In vivo antiviral effect of plant essential oils against avian infectious bronchitis virus.

BACKGROUND: Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) leads to huge economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. The high levels of mutations of IBV render vaccines partially protective. Therefore, it is urgent to explore an effective antiviral drug or agent. The present study aimed to investigate the in vivo anti-IBV activity of a mixture of plant essential oils (PEO) of cinnamaldehyde (CA) and glycerol monolaurate (GML), designated as Jin-Jing-Zi. RESULTS: The antiviral effects were evaluated by clinical signs, viral loads, immune organ indices, antibody levels, and cytokine levels. The infection rates in the PEO-M (middle dose) and PEO-H (high dose) groups were significantly lower than those in the prevention, positive drug, and PEO-L (low dose) groups. The cure rates in the PEO-M and PEO-H groups were significantly higher than those in the prevention, positive drug, and PEO-L groups, and the PEO-M group had the highest cure rate of 92.31%. The symptom scores and IBV mRNA expression levels were significantly reduced in the PEO-M group. PEO significantly improved the immune organ indices and IBV-specific antibody titers of infected chickens. The anti-inflammatory factor levels of IL-4 and IFN-γ in the PEO-M group maintained high concentrations for a long time. The IL-6 levels in the PEO-M group were lower than those in prevention, positive drug, and PEO-L groups. CONCLUSION: The PEO had remarkable inhibition against IBV and the PEO acts by inhibiting virus multiplication and promoting immune function, suggesting that the PEO has great potential as a novel anti-IBV agent for inhibiting IBV infection.

Resilience Training for Nurses: A Meta-analysis.

Nurses frequently face stressful situations during work, which makes resilience an essential quality of their personality to cope with professional stress and to prevent burnout. Resilience can be improved by training and practice. To analyze the effect of resilience training in nurses, studies reporting the changes in resilience before and after resilience training were identified by conducting the literature search in electronic databases. Meta-analyses of standardized mean differences (SMDs) between postintervention and preintervention scores of resilience and other related variables were performed. Thirteen studies (576 nurse participants) were included. Resilience training improved the resilience scores of the participants (SMD, 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23-0.94; P = .001), whereas there was no improvement in the resilience scores of nurses who did not participate in resilience training (SMD, -0.13; 95% CI, -0.54 to 0.27; P = .523). The stress (SMD, -0.60; 95% CI, -0.80 to -0.40; P < .00001), anxiety (SMD, -0.50; 95% CI, -0.80 to -0.20; P = .001), depression (SMD, -0.43; 95% CI, -0.67 to -0.19; P < .0001), and burnout (SMD, -1.01; 95% CI, -1.25 to -0.76; P <˂ .0001) scores of the participants were also decreased after resilience training. In conclusion, resilience training improved the resilience scores of nurses, which was also associated with improvements in stress, depression, anxiety, and burnout scores. However, because of the variations in training contents and measuring tools, only generalized assessments could be made.

Combined lithotripsy of mechanical clamping and electrohydraulics in facilitating endoscopic management of refractory residual biliary calculi after surgery.

Although postoperative cholangioscopy (POC) guided electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) is considered to be a conventional technique for residual biliary calculi, its efficacy still needs to be improved to fit in the managemet of refractory calculi. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of combined lithotripsy of mechanical clamping and electrohydraulics in fragmentation and removal of refractory calculi. Totally, 281 patients, who suffered from residual biliary calculi after hepatectomy and underwnet POC from August 2016 to June 2018 were involved. The first 128 patients were subjected to conventional EHL, and later consective 153 to combined lithotripsyof mechanical clamping and EHL. Perioperative data, technical information, treatment outcomes and follow-up results were collected. Clinical characteristics were statistically comparable (P > 0.05). The overall POC interventional sessions (2.0 ± 0.65 vs. 2.9 ± 1.21 sessions), average operating time (99.1 ± 34.88 vs. 128.6 ± 72.87 minutes), incidence of intraoperative hemobilia (4.58% vs. 10.93%), cholangitis (6.54% vs. 14.06%), postoperative complications (10.45% vs. 21.87%), T-tube retaining time after first POC (20.7 ± 5.35 vs. 28.1 ± 8.28 days), and treatment costs ($2375 ± 661.72 vs. $3456.7 ± 638.07) were significantly lower in the combined lithotripsy group than those in the EHL group (P < 0.05). There were no differences between the two groups in calculi recurrence at half-a year, or one year follow-up. In conclusion, combined lithotripsy of mechanical clamping and electrohydraulics can safely and effectively benefit postoperative patients along with refractory residual biliary calculi.

[Response of understory species distribution of Robinia pseudoacacia plantation to environmental factors in loess hilly region, China.] / é»„åœŸä¸˜é™µåŒºåˆºæ§ç¾¤è½æž—ä¸‹ç‰©ç§åˆ†å¸ƒå¯¹çŽ¯å¢ƒå› å­çš„å“åº”.

We explored the distribution characteristics and influencing factors of understory species in Robinia pseudoacacia plantation in Wuqi, Ansai, Mizhi, Yichuan and other places, in combination with niche breadth, soil, altitude and other environmental factors. We analyzed the response mechanism of species distribution to environmental factor to provide a scientific basis for the mana-gement of R. pseudoacacia plantation in loess hilly region. The results showed that the broadly distributed understory species in R. pseudoacacia plantation were Setaria viridis, Heteropappus altaicus, Artemisia scoparia, Poa sphondylodes, Artemisia leucophylla, Ixeris sonchifolia, and Incarvillea sinensis. With the increasing rehabilitationage, the dominant understory species distribution followed the order: Artemisia capillaries → P. sphondylodes → A. scoparia → others (Rubia cordifolia, Rosa rubus and so on) → A. leucophylla → S. viridis. Results from principal component analysis showed that soil total phosphorus (25.6%), altitude (20.3%) and soil total nitrogen (19.3%) were the key factors influencing understory species distribution in R. pseudoacacia plantation. Soil organic carbon content, soil total nitrogen content, soil total phosphorus content, soil water content and the number of understory species distribution in R. pseudoacacia plantation were generally positively correlated with the degree of correlation varying across different species. There was no correlation between the slope aspect and the understory species distribution in R. pseudoacacia plantation. In conclusion, topography and soil factors played important roles in driving understory species distribution. The steeper the slope, the higher the altitude, the fewer understory species in R. pseudoacacia plantation. Understory species distribution was mainly affected by soil total phosphorus content and altitude. The understory species distribution reflected the differences of soil nutrient status, which had a certain guiding role in the management of R. pseudoacacia plantation.

The Involving Roles of Intrahepatic and Extrahepatic Stem/Progenitor Cells (SPCs) to Liver Regeneration.

Liver regeneration is usually attributed to mature hepatocytes, which possess a remarkable potential to proliferate under mild to moderate injury. However, when the liver is severely damaged or hepatocyte proliferation is greatly inhibited, liver stem/progenitor cells (LSPCs) will contribute to the liver regeneration process. LSPCs in the developing liver have been extensively characterized, however, their contributing role to liver regeneration has not been completely understood. In addition to the restoration of the liver parenchymal tissue by hepatocytes or/and LSPCs, or in some cases bone marrow (BM) derived cells, such as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the wound healing after injury in terms of angiopoiesis by liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) or/and sinusoidal endothelial progenitor cells (SEPCs) is another important aspect taking place during regeneration. To conclude, liver regeneration can be mainly divided into three distinct restoring levels according to the cause and severity of injury: hepatocyte dominant regeneration, LSPCs mediated regeneration, extrahepatic stem cells participative regeneration. In this review, we focus on the recent findings of liver regeneration, especially on those related to stem/progenitor cells (SPCs)-mediated regeneration and their potential clinical applications and challenges.

[Effect of electroacupunctu-e intervention on serum IL-17 and IL-23 contents in rheumatoid arthritis rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the influence of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation of "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Kunlun" (BL 60) on serum and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 contents in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats so as to study its underlying mechanism in improving RA. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to normal control, RA model, EA and Prednisolone groups (n = 8 in each group). The RA model was established by intra-planta injection of incomplete Freund's adjuvant and type II collagen. EA (2 Hz/100 Hz,1-2 mA)was applied to bilateral "Zusanli"(ST 36) and "Kunlun"(BL 60) for 30 min, once daily for 10 days. The rats' ankle diameter was measured, and IL-17 and IL-23 contents in the serum and the knee-joint cavity were assayed by ELISA and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: In comparison with the normal control group, the rats' ankle diameter, serum IL-17 and IL-23 contents and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 protein expression levels were significantly increased in the model group (P < 0.05). After EA and Prednisolone treatment, compared with the model group, all the rats' ankle diameter, serum IL-17 and IL-23 contents and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 protein expression levels were decreased remarkably (P < 0.05). No obvious differences were found between the EA and Prednisolone groups in the aforementioned indexes (P > 0.05), except IL-17 protein expression level (being markedly lower in the Prednisolone group than in the EA group). CONCLUSION: EA intervention can reduce inflammatory reaction of the ankle-joint in RA rats, which may be related to its effects in down-regulating serum and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 levels.

Endothelial progenitor cells in ischemic stroke: an exploration from hypothesis to therapy.

As the population ages and lifestyles change in concordance, the number of patients suffering from ischemic stroke and its associated disabilities is increasing. Studies on determining the relationship between endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and ischemic stroke have become a new hot spot and have reported that EPCs may protect the brain against ischemic injury, promote neurovascular repair, and improve long-term neurobehavioral outcomes. More importantly, they introduce a new perspective for prognosis assessment and therapy of ischemic stroke. However, EPCs' origin, function, influence factors, injury repair mechanisms, and cell-based therapy strategies remain controversial. Particularly, research conducted to date has less clinical studies than pre-clinical experiments on animals. In this review, we summarized and analyzed the current understanding of basic characteristics, influence factors, functions, therapeutic strategies, and disadvantages of EPCs as well as the regulation of inflammatory factors involved in the function and survival of EPCs after ischemic stroke. Identifying potential therapeutic effects of EPCs in ischemic stroke will be a challenging but an incredibly important breakthrough in neurology, which may bring promise for patients with ischemic stroke.

Combination of exosomes and circulating microRNAs may serve as a promising tumor marker complementary to alpha-fetoprotein for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis in rats.

PURPOSE: Due to unsatisfying prognosis of AFP for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we aim to evaluate the prognostic value of combination of exosomes and miRNAs in detecting HCC. METHODS: HCC was induced with diethylnitrosamine in rats and using a scoring system based on histological examination six different stages (normal liver, degeneration, fibrosis, cirrhosis, early HCC and late HCC) were identified in the development of HCC. The expression levels of AFP, exosomes and miRNAs (miRNA-10b, miRNA-21, miRNA-122 and miRNA-200a) were detected in both tissue and blood samples from those six stages. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to evaluate the power of each parameter and their different combinations in diagnosing HCC or cirrhosis. RESULTS: A change in the expression of both exosomes and miRNAs was observed during cirrhosis, which in contrast with AFP starts showing up until the early HCC stage. Interestingly, the expressions of exosomes and the selected four miRNAs at early HCC stage obtained more remarkably alterations than the level of AFP (P < 0.05). On correlation analysis, four selected miRNAs had a significant closer relationship with exosomes when compared with AFP. The different combinations of AFP, exosomes, serous miRNAs and exosomal miRNAs had stronger power in predicting HCC than AFP (area under the curve of ROC, 0.943 vs 0.826). CONCLUSION: To conclude, the combination of circulating miRNAs and exosomes might serve as promising biomarkers for non-virus infected HCC screening and cirrhosis discrimination.

Abdominal paracentesis drainage ahead of percutaneous catheter drainage benefits patients attacked by acute pancreatitis with fluid collections: a retrospective clinical cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: The efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided abdominal paracentesis drainage ahead of percutaneous catheter drainage as the new second step of a step-up approach are evaluated. DESIGN: The observed parameters were compared between groups including mortality, infection, organ failure, inflammatory factor levels, indexes of further interventions, and drainage-related complications. PATIENTS: This retrospective study included 102 consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis from June 2009 to June 2011. INTERVENTIONS: In this step-up approach, all patients subsequently received medical management, percutaneous catheter drainage (with or without previous abdominal paracentesis drainage), and necrosectomy if necessary according to indications. The patients were divided into two groups: 53 cases underwent abdominal paracentesis drainage followed by percutaneous catheter drainage (abdominal paracentesis drainage + percutaneous catheter drainage group) and 49 cases were managed only with percutaneous catheter drainage (percutaneous catheter drainage-alone group). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The demographic data and severity scores of the two groups were comparable. The mortality rate was lower in the abdominal paracentesis drainage + percutaneous catheter drainage group (0%) than the percutaneous catheter drainage-alone group (8.2%) (p = 0.050). Compared with the percutaneous catheter drainage-alone group, the laboratory variables of the abdominal paracentesis drainage + percutaneous catheter drainage group decreased more rapidly, the mean number of failed organs was lower, and the interval from the onset of disease to further interventions was much longer. However, there was no significant difference in the prevalence and duration of infections between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Application of abdominal paracentesis drainage ahead of percutaneous catheter drainage is safe and beneficial to patients by reducing inflammatory factors, postponing further interventions, and delaying or avoiding multiple organ failure.

The multiple functional roles of mesenchymal stem cells in participating in treating liver diseases.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a group of stem cells derived from the mesodermal mesenchyme. MSCs can be obtained from a variety of tissues, including bone marrow, umbilical cord tissue, umbilical cord blood, peripheral blood and adipose tissue. Under certain conditions, MSCs can differentiate into many cell types both in vitro and in vivo, including hepatocytes. To date, four main strategies have been developed to induce the transdifferentiation of MSCs into hepatocytes: addition of chemical compounds and cytokines, genetic modification, adjustment of the micro-environment and alteration of the physical parameters used for culturing MSCs. Although the phenomenon of transdifferentiation of MSCs into hepatocytes has been described, the detailed mechanism is far from clear. Generally, the mechanism is a cascade reaction whereby stimulating factors activate cellular signalling pathways, which in turn promote the production of transcription factors, leading to hepatic gene expression. Because MSCs can give rise to hepatocytes, they are promising to be used as a new treatment for liver dysfunction or as a bridge to liver transplantation. Numerous studies have confirmed the therapeutic effects of MSCs on hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis and other liver diseases, which may be related to the differentiation of MSCs into functional hepatocytes. In addition to transdifferentiation into hepatocytes, when MSCs are used to treat liver disease, they may also inhibit hepatocellular apoptosis and secrete various bioactive molecules to promote liver regeneration. In this review, the capacity and molecular mechanism of MSC transdifferentiation, and the therapeutic effects of MSCs on liver diseases are thoroughly discussed.

[A meta-analysis on acupuncture treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect and safety of acupuncture treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by using systematic review in view of evidence-based medicine (EBM). METHODS: Original articles about acupuncture treatment of PCOS published from the database-established year to November of 2013 were searched from the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chongqing VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP), Chinese Biomedical Library (CBM), Wanfang Data, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library and the associated references-indicated papers by using keywords of polycystic ovary syndrome, randomization, acupoint, acupuncture, acupuncture plus moxibustion, acupuncture plus acupoint-embedment of catgut, and acupuncture plus otopoint application. Those articles about treatment of PCOS with simple abdominal acupuncture, simple acupoint-embedment of catgut, simple otopoint-pellet-pressure, and simple moxibustion treatment, and simple abstracts were excluded. If the articles re-published in both Chinese and English and in academic conferences and journals, one of them with higher quality was included. Two independent reviewers extracted data from located articles in a pre-defined structured way, and the Meta-analysis was conducted using software RevMan 5.2, otherwise using the qualitative analysis. RESULTS: A total of 31 articles (28 in Chinese, 3 in English) containing 2,321 cases of PCOS patients met the included criteria. Meta-analysis showed that the clinical efficacy of simple acupuncture was the same as that of western medicine, and the efficacy of acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine interventions was obviously higher than that of western medicine (P < 0.05). In addition, simple acupuncture intervention and acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicines or with moxibustion treatment have advantages in reducing serum luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone (LH/FSH), insulin resistance (IR), testosterone (T), and body mass index (BMI). However, the quality of the collected articles is generally lower due to unclear bias, no sample quantity estimation, incorrect randomization methods, no follow-up survey, etc. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture therapy may be effective for PCOS, but needs to be confirmed further by larger sample randomized controlled trials.

Unbalanced distribution of materials: the art of giving rise to hepatocytes from liver stem/progenitor cells.

Liver stem/progenitor cells (LSPCs) are able to duplicate themselves and differentiate into each type of cells in the liver, including mature hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. Understanding how to accurately control the hepatic differentiation of LSPCs is a challenge in many fields from preclinical to clinical treatments. This review summarizes the recent advances made to control the hepatic differentiation of LSPCs over the last few decades. The hepatic differentiation of LSPCs is a gradual process consisting of three main steps: initiation, progression and accomplishment. The unbalanced distribution of the affecting materials in each step results in the hepatic maturation of LSPCs. As the innovative and creative works for generating hepatocytes with full functions from LSPCs are gradually accumulated, LSPC therapies will soon be a new choice for treating liver diseases.

Stages based molecular mechanisms for generating cholangiocytes from liver stem/progenitor cells.

Except for the most organized mature hepatocytes, liver stem/progenitor cells (LSPCs) can differentiate into many other types of cells in the liver including cholangiocytes. In addition, LSPCs are demonstrated to be able to give birth to other kinds of extra-hepatic cell types such as insulin-producing cells. Even more, under some bad conditions, these LSPCs could generate liver cancer stem like cells (LCSCs) through malignant transformation. In this review, we mainly concentrate on the molecular mechanisms for controlling cell fates of LSPCs, especially differentiation of cholangiocytes, insulin-producing cells and LCSCs. First of all, to certificate the cell fates of LSPCs, the following three features need to be taken into account to perform accurate phenotyping: (1) morphological properties; (2) specific markers; and (3) functional assessment including in vivo transplantation. Secondly, to promote LSPCs differentiation, systematical attention should be paid to inductive materials (such as growth factors and chemical stimulators), progressive materials including intracellular and extracellular signaling pathways, and implementary materials (such as liver enriched transcriptive factors). Accordingly, some recommendations were proposed to standardize, optimize, and enrich the effective production of cholangiocyte-like cells out of LSPCs. At the end, the potential regulating mechanisms for generation of cholangiocytes by LSPCs were carefully analyzed. The differentiation of LSPCs is a gradually progressing process, which consists of three main steps: initiation, progression and accomplishment. It's the unbalanced distribution of affecting materials in each step decides the cell fates of LSPCs.

Gender disparity in early death after ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Females with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have a higher risk of adverse outcomes because of receiving less evidence-based medical care. Our aim was to investigate the gender disparity in early death after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the current era. METHODS: A total of 1429 consecutive patients with STEMI in the Liaoning district were analyzed. We compared hospital care and cardiac event data by sex for in-patients with acute STEMI within 24 hours of symptom onset. RESULTS: In the emergency reperfusion group (n = 754), in-hospital mortality occurred in 4.2% of the males and 11.2% of the females (P = 0.001). In the non-emergency reperfusion group (n = 675), in-hospital mortality occurred in 13.0% of the males and 22.9% of the females (P = 0.001). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed female sex as an independent risk factor of death for STEMI patients during hospitalization (OR = 1.691, P = 0.007). After controlling for patients who died within 24 hr after admission, female sex was no longer an independent risk factor (OR = 1.409, P = 0.259). CONCLUSION: Female sex was an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality of STEMI patients, which is explained by an excess of very early deaths.

Effect of high-dose rosuvastatin loading before percutaneous coronary intervention in female patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Early loading statin therapy before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with reduced mortality and periprocedural myocardial injury. The aim of this study was to study the effect of rosuvastatin loading therapy before PCI in female patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS). METHODS: Consecutive 117 female patients with NSTEACS were randomly assigned to either the group of rosuvastatin loading before PCI (20 mg 12 hours before angioplasty procedure, with a further 10 mg dose 2 hours before procedure, the loading dose group, n = 59) or the no rosuvastatin treatment group before PCI (control group, n = 58). Periprocedural myocardial injury, periprocedural changes of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a in serum and the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) 3 months and 6 months later were assessed. RESULTS: The incidence of periprocedural myocardial injury was higher in control group than loading dose group (CKMB: 10.17% vs. 25.86%, P = 0.027; Troponin I: 11.86% vs. 29.31%, P = 0.019). MACE occurred in 1.69% of patients in loading dose group and 12.07% of those in control group 3 months after procedure (P = 0.026), 3.39% vs. 17.24% at 6 months (P = 0.014). The levels of hs-CRP, IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-a in serum were not significantly different between the two groups before PCI, but after PCI they were significantly higher in control group. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose rosuvastatin loading before PCI significantly reduced periprocedural myocardial injury and periprocedural inflammation cytokines release and improved 3-month and 6-month clinical outcomes in female patients with NSTEACS who underwent PCI.

Prospective multi-center study of female patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction in Liaoning province, China.

BACKGROUND: In cardiology, it is controversial whether gender influences prognosis after acute myocardial infarction (MI). We examined the 30-day and 1-year prognosis for female patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in Liaoning province, and we analyzed factors that influenced these outcomes. METHODS: This was a prospective, multicenter, observational study in which patient data were collected by questionnaire at the time of diagnosis and at approximately 30 days and 1 year later by telephone inquiries. Patients were diagnosed with STEMI between June 1, 2009 and June 1, 2010 at any of the 20 hospitals that gave treatment representative of current STEMI treatment in Liaoning Province. Unified follow-up questionnaire was used to visit the STEMI patients. RESULTS: We analyzed data from a total of 1429 consecutive patients with STEMI in Liaoning province. Female patients were older (70.0 vs. 60.3, P < 0.001) and were less likely to receive emergency reperfusion therapy than male ones (39.2% vs. 58.0%, P < 0.001). Female gender was associated with higher unadjusted 30-day mortality rates (HR = 2.118, 95%CI: 1.572 - 2.854, P < 0.001) and higher unadjusted 1-year mortality rates (HR = 2.174, 95%CI: 1.659 - 2.848, P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that female gender was not an independent predictor of 30-day mortality rates (HR = 1.273, 95%CI: 0.929 - 1.745, P = 0.133) nor of 1-year mortality rates (HR = 1.112, 95%CI: 0.831 - 1.487, P = 0.475). CONCLUSIONS: Women with STEMI appear to be at increased risk of 30-day and 1-year mortality compared with male STEMI patients, but this difference may be explained by older age and less frequent receipt of reperfusion therapy among the women.

[The role of gender difference on the prognosis of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyze the impact of gender difference on outcome and prognosis of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: This was a prospective and multicentered observation study. All the patients with acute STEMI admitted to the hospitals from June 1(st) 2009 to June 1(st) 2010 were continuously recruited. In this study, a unified questionnaire was applied and the 382 patients satisfied the criteria. A unified follow-up questionnaire was used on patients who were discharged from the hospital. RESULTS: On average, the female patients were 8 years older than the males. The median "symptom-to-balloon time" was 312.5 minutes in females and 270.0 minutes in males, and it was significantly different (P = 0.007). During hospitalization, a higher proportion of female patients developed heart failure, angina and bleeding. No gender differences were found on the in-hospital mortality rates and medical therapy recommended by the guideline. The female patients were more prone to multi-vessel disease than males (P = 0.002). Success rates of primary PCI did not show any gender differences. One-month mortality and other cardiovascular events also did not show gender difference when the patients were followed for one month after being discharged. The rates of heart failure and re-hospitalization due to cardiac incidents among female patients were obviously higher than the males, three months after being discharged (P = 0.007, respectively). However, the three-month and long-term cardiac mortality did not show differences related to gender. Female patients were associated with higher all-cause mortality than that in males, but there was no statistically significant difference (female 4.2% vs. male 1.6%; P = 0.056). Data from multi-factor regression analysis showed that being female was not an independent predictor related to in-hospital mortality or during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Being female was not an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality or during follow-up period among patients who were treated with primary PCI. Worse long-term outcome seen in female patients was likely to be explained by older age or longer pre-hospital delayed time.