Objectives To evaluate the resuscitative effects of mechanical and manual chest compression in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Methods All randomized controlled and cohort studies comparing the effects of mechanical compression and manual compression on cardiopulmonary resuscitation in OHCA patients were retrieved from the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and Ovid databases from the date of their establishment to January 14, 2019. The included outcomes were as follows: the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rate, the rate of survival to hospital admission, the rate of survival to hospital discharge, and neurological function. After evaluating the quality of the studies and summarizing the results, RevMan5.3 software was used for the meta-analysis. Results In total, 15 studies (9 randomized controlled trials and 6 cohort studies) were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the resuscitative effects of mechanical and manual chest compression in terms of the ROSC rate, the rate of survival to hospital admission and survival to hospital discharge, and neurological function in OHCA patients (ROSC: RCT: OR = 1.12, 95% CI (0.90, 1.39), P = 0.31; cohort study: OR = 1.08, 95% CI (0.85, 1.36), P = 0.54; survival to hospital admission: RCT: OR = 0.95, 95% CI (0.75, 1.20), P = 0.64; cohort study: OR = 0.98 95% CI (0.79, 1.20), P = 0.82; survival to hospital discharge: RCT: OR = 0.87, 95% CI (0.68, 1.10), P = 0.24; cohort study: OR = 0.78, 95% CI (0.53, 1.16), P = 0.22; Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) score: RCT: OR = 0.88, 95% CI (0.64, 1.20), P = 0.41; cohort study: OR = 0.68, 95% CI (0.34, 1.37), P = 0.28). When the mechanical compression group was divided into Lucas and Autopulse subgroups, the Lucas subgroup showed no difference from the manual compression group in ROSC, survival to admission, survival to discharge, and CPC scores; the Autopulse subgroup showed no difference from the manual compression subgroup in ROSC, survival to discharge, and CPC scores. Conclusion There were no significant differences in resuscitative effects between mechanical and manual chest compression in OHCA patients. To ensure the quality of CPR, we suggest that manual chest compression be applied in the early stage of CPR for OHCA patients, while mechanical compression can be used as part of advanced life support in the late stage.

Objectives: This study conducted a meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness, stability, and safety of mild therapeutic hypothermia (TH) induced by endovascular cooling (EC) and surface cooling (SC) and its effect on ICU, survival rate, and neurological function integrity in adult CA patients. Methods: We developed inclusion criteria, intervention protocols, results, and data collection. The results included outcomes during target temperature management as well as ICU stay, survival rate, and neurological functional integrity. The characteristics of the included population and each study were analyzed. Results: Four thousand nine hundred thirteen participants met the inclusion criteria. Those receiving EC had a better cooling efficiency (cooling rates MD = 0.31[0.13, 0.50], p < 0.01; induced cooling times MD = − 90.45[− 167.57, − 13.33], p = 0.02; patients achieving the target temperature RR = 1.60[1.19, 2.15], p < 0.01) and thermal stability during the maintenance phase (maintenance time MD = 2.35[1.22, 3.48], p < 0.01; temperature fluctuation MD = − 0.68[− 1.03, − 0.33], p < 0.01; overcooling RR = 0.33[0.23, 0.49], p < 0.01). There were no differences in ICU survival rate (RR = 1.22[0.98, 1.52], p = 0.07, I 2 = 0%) and hospital survival rate (RR = 1.02 [0.96, 1.09], p = 0.46, I 2 = 0%), but EC reduced the length of stay in ICU (MD = − 1.83[− 3.45, − 0.21], p = 0.03, I 2 = 49%) and improved outcome of favorable neurological function at discharge (RR = 1.15[1.04, 1.28], p < 0.01, I 2 = 0%). EC may delay the hypothermia initiation time, and there was no significant difference between the two cooling methods in the time from the start of patients' cardiac arrest to achieve the target temperature (MD = − 46.64[− 175.86, 82.58]). EC was superior to non-ArcticSun in terms of cooling efficiency. Although there was no statistical difference in ICU survival rate, ICU length of stay, and hospitalization survival rate, in comparison to non-ArcticSun, EC improved rates of neurologically intact survival (RR = 1.16 [1.01, 1.35], p = 0.04, I 2 = 0%).

Background/Aims. Paraquat is an effective herbicide used worldwide. Due to high lung toxicity and a lack of effective treatment, elevated morbidity and mortality occur after ingestion. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may be an option for repairing, remodeling, or regenerating lungs damaged by paraquat. Human amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAD-MSCs) have significant biological advantages including low immunogenicity and noninvasive acquisition for acute and chronic lung injury. In this study, the preclinical efficacy of hAD-MSCs in treating paraquat-induced acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis was investigated. Clinical cell therapy was replicated including the dose and timing of hAD-MSC treatment. Methods. First, the purity of hAD-MSCs was determined by morphological observation and FCM, and the effects on the survival of paraquat-poisoned Sprague-Dawley rats were observed. All rats were randomly divided into three groups, defined as the sham control group ( n = 8 ), model group ( n = 15 ), and hAD-MSC-transplanted group ( n = 17 ). Pneumonocyte damage and inflammatory cell infiltration were investigated in the three groups of rats, untreated control, paraquat only, and paraquat+hAD-MSC transplanted, using H&E staining. Fibrosis was investigated in three groups of rats using Masson’s trichrome staining and Sirius red staining. The profibrotic factor TGF-β1, the composition of fibrotic collagen HYP, and the hAD-MSC-secreted immunosuppressive factor HLA-G5 in serum were investigated in the three groups of rats using ELISA. Furthermore, the distribution of hAD-MSCs was investigated in the three groups of rats using immunohistochemistry and hematoxylin staining. Results. The hAD-MSCs exhibited typical hallmarks of MSCs, improved the state of being and survival of paraquat-poisoned rats, reduced both lung injury and inflammation, and inhibited the progression of pulmonary fibrosis by decreasing the deposition of collagen and the secretion of both TGF-β1 and HYP. The hAD-MSCs could survive in damaged lungs and secreted appropriate amounts of HLA-G5 into the serum. Conclusion. The obtained results indicate that hAD-MSCs used to treat paraquat-induced lung injury may work through anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive pathways and the downregulation of profibrotic elements. This study suggests that the transplantation of hAD-MSCs is a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of paraquat-intoxicated patients.

Acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning results in severe acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis, and there is no specific antidote; thus, the mortality rate of PQ poisoning is extremely high. The mechanism of poisoning may be associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress, oxidative stress damage and organ/tissue inflammation. Recent studies have reported that human amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) secrete a variety of cytokines, and that hAMSC-conditioned medium (CM) has anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether hAMSC-CM exerts protective effects against PQ toxicity in A549 cells. The data demonstrated that the activity of A549 cells was decreased after 24 h of PQ exposure and that the cell viability of the hAMSC-CM intervention group was higher compared with the PQ-only group. hAMSC-CM intervention decreased cell damage, apoptosis rates, oxidative stress indexes, Bax/Bcl-2 ratios and CHOP expression levels in poisoned cells by CCK-8 experiment, apoptosis detection, ROS content detection, and Western blot analysis respectively. In conclusion, hAMSC-CM may attenuate the cell damage caused by PQ by reducing endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxidative stress.