Objective To understand the changing patterns and characteristics of the number of patients hospitalized with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) before, during, and in the post-epidemic period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Association between acute respiratory infections and hospitalization of patients with AECOPD. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted to count the patients hospitalized for AECOPD in the Department of Respiratory Medicine of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from July 2017 to June 2024. The pattern of change in the number of AECOPD hospitalizations and the associations with patients with respiratory tract infections in outpatient emergency departments were analyzed. Results During the COVID-19 epidemic, the number of hospitalizations of patients with AECOPD did not increase compared with the pre-epidemic period. Instead, it significantly decreased, especially in the winter and spring peaks (P<0.05). The only exception was a peak AECOPD hospitalization in the summer of 2022. COPD inpatient mortality and non-medical discharge rates tended to increase during the epidemic compared with the pre-epidemic period. Analysis of the curve of change in the number of patients with respiratory infections in our outpatient emergency departments during the same period revealed a downward trend in the number of patients with respiratory infections during the epidemic and an explosive increase in the number of patients with respiratory infections in the post epidemic period, whose average monthly number was more than twice as high as that during the epidemic. Correlation analysis of the number of patients with respiratory infections between AECOPD hospitalizations and outpatient emergency departments showed that there was a good correlation between the two in the pre-epidemic and post-epidemic periods, and the correlation between the two in the post-epidemic period was more significant in particular (r=0.84-0.91, P<0.001).In contrast, there was no significant correlation in 2021 and 2022 during the epidemic (r=0.24 and 0.50, P>0.05 ). The most common respiratory infection pathogens among AECOPD hospitalized patients during the post-epidemic period were influenza virus, COVID-19 virus, and human rhinovirus, respectively. Conclusions The pandemic period of COVID-19 infection did not show an increase in the number of AECOPD hospitalizations but rather a trend towards fewer hospitalizations. Respiratory infections were strongly associated with the number of AECOPD hospitalizations in the pre- and post-pandemic periods, while the correlation between the two was poorer during the pandemic period. Influenza virus was the most important respiratory infection pathogen for AECOPD during the post-epidemic period.
Objective To observe the influences of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP-2) rs660339 variants transfection on cell proliferation and apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC). Methods Two UCP-2 green fluorescent protein (GFP) lentivirus constructs were created with the rs660339 locus carried C or T (UCP-2C or UCP-2T), respectively. HUVEC were cultured after lentiviral infection of UCP-2C or UCP-2T. The expression of UCP-2C or UCP-2T was detected with real time polymerase chain reaction. Cell proliferation and cell apoptosis were compared among negative control (NC) group, UCP-2T group and UCP-2C group using CCK-8 cell viability and flow cytometry. Western blot and immunostaining were employed to examine the expression of Bcl-2 gene. Results The lentivirus constructs were successfully created. ＞80% of the transfected cells were found to express GFP under fluorescent microscope. The mRNA levels of UCP-2 gene were significantly increased (F=29.183,P=0.001) in the UCP-2T group and UCP-2C group. The CCK-8 assay revealed that on day two (F=15.970,P=0.004), day three (F=16.738,P=0.004), day four (F=5.414,P=0.045) post-infection, UCP-2T and UCP-2C group showed significantly greater proliferation than the NC cells. The apoptotic rate in the UCP-2T and UCP-2C group was significantly lower than NC group (F=277.138,P=0.000), and the apoptotic rate of UCP-2T was significantly lower than that of UCP-2C (P=0.003). The protein levels of Bcl-2 in the UCP-2T and UCP-2C group were significantly greater than that in the NC group (F=425.679,P=0.000), and the Bcl-2 expression of UCP-2T was greater than that of UCP-2C (P=0.002). The Bcl-2 density in the UCP-2T and UCP-2C group were greater than that in the NC group (F=11.827,P=0.008), while there was no difference between UCP-2T and UCP-2C group (P=0.404). Conclusion The variants of UCP-2 rs660339 may influence HUVEC proliferation and apoptosis, and UCP-2T showed a stronger effect of inhibiting apoptosis than UCP-2C.
ObjectiveTo construct a lentiviral vector carrying rat sirt1 gene and observe the expression of sirt1 in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) of rat.
MethodsRat sirt1 cDNA was inserted into pLV5 vector. After identification by sequencing analysis and PCR, the recombinant sirt1expressinglentivirus vector was packaged by cotransfecting 293T cells with packaged plasmid.Then pLV5-sirt1 was used to infect the cultured Sprague-Dawley rat RGC cell in vitro.The expressions of sirt1 protein and mRNA in infected rat RGC were detected by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot.
ResultsThe sirt1 expression vector pLV5 was successful constructed and sequence was proved to be correct. The expression of sirt1 protein and mRNA in RGC was significantly increased than that in cells infected with control lentiviruses(P < 0.05).
ConclusionWe have successful constructed a sirt1 expression lentivirus vector pLV5-sirt1 and it can increase the expression of sirt1 protein and mRNA in the rat retinal ganglion cells.
Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of the Guang’an Omicron epidemic and summarize the management experiences and practices in pandemic prevention and control of major infectious diseases.Methods Retrospective analysis was performed on patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), afterwards treated and observed in the isolation ward of Guang’an People’s Hospital and the shelter of Guang’an City from May 9 to June 26, 2022. The characteristics of patients at different age stages and the related factors affecting the severity, re-positive and negative conversion was analyzed. Results Finally 1 278 patients were collected, including 508 males and 770 females, with an average age of 41.3±22.6 years. Among them, 1 054 patients were asymptomatic carriers. The overall severe rate was 0.86%, the severe rate of the high-risk group was 3.06%. The median negative conversion time was 10.0 days and re-positive rate was 7.36%. Patients aged＞60 years were 2.589 times more likely to have a longer negative conversion time than those aged≤60 years (95%CI 1.921-3.489, P＜0.001). Conclusion The clinical characteristics of Guang’an COVID-19 epidemic are mainly that the elderly with high risk factors are more likely to develop severe cases, have longer clearance time, and re-positve is more likely to occur.
COVID-19 has been an established and continuing health problem. For the first time, this consensus focused on multi-scenario populations in the home/community, hospitalization and rehabilitation periods, and addressed medical nutrition management issues on which no consensus had yet been reached. This consensus was formulated on the basis of a comprehensive review of the existing evidence combined with the opinions of experts, with a view to complementing the existing guidelines/consensus.
The master protocol platform trial is a trial in which multiple treatments or different combinations of treatments are consistently evaluated in the context of a single disease, possibly within several sub-studies for different disease subtypes, allowing multiple treatments to enter or exit the trial platform based on a certain decision algorithm. Compared with the traditional clinical trial design, the master protocol platform trial as a scientific innovative model of clinical trial can accelerate drug evaluation to deal with the contradiction between the awaited evaluation of numerous drugs and lack of effective therapy for diseases. By using the large-scale randomized controlled clinical trial for COVID-19 inpatients (RECOVERY) led by the University of Oxford in the UK in 2020 as an illustration, this paper introduced the concept, design principle, and basic trial process of the master protocol platform trial to provide methodological references for clinical research of drugs.
Since December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has gradually spread all over the world. With the implementation of class B infectious disease management policy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), China has experienced a pandemic. For patients receiving a time-sensitive or emergency surgery, SARS-CoV-2 infection may increase the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. An appropriate perioperative mechanical ventilation strategy, such as lung protective ventilation strategy, is particularly important for preventing postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing general anesthesia. In addition, how to protect medical personnel from being infected is also the focus we need to pay attention to. This article will discuss the perioperative mechanical ventilation strategy for COVID-19 patients and the protection of medical personnel, in order to provide reference for the development of guidelines.
