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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was a disease predominantly affecting young females about 40 years ago; however, it has been increasingly diagnosed in elderly individuals. Few studies have investigated the features of elderly patients with PAH. This review provides an overview of the characteristics of elderly patients with PAH compared to young patients. The examination of the changing demographics of the population with PAH revealed that the mean age has increased over the years. In addition, the investigation into the diagnostic challenges in elderly patients with PAH revealed the difficulty in differentiating PAH from pulmonary hypertension secondary to diastolic heart failure. Moreover, it was noted that elderly patients underwent combination drug regimens less frequently and exhibited poorer treatment responses than young patients. Finally, it was found that elderly PAH patients experienced poorer survival than young patients. The differences among five survival prediction models and their applicability in predicting the prognosis of PAH patients are discussed., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the subject matter or materials discussed in this article., (Copyright © 2021, the Chinese Medical Association.)

Objective: To investigate the expression and significance of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP-2, TIMP-1) in non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC)., Methods: Thirty six patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and 32 patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC), confirmed by pathology, were selected, and 30 cases of normal skin were selected as control. The expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in all samples were examined by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression rate, expression intensity and expression level of each factor were recorded. The results were compared between the groups., Results: The expression rates of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the control group were 30.0% and 36.7%, the expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the control group were 57.216 ± 12.785 and 59.318 ± 13.262, all significantly lower than those in the tumor edge and center of the SCC and BCC groups (P < 0.01). The expression rates of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in the control group were 96.7% and 100%, their expression levels were 121.738 ± 25.516 and 122.612 ± 25.964, all significantly higher than those in the SCC and BCC groups (P < 0.01). The expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the tumor center and edge of SCC group were significantly higher than those in the corresponding parts of the BCC group, while the expression levels of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were significantly lower than those in the BCC group (P < 0.01). The expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the tumor edge of the SCC and BCC groups were significantly higher than those in the tumor centers (P < 0.01), while the expression levels of TIMP-1and TIMP-2 were significantly lower than those in the tumor centers (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2, TIMP-1 may play an important role in the development, progression, invasion and metastasis of non-melanoma skin cancer.

Objective: To analyse the differential proteins of Jurkat cells after treated with the extracts from Prunella vulgaris using two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrum., Methods: Jurkat cell growth inhibitive effect of the extracts from Prunella vulgaris was analyzed by MTT assay. The total proteins of the cells were extracted after treated with the extracts in a dose of 20 microg/mL. Then 2D and MALDI-TOF-MS were used to assess the differential proteins., Results: The extracts from Prunella vulgaris could depress the proliferation of Jurkat cells in a dose-dependent manner. After 2-DE and MALDI-TOF-MS,11 proteins were identified successfully, including glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, coagulation factor VII, Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L, heat shock 70 kDa protein 8 isoform 2, immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1, zinc finger protein 43, chaperonin containing TCP1, subunit 6A (zeta 1), isoform CRA&#95;b, etc., Conclusion: The extracts from Prunella vulgaris could inhibit the growth of Jurkat cells significantly, and lead the proteomics change of Jurkat cells, which may be related to the anti-tumor effect of the extracts from Prunella vulgaris.