Apelin-13 as a novel target for intervention in secondary injury after traumatic brain injury

The adipocytokine,apelin-13,is an abundantly expressed peptide in the nervous system.Apelin-13 protects the brain against ischemia/reperfusion injury and attenuates traumatic brain injury by suppressing autophagy.However,secondary apelin-13 effects on traumatic brain injury-induced neural cell death and blood-brain barrier integrity are still not clear.Here,we found that apelin-13 significantly decreases cerebral water content,mitigates blood-brain barrier destruction,reduces aquaporin-4 expression,diminishes caspase-3 and Bax expression in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus,and reduces apoptosis.These results show that apelin-13 attenuates secondary injury after traumatic brain injury and exerts a neuroprotective effect.

Fever and neck pain after pacemaker lead extraction: A case report

BACKGROUND Venous thrombosis(VT) is one of the minor complications of pacemaker lead extraction. It is often found due to the swelling of the limbs after the extraction. It is easy to be neglected or even misdiagnosed in the absence of typical clinical symptoms. The incidence, risk factors, and long-term impact of this complication are still unclear. Herein, we report a case of deep VT caused by transvenous lead extraction, which is easily misdiagnosed.CASE SUMMARY A 66-year-old woman underwent a pacemaker lead extraction at our hospital because of a pacemaker pocket infection. After the extraction, she began to experience intermittent fever accompanied by sweating. The highest body temperature recorded was 37.9℃. Additionally, she reported migratory pain that made her uncomfortable. The pain was mistakenly thought to be caused by operation trauma. At first, the pain radiated from the left chest to the mandible.Then, the pain in the left chest was alleviated, but pain in the left neck and throat appeared. Finally, the pain was confined to the mandible and a submandibular mass was palpated with no other abnormalities upon physical examination.Computed tomography venography and angiography finally indicated that the fever and pain were the symptoms of thrombophlebitis caused by lead extraction.The patient was then treated with rivaroxaban for more than three months and has shown no symptoms since she left the hospital.CONCLUSION The possibility of thrombosis should be considered when pain and recurrent fever occur after pacemaker lead extraction.

Aspergillus infection of pacemaker in an immunocompetent host: a case report

The incidence of CIED(Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices)infections is 0.13%–8.0%.[1,2]Fungal organisms account for up to 10%and Aspergillus infections are extremely rare.Here,we present a case of CIED-related Aspergillus infection in an immunocompetent patient.

Fertilization increases paddy soil organic carbon density

Field experiments provide an opportunity to study the effects of fertilization on soil organic carbon(SOC) sequestration.We sampled soils from a long-term(25 years) paddy experiment in subtropical China.The experiment included eight treatments:(1) check,(2) PK,(3) NP,(4) NK,(5) NPK,(6) 7F:3M(N,P,K inorganic fertilizers+30% organic N),(7) 5F:5M(N,P,K inorganic fertilizers+50% organic N),(8) 3F:7M(N,P,K inorganic fertilizers+70% or-ganic N).Fertilization increased SOC content in the plow layers compared to the non-fertilized check treatment.The SOC density in the top 100 cm of soil ranged from 73.12 to 91.36 Mg/ha.The SOC densities of all fertilizer treatments were greater than that of the check.Those treatments that combined inorganic fertilizers and organic amendments had greater SOC densities than those receiving only inorganic fertilizers.The SOC density was closely correlated to the sum of the soil carbon converted from organic amendments and rice residues.Carbon sequestration in paddy soils could be achieved by balanced and combined fertilization.Fertilization combining both inorganic fertilizers and organic amendments is an effective sustainable practice to sequestrate SOC.