Risk factors on admission associated with hospital length of stay in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study.

Treating patients with COVID-19 is expensive, thus it is essential to identify factors on admission associated with hospital length of stay (LOS) and provide a risk assessment for clinical treatment. To address this, we conduct a retrospective study, which involved patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection in Hefei, China and being discharged between January 20 2020 and March 16 2020. Demographic information, clinical treatment, and laboratory data for the participants were extracted from medical records.

Urotensin II promotes monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 expression in aortic adventitial fibroblasts of rat.

Background: Urotensin II (UII), a potent vasoconstrictive peptide, is able to stimulate phenotypic differentiation of adventitial fibroblasts. This study aimed to determine the effect of UII on monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression in rat aortic adventitial fibroblasts, so as to explore possible mechanisms in the development of vascular inflammation.

Methods: Growth-arrested adventitial fibroblasts were incubated in serum-free medium with UII (10(-10)-10(-7) mol/L) and inhibitors of signal transduction pathways for 1 to 24 hours.

Transforming growth factor-β1 involved in urotensin II-induced phenotypic differentiation of adventitial fibroblasts from rat aorta.

Background: Urotensin II (UII) is a new vasoconstrictive peptide that may activate the adventitial fibroblasts. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is an important factor that could induce the phenotypical transdifferentiation of adventitial fibroblasts. This study aimed to explore whether TGF-β1 is involved in UII-induced phenotypic differentiation of adventitial fibroblasts from rat aorta.

Osteopontin is involved in urotensin II-induced migration of rat aortic adventitial fibroblasts.

Recent studies suggest that both osteopontin and urotensin II (UII) play critical roles in vascular remodeling. We previously showed that UII could stimulate the migration of aortic adventitial fibroblasts. In this study, we examined whether osteopontin is involved in UII-induced migration of rat aortic adventitial fibroblasts and examined the effects and mechanisms of UII on osteopontin expression in adventitial fibroblasts.