Comparison of arterial stiffness and ultrasound indices in patients with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare arterial stiffness and ultrasound indices in patients with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Methods: In our retrospective study, 83 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients were assigned to the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease group and 80 healthy controls were enrolled. Pearson's correlation analysis software was used to analyze the correlation between arterial stiffness (including brachial ankle pulse wave velocity and ankle-brachial blood pressure index) and ultrasound index (including resistance index, pulsatility index, and intima-media thickness) at the carotid artery in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

Combination Therapies of Diacerein and Febuxostat Inhibit IL-1β Responses and Improve Clinical Symptoms in Patients With Refractory Gout.

There are several therapeutic strategies available for the treatment of an acute gout attack and the prevention of recurrent gout flares, and they include nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs. This prospective study was aimed at evaluating the efficiency and safety of diacerein in combination with febuxostat on urate control, global assessments of disease activity, self-monitored gouty acute flare times, inflammatory markers, and clinical symptoms associated with their life quantity in patients with refractory gout. A total of 64 patients with refractory gout were sequentially recruited and prescribed with oral febuxostat alone or febuxostat plus diacerein daily for 12 weeks.

[Expression of human T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3(TIM-3) on eukaryotic cells and establishment of stable transfectant cell line].

Aim: To construct eukaryotic expression vector of human T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3(TIM-3) and transfect mammalian cells to establish stable cell line.

Methods: The whole coding region of TIM-3 was amplified by PCR and inserted into eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2EGFP. The recombinant plasmid was transfected into mammalian cells by Lipofectamine.