Quantitative interpretation of utterances and movements from videoed interactions between rheumatology nurses and patients commencing methotrexate: a pilot study

Clinical Rheumatology - Educating patients about methotrexate is a core role of rheumatology nurses. We have previously reported the scoring of videoed interviews of rheumatology nurses educating...     

血清维生素D水平对维持性血液透析患者下肢肌力减退的预测作用

目的探讨维持性血液透析(MHD)患者血清维生素D水平对下肢肌力减退的预测作用。 方法横断面研究设计，选择2018年9月至10月于战略支援部队特色医学中心血液净化中心的95例MHD患者，检测其血清25-羟维生素D₃[25(OH)D₃]水平，采用5次站立-坐下实验(5-STS)评价其下肢肌力。根据5-STS完成时间将MHD患者分为下肢肌力正常组(n＝85)与减退组(n＝10)，比较两组患者人口学特征、实验室指标。采用多因素Logistic回归分析下肢肌力减退的影响因素，绘制受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线分析上述因素预测MHD患者发生下肢肌力减退的特异度和敏感度。 结果95例MHD患者血清25(OH)D₃水平为11.00~99.50 nmol/L，中位数31.23(19.90~43.30)nmol/L；5-STS完成时间为3.55 s~18.71 s，中位数9.81(7.12，12.43)s，下肢肌力减退者10例(10.53%)。多因素Logistic回归分析显示，血清25(OH)D₃是MHD患者下肢肌力减退的保护性因素[OR＝0.761，95%CI(0.592~0.978)，P＝0.033]。进一步ROC曲线分析显示，25(OH)D₃对应的ROC曲线下面积为0.815，其预测MHD患者发生下肢肌力减退的敏感度为80.00%，特异度为80.00%。 结论MHD患者血清25(OH)D₃水平普遍较低，下肢肌力减退者更为明显；血清维生素D水平对MHD患者是否存在下肢肌力减退具有较好的预测价值。     

大黄附子汤对重症急性胰腺炎小鼠肠道微皱褶细胞变化的影响

目的研究大黄附子汤对重症急性胰腺炎(SAP)小鼠肠道微皱褶细胞(M细胞)变化的影响，为大黄附子汤临床防治SAP提供理论基础。 方法选取40只健康SPF级C57BL/6J雄性小鼠，随机分为4组(每组10只)：空白对照组、大黄附子汤对照组、SAP组、大黄附子汤治疗组，其中SAP组和大黄附子汤治疗组分别以3.5 g/kg剂量腹腔注射20% L-精氨酸，空白对照组和大黄附子汤对照组注射等剂量的等渗盐水；于造模后12、24、36 h，空白对照组和SAP组给予等渗盐水0.2 mL，大黄附子汤对照组和治疗组给予大黄附子汤0.2 mL灌肠，均于造模完成48 h后处死取材，使用ELISA检测血清淀粉酶、内毒素、IL-1β及TNF-α含量，取回肠及胰腺组织行HE染色、评分，免疫组化染色检测M细胞特异性蛋白GP2并评分。 结果(1)一般情况：对照组腹腔注射后小鼠一般情况好，精神状态良好，能正常进水，四肢活动自如，行动未受影响；SAP组小鼠腹腔注射后一般情况差，精神萎靡，反应迟钝，行动迟缓，呼吸急促，拱背收腹，饮水减少。(2)SAP组淀粉酶、内毒素、IL-1β及TNF-α水平较对照组明显升高(P<0.05)；与SAP组进行对比，大黄附子汤治疗组血清淀粉酶、内毒素、IL-1β及TNF-α水平出现显著下降(P<0.05)。(3)HE染色：SAP组胰腺及回肠组织坏死严重，可见大量白细胞浸润。大黄附子汤治疗组胰腺及回肠组织轻度坏死，可见少量中性粒细胞等白细胞浸润。(4)免疫组化染色：SAP组与对照组相比GP2表达降低(P<0.05)；相较于SAP组，大黄附子汤治疗组GP2的表达水平升高(P<0.05)。 结论大黄附子汤治疗可改善作为肠道免疫应答起始的M细胞数量与功能，增强肠道免疫应答，减轻肠免疫屏障损伤，减少内毒素入血，改善SAP症状。     

Experimental Substantiation of the Use of HIFU Technology in the Treatment of the Lower Limb Varicose Disease

Biomedical Engineering - We present here an experimental study demonstrating the action of noninvasive high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) on vein walls in the treatment of varicose disease....     

Reaction of Arterial and Venous Branches of the Broad Ligament of the Rat Uterus to Low-Intensity Red Laser Irradiation

Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine - Using the biomicroscopy method, we studied the reaction of arterial and venous vessels of the broad ligament of the uterus in outbred female rats to...     

CD19 + CD21lo/neg cells are increased in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The purpose of this study was to examine recirculating lymphocytes from SSc patients for potential biomarkers of interstitial lung disease (ILD). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from patients with SSc and healthy controls enrolled in the Vanderbilt University Myositis and Scleroderma Treatment Initiative Center cohort between 9/2017–6/2019. Clinical phenotyping was performed by chart abstraction. Immunophenotyping was performed using both mass cytometry and fluorescence cytometry combined with t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding analysis and traditional biaxial gating. This study included 34 patients with SSc-ILD, 14 patients without SSc-ILD, and 25 healthy controls. CD21^lo/neg cells are significantly increased in SSc-ILD but not in SSc without ILD (15.4 ± 13.3% vs. 5.8 ± 0.9%, p = 0.002) or healthy controls (5.0 ± 0.5%, p < 0.0001). While CD21^lo/neg B cells can be identified from a single biaxial gate, tSNE analysis reveals that the biaxial gate is comprised of multiple distinct subsets, all of which are increased in SSc-ILD. CD21^lo/neg cells in both healthy controls and SSc-ILD are predominantly tBET positive and do not have intracellular CD21. Immunohistochemistry staining demonstrated that CD21^lo/neg B cells diffusely infiltrate the lung parenchyma of an SSc-ILD patient. Additional work is needed to validate this biomarker in larger cohorts and longitudinal studies and to understand the role of these cells in SSc-ILD.

     

A contemporary systematic review on liver transplantation for unresectable liver metastases of colorectal cancer

The 5-year overall survival rate of a patient with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer is poor at approximately 14%. Similarly, historical data on liver transplantation (LT) in those with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) showed poor outcomes, with 5-year survival rates between 12% and 21%. More recently, limited data have shown improved outcomes in select patients with 5-year overall survival rates of approximately 60%. Despite these reported survival improvements, there is no significant improvement in disease-free survival. Given the uncertain benefit with this therapeutic approach and a renewed investigational interest, we aimed to conduct a contemporary systematic review on LT for CRLM. A systematic review of the literature was performed according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis statement. English articles reporting on data regarding LT for CRLM were identified through the MEDLINE (via PubMed), Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases (last search date: December 16th, 2021) by 2 researchers independently. A total of 58 studies (45 published and 13 ongoing) were included. Although early retrospective studies suggest the possibility that some carefully selected patients may benefit from LT, there is minimal prospective data on the topic and LT remains exploratory in the setting of CRLM. Additionally, several other challenges, such as the limited availability of deceased donor organs and defining appropriate selection criteria, remain when considering the implementation of LT for these patients. Further evidence from ongoing prospective trials is needed to determine if and to what extent there is a role for LT in patients with surgically unresectable CRLM.