长效干扰素联合利巴韦林治疗慢性丙型肝炎患者疗效及其对静息能量消耗和营养状态的影响*

目的 探讨应用长效α-干扰素联合利巴韦林治疗慢性丙型肝炎(CHC)患者疗效及静息能量消耗和营养状态的变化。方法 2017年4月～2019年4月我院收治的CHC患者48例,采用随机数字表法分为观察组24例和对照组24例,分别给予聚乙二醇干扰素α-2a(peg-IFNα-2a)和利巴韦林治疗或干扰素α-2a(IFNα-2a)联合利巴韦林治疗48 w。测量静息能量消耗(REE)和预测静息能量消耗(pREE),常规检测血清前白蛋白(PA)和白蛋白(ALB)水平,计算体质指数(BMI)。结果 在治疗48 w结束和随访6 m时,观察组完全应答率分别为62.5%和54.2%,显著高于对照组的37.5%和29.2%,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);在观察组,用药前REE和pREE分别为(1504.6±481.5)kcal/d和(1432.3±229.3)kcal/d,在治疗结束时显著增加至(1822.1±546.7)kcal/d和(1241.8±208.6)kcal/d,对照组用药前REE和pREE分别为(1505.2±482.1)kcal/d和(1433.5±231.2)kcal/d,在治疗结束时,显著增加至(1824.4±547.6)kcal/d和(1243.1±208.8)kcal/d, 但两组之间REE和pREE变化无显著性差异(P>0.05);治疗前,观察组BMI及血清PA和ALB水平分别为(19.2±2.0)kg/m²、(161.5±45.2)mg/L和(38.4±4.2)g/L,在治疗结束时分别降为(17.1±1.5)kg/m²、(135.8±40.2)mg/L和(34.2±3.2)g/L,治疗前对照组BMI及血清PA和ALB水平分别为(19.3±2.1)kg/m²、(161.3±45.0)mg/L和(38.5±4.4)g/L,在治疗结束时分别降为(17.2±1.5)kg/m²、(136.3±40.2)mg/L和(34.2±3.1)g/L,但两组之间这些指标的变化无显著性差异(P>0.05)。结论 相对于IFNα-2a与利巴韦林联合,应用peg-IFNα-2a与利巴韦林联合治疗CHC患者能够获得更好的治疗效果,但无论何种治疗方案,均增加了能量消耗,降低了体质量和血清白蛋白水平,提示标准方案抗病毒治疗的不良反应还是值得重视的。     

Clinical and Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound Characteristics of Epithelioid and Classic Hepatic Angiomyolipoma: Comparison With Alpha-fetoprotein–negative Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) comprises epithelioid angiomyolipoma (EAML) and classic hepatic angiomyolipoma (CAML). The imaging appearance of HAML varies widely, and EAML is more easily misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than as CAML. The clinical and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features of CAML, EAML and HCC with negative alpha-fetoprotein protein expression (HCC[AFP–]) were retrospectively reviewed. The hyper-vascular type was more commonly found in CAML and EAML lesions than in HCC lesions. Most lesions were hyper-enhanced in the arterial phase. CAMLs showed prolonged hyper-enhancement or iso-enhancement during the portal and late phases on CEUS, making them easily distinguishable from HCC(AFP–). Some EAML lesions (41.7%) were hypo-echoic, similar to HCC(AFP–). However, the hypo-enhancement of EAML lesions occurred later than that of HCC(AFP–) lesions. Thus, our findings may be useful in distinguishing among these lesions to improve diagnostic accuracy.     

Optimize the management of urological tube-related emergencies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

BackgroundTo introduce and determine the value of optimized strategies for the management of urological tube-related emergencies with increased incidence, complexity and operational risk during the global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).MethodsAll emergent urological patients at Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, during the period of January 23 (the beginning of lockdown in Wuhan) to March 23, 2020, and the corresponding period in 2019 were recruited to form this study’s COVID-19 group and control group, respectively. Tongji Hospital has the most concentrated and strongest Chinese medical teams to treat the largest number of severe COVID-19 patients. Patients in the control group were routinely treated, while patients in the COVID-19 group were managed following the optimized principles and strategies. The case incidence for each type of tube-related emergency was recorded. Baseline characteristics and management outcomes (surgery time, secondary complex operation rate, readmission rate, COVID-19 infection rate) were analyzed and compared across the control and COVID-19 periods.ResultsThe total emergent urological patients during the COVID-19 period was 42, whereas during the control period, it was 124. The incidence of tube-related emergencies increased from 53% to 88% (P<0.001) during the COVID-19 period. In particular, the incidence of nephrostomy tube-related (31% vs. 15%, P=0.027) and single-J stent-related problems (19% vs. 6%, P=0.009) increased significantly. The mean surgery times across the two periods were comparable. The number of secondary complex operations increased from 12 (18%) to 14 (38%) (P=0.028) during the COVID 19-period. The number of 2-week postoperative readmission decreased from 10 (15%) to 1 (3%) (P=0.049). No participants contracted during the COVID-19 period.ConclusionsUrological tube-related emergencies have been found to have a higher incidence and require more complicated and dangerous operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the optimized management strategies introduced in this study are efficient, and safe for both urologists and patients.     

Progress on ocular siRNA gene‐silencing therapy and drug delivery systems

Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma are global ocular diseases with high blindness rate. RNA interference (RNAi) is being increasingly used in the treatment of these disorders with siRNA drugs, bevasiranib, AGN211745 and PF‐04523655 for AMD, and SYL040012 and QPI‐1007 for glaucoma. Administration routes and vectors of gene drugs affect their therapeutic effect. Compared with the non‐viral vectors, viral vectors have limited payload capacity and potential immunogenicity. This review summarizes the progress of the ocular siRNA gene‐silencing therapy by focusing on siRNA drugs for AMD and glaucoma already used in clinical research, the main routes of drug delivery and the non‐viral vectors for siRNA drugs.     

KIF2A regulates ovarian development via modulating cell cycle progression and vitollogenin levels

The kinesin superfamily of proteins (KIFs) are microtubule motor proteins that use the hydrolysis of ATP to power directional movement along microtubules. KIFs induce microtubule depolymerization to regulate the length and dynamics of microtubules in a variety of cell processes and structures, including the mitotic and meiotic spindles and centriole and interphase microtubules. KIF plays a significant role in the transport of organelles, protein complexes and mRNAs. The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) is a major insect pest in rice paddy fields. Ovarian development is regulated by multiple factors, including endocrine factors. The role of KIFs in brown planthopper ovarian development remains unknown. We found that downregulation of KIF2A significantly compromised the development and eclosion of the brown planthopper, delayed ovarian cell cycle progression, disrupted ovarian development, reduced the expression of MCM genes required for DNA replication and significantly reduced the number of nuclei in the follicles. We also found a significant reduction in Vg mRNA and protein levels. We conclude that downregulation of KIF2A disrupts the cell cycle progression of cells. Alternatively, the ovarian phenotype could be an indirect effect of a compromised trophic cord. In summary, KIF2A regulates ovarian development via modulating cell cycle progression and/or vitollogenin transportation.     

The effectiveness of specialized nursing interventions for patients with Parkinson disease: A randomized controlled study protocol

Background:The purpose of this experiment is to evaluate the impact of the care of Parkinson disease nurse specialist on improving motor symptoms and life quality for patients with Parkinson disease (PD).Method:This is a randomized controlled research, and it will be conducted from April 2021 to October 2021 at Sichuan Provincial People''s Hospital. The experiment was granted through the Research Ethics Committee of Sichuan Provincial People''s Hospital (004510293). All the patients suffer from PD, age 18 years or older, both female and male, regardless of the duration or severity of this disease are eligible. The exclusion criteria contains: lack sufficient knowledge to complete questionnaires, serious physical comorbidities or refuse to take part in the program. In our experiment, the major result measures are motor symptoms and life quality. For the measurement of life quality, we will utilize Parkinson disease Questionnaire-39, the most extensively utilized the scale of life quality in PD. The evaluation of motor symptoms severity is carried out with the revision of Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale sponsored by Movement Disorder Society.Results:Table 1 indicates clinical outcomes at different time points.Conclusion:The Parkinson''s disease nurse specialist care may promote the life quality in the PD patients.Trial registration number:researchregistry 6284.     

The impact of dusk phenomenon on total glucose exposure in Chinese people with type 2 diabetes

This study was aimed at assessing the impact of the dusk phenomenon on the total glucose exposure in Chinese people with type 2 diabetes.A total of 380 type 2 diabetes who received a retrospective continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMs) for 72 hours were enrolled in our study, 32 of them failed in CGMs. The patients were first divided into 2 groups: dusk phenomenon (n = 95) and non dusk phenomenon group (n = 253). The magnitude of the dusk phenomenon (δDusk) was quantified by pre-dinner glucose minus post-lunch 2 hours glucose. A persistent δDusk ≥ 0 or a once only δDusk < 0 can be diagnosed with the dusk phenomenon. The participants were secondarily matched for the post-lunch 2 hours glucose to assess the impact of the dusk phenomenon on the overall glucose exposure. The impact of the dusk phenomenon was assessed on high-performance liquid chromatography assay (HbA1c) and 24-hour mean glucose.There were 95 of 348 (27.3%) participants with the dusk phenomenon in the overall population, and the median of δDusk level was –0.8 (–1.8, 0.2) mmol/L. The median of glucose differences between the 2 paired groups were 0.4 (–0.4, 1.0)% for HbA_1c, 0.9 (0.2, 1.4) mmol/L for 24 hours mean glucose. The correlation analysis showed no relationship between the magnitude of dawn phenomenon and the dusk phenomenon (r = 0.052, P = .472).The incidence of dusk phenomenon is about 27.3% in people with type 2 diabetes. The impacts of dusk phenomenon on HbA1c and 24-hour mean glucose were about 0.4% and 0.9 mmol/L and the dusk phenomenon was not related with the dawn phenomenon.