经鼻高流量氧疗对阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合征患者的临床疗效研究

目的:探讨经鼻高流量氧疗对阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合征患者的临床疗效。方法:选择2013年7月至2017年7月我院接诊的80例急阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合征患者进行研究,通过随机数表法分为观察组(n=45)和对照组(n=35)。观察组采用经鼻高流量氧疗进行治疗,对照组采用无创正压通气进行治疗,比较两组临床疗效、夜间呼吸暂停时间、呼吸暂停低通气指数(AHI)、总睡眠时间、醒觉时间、血氧饱和度、治疗前后血压、高敏C反应蛋白(hs-CRP)、低密度脂蛋白(LDL)、总胆固醇(TC)水平及生活质量评分的变化。结果:观察组患者治疗后有效率为88.89%,显著高于对照组(71.43%,P0.05)。治疗后,观察组夜间最低血氧饱和度、总睡眠时间、醒觉时间、生活质量评分均明显高于对照组,AHI、收缩压、舒张压、平均动脉压、血清hs-CRP、LDL以及TC水平均显著低于对照组(P0.05)。结论:经鼻高流量氧疗用于阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合征患者的临床疗效明显优于无创正压通气进行治疗,其可显著改善患者的临床症状,提高患者的生活质量。     

3D patient-specific numerical modeling of the soft palate considering adhesion from the tongue

Collapse of the soft palate in the upper airway contributes to obstructive sleeping apnea (OSA). In this study, we investigate the influence of the adhesion from the tongue on the soft palate global response. This is achieved using a cohesive zone finite element approach. A traction-separation law is determined to describe the adhesion effect from the surface tension of the lining liquid between the soft palate and the tongue. According to pull-off experimental tests of human lining liquid from the oral surface of the soft palate, the corresponding cohesive properties, including the critical normal traction stress and the failure separation displacement, are obtained. The 3D patient-specific soft palate geometry is accounted for, based on one specific patient’s computed tomography (CT) images. The calculation results show that influence of the adhesion from the tongue surface on the global response of the soft palate depends on the length ratio between the cohesive length and the soft palate length. When the length of the cohesive zone is smaller than half of the soft palate length, the adhesion’s influence is negligible. When the adhesion length is larger than 70 percent of soft palate length, the adhesion force contributes to preventing the soft palate from collapsing towards to the pharynx wall, i.e. the closing pressure is more negative than in the no adhesion case. These results may provide useful information to the clinical treatment of OSA patients.     

血必净注射液对梗阻性黄疸大鼠血清内毒素及肿瘤坏死因子-alpha水平的影响

目的：探究血必净注射液对梗阻性黄疸大鼠血清内毒素(ETX)及肿瘤坏死因子-alpha(TNF-alpha)水平的影响。方法：选取雄性SD 大 鼠60 只,随机分为假手术(A)组、梗阻性黄疸(B)组、血必净干预(C)组,每组20 只。A组不结扎胆总管,B、C两组结扎胆总管。术后 七天,C 组每日皮下注射血必净4 mL/Kg,A 组、B 组用等量生理盐水替代,持续用药一周。实验两周后,检测和比较各组大鼠血清 ETX、TNF-alpha、总胆红素(TBIL)及直接胆红素(DBIL)水平。结果：术后两周,A组血清TBIL、DBIL 水平显著低于B、C两组;B组血 清TBIL、DBIL 水平显著高于C 组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。B组血清ETX和TNF-alpha水平显著高于A、C 组,差异均有统计 学意义(P<0.05)。结论：血必净注射液可能通过降低血清ETX和TNF-alpha含量改善梗阻性黄疸。     

High Risk for Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Truck Drivers Estimated by the Berlin Questionnaire: Prevalence and Associated Factors

The health issues that attract our attention when analyzing the truck driver population are the high prevalence of sedentary habits, inadequate diet, obesity, and proportion of hypertensive. All these are either considered risk factors for or a consequence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). The objective of this study was to investigate the risk for OSA among 10,101 truck drivers and to correlate it with potentially related factors, such as serum glucose and cholesterol levels, smoking habits, alcohol and drug consumption, and self-reported physical activity. The drivers were invited to participate in the campaign “Saúde na Boléia” (Health Behind the Wheel) promoted by a Brazilian company responsible for the maintenance of approximately 360 km of roads in the country. Drivers who spontaneously stopped at the campaign booths placed along the roads were invited to answer a questionnaire covering sociodemographic data such as age, alcohol, and drug consumption. All participants completed a Berlin Questionnaire and were classified as low- or high-risk subjects for OSA based on questions about snoring, tiredness during the day, and the presence of hypertension or obesity. Blood collection was accomplished at the same site by nurses and/or nursing students collaborating with the campaign for subsequent laboratory studies. Approximately 26% of the truck drivers were found to be at high-risk group for OSA. An adjusted multiple logistic model found the independent risk factors of smoking (OR = 1.16; p = 0.014) and drug use (OR = 1.32; p < 0.0001) were associated with high risk for OSA. The presence of self-reported occasional (OR = 0.62; p < 0.0001) and regular (OR = 0.53; p < 0.0001) physical activity was found to be an independent factor protective of OSA. Educational programs, including ones aimed at improving one's health habits, such as engagement in physical exercise, should be considered in the development of initiatives to reduce the risk for OSA among the truck driver population.     

Cigarette Smoke-induced Ca2+ Release Leads to Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) Dysfunction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affects 64 million people and is currently the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease includes both emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and in the case of chronic bronchitis represents an inflammatory response of the airways that is associated with mucus hypersecretion and obstruction of small airways. Recently, it has emerged that exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) leads to an inhibition of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl⁻ channel, causing airway surface liquid dehydration, which may play a role in the development of chronic bronchitis. CS rapidly clears CFTR from the plasma membrane and causes it to be deposited into aggresome-like compartments. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) responsible for the internalization of CFTR following CS exposure. Our studies revealed that CS triggered a rise in cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ that may have emanated from lysosomes. Furthermore, chelation of cytoplasmic Ca²⁺, but not inhibition of protein kinases/phosphatases, prevented CS-induced CFTR internalization. The macrolide antibiotic bafilomycin A1 inhibited CS-induced Ca²⁺ release and prevented CFTR clearance from the plasma membrane, further linking cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ and CFTR internalization. We hypothesize that CS-induced Ca²⁺ release prevents normal sorting/degradation of CFTR and causes internalized CFTR to reroute to aggresomes. Our data provide mechanistic insight into the potentially deleterious effects of CS on airway epithelia and outline a hitherto unrecognized signaling event triggered by CS that may affect the long term transition of the lung into a hyper-inflammatory/dehydrated environment.     

慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者外周血CD4~＋CD25~＋CD127~（（Low/-））调节性T细胞的检测及临床意义

目的：研究CD4＋CD25＋CD127（Low/-）调节性T细胞在慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）急性发作期外周血中的比例改变及其临床意义。方法：以25例COPD急性发作期患者外周血为研究组,20名正常人外周血作为对照组,采用三色直接荧光素标记法和多参数流式细胞仪检测外周血CD4＋CD25＋CD127（Low/-）调节性T细胞的比例,同时检测外周血C-反应蛋白（CRP）、血沉（ESR）、免疫球蛋白（Ig）等水平。结果：COPD急性发作期患者外周血CD4＋CD25＋CD127（Low/-）调节性T细胞占外周血CD4＋T淋巴细胞的比例明显低于健康对照组（P〈0.01）。而COPD急性发作期患者外周血CRP、ESR、Ig等水平明显高于健康对照组（P〈0.05）。COPD患者外周血调节T细胞下降与CRP和IgG升高成负相关。结论：COPD患者外周血CD4＋CD25＋CD127（Low/-）调节性T细胞在CD4＋T淋巴细胞的比例明显减少,调节性T细胞等免疫调节因素可能在COPD的发病机制发挥重要作用。     

舌骨肌切开悬吊术结合腭咽成形术治疗重度OSAHS

目的：应用联合应用舌骨肌切开悬吊术和腭咽成形术治疗重度阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征。方法：用多导睡眠监测确定52例重度阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征,不同方法确定均为以舌根平面阻塞为主的上气道多平面狭窄。采用舌骨肌切开悬吊术联合腭咽成形术进行治疗。结果：所有接受手术的患者术后鼾声均有不同程度的减轻,手术总有效率94．2％。无1例出现不良并发症。结论：舌骨肌切开悬吊术安全、易行,结合腭咽成形术治疗重度阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征效果良好。     

A scaled sample space cube used to illustrate attributable fractions

A three-dimensional graphic method is proposed for displaying the association structure between multiple explanatory variables and their relation to a categorical response. The method combines the techniques of mosaic displays and scaled Venn diagrams, and is especially useful for illustrating attributable fractions in epidemiology. The primary purpose is to show the reduction of disease risk in a population if the joint exposure distribution or the conditional risk function is modified, and the method can be extended to illustrate the potential effects of successive removal of exposures on the overall risk of disease. The scaled sample space cube may be used for communicating the difficult concept of attributable fraction to statisticians, the medical community and the general public in an easily understandable way. Demonstrations of the method use theoretical models as well as data from the Hordaland study on the effect of smoking and occupational exposure on obstructive lung disease. Also, the general principle of adding a third dimension to a mosaic display, instead of using shading or colouring, to show an attribute of a cell in a multiway contingency table, can be helpful for other purposes, as in residual analysis of a loglinear model fitting.     

Quantification of Superoxide Radical in the Brain of Rats with Experimentally Induced Obstructive Jaundice

The study aimed to directly measure in vivo superoxide radical (O₂⁻) a direct indicator of oxidative stress, in the brain of rats with experimentally induced obstructive jaundice by employing a new quantitative ultrasensitive fluorescent assay requiring minimum sample. O₂⁻ anion is specific for dihydroethidine (DHE) and upon reaction gives a characteristic product, namely 2-OH-ethidium. Ten male rats underwent laparotomy and were divided into two groups: I, sham operated and II bile duct ligation. Ten days later, following injection with DHE (a O₂⁻ trap), all animals were killed and samples from cerebral cortex, midbrain and cerebellum were removed for analysis. It was shown that compared to group I, in group II the O₂⁻ was increased by 67% in the cerebral cortex and by 37% in the midbrain as a consequence of experimental obstructive jaundice, while its levels were unaffected in the cerebellum. The data in this experimental obstructive jaundice model imply a region-specific increase of O₂⁻ formation rate, being higher in cerebral cortex, less so in the midbrain and not at all in cerebellum.     

Evaluation of Respiratory Muscle Activation Using Respiratory Motor Control Assessment (RMCA) in Individuals with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

During breathing, activation of respiratory muscles is coordinated by integrated input from the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord. When this coordination is disrupted by spinal cord injury (SCI), control of respiratory muscles innervated below the injury level is compromised^1,2 leading to respiratory muscle dysfunction and pulmonary complications. These conditions are among the leading causes of death in patients with SCI³. Standard pulmonary function tests that assess respiratory motor function include spirometrical and maximum airway pressure outcomes: Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV₁), Maximal Inspiratory Pressure (PI_max) and Maximal Expiratory Pressure (PE_max)^4,5. These values provide indirect measurements of respiratory muscle performance⁶. In clinical practice and research, a surface electromyography (sEMG) recorded from respiratory muscles can be used to assess respiratory motor function and help to diagnose neuromuscular pathology. However, variability in the sEMG amplitude inhibits efforts to develop objective and direct measures of respiratory motor function⁶. Based on a multi-muscle sEMG approach to characterize motor control of limb muscles⁷, known as the voluntary response index (VRI)⁸, we developed an analytical tool to characterize respiratory motor control directly from sEMG data recorded from multiple respiratory muscles during the voluntary respiratory tasks. We have termed this the Respiratory Motor Control Assessment (RMCA)⁹. This vector analysis method quantifies the amount and distribution of activity across muscles and presents it in the form of an index that relates the degree to which sEMG output within a test-subject resembles that from a group of healthy (non-injured) controls. The resulting index value has been shown to have high face validity, sensitivity and specificity^9-11. We showed previously⁹ that the RMCA outcomes significantly correlate with levels of SCI and pulmonary function measures. We are presenting here the method to quantitatively compare post-spinal cord injury respiratory multi-muscle activation patterns to those of healthy individuals.