Characteristics of Renal Function in Patients Diagnosed With COVID-19: An Observational Study.

Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze the characteristics of renal function in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Methods: In this retrospective, single-center study, we included all confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a tertiary hospital in Guangdong, China from January 20, 2020 to March 20, 2020. Blood and urine laboratory findings related to renal function were summarized, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and endogenous creatinine clearance (Ccr) were also calculated to assess the renal function. Results: A total of 12 admitted hospital patients were diagnosed with COVID-19, included 3 severe cases, and 9 common cases. Serum creatinine (Scr) was not abnormally elevated in all of the patients, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was abnormally elevated in only 25.0% of the patients. However, compared with the recovery period, the patient's Scr and BUN increased significantly in peak of disease (p-scr = 0.002 & p-bun < 0.001). By observing the fluctuations in Scr and BUN from admission to recovery, it was found that the peak of Scr and BUN appeared within the first 14 day of the course of the disease. Urinary microprotein detection indicated that the abnormally elevated rates of urine microalbumin (UMA), α1-microglobulin (A1M), urine immunoglobulin-G (IGU), and urine transferring (TRU) standardized by urinary creatinine in peak of disease were 41.7, 41.7, 50.0, and 16.7%, respectively. The abnormal rates of the calculated eGFR and Ccr were 66.7 and 41.7%. Conclusion: Scr and BUN were generally increased during the course of COVID-19. Detection of urinary microproteins and application of multiple indicators assessment could be helpful for discovering abnormal renal function in patients with COVID-19. However, the evidence is limited due to the small sample size and observational nature. Additional studies, especially large prospective cohort studies, are required to confirm these findings.

[Comparing the anchorage effects of micro-implant and J hook on treating patients with maxillary protrusion].

PURPOSE: To investigate the differences in anchorage effects between micro-implants and J hook in treating patients with Class II division 1 maxillary protrusion. METHODS: Thirty-one cases of adult patients with Class II division 1 maxillary protrusion were treated. They were divided into 2 groups depending on their selection. The first group included 17 patients for micro-implant anchorage, who adopted micro-implant and sliding mechanism to close maxillary extraction space and depress the mandibular molar. The second group encompassed 14 cases for J hook, who adopted sliding mechanism, J hooks in high traction and Class II intermaxillary traction to close extraction space. X-ray lateral cephalometric radiographs were measured before and after treatment, and SPSS16.0 software package was employed to compare the differences in soft and hard tissue changes before and after treatment between 2 groups. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in SNB, ANB, MP-FH, U1-Y, U6-Y, L6-MP, NLA, and UL-Y between the 2 groups before and after treatment, while there was no significant difference in SNA, U1-SN, U1-X, and U6-X between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: In treating patients with Class II division 1 maxillary protrusion, micro-implant has stronger anchorage effects than J hook, while at the same time depressing the mandibular molars, and making it more favorable to improve Class II faces.

Meta-analysis shows significant association of the TP53 Arg72Pro with ovarian cancer risk.

Growing bodies of studies have been conducted on the association of TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism with susceptibility to ovarian cancer and have yielded conflicting results. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to summarize the possible association. 18 case-control studies, including 2,193 ovarian cancer cases and 5,175 controls were identified. The quality of the studies was assessed according to a predefined scale. The strength of the associations between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and ovarian cancer was measured by crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Overall, no significant association was found between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk when all studies pooled into the meta-analysis in all genetic model. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, still no association of this polymorphism with ovarian cancer risk was obtained for all comparison models. However, significantly decreased risks of ovarian cancer were found for Arg/Arg versus Arg/Pro+Pro/Pro (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96) when the analysis was restricted to high quality studies. Conversely, when it was restricted to low quality studies, significantly increased risks were observed for Arg/Arg versus Pro/Pro (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.09-2.28) and Arg/Arg+Arg/Pro versus Pro/Pro: (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.10-2.06), which might be spurious due to the poor design of these studies. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that the Arg allele is at a moderately reduced risk for ovarian cancer and this polymorphism might protect against ovarian carcinogenesis.

[Clinical analysis of 22 cases with parotid gland duct injury].

PURPOSE: To discuss the early diagnosis and treatment of injury to the parotid duct. METHODS: Segmental epidural catheter was used to repair the injured parotid duct, if the broken ends of the parotid duct can't be anastomized end to end, facial vein transplantation and fascia parotideomasseterica flap were used for reconstruction. RESULTS: In 22 cases, one case was lost to follow-up, nineteen cases had successful reconstruction of the parotid duct with good parotid secretions. Two cases had atrophy of the parotid gland. CONCLUSIONS: Early diagnosis is critical for treatment of injury of parotid duct. The efficacy of segmental epidural catheter is excellent for repair of parotid duct defect.

MDM2 SNP309T>G polymorphism with hepatocellular carcinoma risk: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The murine double minute 2 (MDM2) gene encodes a negative regulator of the tumor protein p53. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in MDM2 promoter, SNP309 T>G, has been reported to alter MDM2 protein expression and accelerate tumor formation in humans. Studies investigating the association between the polymorphism and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk reported conflicting results. We performed a meta-analysis to explore the association of this polymorphism and HCC risk. METHODS: All eligible studies published were searched for in PubMed. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were assessed for the association using fixed- and random-effects models. RESULTS: We identified five case-control studies including 738 cases and 1014 controls for the present meta-analysis. In studies with limited data, we detected significant associations for all genetic models in the overall analysis (OR = 2.51, 95% CI = 1.88-3.36 for GG vs. TT, p <0.001, P(het) = 0.666; OR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.35-2.18 for TG vs. TT, p <0.001, P(het) = 0.925; OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.54-2.43 for dominant model TG + GG vs. TT, p <0.001, P(het) = 0.772; OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.39-2.20 for recessive model GG vs. TT + TG, p <0.001, P(het) = 0.656). Moreover, in the subgroup analysis based on Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in controls, sample size, and ethnicity, significant associations were observed in most genetic models. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that the MDM2 309 G allele probably acts as an important HCC risk factor. To further confirm our findings, well-designed studies with large sample sizes and representing different ethnicities are required.

[The clinico-pathological significance of protein expression of PAK1 in bladder transitional cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protein expression of p21-activated kinase 1 gene (PAK1) in bladder transitional cell carcinoma (BTCC) and its clinico-pathological significance. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and TUNEL were used, in combination with tissue microarray technique, to examine the protein expression of PAK1 and status of cell apoptosis in 100 BTCC tissue specimens obtained during operation and 30 specimens of adjacent normal bladder mucosa. RESULTS: All adjacent normal bladder mucosa specimens were negative in PAK1 protein expression or only with a low-level expression of PAK1 protein, while 58% of the BTCC specimens showed over-expression of PAK1. PAK1 expression was significantly associated with tumor pathological grade and tumor size (both P < 0.05). The PAK1 overexpression rate of the poorly-differentiated BTCC specimens (at the G3 stage) was 78%, significantly higher than that of the well-differentiated specimens (at the stage G1/G2, 47%, P = 0.05). The PAK1 overexpression rate of the large-sized BTCC specimens (>or= 3 cm in diameter) was 73%, significantly higher than that of the small-sized BTCC specimens (< 3 cm in diameter, P = 0.034). The PAK1 protein expression was negatively correlated with the apoptotic index of the cells (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Overexpression of PAK1 protein may via its anti-apoptotic function to play an important role in the development and progression of BTCC. Overexpression of PAK1 in BTCC is associated closely with tumor malignant histological phenotype and it may be used as a molecular marker to predicate the malignant potential of BTCC.

Pathological characteristics, PCNA labeling index and DNA index in prognostic evaluation of patients with moderately differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM: To study the relationship between prognosis and pathological characteristics, proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index (PCNA-LI) and DNA index (DI) in patients with moderately differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). METHODS: 51 cases of moderately differentiated HCC were analyzed with respect to the relation between their clinical follow-up data and pathological characteristics. Meanwhile, PCNA-LI of HCC cells was detected by immunohistochemistry assay and DI was measured by Feulgen staining and automatic image analysis technique. RESULTS: Patients with a single tumor nodule, less than 5 cm in diameter, no tumor emboli, no daughter nodules and necrosis had relatively better prognosis; patients with euploidy HCC had better prognosis than those with aneuploidy; among the aneuploidy patients those with DI<1.5 had better prognosis than the cases with DI>1.5; The higher the PCNA-LI, the worse would be the prognosis. The increase in DI was correlated with the increase in PCNA-LI, and both of them were correlated with the pathological changes of the tumor. CONCLUSION: A composite analysis of the pathological characteristics of tumor tissue, DI and PCNA-LI might be useful in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients.