Pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation predicts outcome of percutaneous intervention for chronic total occlusion

AIM

To investigate the association between pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) attenuation (PCATA) and outcomes of chronic total occlusion (CTO) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and to establish a clinical model that can be easily generalised to predict the outcomes of PCI-CTO.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between September 2015 and September 2019, patients from two centres were enrolled retrospectively. The primary endpoint was a procedural success (defined as achieving residual stenosis of <30% and a grade 3 thrombolysis in myocardial infarction [TIMI] flow). The new predictive model was generated by factors that were determined by multivariate analysis. The PCATA of CTO (PCATA-CTO) score was developed by assigning 1 point for each independent predictor, and then summing all points accrued. In addition, the predictive efficacy and interobserver and intraobserver agreement of PCATA-CTO and other scoring systems based on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) were compared.

RESULTS

A total of 201 patients (mean age 58.9 ± 10.8 years, 85% male) were enrolled. The PCI success was achieved in 76% of the lesions. PCAT was higher in the PCI success group (-72.44 ± 10.45HU versus -76.76 ± 10.54 HU, p<0.05). Multivariable analysis yielded severe calcification, lesion length ≥15 mm, and perivascular fat attenuation index (FAI) ≤-69.5HU as independent negative predictors for procedural success. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the PCATA-CTO score was 0.72. Comparing the PCATA-CTO score with other predictive scores, the PCATA-CTO score showed the highest interobserver (kappa = 0.74) and intraobserver agreement (kappa = 0.90, all p<0.01).

CONCLUSION

FAI ≤-69.5HU is an independent negative predictor of procedural success. The PCATA-CTO score improved the reliability of the prediction model. Its potential for clinical implementation requires evaluation.

Modeling and predicting osteoarthritis progression: data from the osteoarthritis initiative

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to model the longitudinal progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA) and build a prognostic tool that uses data collected in 1 year to predict disease progression over 8 years.

DESIGN

To model OA progression, we used a mixed-effects mixture model and 8-year data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI)-specifically, joint space width measurements from X-rays and pain scores from the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire. We included 1243 subjects who at enrollment were classified as being at high risk of developing OA based on age, body mass index (BMI), and medical and occupational histories. After clustering subjects based on radiographic and pain progression, we used clinical variables collected within the first year to build least absolute shrinkage and selection (LASSO) regression models for predicting the probabilities of belonging to each cluster. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) represent predictive performance on held-out data.

RESULTS

Based on joint space narrowing, subjects clustered as progressing or non-progressing. Based on pain scores, they clustered as stable, improving, or worsening. Radiographic progression could be predicted with high accuracy (AUC = .86) using data from two visits spanning 1 year, whereas pain progression could be predicted with high accuracy (AUC = .95) using data from a single visit. Joint space narrowing and pain progression were not associated.

CONCLUSION

Statistical models for characterizing and predicting OA progression promise to improve clinical trial design and OA prevention efforts in the future.

Establishment of a cell line with high transfection efficiency from zebrafish Danio rerio embryos and its susceptibility to fish viruses

A cell line ZBE3 isolated from a continuous cell culture derived from zebrafish Danio rerio blastomeres by clonal growth was characterized. ZBE3 cells had been subcultured for >120 passages since the initial primary culture of the blastomeres. The ZBE3 cells grow stably at temperature from 20 to 32° C with an optimum temperature of 28° C in ESM2 or ESM4 medium with 15% foetal bovine serum (FBS). The optimum FBS concentration for ZBE3 cell growth ranged from 15 to 20%. Cytogenetical analysis indicated that the modal chromosome number of ZBE3 cells was 50, the same as the diploid chromosome number of D. rerio. Significant cytopathic effect was observed in ZBE3 cells after infection with redspotted grouper nervous necrosis virus, Singapore grouper iridovirus and grass carp reovirus, and the viral replication in the cells was confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR and transmission electron microscopy, indicating the susceptibility of ZBE3 cells to the three fish viruses. After transfected with pEGFP-N3 plasmid, ZBE3 cells showed a transfection efficiency of about 40% which was indicated by the percentage of cells expressing green fluorescence protein. The stable growth, susceptibility to fish viruses as well as high transfection efficiency make ZBE3 cells be a useful tool in transgenic manipulation, fish virus-host cell interaction and immune response in fish.

[Correlation between high risk type human papillomavirus E6/E7 mRNA and cervical cancer]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the correlation between the positive rate of high risk human papillomavirus(HPV)mRNA E6/E7 and cervical cancer, and provide evidence for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.

METHODS

A total of 100 cervical cancer cases and 100 healthy controls were selected in our hospital from January 2015 to December 2015. The fluorescence quantitative PCR and pathological examination on HPV E6/E7 mRNA were carried out. The correlation between HPV E6/E7 mRNA and cervical squamous epithelial lesions were analyzed.

RESULTS

In case group, the positive rate of HPV E6/E7 mRNA was 76.0%(76/100). In control group, the positive rate was 13.0%(13/100). The positive rate in case group was significantly higher than that in control group, and the difference was statistically significant(χ(2)=24.522, P<0.001). The positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the two groups were compared, and the difference was not significant(P>0.05). The positive rate of HPV E6/E7 mRNA was significantly higher than high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion(SIL)rate(26.1%), low-grade SIL rate(17.6%)and atypical squamous cell hyperplasia rate(6.7%), the difference was statistically significant(χ(2)=7.615, P= 0.001; χ(2) =9.114, P=0.001; χ(2)=18.241, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The detection rate of HPV E6/E7 mRNA in cervical cancer patients was high. And with the increased severity of cervical squamous epithelial lesions, the positive rate of HPV E6/E7 mRNA increased.