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Background: High‐flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy reduces the arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide and acute exacerbation but does not increase exercise capacity or decrease hospitalisation or mortality. The study aimed to test the hypothesis that in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, the use of high‐flow nasal cannula decreases arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide and increases the partial pressure of oxygen and 6‐min walking distance. Methods: PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane library were searched for eligible studies published from database inception to November 2020 (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses checklist). The primary outcomes were partial pressure of carbon dioxide and partial pressure of oxygen, and the secondary outcomes were transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide and 6‐min walking distance. Results: Nine studies (680 patients) were included. high‐flow nasal cannula did not decrease partial pressure of carbon dioxide compared with the control interventions (mean difference = −0.81, 95% confidence interval: −2.68 to 1.06, p =.395; I2 = 42.9%, pheterogeneity =.105). high‐flow nasal cannula decreased partial pressure of carbon dioxide compared with long‐term oxygen therapy (mean difference = −3.25, 95% confidence interval: −5.65 to −0.85, p =.008; I2 = 0%, pheterogeneity =.375); no difference was observed for the control modalities. high‐flow nasal cannula resulted in better partial pressure of carbon dioxide compared with control interventions in hypoxemic patients (mean difference = −2.59, 95% confidence interval: −4.82 to −0.35, p =.023; I2 = 32.5%, pheterogeneity =.224), but not in other types of patients. high‐flow nasal cannula did not increase partial pressure of oxygen compared with the control interventions (mean difference = 1.17, 95% confidence interval: −1.50 to 3.83, p =.390; I2 = 0%, pheterogeneity =.660). high‐flow nasal cannula decreased transcutaneous carbon dioxide tension (transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide) compared with the control interventions (mean difference = 2.37, 95% confidence interval: 0.07–4.68, p =.044; I2 = 8.7%, pheterogeneity =.295). high‐flow nasal cannula increased 6‐min walking distance compared with the control interventions (mean difference = 18.22, 95% confidence interval: 0.86–,35.57, p =.040; I2 = 0%, pheterogeneity =.918). The sensitivity analyses showed that the results were robust. Conclusions: High‐flow nasal cannula did not significantly decrease partial pressure of carbon dioxide or increase partial pressure of oxygen in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, which is different from the previous meta‐analysis, but it decreases transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide and increased 6‐min walking distance. Relevance to clinical practice: This meta‐analysis shows that in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high‐flow nasal cannula improves both transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide and 6‐min walking distance, suggesting the high‐flow nasal cannula has benefits in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Considering that the literature suggests no impact of high‐flow nasal cannula on hospitalisation and mortality, the benefits of high‐flow nasal cannula might be limited to the patients who survive the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease events. Still, the global impact of high‐flow nasal cannula on the quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammation disease, and the incidence of UC is increasing recently. Both clinical trials and animal experiments show that moxibustion is a complementary and alternative treatment for UC. Previous studies showed that moxibustion can improve UC by regulating the balance of Tregs and Th17 (Sun et al., 2017). Treg cells is one subset of CD4 + T cells that exert the immunosuppressive function. CD39 and CD73, expressed on the surface of Tregs, hydrolyze ATP to AMP and are further involved in the immunosuppressive function of Tregs. In this study, we investigated the effect of moxibustion on CD39 + Tregs and CD73 + Tregs in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced UC mice. The A2a receptor (A2aR), one of the targets of adenosine, was also detected. The results showed that moxibustion could increase the expression of CD39, CD73, and A2aR in colonic tissue and improve the proportion of CD39 + Tregs and CD73 + Tregs in peripheral blood, inguinal draining lymph nodes and spleen in the UC model. Additionally, A2aR agonists enhanced the cell viability of colonic epithelial cells and inhibit the production of cytokines IL-6 and TNF- α in vitro, which may further influence the pathway of ATP purine signal metabolism and alleviates the gut inflammation of UC mice. Taken together, this study provides supplemental evidence to reveal the immune related mechanism of moxibustion in the treatment of UC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The present study was done to investigate the relationship between carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV) and biomarkers such as homocysteine (Hcy), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and urine albumin (microalbumin) (UAE) in vascular-related diseases. Methods. 656 subjects were enrolled into our study. There were 377 patients with hypertension, 231 with coronary heart disease, 154 with diabetes mellitus, and 186 healthy subjects. They were divided into four groups according to the number of suffered diseases: group 1 had only one of three diseases, group 2 had two, and group 3 had all of three diseases. CFPWV was measured by Complior apparatus. Results. CFPWV was significantly higher in group 3 than in the healthy group, group 1, and group 2 (12.71 ± 2.38 vs 10.11 ± 2.28, 10.70 ± 2.12, and 11.92 ± 2.55, all p < 0.05). The level of Hcy was significantly higher in group1, group 2, and group 3 than in healthy subjects, respectively. Levels of Log NT-proBNP and Log UAE were significantly higher in group 3 than in group 1 (2.27 ± 0.4 vs 2.10 ± 0.4, 1.00 ± 0.65 vs 0.68 ± 0.56, both p < 0.05). Positive correlation between CFWV and Hcy, Log UAE, and Log NT-proBNP was found in the entire study group (r = 0.109, 0.196, and 0.119, all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that pulse pressure, age, fasting plasma glucose, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, and Log UAE were independent associating factors of CFPWV in all subjects (β = 0.334, p < 0.001 ; β = 0.333, p < 0.001 ; β = 0.126, p = 0.004 ; β = 0.137, p = 0.003 ; β = −0.142, p = 0.002 ; and β = 0.098, p = 0.031). Conclusions. CFPWV was significantly higher in subjects with hypertension, CHD, and DM. There was correlation between CFPWV and biomarkers such as NT-proBNP, Hcy, and urine albumin (microalbumin). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:Silicosis is a fibrosing and irreversible lung disease. In China, 9870 new silicosis cases were reported in 2010. The physical and mental status of patients with silicosis should be paid attention to. The aims of this study were to evaluate the influence of the patients’ functional capacity on subjective well-being (SWB) and quality of life (QOL), provide the scientific basis for further intervention measures, and improve their health status. Methods:We investigated 324 inpatients with silicosis during April 2011 to September 2011. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) was the major methodology used to evaluate the functional capacity, the SF-12 (Short Form-12) to evaluate the QOL, and the MUNSH (Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness) scale to evaluate the SWB. Results:The distance of 6MWT suggested a significant and positive correlation with SWB and QOL of patients with silicosis (P< 0.01). In China, patients with silicosis had low SWB and QOL. Conclusions:The SWB and QOL of patients with silicosis are still relatively low and their health status needs improvement. At the same time, longer distances walked by patients suggest more positive influences on their SWB and QOL. It indicates that when the 6MWT cooperates with SWB and QOL, it may be able to get more accurate evaluation results of patients’ survival status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the common causative agents of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), and is associated with several outbreaks with neurological complications including encephalitis. This study investigated the polymorphisms of interferon gamma (IFN-γ)+874 T/A and interleukin 10 (IL-10)−1082 G/A in 65 Chinese patients with EV71 encephalitis and 113 Chinese HFMD patients without complications. The polymorphisms of IFN-γ+874 T/A and IL-10−1082 G/A were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) and PCR-sequence-specific primer (SSP) analysis, respectively. The IFN-γ + 874 A allele was observed with significantly greater frequency in patients with EV71 encephalitis (76.2%) compared with HFMD patients without complications (61.1%, p < 0.01). Similarly, the IL-10 − 1082 A allele was observed with significantly greater frequency in patients with EV71 encephalitis (86.2%) compared with HFMD patients without complications (77.0%, p < 0.05). IFN-γ + 874 A and IL-10 − 1082 A alleles are associated with susceptibility to EV71 encephalitis in Chinese patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the brain functional and structural imaging results of patients with bipolar disorder and depressive episode without taking medicine, and to further explore the disease mechanism of bipolar disorder by combining with clinical symptoms and cognitive function (neuropsychological test), DPABI (Data Processing and Analysis (Resting-State) For Brain Image) software is used to pre-process fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) data and calculate fALFF (ratio low frequency fluctuation amplitude) index. In addition, SPM8 is applied for grey matter volume analysis based on voxel morphology. Pearson correlation model is used to analyze the relationship between functional and morphological changes and clinical symptoms and cognitive tests. DPABI software and SPSS 22.0 software are used to analyze the data. The results show that corresponding abnormal brain areas are found in both functional and structural aspects of patients with bipolar disorder and depression, involving LCSPT emotional circuits. More importantly, the superior frontal gyrus shows significant abnormalities in both functional and structural analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]