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Background: This study aimed to construct and characterize a humanized influenza mouse model expressing hST6GAL1., Methods: Humanized fragments, consisting of the endothelial cell-specific K18 promoter, human ST6GAL1-encoding gene, and luciferase gene, were microinjected into the fertilized eggs of mice. The manipulated embryos were transferred into the oviducts of pseudopregnant female mice. The offspring were identified using PCR. Mice exhibiting elevated expression of the hST6GAL1 gene were selectively bred for propagation, and in vivo analysis was performed for screening. Expression of the humanized gene was tested by performing immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Hematologic and biochemical analyses using the whole blood and serum of humanized hST6GAL1 mice were performed., Results: Successful integration of the human ST6GAL1 gene into the mouse genome led to the overexpression of human SiaT ST6GAL1. Seven mice were identified as carrying copies of the humanized gene, and the in vivo analysis indicated that hST6GAL1 gene expression in positive mice mirrored influenza virus infection characteristics. The IHC results revealed that hST6GAL1 was expressed in the lungs of humanized mice. Moreover, the hematologic and biochemical parameters of the positive mice were within the normal range., Conclusion: A humanized influenza mouse model expressing the hST6GAL1 gene was successfully established and characterized., (© 2024 The Author(s). Animal Models and Experimental Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences.)

Objectives: To investigate the positive detection rate and clinical application value of anti-parietal cell antibody (PCA), anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA), anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA), anti-gliadin antibody (AGA) and anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) in patients visiting the Department of Gastroenterology., Methods: From January 2015 to June 2018, 1,083 patients receiving detection of PCA and other autoantibodies were selected from the Department of Gastroenterology of Baoding First Central Hospital. The positive detection rate of autoantibodies was statistically analyzed. The enumeration data were expressed as rate or constituent ratio, and the rates were compared between groups using the x2 test., Results: Among the 1,083 patients, the positive detection rate of ANA, ASCA, AGA, PCA and ANCA was 33.52%, 16.71%, 15.51%, 13.66% and 7.66%, respectively. The total positive detection rate was 62.8% (n = 680)., Conclusion: The population with abdominal distension, chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea and other digestive system symptoms should be timely treated with combined detection of PCA, ANCA, ASCA, AGA and ANA, which is of important clinical application value for early diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases and prevention of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None., (Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.)

The ARISTOTLE trial showed a risk reduction of stroke/systemic embolism (SE) and major bleeding in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients treated with apixaban compared to warfarin. This retrospective study used four large US claims databases (MarketScan, PharMetrics, Optum, and Humana) of NVAF patients newly initiating apixaban or warfarin from January 1, 2013 to September 30, 2015. After 1:1 warfarin-apixaban propensity score matching (PSM) within each database, the resulting patient records were pooled. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the cumulative incidence and hazard ratios (HRs) of stroke/SE and major bleeding (identified using the first listed diagnosis of inpatient claims) within one year of therapy initiation. The study included a total of 76,940 (38,470 warfarin and 38,470 apixaban) patients. Among the 38,470 matched pairs, 14,563 were from MarketScan, 7,683 were from PharMetrics, 7,894 were from Optum, and 8,330 were from Humana. Baseline characteristics were balanced between the two cohorts with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 71 (12) years and a mean (SD) CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score of 3.2 (1.7). Apixaban initiators had a significantly lower risk of stroke/SE (HR: 0.67, 95 % CI: 0.59-0.76) and major bleeding (HR: 0.60, 95 % CI: 0.54-0.65) than warfarin initiators. Different types of stroke/SE and major bleeding - including ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, SE, intracranial haemorrhage, gastrointestinal bleeding, and other major bleeding - were all significantly lower for apixaban compared to warfarin treatment. Subgroup analyses (apixaban dosage, age strata, CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc or HAS-BLED score strata, or dataset source) all show consistently lower risks of stroke/SE and major bleeding associated with apixaban as compared to warfarin treatment. This is the largest "real-world" study on apixaban effectiveness and safety to date, showing that apixaban initiation was associated with significant risk reductions in stroke/SE and major bleeding compared to warfarin initiation after PSM. These benefits were consistent across various high-risk subgroups and both the standard- and low-dose apixaban dose regimens.

Background: There are no reports on a large-scale randomized trial exploring optimal dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) duration after biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stent implantation. We sought to report the outcomes of a randomized substudy of the prospective Evaluate Safety and Effectiveness of the Tivoli DES and the Firebird DES for Treatment of Coronary Revascularization (I-LOVE-IT 2) trial., Methods and Results: In the prospective noninferiority randomized I-LOVE-IT 2 trial, 1829 patients allocated to the biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stent group were also randomized to receive either 6-month (n=909) or 12-month DAPT (n=920). The primary end points of this noninferiority substudy were 12-month target lesion failure (composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction or clinically indicated target lesion revascularization), and the major secondary end points were 12-month net adverse clinical and cerebral events (composite of all-cause death, all myocardial infarction, stroke, or major bleeding [Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type ≥3]). The 12-month target lesion failure in 6-month DAPT group was comparable with the 12-month DAPT group (6.8% versus 5.9%; difference and 95% confidence interval, 0.87% [-1.37% to 3.11%], P for noninferiority=0.0065). Further follow-up at 18 months showed that incidence of target lesion failure and net adverse clinical and cerebral events were similar between the 2 groups (7.5% versus 6.3%, log-rank P=0.32; 7.8% versus 7.3%, log-rank P=0.60; respectively), as well as their individual end point components., Conclusions: This study indicated noninferiority in safety and efficacy of 6-month versus 12-month DAPT after implantation of a novel biodegradable polymer sirolimus-eluting stent., Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01681381., (© 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Unlabelled: Objective : This study aims to observe the risk factors of cardiovascular disease in patients after kidney transplantation., Methods: Total 102 patients after renal transplantation (group A) and 96 clinic examination cases (group B) were recruited. Blood pressure, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cr), blood glucose (GLU), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and apolipoprotein A-I ( apoA-I ) of the subjects were tested. These indexes were tested 3 times in group A in the 1, 2, and 3 month after kidney transplantation surgery. Electrocardiogram examination was done in the third month after kidney transplantation surgery., Results: There were significant differences in the incidence of hypertension, hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia between the two groups. After operation, the levels of BUN and Cr decreased significantly in 57 cases of group A without taking antihypertensive drugs (P<0.01). However, there was no significant difference in the blood pressure regardless of the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) before and after operation. In group A, the abnormal rate of ECG was 65%, the incidence of ST-T changes, prolongation of QT interval, left ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular high voltage increased significantly (P<0.01)., Conclusion: The incidence of coronary heart disease risk factors such as hypertension and hyperglycemia are high in patients after renal transplantation.

Background and Aim: To explore the expression and role of activating transcription factor 3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma., Methods: Immunohistochemistry, Western blot assay and Real-time PCR were used to evaluate activating transcription factor 3 protein and gene level in HCC clinical samples., Results: Activating transcription factor 3 expression is lowest in HCC, and the protein level is lower in patients with capsule invasion, while there is no association with other main clinical pathological features., Conclusions: Low expression of ATF3 may function as a tumor suppressor during human hepatocellular oncogenesis and targeting ATF3 pathway might be beneficial for anti-HCC therapy., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Objective: The judgment of coronary stenosis by 320-row dynamic volume CT (DVCT) and coronary angiography (CAG) is not entirely consistent. We compared them in this study., Methods: We studied 92 patients (265 lesions) with CAG and DVCT. According to the degree of matching in stenosis judgment, all lesions were divided into consistent group and inconsistent group. The position of lesions, the degree of bending, plaque morphology, and calcification proportion were analyzed., Results: There were 236 lesions in consistent group and 29 lesions in inconsistent group. In inconsistent group, there were more LCX lesions, distal lesions, ostial lesions and tortuous lesions than those in consistent group (P<0.05). At the same time, the proportion of nubbly type plaque, mixed plaque, nubbly and nodular type calcification in the main plaque in inconsistent group were higher than those in consistent group (P<0.05). The lesions in inconsistent group showed higher calcification load, such as higher segmental coronary calcium score, more calcification points and higher calcification proportion than those in consistent group (P<0.05)., Conclusion: When coronary lesion is in ostial, distal or tortuous position, and when the main plaque is nubbly type or with heavy calcification load, the judgment of stenosis by DVCT and CAG is more apt to inconsistent.

Background: Diagnosis of viral respiratory tract infections clinically is often nonspecific, and a rapid, high-throughput laboratory technique which can detect major respiratory viruses is desirable., Methods: Two liquid chip panels were developed which used a target-enriched multiplexed RT-PCR amplification followed by Luminex liquid chip hybridization based on xMAP technology. One was for the detection of 5 type/ subtypes of the influenza virus (called Influenza Panel), the other was for the identification of 14 major respiratory viruses, including emerging human metapneumovirus (HMPV), coronavirus (CoV NL63, HKU1), human bocavirus (HBoV), and WU polyomavirus (WUPyV) (called Respiratory Panel). The analytical sensitivity and specificity of these two panels were determined. 108 throat swabs from influenza-like-illness (ILI) cases and 88 nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) from hospitalized children with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) were used to evaluate the two panels., Results: The Influenza Panel returned the analytical sensitivity of 4 - 10 copies vRNA/microL of sample for seasonal H1N1, H3N2, pandemic H1N1, and B, and 200 copies vRNA/microL of sample for H5. The analytical sensitivity of the Respiratory Panel was as follows: 10 - 150 copies vRNA/microL of sample for most of the viral targets tested in this panel except RSV (400 copies vRNA/microL of sample). No cross reactivity was observed for both panels. As determined by commercial multi-PCR kit and conventional PCR (for HBoV and WUPyV), the diagnostic sensitivity of the Respiratory Panel for each viral targets ranged from 50.0% to 100.0%, the diagnostic specificity was 96.2%-100.0%, and accordance rate was 93.2% - 100.0%, the kappa correlation of eight viral targets was > 0.75., Conclusions: Two liquid chip assay panels, developed based on xMAP technology, can detect 5 types/subtypes of influenza viruses and 14 respiratory viruses simultaneously in one reaction in 6 hours. They are potentially rapid, sensitive, specific, and high throughput diagnostic tools for major viral pathogens associated with respiratory tract infection.

The seroprevalence of Brucella infection in yaks was surveyed on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau of China in 2010. A total of 621 serum samples was collected from six counties and were tested by serum agglutination test. The results showed that 56 (9%) of the samples were positive for Brucella. The results of the present investigation indicate that brucellosis is common in yaks on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau of China.

In this paper, we investigated Cdx2 and claudin-2 expression in pathological paraffin tissues of sinus ventriculi from gastroscopic biopsy to determine the correlation between the expressions of these 2 genes during gastric carcinogenesis by immunochemical ABC technique. Altogether, we analyzed 108 chronic superficial gastritis, 55 chronic atrophic gastritis, 109 intestinal-type metaplasia, 93 dysplasia and 52 gastric intestinal-type adenocarcinoma samples. Our results indicated that the percentage of Cdx2-positive cases was 0% (0/108) for chronic superficial gastritis, 0% (0/55) for chronic atrophic gastritis, 90.83% (99/109) for intestinal-type metaplasia, 51.61% (48/93) for dysplasia and 61.54% (32/52) for gastric intestinal-type adenocarcinoma, primarily expressed in the cell nucleus and partly in the cytoplasm (p < 0.05); interestingly, the percentage for the intestine-type metaplasia was markedly high. The percentage of claudin-2-positive cases was 0% (0/108) for chronic superficial gastritis, 0% (0/55) for chronic atrophic gastritis, 0% (0/109) for intestinal-type metaplasia, 35.48% (33/93) for dysplasia and 71.15% (37/52) for gastric intestinal-type adenocarcinoma, primarily in the cell membrane and gradually increased in the multistage process of gastric carcinogenesis (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were found between claudin-2 and Cdx2 protein expression in dysplasia and intestine-type adenocarcinoma (r = 0.112, p < 0.05). Thus, there may be a correlation between the expression of claudin-2 and Cdx2 in stages of dysplasia and cancer., (2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The effects of cetyltrimethylammonium (CTAB), sodiumdodecylsulfate (SDS) and pol(oxyethylene)(9.5)p-(1,1,3,3-tetramethyl; Triton X-100) on the dissociation constants, transition points and transition intervals of thymol blue and bromothymol blue were studied. The experimental results indicated that surfactant micelles remarkably affected dissociation constants, transition points and transition intervals of the acid-base indicators, and the application ranges of acid-base indicators became wider and the titration accuracy increased when an appropriate surfactant micellar solution was chosen as a titration medium.