BACKGROUND Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) is a rare but fatal necrotic infection of the kidney, which usually leads to septic shock. Therefore, early diagnosis and optimized therapy are of paramount importance. In the past two decades, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has been widely used in clinical practice, especially in emergency and critical care settings, and helps to rapidly identify the source of infection in sepsis. We report a rare case in which a “falls” sign on POCUS played a pivotal role in the early diagnosis of EPN. CASE SUMMARY A 57-year-old man presented with fever and lumbago for 3 d prior to admission. He went to the emergency room, and the initial POCUS detected gas bubbles in the hepatorenal space showing a hyperechoic focus with dirty shadowing and comet-tail artifacts. This imaging feature was like a mini waterfall. His blood and urine culture demonstrated Escherichia coli bacteremia, and EPN associated with septic shock was diagnosed. The patient did not respond to broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment and a perirenal abscess developed. He subsequently underwent computed tomography-guided percutaneous catheter drainage, and fully recovered. We also review the literature on the sonographic features of POCUS in EPN. CONCLUSION This case indicates that a “falls” sign on POCUS facilitates the rapid diagnosis of severe EPN at the bedside.
Background. Cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) is implicated in cardioprotection in chronic heart failure (CHF) by downregulating inflammation response. Mitochondrial injuries play an important role in ventricular remodeling of the CHF process. Herein, we aim to investigate whether CAP elicitation prevents ventricular remodeling in CHF by protecting myocardial mitochondrial injuries and its underlying mechanisms. Methods and Results. CHF models were established by ligation of anterior descending artery for 5 weeks. Postoperative survival rats were assigned into 5 groups: the sham group (sham, n = 10 ), CHF group (CHF, n = 11 ), Vag group (CHF+vagotomy, n = 10 ), PNU group (CHF+PNU-282987 for 4 weeks, n = 11 ), and Vag+PNU group (CHF+vagotomy+PNU-282987 for 4 weeks, n = 10 ). The antiventricular remodeling effect of cholinergic elicitation was evaluated in vivo, and H9C2 cells were selected for the TNF-α gradient stimulation experiment in vitro. In vivo, CAP agitated by PNU-282987 alleviated the left ventricular dysfunction and inhibited the energy metabolism remodeling. Further, cholinergic elicitation increased myocardium ATP levels and reduced systemic inflammation. CAP induction alleviates macrophage infiltration and cardiac fibrosis, of which the effect is counteracted by vagotomy. Myocardial mitochondrial injuries were ameliorated by CAP activation, including the reserved ultrastructural integrity, declining ROS overload, reduced myocardial apoptosis, and enhanced mitochondrial fusion. In vitro, TNF-α intervention significantly exacerbated the mitochondrial damage in H9C2 cells. Conclusion. CAP elicitation effectively improves ischemic ventricular remodeling by suppressing systemic and cardiac inflammatory response, attenuating cardiac fibrosis and potentially alleviating the mitochondrial dysfunction linked to hyperinflammation reaction.
Background: Autoimmune disorder is the emerging mechanism of atrial fibrillation (AF).The β1-adrenergic receptor antibody (β1-AAb) is associated with AF progress. Our study aims to investigate whether β1-AAbs involves in atrial vulnerable substrate by mediating Ca2+ mishandling and atrial fibrosis in autoimmune associated AF. Methods: Active immunization models were established via subcutaneous injection of the second extracellular loop (ECL2) peptide for β1 adrenergic receptor (β1AR). Invasive electrophysiologic study and ex vivo optical mapping were used to evaluate the changed electrophysiology parameters and calcium handling properties. Phospho-proteomics combined with molecular biology assay were performed to identify the potential mechanisms of remodeled atrial substrate elicited by β1-AAbs. Exogenous β1-AAbs were used to induce the cellular phenotypes of HL-1 cells and atrial fibroblasts to AF propensity. Results: β1-AAbs aggravated the atrial electrical instability and atrial fibrosis. Bisoprolol alleviated the alterations of action potential duration (APD), Ca2+ transient duration (CaD) and conduction heterogeneity challenged by β1-AAbs. β1-AAbs prolonged calcium transient refractoriness and promoted arrhythmogenic atrial alternans and spatially discordant alternans, which were partly counteracted through blocking β1AR. Its underlying mechanisms are related to β1AR-drived CaMKII/RyR2 activation of atrial cardiomyocytes and the myofibroblasts phenotype formation of fibroblasts. Conclusion: Suppressing β1-AAbs effectively protects the atrial vulnerable substrate by ameliorating intracellular Ca2+ mishandling and atrial fibrosis, preventing the process of the autoimmune associated AF.
Mammary epithelial cells (MECs) from Kunming mice were isolated and stimulated in vitro with 10 μg/mL of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The release of tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) into culture supernatants was measured by ELISA. Furthermore, blocking experiments with Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 antibodies were performed to verify whether cytokine secretion depended on LPS-induced activation of TLR2 or TLR4. The results revealed that LPS-stimulated mouse MECs significantly secreted TNF-α and IL-8. Blocking of the TLR4 pathway inhibited the secretion of TNF-α and IL-8, while inhibition of LPS-induced TNF-α and IL-8 production was not observed when TLR2 was blocked. Thus, TLR4 can mediate the LPS-induced expression of cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-8 in mouse MECs.
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