to bone cement injection method during PVP. By comparing visual analogue scale(VAS), height of anterior vertebral body, compression ratio, kyphosis angle before and after operation and analyzing filling ratio of bone cement in the first 1/3, median line and back 1/3 of the vertebral body in lateral X-rays and the conditions of bone cement diffusion in AP X-rays were to evaluate the effect of different bone cement injection methods on vertebral morphology and cement diffusion.@*RESULTS@#Postoperative VAS was obviously improved in all patients and hydraumatic group was better than pusher group(0.05). There was no significant difference in filling ratio of bone cement in the first 1/3 and median line of the vertebral body by lateral X-ray films between two groups(>0.05), but in the back 1/3 of the vertebral body filling ratio of bone cement in hydraumatic group was better than in pusher group(<0.05). The distribution of bone cement from AP X-ray films were more significant in hydraumatic group(<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Hydraulic delivery vertebroplasty (HDVP) has better clinical efficacy and it can guarantee sufficient distribution of bone cement into the fractured vertebra and preferably restore the morphology of vertebral body, which is worthy of clinical application.

Erythropoietin prevents PC12 cells from beta-amyloid-induced apoptosis via PI3K/Akt pathway.

BACKGROUND: Several studies indicated that Erythropoietin (Epo) may provide remarkable neuroprotection in some neurological diseases. It also showed the significant decrease of Epo immunoreactivity in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus in aged rats, suggesting the role of Epo in the pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. METHODS: The protective effect of Epo was studied in differentiated PC12 cells treated with Abeta. The viability of the cells, the apoptosis of the cells and the level of Bax, Bcl-2, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP expression were detected by MTT, Hoechst 33258 staining and Western blotting respectively. RESULTS: 20 µM Abeta (25-35) could induce a decreased viability and a increased apoptosis in PC12 cell in a time-dependent manner. However, 20 µM Abeta (35-25) had no effect on cell viability and apoptosis. Western blot analysis also showed that Abeta(25-35) treatment could decrease the expression of Bcl-2 (P < 0.05) and increase the expression of Bax (P < 0.05), Cleaved casapase-3 (P < 0.05), and Cleaved PARP (P < 0.05). The pretreatment of Epo could effectively reverse all the above changes induced by Abeta(25-35) (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the protective effect of Epo could be blocked by PI3K inhibitor LY294002 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Epo prevented cell injuries in PC12 cells exposed to the Abeta(25-35) and this effect may depend on the PI3K/Akt pathway. Our study provided an important evidence for the potential application of Epo in the therapy of Alzheimer's disease.

Detection of DNA injury and repair with single cell gel electrophoresis radiation in biodosimetry / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the relationship between DNA repair in vitro and in vivo after irradiation, and to describe the curves of DNA repair which can improve the accuracy of radiation dose estimation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The DNA double-strand break in lymphocytes of human and mouse was detected using neutral single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) after radiation and the curves of DNA repair individually were estimated, which were compared later.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Along with the time lapsing, the DNA repair of human peripheral blood and mice increased significantly and the residual damage decreased gradually, which showed significant time-effect relationship. The curve of DNA repair in vitro of human lymphocytes presented the same log model as that of mouse DNA repair in vivo. The curve showed as followed respectively: Mice: Y(TM) = 55.8256 - 10.792 lnX (R(2) = 0.629, P < 0.01) and Y(OTM) = 25.4173 - 4.5273 lnX (R(2) = 0.661, P < 0.01); Human: Y(TM) = 30.242 7 - 7.383 6 lnX (R(2) = 0.686, P < 0.01) and Y(OTM) = 17.9772 - 3.9125 lnX (R(2) = 0.752, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The curve of DNA repair in vitro of human lymphocytes could be considered in biodosimetry estimation because the process of DNA repair in vitro could display the repair level and speed of DNA double-strand break in vivo.</p>

The role of DJ-1 in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease / 神经科学通报·英文版

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a slowly progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized clinically by bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor, gait dysfunction, and postural instability. Several genes have been identified for monogenic disorders that variably resemble Parkinson's disease. Here, we focus on PARK7, a gene relates to an autosomal recessive form of early-onset Parkinsonism and encodes a protein named DJ-1. Though the exact role of DJ-1 needs to be elucidated, it is generally thought to be functioned as a molecular chaperone and an oxidative sensor (or antioxidative factor). We will review the protective role of DJ-1 to prevent dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) from degeneration and how its dysfunction would lead to neurodegeneration.