Acute coronary syndrome following arteriovenous fistula creation in a post CABG patient: A steal phenomenon from coronary artery to subclavian artery

A 70‐year‐old man with a history of coronary artery bypass grafting 15 years back and arteriovenous (AV) fistula creation in the left arm 1 month back presented with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). He had not received dialysis before his referral. We felt the most likely etiology for these complaints was increased cardiac oxygen demand from an increased cardiac output related to the newly formed left AV fistula. Coronary angiography was done to detect any significant stenosis in the native or grafted vessels. This revealed that the left subclavian artery was totally occluded in the ostioproximal segment and the coronary arteries did not have occlusions to explain the ACS setting. CT angiography confirmed the angiographic findings of the totally occluded left subclavian artery followed by a well‐developed and patent left internal mammary artery to left anterior descending artery. This led to the consideration of a steal syndrome from the coronary artery by the subclavian artery distal to the occlusion. A successful percutaneous endovascular intervention on the left subclavian artery occlusion was performed. Subsequently, the patient became asymptomatic and experienced a dramatic increase in left ventricular ejection fraction.     

Extracellular vesicles: Their emerging roles in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases

Alveoli are the basic structure of the lungs, consisting of various types of parenchymal and bone marrow-derived cells including alveolar macrophages. These various types of cells have several important functions; thus, communication between these cells plays an important role in homeostasis as well as in the pathophysiology of diseases in the lungs. For a better understanding of the pathophysiology of lung diseases, researchers have isolated each type of lung cell to investigate the changes in their gene expressions, including their humoral factor or adhesion molecules, to reveal the intercellular communication among these cells. In particular, investigations during the past decade have focused on extracellular vesicles, which are lipid bilayer delimited vesicles released from a cell that can move among various cells and transfer substances, including microRNAs, mRNAs and proteins, thus, functioning as intercellular messengers. Extracellular vesicles can be classified into three general groups: apoptotic bodies, exosomes, and microparticles. Extracellular vesicles, especially exosomes and microparticles, are attracting increasing attention from pulmonologists as tools for understanding pathogenesis and disease diagnosis. Here, we review studies, including our own, on exosomes and microparticles and their roles in both lung homeostasis and the pathogenesis of lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive lung diseases, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. This review also addresses the roles of extracellular vesicles in COVID-19, the current global public health crisis.     

Myocardial deformation assessment in patients with precapillary pulmonary hypertension: A cardiac magnetic resonance study

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate right atrial and ventricular strain parameters on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) and whether they can aid in the assessment of PPH prognosis.Materials and methodsAdult patients with groups 1 and 4 PPH were invited to participate in the study. Age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were also recruited as controls. At baseline, patients underwent clinical examination, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide measurement and CMR with feature tracking post-processing (CMR-FT). Healthy controls underwent only CMR-FT. The study's primary endpoint was clinical failure, defined as death, hospitalization or demonstrable clinical deterioration during follow-up. Patients who were unable to perform 6-minute walking test due to musculoskeletal disorders were excluded from the study.ResultsThirty-six patients (8 men, 28 women; mean age, 50.6 ± 13.8 [SD] years [range: 18.6–78.5 years]) and 12 healthy control subjects (5 mean, 7 women; mean age, 40.6 ± 13.5 [SD] years [range: 23.1–64.4 years]) were recruited. Right ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) was significantly impaired in PPH patients (?20.2 ± 5.3 [SD] % [range: ?28.8 to ?9.1%] vs. ?28.4 ± 3.1% [?33.7 to ?22.7%] respectively, P < 0.001). The right atrial GLS was significantly impaired in PPH compared to healthy controls (?19.9 ± 4.5% [range: ?28.6 to ?3.6%] vs. ?26.5 ± 4.2% [range: ?32.8 to ?15.8%] respectively) (P < 0.001). Clinical failure occurred in 19 (19/36, 53%) of patients. Right ventricular GLS predicted clinical failure most reliably among CMR parameters (?22.6 ± 3.8 [SD] % [range: ?27.6 to ?12.7%] for patients without clinical failure vs. ?18 ± 5.6 [SD] % [range: ?28.8 to ?9.1%] for patients with clinical failure; hazard ratio [HR] = 1.85; P = 0.007; area under the AUC curve = 0.75). Lower absolute right atrial GLS was significantly associated with clinical failure (?22.7 ± 3.0 [SD] % [range: ?28.6 to ?17.7%] for patients without clinical failure vs. ?16.9 ± 5.8 [SD] % [range: ?24.2 to ?3.6%] for patients with clinical failure) (HR = 1.53; P = 0.035).ConclusionCMR feature tracking-derived myocardial strain parameters of both the right atrium and ventricle can assist clinicians in the prognosis of PPH.     

Inhibition of autophagy enhances apoptosis induced by bortezomib in AML cells

Bortezomib is a novel proteasome inhibitor, which has been successfully used to treat mantle cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma. However, the direct effects of bortezomib on acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) have not been fully investigated. In the present study, the WST-8 assay, western blotting, flow cytometry, monodansylcadaverine staining and transmission electron microscopy were performed. It was demonstrated that bortezomib treatment induced a time- and dose-dependent decrease in the viability of NB4 cells. Bortezomib treatment induced cell apoptosis in NB4 cells, as assessed by Annexin V/propidium iodide analysis, and the detection of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, Bax and Bcl-2 expression. Furthermore, bortezomib treatment induced autophagy in NB4 cells, as indicated by autophagosome formation, p62 degradation, LC3-I to LC3-II conversion and formation of acidic autophagic vacuoles. Notably, autophagy induced by bortezomib was initiated prior to apoptosis. Inhibition of autophagy by knocking down Beclin-1 expression increased bortezomib-induced apoptosis in NB4 cells. Therefore, the present study revealed that the combination of bortezomib and autophagy inhibition may be a potential treatment strategy for APL.     

慢性阻塞性肺疾病合并侵袭性肺曲霉菌病的临床分析

目的探析慢性阻塞性肺疾病合并侵袭性肺曲霉菌病患者的临床特点。方法对医院2018年2月—2019年12月间收治的慢性阻塞性肺疾病合并侵袭性肺曲霉菌病患者24例相关临床数据进行回顾性分析,归纳此类患者的临床特点,以期为以后收治此类患者在诊疗上提供可参考数据。结果慢性阻塞性肺疾病合并侵袭性肺曲霉菌病患者典型临床症状为肺部罗音、呼吸障碍、胸痛、咳嗽咳痰、发热。影像学检查后典型表现为肺部炎性渗出、空洞、结节、实变。经过积极治疗后有8例患者判定为治疗有效。结论收治慢性阻塞性肺疾病合并侵袭性肺曲霉菌病患者应该做到早期阶段准确诊断,积极治疗,是保障预后的重点。     

刍议清络法论治特发性肺纤维化急性发作＊

本文通过对特发性肺纤维化急性发作病因病机的分析，认为其病因为外邪或内伤引动肺络虚火，从阳化热，病机为“肺热”、“络瘀”；并结合其病因病机，探究归纳《温病条辨》中清络法和中药复方清络饮在论治特发性肺纤维化急性发作时的理论基础，为临床中论治特发性肺纤维化急性发作，改善患者症状提供新方法，为肺络病证治体系构建及应用提供新思路。     

Chinese herbal injections combined with rt-PA intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Background:Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is an important factor leading to adult death and disability globally. For AIS patients who meet certain conditions, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) intravenous thrombolysis is an important method recommended by national guidelines to achieve vascular recanalization. However, complications such as hemorrhagic transformation and vascular reocclusion after thrombolysis are still unsolved problems in clinical. Several systematic reviews of clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the past have shown that Chinese herbal injections (CHIs) can improve the neurological function of patients, increase the tolerance of ischemic tissues to hypoxia, and inhibit platelet aggregation. Therefore, this study conducted a meta-analysis of AIS treatment with intravenous thrombolysis alone and compared it with the combined application of CHIs. To evaluate whether CHIs have a synergistic effect on thrombolytic therapy and provide a basis for clinical application.Methods:The following databases will be searched until September 2020: ①English databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase; ②Chinese databases: CNKI, Wanfang database, Weipu database, SinoMed. RCTs will be included to compare the efficacy of thrombolysis combined with CHIs and thrombolysis alone in the treatment of AIS. Data extraction and risk of bias assessments will be carried out by 2 verifiers independently. The risk of bias will be evaluated through the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Review Manager software 5.3 will be used for statistical analysis.Results:This study will provide comprehensive evidence for the treatment of AIS by CHIs combined with intravenous thrombolysis from multiple aspects.Conclusion:The conclusion of the meta-analysis will provide a basis for judging whether CHIs combined with intravenous thrombolysis is an effective measure for the treatment of AIS.Ethics and dissemination:Ethical approval is not needed because this study will be based on data that already published. We will publish the findings of this study in a peer-reviewed journal and related conferences.PROSPERO registration number:CRD42020215546.     

Renal AAV2-Mediated Overexpression of Long Non-Coding RNA H19 Attenuates Ischemic Acute Kidney Injury Through Sponging of microRNA-30a-5p

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膳食炎症指数与炎症的相关性及研究进展

膳食炎症指数(DII)来源于将饮食和炎症联系起来的文献,被开发用来量化饮食的整体炎症潜能。饮食在调节慢性炎症中起着核心作用,是重要的调节因子,如果饮食的炎症潜能很高,则能够激发免疫调节作用,引起慢性炎症。DII可用于评估和指导个人饮食计划。本研究收集国外相关文献,就DII与炎症之间的相关性予以综述,以期通过减少饮食中的炎性成分而对慢性炎症引起的相关疾病进行一级预防。