Articles: function.
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Observational Study
Shear wave elastography of the diaphragm in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A prospective observational study.
Patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are prone to diaphragmatic dysfunction. However, dynamic assessment of diaphragmatic function is complex and difficult, and whether the assessment of diaphragmatic function can reflect clinical indicators such as lung function in AECOPD patients remains unclear. We studied diaphragm stiffness and diaphragm stiffening rate (DSR) in AECOPD patients with acute exacerbations ≥ 2 times within 1 year and their correlation with clinical data, the diaphragmatic thickening fraction (DTF), lung function, and blood gas values. ⋯ There was no correlation between DsweFRC, DSR and arterial oxygen partial pressure in both groups (P > .05). The DsweFRC, DSR increased with the number of acute exacerbations per year in both groups. We found that diaphragmatic stiffness in AECOPD patients increased with the number of acute exacerbations within 1 year, correlated with DTF, CAT, mMRC, lung function, and arterial carbon dioxide pressure and provides a simple and practical method for dynamically assessing diaphragmatic function and disease severity in AECOPD patients.
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The development of immunosuppressants has enabled remarkable progress in kidney transplantation (KT). However, current immunosuppressants cannot induce immune tolerance, and their nonspecific immunosuppressive effects result in many adverse effects. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play crucial roles in controlling all specific immune responses. ⋯ However, no significant association was observed between Tregs and allograft dysfunction in the cox proportional hazard model. Tregs counts may be associated with the type and dose of immunosuppressants. However, no significant relationship was found between Tregs and kidney allograft function in stable KT recipients.
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Insomnia is a sleep disorder which severely affects patients mood, quality of life and social functioning, serves as a trigger or risk factor to a variety of diseases such as depression, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes, and even increases the risk of suicide, and has become an increasingly widespread concern worldwide. Considerable research on insomnia has been conducted in modern medicine in recent years and encouraging results have been achieved in the fields of genetics and neurobiology. ⋯ As an important component of complementary and alternative medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, especially non-pharmacological treatment methods such as acupuncture, is gaining increasing attention worldwide. In this article, we discuss the combination of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and medicine to treat insomnia based on neurobiology in the context of modern medicine.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a lung disease that is both chronic and progressive and is characterized by glycolysis. However, glycolysis's function and its clinical significance in IPF are still not well understood. We accessed the Gene Expression Omnibus database to retrieve mRNA expression information for lung tissue and other samples. ⋯ All 3 glycolysis-associated genes were validated to be expressed in our cohort. Finally, we used mRNA levels from 3 genes to produce a nomogram to quantitatively predict the prognosis of IPF individuals. As possible indicators for the prognosis of IPF, the glycolysis-related genes stanniocalcin 2, transketolase like 1, and artemin were shown to be promising candidate markers.
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Persons with toxic gain-of-function variants in the gene encoding apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) are at greater risk for the development of rapidly progressive, proteinuric nephropathy. Despite the known genetic cause, therapies targeting proteinuric kidney disease in persons with two APOL1 variants (G1 or G2) are lacking. ⋯ Targeted inhibition of APOL1 channel function with inaxaplin reduced proteinuria in participants with two APOL1 variants and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. (Funded by Vertex Pharmaceuticals; VX19-147-101 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04340362.).