Epinephrine injection therapy versus a combination of epinepnrine injection and endoscopic hemoclip in the treatment of bleeding ulcers

AIM: To assess the efficacy of hemoclip application in combination with epinephrine injection in the treatment of bleeding peptic ulcers and to compare the clinical outcomes between patients treated with such a combination therapy and those treated with epinephrine injection alone. METHODS: A total of 293 patients (211 males, 82 females) underwent endoscopic therapy for bleeding peptic ulcers. Of these, 202 patients (152 males, 50 females) received epinephrine injection therapy while 91 patients (59 males, 32 females) received combination therapy. The choice of endoscopic therapy was made by the endoscopist. Hemostatic rates, rebleeding rates, need for emergency surgery and 30-d mortality were the outcome measures studied. RESULTS: Patients who received combination therapy were significantly older (mean age 66±16 years, range 24-90 years) and more suffered from chronic renal failure compared to those who received epinephrine injection therapy alone (mean age 61±17 years, range 21-89 years). Failure to achieve permanent hemostasis was 4% in the group who received epinephrine injection alone and 11% in the group who received combination therapy. When the differences in age and renal function between the two treatment groups were taken into account by multivariate analysis, the rates of initial hemostasis, rebleeding rates, need for surgery and 30-d mortality for both treatment options were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Combination therapy of epinephrine injection with endoscopic hemoclip application is an effective method of achieving hemostasis in bleeding peptic ulcer diseases. However, superiority of combination therapy over epinephrine injection alone, could not be demonstrated.     

Endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor in rat pancreas: genetic expression and testosterone regulation

Endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF) is an endothelial cell mitogen, expressed essentially in steroidogenic cells. Recently, the expression of EG-VEGF in normal human pancreas and pancreatic adenocarcinoma has been demonstrated. Epidemiologically, pancreatic carcinogenesis is more frequent in males than females, and given that androgen receptors and testosterone biotransformation have been described in pancreas, we hypothesized that testosterone could participate in the regulation of EG-VEGF expression. In this study, we investigated the regulation of EG-VEGF gene expression by testosterone in normal rat pancreatic tissue and rat insulinoma cells (RINm5F). Total RNA was extracted from rat pancreas and cultured cells. Gene expression was studied by real-time PCR and protein detection by immunohistochemistry. Serum testosterone was quantified by RIA. Results showed that EG-VEGF is expressed predominantly in pancreatic islets and vascular endothelium, as well as in RINm5F cells. EG-VEGF gene expression was lower in the pancreas of rats with higher testosterone serum levels. A similar effect that was reverted by flutamide was observed in testosterone-treated RINm5F cells. In summary, testosterone down-regulated EG-VEGF gene expression in rat pancreatic tissue and RINm5F cells. This effect could be mediated by the androgen receptor. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a direct effect of testosterone on EG-VEGF gene expression in rat pancreas and RINm5F cells is demonstrated.     

Reversal of B-cell hyperactivation and functional impairment is associated with HBsAg seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B patients

B cells play an important role in the clearance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and protection against reinfection. However, the functional characteristics of these cells that are associated with the outcome of chronic HBV infection remain unknown. We comprehensively investigated the frequency, phenotype, and function of peripheral B-cell subsets from CHB patients in different phases: immune tolerance (IT), immune activation (IA), immune clearance (IC), responders with HBsAg seroconversion (resolved patients, RP), and healthy controls (HC). IA patients displayed lower percentages of peripheral blood memory B cells compared with the other groups. Overall polyclonal activation of B cells, indicated by higher levels of activation markers and secretion of IgG and IgM, was observed in IA patients. This B-cell hyperactivation could be induced by increased IFN-α and soluble CD40 ligands in IA patients. Notably, the expression of the co-stimulator molecule CD80 and serum HBsAb and the frequency of HBsAg-specific B cells were significantly decreased in IT, IA, and IC patients compared with HC subjects. More importantly, the B-cell hyperactivation, co-stimulatory molecule downregulation and HBsAg-specific B-cell impairment were reversed in RP patients. The reversal of B-cell hyperactivation and functional impairment is associated with HBsAg seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B patients.     

氢质子核磁波谱对儿童热性惊厥脑异常检出和预后评估的价值分析

目的探讨氢质子核磁波谱（H1-MRS）检查对儿童热性惊厥（FS）的脑实质异常的检测效率,及其用于预测临床预后的价值。 方法选择中山市人民医院普通儿科自2017年3月至2018年5月收治的38例FS患儿作为研究对象,所有患儿均进行颅脑MRI及H1-MRS检查,比较MRI和H1-MRS检查对FS患儿颅内异常检出效率差异。根据H1-MRS结果计算代谢物质氮-乙酰天门冬氨酸（NAA）/[肌酸（Cr）+磷酸肌酸（Cho）]、NAA/Cr、NAA/Cho值,然后根据患儿出现临床不良预后情况分为有不良临床预后组和无不良临床预后组,比较2组患儿间NAA/（Cr+Cho）、NAA/Cr、NAA/Cho值差异,并分析其对预后的评估价值。 结果38例FS患儿中,MRI检出颅脑异常情况有23例,H1-MRS检出颅脑异常情况有32例,异常情况检出率比较差异具有统计学意义（χ²=5.330,P=0.021）。13例FS患儿出现不良临床预后,有不良临床预后组患儿中表现为复杂型的比率高于无不良临床预后组,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。有不良临床预后组患儿的NAA/（Cr+Cho）、NAA/Cr、NAA/Cho值均小于无不良临床预后组,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。绘制NAA/（Cr+Cho）、NAA/Cr、NAA/Cho值对预测不良临床预后ROC曲线,其相应的曲线下面积分别为0.848、0.774、0.797。 结论H1-MRS检查对FS患儿脑实质异常的检出率高于MRI检查,且H1-MRS结果计算所得的NAA/（Cr+Cho）、NAA/Cr、NAA/Cho值在FS患儿中显著降低,其中,NAA/（Cr+Cho）值对患儿的预后具有较好的预测价值。     

Carers’ concern for older people falling at home: an integrative review

Falls, the leading cause of injury and death among older people, can have a significant psychosocial impact on carers. Carers play a crucial role in caring for older persons at home and in fall prevention. This review, which included 15 studies, aimed to identify carers’ concern about older people falling and its impact. We identified that most carers had concerns about repeated falls in older people, unknown consequences of falls and care recipients’ non-adherence to fall prevention advice. These concerns, in turn, affect carers’ physical and psychological health, lifestyle, caregiving burden and use of fall prevention strategies. This paper highlights the importance of recognising carers’ fall concern so as to identify carers’ needs and awareness of fall prevention in older people living at home. Greater insight into carers’ fall concern could facilitate the implementation of new strategies to manage older people’s fall risk as well as improve carers’ well-being.