Association of serum interleukin-6 with negative symptoms in stable early-onset schizophrenia

BACKGROUND Accumulating evidence suggests that the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6(IL-6)contributes to the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.However,there was no study concerning the relationship between IL-6 concentrations and clinical features in the chronic phase of early-onset schizophrenia(EOS).AIM To investigate the relationship between serum IL-6 concentration and the clinical features of EOS.METHODS We measured serum IL-6 Levels from 74 patients with chronic schizophrenia,including 33 with age at onset<21 years(EOS group)and 41 with onset≥21 years in[adult-onset schizophrenia(AOS)group],and from 41 healthy controls.Symptom severities were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS).RESULTS Serum IL-6 concentrations were higher in both EOS and AOS groups than healthy controls(F=22.32,P<0.01),but did not differ significantly between EOS and AOS groups(P>0.05)after controlling for age,body mass index,and other covariates.Negative symptom scores were higher in the EOS group than the AOS group(F=6.199,P=0.015).Serum IL-6 concentrations in the EOS group were negatively correlated with both total PANSS-negative symptom score(r=-0.389,P=0.032)and avolition/asociality subscore(r=-0.387,P=0.026).CONCLUSION Patients with EOS may have more severe negative symptoms than those with adult-onset schizophrenia during the chronic phase of the illness.IL-6 signaling may regulate negative symptoms and its avolition/asociality subsymptoms among the early-onset chronic schizophrenic patients.

Eosinopenia is a predictive factor for the severity of acute ischemic stroke

Previous data have revealed an association between eosinopenia and mortality of acute ischemic stroke.However,the relationship of eosinopenia with infarct volume,infection rate,and poor outcome of acute ischemic stroke is still unknown.The retrospective study included 421 patients(273 males,65%;mean age,68.0± 13.0 years)with first acute ischemic stroke who were hospitalized in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University,China,from January 2017 to February 2018.Laboratory data,neuroimaging results,and modified Rankin Scale scores were collected.Patients were divided into four groups according to their eosinophil percentage level(<0.4%,0.4-1.1%,1 1-2.3%,≥2.3%).Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that the percentage of eosinophils was negatively correlated with infarct volume(rs=-0.514,P<0.001).Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that eosinopenia predicted a large infarct volume more accurately than neutrophilia;the area under curve was 0.906 and 0.876,respectively;a large infarct was considered as that with a diameter larger than 3 cm and involving more than two major arterial blood supply areas.Logistic regression analysis revealed that eosinophil percentage was an independent risk factor for acute ischemic stroke(P=0.002).Moreover,eosinophil percentage was significantly associated with large infarct volume,high infection rate(pulmonary and urinary tract infections),and poor outcome(modified Rankin Scale score>3)after adjusting for potential confounding factors(P-trend<0.001).These findings suggest that eosinopenia has the potential to predict the severity of acute ischemic stroke.This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University,China(approval number:K10)on November 10,2015.

Albuterol in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials aimed to systematically evaluate the value of albuterol in the treatment of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS).DATA SOURCES: Randomized controlled trials on albuterol treatment of ARDS from its inception to October 2014 were searched systematically. The databases searched included: Pub Med, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid Cochrane, CNKI, WANFANG and VIP. The trials were screened according to the pre-designed inclusion and exclusion criteria. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the randomized controlled trials(RCTs) on albuterol treatment, attempting to improve outcomes, i.e. lowering the 28-day mortality and ventilator-free days.RESULTS: Three RCTs involving 646 patients met the inclusion criteria. There was no significant decrease in the 28-day mortality(risk difference=0.09; P=0.07, P for heterogeneity=0.22, I2=33%). The ventilator-free days and organ failure-free days were significantly lower in the patients who received albuterol(mean difference=–2.20; P<0.001, P for heterogeneity=0.49, I2=0% and mean difference=–1.71, P<0.001, P for heterogeneity=0.60, I2=0%).CONCLUSIONS: Current evidences indicate that treatment with albuterol in the early course of ARDS was not effective in increasing the survival, but significantly decreasing the ventilator-free days and organ failure-free days. Owing to the limited number of included trails, strong recommendations cannot be made.

(D-Ser2) oxyntomodulin recovers hippocampal synaptic structure and theta rhythm in Alzheimer’s disease transgenic mice

In our previous studies,we have shown that(D-Ser2)oxyntomodulin(Oxm),a glucagon-like peptide 1(GLP-1)receptor(GLP1R)/glucagon receptor(GCGR)dual agonist peptide,protects hippocampal neurons against Aβ1-42-induced cytotoxicity,and stabilizes the calcium homeostasis and mitochondrial membrane potential of hippocampal neurons.Additionally,we have demonstrated that(D-Ser2)Oxm improves cognitive decline and reduces the deposition of amyloid-beta in Alzheimer’s disease model mice.However,the protective mechanism remains unclear.In this study,we showed that 2 weeks of intraperitoneal administration of(D-Ser2)Oxm ameliorated the working memory and fear memory impairments of 9-month-old 3×Tg Alzheimer’s disease model mice.In addition,electrophysiological data recorded by a wireless multichannel neural recording system implanted in the hippocampal CA1 region showed that(D-Ser2)Oxm increased the power of the theta rhythm.In addition,(D-Ser2)Oxm treatment greatly increased the expression level of synaptic-associated proteins SYP and PSD-95 and increased the number of dendritic spines in 3×Tg Alzheimer’s disease model mice.These findings suggest that(D-Ser2)Oxm improves the cognitive function of Alzheimer’s disease transgenic mice by recovering hippocampal synaptic function and theta rhythm.

Diverse coagulopathies in a rabbit model with different abdominal injuries

BACKGROUND: Although coagulopathy can be very common in severe traumatic shock patients, the exact incidence and mechanism remain unclear. In this study, a traumatic shock rabbit model with special abdomen injuries was developed and evaluated by examining indicators of clotting and fi brinolysis.METHODS: Forty New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: group 1(sham), group 2(hemorrhage), group 3(hemorrhage-liver injury), and group 4(hemorrhage-liver injury/intestinal injury-peritonitis). Coagulation was detected by thromboelastography before trauma(T0), at 1 hour(T1) and 4 hours(T2) after trauma.RESULTS: Rabbits that suffered from hemorrhage alone did not differ in coagulation capacity compared with the sham group. The clot initiations(R times) of group 3 at T1 and T2 were both shorter than those of groups 1, 2, and 4(P<0.05). In group 4, clot strength was decreased at T1 and T2 compared with those in groups 1, 2, and 3(P<0.05), whereas the R time and clot polymerization were increased at T2(P<0.05). The clotting angle signifi cantly decreased in group 4 compared with groups 2 and 3 at T2(P<0.05).CONCLUSION: This study suggests that different abdominal traumatic shock show diverse coagulopathy in the early phase. Isolated hemorrhagic shock shows no obvious effect on coagulation. In contrast, blunt hepatic injury with hemorrhage shows hypercoagulability, whereas blunt hepatic injury with hemorrhage coupled with peritonitis caused by a ruptured intestine shows a tendency toward hypocoagulability.

A Large Scale of Nurses Participated in Beating down COVID-19 in China:The Physical and Psychological Distress

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) posed an unprecedented threat to health care providers (HCPs) in Wuhan, China, especially for nurses who were frequently exposed to infected or suspected patients. Limited information was available about the working experience of nurses in fighting against the pandemic. To learn the physical and psychological responses of nurses during the pandemic and explore the potential determinants, we conducted a large-scale survey in Wuhan. This multicenter cross-sectional study enrolled 5521 nurses who worked in designated hospitals, mobile cabins, or shelters during the pandemic. A structured online questionnaire was distributed to assess the physical discomforts, emotional distress and cognitive reactions of nurses at work, and the log-binomial regression analysis was performed to explore potential determinants. A considerable proportion of nurses had symptoms of physical discomforts [3677 (66.6%)] and emotional distress [4721 (85.5%)]. Nurses who were directly involved in the care of patients (i.e., care for severe patients: RR, 2.35;95% CI, 1.95–2.84), with irregular work schedules (RR, 2.36;95% CI, 1.95–2.87), and working overtime (RR, 1.34;95% CI, 1.08–1.65) were at a higher risk for physical discomforts. Nurses who were directly involved in the care of patients (i.e., care for severe patients: RR, 1.78;95% CI, 1.40–2.29), with irregular work schedules (RR, 3.39;95% CI, 2.43–4.73), and working overtime (RR, 1.51;95% CI, 1.12–2.04) were at a higher risk for emotional distress. Therefore, formulating reasonable work schedules and improving workforce systems are necessary to alleviate the physical and emotional distress of nurses during the pandemic.

Progress of Bai He Di Huang decoction on intestinal flora of mouse with depression

Depression is a recurrent,common,and potentially life-threatening psychiatric disease.Intestinal flora is a large number of microbial communities that are parasitic in the human digestive tract.Current evidence suggests that the occurrence of depression may be related to intestinal flora.Long time ago,Bai He Di Huang decoction was used to treat the depression.Recently,researchers found that Bai He Di Huang decoction could affect the the intestinal flora of patients with depression.This review focuses on the clinical progress of Bai He Di Huang decoction in the treatment of depression,and explores the effect and mechanism of Bai He Di Huang decoction on the intestinal flora of depressive mouse.

Stochastic Volatility Modeling based on Doubly Truncated Cauchy Distribution and Bayesian Estimation for Chinese Stock Market

In order to measure the uncertainty of financial asset returns in the stock market, this paper presents a new model, called SV-dt C model, a stochastic volatility(SV) model assuming that the stock return has a doubly truncated Cauchy distribution, which takes into account the high peak and fat tail of the empirical distribution simultaneously. Under the Bayesian framework, a prior and posterior analysis for the parameters is made and Markov Chain Monte Carlo(MCMC) is used for computing the posterior estimates of the model parameters and forecasting in the empirical application of Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index(SSECI) with respect to the proposed SV-dt C model and two classic SV-N(SV model with Normal distribution)and SV-T(SV model with Student-t distribution) models. The empirical analysis shows that the proposed SV-dt C model has better performance by model checking, including independence test(Projection correlation test), Kolmogorov-Smirnov test(K-S test) and Q-Q plot. Additionally, deviance information criterion(DIC) also shows that the proposed model has a significant improvement in model fit over the others.