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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health emergency of international concern and poses a threat to the mental health of pregnant women. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between social support and anxiety, and the mediating effect of risk perception during the COVID-19 epidemic in the third trimester pregnant women in Qingdao, China. Methods: From 16 to 21 February 2020, an online survey was conducted, which collected the information on demographic data, anxiety, social support and risk perception to COVID-19 of women with established medical records in the ambulatory of the Department of Obstetrics at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University. Anxiety was assessed by the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), social support was assessed by the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) and risk perception was assessed by a self-designed questionnaire. Results: This study had 308 participants with an average of 31.02 ± 3.91 years. During the period of prevention and control of the epidemic, most pregnant women adopted protective measures, such as wearing masks (97.4%), washing hands frequently (88.3%) and staying at home (76.3%). The average SAS, SSRS and risk perception scores of the participants were 42.45 ± 6.98, 44.60 ± 7.00 and 21.60 ± 5.74, respectively. The total effect of maternal social support on anxiety was −2.63 (95% confidence interval (CI): −4.40 ~ −1.44, p < .001), the direct effect was −1.44 (95% CI: −2.74 ~ −0.35, p < .05) and the indirect effect was −1.19 (95% CI: −2.49 ~ −0.51, p < .001). Conclusion: The third trimester pregnant women had a high level of social support, a medium level of risk perception to COVID-19 and were susceptible to anxiety. Risk perception played a mediating role between social support and anxiety.

Jiayou Tang, 1,* Lu Jin, 2,* Yang Liu, 1 Lanlan Li, 1 Yanyan Ma, 1 Linhe Lu, 1 Jipeng Ma, 1 Peng Ding, 1 Xiuling Yang, 1 Jincheng Liu, 1 Jian Yang 1 1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China; 2State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Shaanxi Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Maxillofacial Plastic Surgery, School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jian YangDepartment of Cardiovascular Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, No. 127 Changle West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, People's Republic of ChinaTel +86-13892828016Email Yangjian1212@hotmail.comObjective: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) show unique advantages in cardiomyocyte repairment. Exosomes derived from MSCs can enhance the viability of myocardial cells after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and regulate inflammation response. The study was designed to ascertain whether MSCs-exo protect the myocardium against I/R injury through inhibiting pyroptosis, and the underlying mechanisms.Methods and Results: Experiments were carried out in H/R and I/R model. Cell viability was inhibited and NLRP3 and caspase1 protein levels were upregulated in H/R model. However, MSCs could inhibit cell apoptosis and pyroptosis in H/R model. Moreover, we used MSCs-exo to treated H/R model, and flow cytometric analysis results showed the inhibition function of MSCs-exo on cell apoptosis, and Western blot data suggested that NLRP3 and Caspase-1 expressions were downregulated in H/R model. Furthermore, exosomal miR-320b targeted NLRP3 protein, and MSCs-exo OE could inhibit NLRP3 expression and pyroptosis in H/R. In addition, the inhibition function of MSCs-exo on pyroptosis also was found in I/R model, and HE and Tunel staining also got similar results.Conclusion: Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells could protect the myocardium against ischemia/reperfusion injury through inhibiting pyroptosis.Keywords: exosome, mesenchymal stem cells, ischemia/reperfusion injury, pyroptosis, miR-320b