Safety and Efficacy of a Novel Shunt Surgery Combined with Foam Sclerotherapy of Varices for Prehepatic Portal Hypertension: A Pilot Study

OBJECTIVES: This pilot study investigated the safety and efficacy of a novel shunt surgery combined with foam sclerotherapy of varices in patients with prehepatic portal hypertension. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients who were diagnosed with prehepatic portal hypertension and underwent shunt surgeries were divided into three groups by surgery type: shunt surgery alone (Group A), shunt surgery and devascularization (Group B), and shunt surgery combined with foam sclerotherapy (Group C). Between-group differences in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, portal pressure decrease, postoperative complications, rebleeding rates, encephalopathy, mortality rates and remission of gastroesophageal varices were compared. RESULTS: Groups A, B and C had similar operation times, intraoperative bleeding, and portal pressure decrease. The remission rates of varices differed significantly (po0.001): one patient in Group A and 6 patients in Group B had partial response, and all 9 patients in Group C had remission (2 complete, 7 partial). Two Group A patients and one Group B patient developed recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding postoperatively within 12 months. No postoperative recurrence or bleeding was observed in Group C, and no sclerotherapy-related complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Shunt surgery combined with foam sclerotherapy obliterates varices more effectively than shunt surgery alone does, decreasing the risk of postoperative rebleeding from residual gastroesophageal varices. This novel surgery is safe and effective with good short-term outcomes

Association of lipid profiles and the ratios with arterial stiffness in middle-aged and elderly Chinese

BACKGROUND: Serum lipids and the ratios are known to be associated with the cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, the associations of serum lipids and the ratios related to arterial stiffness are unclear. We sought to compare the strength of these serum lipids and the ratios with arterial stiffness assessing by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) in the middle-aged and elderly Chinese subjects. METHODS: A total number of 1133 Chinese aged from 50 to 90 years old were recruited from Shanghai downtown district. The serum lipids, baPWV and major cardiovascular risk factors of the participants were measured. RESULTS: Participants with high baPWV exhibited higher levels of non-HDL-c, TC/HDL-c, TG/HDL-c, LDL-c/HDL-c, and non-HDL-c/HDL-c, while HDL-c worked in the opposite direction (all P<0.05). In addition, TC, TG, LDL-c, non-HDL-c, TC/HDL-c, TG/HDL-c, LDL-c/HDL-c, and non-HDL-c/HDL-c had a positive relationship with the baPWV value, while HDL-c was on the contrary (all P <0.05). Finally, individuals with high non-HDL-c/HDL-c (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.06-2.55, P = 0.013) and low HDL-c (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.35-0.96, P = 0.024) were seem to be at high risk of arterial stiffness. CONCLUSIONS: As a risk indicator, non-HDL-c/HDL-c, which could be readily obtained from routine serum lipids, was significantly associated with baPWV. Non-HDL-c/HDL-c was superior to traditional lipid variables for estimating arterial stiffness in the middle-aged and elderly Chinese population

Prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and its relation to hypoadiponectinaemia in the middle-aged and elderly Chinese population

Introduction: Hypoadiponectinaemia is an important risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, little is known about its role in the Chinese population. This study sought to assess the prevalence of NAFLD and its association with hypoadiponectinaemia in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Material and methods: We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study in an urban Shanghai sample of 2201 participants age 50 years to 83 years (973 men, 1228 women). Hepatic ultrasonographic examination was performed for all participants. Serum adiponectin concentrations were measured by ELISA methods. Results: The prevalence of NAFLD was 19.8% (16.0% in men, 22.8% in women). Serum adiponectin levels were significantly higher in female than in male subjects (p < 0.001). Serum adiponectin levels were significantly lower in NAFLD subjects than those in control subjects (p < 0.001). The prevalence of NAFLD progressively increased with declining adiponectin levels (p(for) (trend) < 0.001). The participants in the lowest adiponectin quartile had a significantly increased risk for acquiring NAFLD (OR = 2.31, 95% CI 1.72-3.15) after adjustment for potential confounders. Conclusions: Population-based screening suggests that NAFLD is highly prevalent in middle-aged and elderly people in Shanghai, particularly among women. Serum adiponectin level is negatively associated with NAFLD independently of potential cofounders, indicating that hypoadiponectinaemia may contribute to the development of NAFLD

Serum uric acid level and its association with metabolic syndrome and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>We aimed to investigate whether elevated serum uric acid concentrations are associated with higher risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey in Shanghai, with a total of 395 men and 631 women age 41 to 92 years. The carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and carotid atherosclerotic plaques (PLQ) were measured by B-mode ultrasound. MetS was defined according to the updated National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for Asian Americans.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Uric acid levels were negatively associated with duration of diabetes, fasting plasma glucose, glycohemoglobin, eGFR, HDL-cholesterol (all P < 0.001) and positively with BMI, CRP, waist circumference, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, ACR, HOMA-IR and IMT (all P < 0.05). In the highest quartile of uric acid levels, the risks were substantially higher for MetS [odds ratio 3.97, (95% confidence interval 2.58-6.13)] (P < 0.001 for trend) and PLQ [odds ratio 2.71 (95% confidence interval 1.62-4.47)] (p = 0.013 for trend) compared with that in the lowest quartile of uric acid levels after multiple adjustment. These associations remained significant after further adjustment for potential confounders.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Serum uric acid level is associated with MetS and is an independent risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.</p

Signaling role of prokineticin 2 on the estrous cycle of female mice.

The possible signaling role of prokineticin 2 (PK2) and its receptor, prokineticin receptor 2 (PKR2), on female reproduction was investigated. First, the expression of PKR2 and its co-localization with estrogen receptor (ERα) in the hypothalamus was examined. Sexually dimorphic expression of PKR2 in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus was observed. Compared to the male mice, there was more widespread PKR2 expression in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus in the female mice. The likely co-expression of PKR2 and ERα in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus was observed. The estrous cycles in female PK2-null, and PKR2-null heterozygous mice, as well as in PK2-null and PKR2-null compound heterozygous mice were examined. Loss of one copy of PK2 or PKR2 gene caused elongated and irregular estrous cycle in the female mice. The alterations in the estrous cycle were more pronounced in PK2-null and PKR2-null compound heterozygous mice. Consistent with these observations, administration of a small molecule PK2 receptor antagonist led to temporary blocking of estrous cycle at the proestrous phase in female mice. The administration of PKR2 antagonist was found to blunt the circulating LH levels. Taken together, these studies indicate PK2 signaling is required for the maintenance of normal female estrous cycles

Lipocalin-2, glucose metabolism and chronic low-grade systemic inflammation in Chinese people

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lipocalin-2 is a novel adipokine with connection to insulin resistance. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of serum lipocalin-2 with glucose metabolism and other metabolic phenotype in a large-scale Chinese population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated serum lipocalin-2 in a cross-sectional sample of 2519 Chinese aged from 50 to 82 year in a Shanghai downtown district by ELISA. Glucose, insulin, lipid profile, inflammatory markers, and adipokines were also measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Serum lipocalin-2 was significantly higher in subjects with isolated impaired fasting glucose, isolated impaired glucose tolerance, combined impaired fasting glucose/impaired glucose tolerance and newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes than in those with normal glucose regulation. Lipocalin-2 elevation was clearly associated with a higher risk for impaired glucose regulation (OR 1.30 for each 10 ng/ml increase in serum lipocalin-2, 95% CI 1.23-1.62, <it>p </it>= 0.009) after adjustment of age, gender, smoking, alcohol drinking, family history of diabetes, serum CRP, serum adiponectin, serum CXCL5, HOMA-IR, BMI, and waist/hip ratio. The OR for participants with impaired glucose regulation and type 2 diabetes was 1.31 (95% CI 1.21-1.69, <it>p </it>< 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings suggest that elevated serum lipocalin-2 is closely and independently associated with impaired glucose regulation and type 2 diabetes.</p

Deep Learning in Single-Cell Analysis

Single-cell technologies are revolutionizing the entire field of biology. The large volumes of data generated by single-cell technologies are high-dimensional, sparse, heterogeneous, and have complicated dependency structures, making analyses using conventional machine learning approaches challenging and impractical. In tackling these challenges, deep learning often demonstrates superior performance compared to traditional machine learning methods. In this work, we give a comprehensive survey on deep learning in single-cell analysis. We first introduce background on single-cell technologies and their development, as well as fundamental concepts of deep learning including the most popular deep architectures. We present an overview of the single-cell analytic pipeline pursued in research applications while noting divergences due to data sources or specific applications. We then review seven popular tasks spanning through different stages of the single-cell analysis pipeline, including multimodal integration, imputation, clustering, spatial domain identification, cell-type deconvolution, cell segmentation, and cell-type annotation. Under each task, we describe the most recent developments in classical and deep learning methods and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Deep learning tools and benchmark datasets are also summarized for each task. Finally, we discuss the future directions and the most recent challenges. This survey will serve as a reference for biologists and computer scientists, encouraging collaborations.Comment: 77 pages, 11 figures, 15 tables, deep learning, single-cell analysi