The outcome of sutured wounds compared with tissue adhesive for paediatric wound closure: A meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis investigation was executed to measure the outcome of sutured wounds (SWs) compared with tissue adhesive (TA) for paediatric wound closure (PWC). A comprehensive literature inspection till February 2023 was applied and 2018 interrelated investigations were reviewed. The 18 chosen investigations enclosed 1697 children with PWC in the chosen investigations' starting point, 977 of them were utilising SWs, and 906 were utilising TA. Odds ratio (OR) in addition to 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to compute the value of the effect of SWs compared with TA for PWC by the dichotomous approaches and a fixed or random model. SWs had significantly higher wound cosmetic (WC) scores (mean deviation [MD], 1.70; 95% CI, 0.57-2.84, P = .003), lower wound dehiscence (WD) (OR 0.60; 95% CI, 0.06-0.43, P < .001), and lower cost (MD, -10.22; 95% CI, -10.94 to -9.50, P < .001) compared with those with TA in PWC. No significant difference was found between children utilising SWs and TA in wound infection (WI) (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.15-1.30, P = .14) with no heterogeneity (I2 = 0%) in PWC. SWs had significantly higher WC scores, lower WD, and lower cost, yet, no significant difference was found in WI compared with those with TA in PWC. However, care must be exercised when dealing with its values because of the low sample size of some of the nominated investigations and the low number of selected investigations for the meta-analysis.

Zhike pingchuan granules improve bronchial asthma by regulating the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of zhike pingchuan granules (ZKPC) on bronchial asthma and the underlying mechanism. A bronchial asthma mouse model was established by aerosol inhalation of ovalbumin. The changes in lung pathomorphology were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. The levels of IL-1ß, TNF-α and IL-6 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum were detected by corresponding ELISA kits. Levels of reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase in lung tissues were analyzed using corresponding kits. The expression of proteins related to apoptosis and the IL-6/janus kinase 2 (JAK2)/STAT3 pathway was detected by western blot analysis. The results showed that ZKPC significantly restored the dry/wet ratio and alleviated lung pathomorphology of bronchial asthmatic mice. In addition, ZKPC inhibits inflammation, oxidative stress levels and cell apoptosis in bronchial asthmatic mice and also suppressed the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 pathway. Fedratinib (a JAK2 inhibitor) further strengthened the alleviative effects of ZKPC on bronchial asthma. In conclusion, ZKPC improved bronchial asthma by suppressing the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

Association of TERT polymorphisms and risk of coronary heart disease in a Chinese Han population.

Genome-wide association studies have identified that TERT gene was associated with telomere length and age-related diseases. However, little study directly focused on the association between TERT gene polymorphisms and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). We conducted a case-control study to examine the effect of TERT polymorphisms on CHD risk among 596 CHD patients and 603 healthy controls from China. Five significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in TERT were selected and genotyped using Sequenom Mass-ARRAY technology. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression adjusting for age and gender. Allelic model analysis revealed that for TERT rs10069690, allele frequency distributions differed between cases and controls (OR= 1.267, 95%CI = 1.018-1.576; p = 0.034). Genotypic model analysis revealed that genotype frequency distributions of rs10069690 differed between cases and controls after adjusted by age and sex (TC vs. CC: adjusted OR = 1.352, 95% CI = 1.007-1.815; p = 0.045). Genetic model analysis revealed that rs10069690 was associated with an increased risk of CHD under co-dominant, dominant, over-dominant and log-additive models. After adjustments, it remained significant under over-dominant model (adjusted OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.01-1.81; p = 0.044). Our results shed new light on the association between telomere-related gene TERT polymorphisms and CHD susceptibility in a Chinese Han population.

[Effect of annexin A2 on EGFR/NF-κB signal transduction and mucin expression in human airway epithelial cells treated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of annexin A2 (AnxA2) on epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signal transduction and mucin expression in human airway epithelial H292 cells treated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP). METHODS: H292 cells were divided into control group, MP group, NC-siRNA+MP group, and AnxA2 siRNA+MP group. The cells in the MP group were incubated with 5 µg/mL MP antigen for 2 hours. The cells in the NC-siRNA+MP and AnxA2 siRNA+MP groups were transfected with NC-siRNA and AnxA2 siRNA for 24 hours, followed by MP antigen stimulation for 2 hours. The MTT method was used to measure cell viability; quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of AnxA2; Western blot was used to measure the protein expression of AnxA2, phosphorylated EGFR (p-EGFR), and phosphorylated p65 NF-κB (p-p65 NF-κB); ELISA was used to measure the secretion of mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) and mucin 5B (MUC5B). RESULTS: The MP and NC-siRNA+MP groups had lower cell viability than the control group (P<0.05). The AnxA2 siRNA+MP group had higher cell viability than the MP and NC-siRNA+MP groups and lower cell viability than the control group (P<0.05). The MP and NC-siRNA+MP groups had significantly higher mRNA and protein expression of AnxA2 than the AnxA2 siRNA+MP group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the MP and NC-siRNA+MP groups had significant increases in the protein expression of p-EGFR, p-p65 NF-κB, MUC5AC, and MUC5B (P<0.05); the AnxA2 siRNA+MP group had lower protein expression than the MP and NC-siRNA+MP groups, but higher protein expression than the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: AnxA2 is involved in the airway lesion induced by MP antigen via mediating EGFR/NF-κB signaling activation and mucin expression in human airway epithelial cells.

Vasostatin-2 inhibits cell proliferation and adhesion in vascular smooth muscle cells, which are associated with the progression of atherosclerosis.

Recently, the serum expression level of vasostatin-2 was found to be reduced and is being studied as an important indicator to assess the presence and severity of coronary artery disease; the functional properties of vasostatin-2 and its relationship with the development of atherosclerosis remains unclear. In this study, we attempted to detect the expression of vasostatin-2 and its impact on human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot were used to assess the expression level of vasostatin-2 in VSMCs between those from atherosclerosis and disease-free donors; we found that vasostatin-2 was significantly down-regulated in atherosclerosis patient tissues and cell lines. In addition, the over-expression of vasostatin-2 apparently inhibits cell proliferation and migration in VSMCs. Gain-of-function in vitro experiments further show that vasostatin-2 over-expression significantly inhibits inflammatory cytokines release in VSMCs. In addition, cell adhesion experimental analysis showed that soluble adhesion molecules (sICAM-1, sVCAM-1) had decreased expression when vasostatin-2 was over-expressed in VSMCs. Therefore, our results indicate that vasostatin-2 is an atherosclerosis-related factor that can inhibit cell proliferation, inflammatory response and cell adhesion in VSMCs. Taken together, our results indicate that vasostatin-2 could serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic option for human atherosclerosis in the near future.

Traditional Chinese medicine could increase the survival of people living with HIV in rural central China: a retrospective cohort study, 2004-2012.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treating people living with HIV (PLHIV) by comparing the survival of PLHIV treated with TCM and without TCM. To identify prognostic factors that affect the survival of PLHIV, patients who enrolled in the national TCM HIV treatment trial program (NTCMTP) in October 2004 and PLHIV in the same region who did not enroll in the NTCMTP were compared. Participants were followed up to October 2012. Survival time was estimated through the Kaplan-Meier method, and hazard ratios to identify prognostic factors were computed through Cox proportional hazard models. A total of 3,229 PLHIV (1,442 in the TCM therapy group and 1,787 in the non-TCM therapy group) were followed up for 21,876 person-years. In this time period, 751 (23.3%) died and 209 (6.5%) were lost to follow-up, for an overall mortality rate of 3.43/100 person-years. In the TCM therapy group, 287 (19.0%) died and 139 (9.7%) were lost to follow-up, and in the non-TCM therapy group, 464 (26.0%) PLHIV died and 70 (3.9%) were lost to follow-up. The mortality rate in the TCM therapy group was 2.97/100 person-years, which was lower than the rate of 3.79/100 person-years in the non-TCM therapy group. The 8-year cumulative survival in the TCM therapy group was 78.5%, lower than the 74.0% survival in the non-TCM therapy group. After adjusting for other factors, risk factors of death included male gender, older age, less education, taking combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) at enrollment, not taking cART at follow-up, and lower CD4 + T cell counts. Our retrospective cohort study indicates that TCM increased the survival and lengthened the lifetime of PLHIV in Henan Province of China. However, the limitations of a retrospective cohort could have biased the study, so prospective studies should be carried out to confirm our primary results.