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Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is an inflammatory marker thought to be more specific to cardiovascular inflammation than C-reactive protein (CRP). Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of PTX3 in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) after drug eluting stent (DES) implantation. Plasma PTX3 levels were measured before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and at 24 h post-PCI in 596 consecutive patients with stable CAD. Patients were followed up for a median of 3 years (range 1–5) for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). We found that the post-PCI plasma PTX3 levels were significantly higher at 24 h after PCI than pre-PCI, patients with MACEs had higher post-PCI PTX3 levels compared with MACEs-free patients, patients with higher post-PCI PTX3 levels (median > 4.384 ng/mL) had a higher risk for MACEs than those with PTX3 < 4.384 ng/mL, and post-PCI PTX3, cTnI, multiple stents, and age but not high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) were independently associated with the prevalence of MACEs after DES implantation. The present study shows that post-PCI PTX3 may be a more reliable inflammatory predictor of long-term MACEs in patients with stable CAD undergoing DES implantation than CRP. Measurement of post-PCI PTX3 levels could provide a rationale for risk stratification of patients with stable CAD after DES implantation.

Abstract Background Activation of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) has been proved to reduce damages to the liver in ischemia reperfusion injury. The objective of present study was to determine whether clinic relevant doses of isoflurane treatment could be sufficient to activate HO-1 inducing, which confers protective effect against hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods The hepatic artery and portal vein to the left and the median liver lobes of forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were occluded for 60 minutes. Reperfusion was allowed for 4 hours before the animal subjects were sacrificed. Six groups (n = 12) were included in the study. A negative control group received sham operation and positive control group a standard ischemia-reperfusion regimen. The third group was pretreated with isoflurane prior to the ischemia-reperfusion. The fourth group received an HO-1 inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin (Znpp) prior to the isoflurane pretreatment and the ischemia-reperfusion. The fifth group received Znpp alone before ischemia-reperfusion procedure, and the sixth group was administrated with a HO-1 inducer hemin prior to IR. HO-1 in the liver was measured using an enzymatic activity assay, a Western blot analysis, as well as immunohistochemical method. Extent of liver damage was estimated by determination of the serum transaminases, liver lipid peroxidation and hepatic histology. Infiltration of the liver by neutrophils was measured using a myeloperoxidase activity assay. TNFα mRNA in the liver was measured using RT-PCR. Results Isoflurane pretreatment significantly attenuated the hepatic injuries and inflammatory responses caused by the ischemia reperfusion. Selectively inhibiting HO-1 with ZnPP completed blocked the protective effects of isoflurane. Inducing HO-1 with hemin alone produced protective effects similar in magnitude to that of isoflurane. Conclusions Clinic relevant doses of isoflurane attenuate ischemia reperfusion injury in rats by increasing the HO-1 expression and activity.

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a specific mathematical learning disability, with a prevalence of around 3%-7% in the school-aged population. It negatively affects individuals, and even the national, development. Previous DD-intervention programs usually targeted on numerosity, number, simple arithmetic, or even general cognitive ability. The current study investigated the effect that a long-term (2-3 years) abacus course had on the prevalence of DD. Twelve classes of students were tested, half of which received an abacus course. Results showed that although no children were diagnosed as DD in the abacus classes, its prevalence was 6.4% in the control classes. Students with an abacus course demonstrated better performance in arithmetic computation and spatial short-term memory after controlling for age, gender, grade, and other basic cognitive abilities. The results suggest that the abacus course could be an effective tool for DD intervention in natural education settings.

The rapid reversal of deep neuromuscular blockade (NMB) is important but remains challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adamgammadex versus sugammadex in reversing deep rocuronium‐induced NMB. This multicenter, randomized, phase IIb study included 80 patients aged 18–64 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade 1–2, undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia with rocuronium. Patients were randomized to the adamgammadex 7, 8, and 9 mg/kg group or the sugammadex 4 mg/kg group. The primary efficacy variable was the time to recovery of train‐of‐four ratio (TOFr) to 0.9. The secondary efficacy variables were the time to recovery of TOFr to 0.7, antagonistic success rate of the recovery of TOFr to 0.9 within 5 min, and incidence rate of recurarization within 30 min after drug administration. The explorative efficacy variable was the time to recovery of the corrected TOFr to 0.9 (actual/baseline TOF ratio). Adamgammadex 7, 8, and 9 mg/kg and sugammadex 4 mg/kg groups did not significantly differ in all efficacy variables. Importantly, adamgammadex 9 mg/kg permitted reversal within a geometric mean of 2.9 min. According to the safety profile, adamgammadex achieved good tolerance and low incidence of drug‐related adverse events compared with the 4 mg/kg sugammadex. Adamgammadex 7, 8, and 9 mg/kg facilitated rapid reversal of deep rocuronium‐induced NMB and had good tolerance and low incidence of drug‐related adverse events. Therefore, adamgammadex is a potential and promising alternative to sugammadex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]