Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that nucleic acid-based therapies are promising for atherosclerosis. However, nearly all nucleic acid delivery systems developed for atherosclerosis necessitate injection, which results in rapid elimination and poor patient compliance. Consequently, oral delivery strategies capable of targeting atherosclerotic plaques are imperative for nucleic acid therapeutics. Herein we report the development of yeast-derived capsules (YCs) packaging an antisense oligonucleotide (AM33) targeting microRNA-33 (miR-33) for the oral treatment of atherosclerosis. YCs provide stability for AM33, preventing its premature release in the gastrointestinal tract. AM33-containing YCs, defined as YAM33, showed high transfection in macrophages, thus promoting cholesterol efflux and inhibiting foam cell formation by regulating the target genes/proteins of miR-33. Orally delivered YAM33 effectively accumulated within atherosclerotic plaques in ApoE ^-/- mice, primarily by transepithelial absorption via M cells in Peyer's patches and subsequent translocation via macrophages through the lymphatic system. Inhibition of miR-33 by oral YAM33 significantly delayed the progression of atherosclerosis. Moreover, oral treatment with YCs co-delivering AM33 and atorvastatin afforded significantly enhanced anti-atherosclerotic effects. Our findings suggest that yeast-based microcapsules represent an effective carrier for oral delivery of nucleic acids, either alone or in combination with existing drugs, offering a promising approach for precision therapy of atherosclerotic diseases.

Objective:To preliminarily evaluate the effects and analyze the influencing factors of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in severe burn patients complicated with acute kidney injury (AKI).Methods:This study was a retrospective case series study. From January 2010 to December 2020, 79 severe burn patients complicated with AKI who received CRRT and met the inclusion criteria were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University (the Third Military Medical University). The general data (the same below) of all patients were collected, including gender, age, body mass index, burn area, burn index, cause of injury, whether combined with inhalation injury, acute physiology and chronic health status evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score and sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA) score on admission, admission time after burn, and time of AKI after admission. The total efficacy of CRRT, including overall effective rate, complete effective rate, partial effective rate, ineffective rate, and deterioration rate, creatinine, urea, cystatin C, and fluid overload rate before and after treatment, in-hospital mortality, predictive mortality based on Baux scoring model, the most common cause of death, and length of hospital stay were recorded. According to the effect of CRRT, the patients were divided into effective group (42 patients) and ineffective group (37 patients). The general information of patients, the time to initiate CRRT after the occurrence of AKI, the duration of CRRT, etiology of AKI, AKI stage before CRRT initiation, CRRT mode, anticoagulant type, and in-hospital mortality were compared between the two groups of patients. The independent influencing factors for CRRT in severe burn patients complicated with AKI were screened. According to the etiology of AKI, the patients were divided into prerenal group (22 patients) and renal group (57 patients). The general information of patients, the time to initiate CRRT after the occurrence of AKI, the duration of CRRT, and total efficacy of CRRT (except for the most common cause of death) were compared between the two groups of patients.Results:Among the 79 patients, 73 cases were male and 6 cases were female, with age of (46±14) years, body mass index of (24.0±2.9) kg/m 2, total burn area of (69±26)% total body surface area (TBSA), full-thickness burn area of (44±25)%TBSA, and burn index of 57 (36, 76). There were 36 cases of flame burns, 19 cases of electrical burns, 16 cases of hydrothermal burns, 6 cases of explosive burns, and 2 cases of chemical burns. Thirty-nine patients were complicated with inhalation injury. The APACHE Ⅱ score was 16 (12, 18) and the SOFA score was 11 (5, 13) on admission. The patients were admitted to the hospital on 0 (0, 2) d after burn, and AKI occurred on 0 (0, 6) d after admission. The overall effective rate of CRRT was 53.16% (42/79), the complete effective rate was 30.38% (24/79), the partial effective rate was 22.78% (18/79), the ineffective rate was 31.65% (25/79), and the deterioration rate was 15.19% (12/79). The creatinine and urea of patients after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (with Z values of -3.26 and -2.54, respectively, P<0.05); there were no statistically significant differences in the cystatin C and fluid overload rate of patients before and after treatment ( P>0.05). The in-hospital mortality of patients was 17.72% (14/79), and the predictive mortality based on Baux scoring model was 75.10% (18.94%, 91.84%). The most common cause of death was multiple organ failure, and the length of hospital stay was 39.43 (11.52, 110.58) d. There were statistically significant differences in the full-thickness burn area, the duration of CRRT, and etiology of AKI of patients between effective group and ineffective group (with Z values of -1.99 and -2.90, respectively, χ2=5.58, P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the other indicators ( P>0.05). The etiology of AKI and full-thickness burn area were the independent influencing factors for CRRT in severe burn patients complicated with AKI (with odds ratios of 4.21 and 1.03, respectively, 95% confidence intervals of 1.20-14.80 and 1.00-1.05, respectively, P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the cause of injury, overall effective rate of CRRT, total burn area, burn index, admission time after burn, time of AKI after admission, the time to initiate CRRT after the occurrence of AKI, and predictive mortality based on Baux score model of patients between prerenal group and renal group (with χ2 values of 12.59 and 5.58, respectively, Z values of 2.46, 2.43, -2.43, -4.03, -3.01, and -2.31, respectively, P<0.05). Before treatment, urea and cystatin C of patients in renal group were significantly higher than those in prerenal group (with Z values of -2.98 and -2.77, respectively, P<0.05), and the liquid overload rate was significantly lower than that in prerenal group ( Z=-2.99, P<0.05); after treatment, the cystatin C of patients in renal group was significantly higher than that in prerenal group ( Z=-2.08, P<0.05); there were no statistically significant differences in the other indicators ( P>0.05). Conclusions:CRRT can significantly improve renal function, avoid fluid overload, and alleviate renal injury in severe burn patients complicated with AKI. Prerenal AKI is the main independent influencing factor leading to ineffective CRRT.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization and the prognosis in patients with extensive burns, in order to explore the hemoglobin warning threshold for blood transfusion in patients with extensive burns.Methods:The research was a retrospective observational study. From October 2012 to October 2022, 288 patients with extensive burns who met the inclusion criteria were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University (the Third Military Medical University), including 243 males and 45 females, aged 18 to 65 years. These patients were assigned to the death group ( n=54) and the survival group ( n=234) based on their final prognosis. The clinical data including gender, age, body mass index, total burn area, full-thickness burn area, time of first operation after injury, preoperative prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and hemoglobin level of the first surgery, complication of inhalation injury, number of surgeries, total surgical area, total surgical time, total length of hospital stay, and highest procalcitonin value, lowest platelet count and hemoglobin values, and occurrence of sepsis during hospitalization were compared between the two groups of patients. According to the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization, the patients were assigned to <65 g/L group, ≥65 g/L and <75 g/L group, ≥75 g/L and <85 g/L group, and ≥85 g/L group. The total length of hospital stay, mortality and incidence of sepsis during hospitalization, and mortality within 90 days after injury were compared among the four groups of patients. The relationship between the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization and the mortality risk of patients with extensive burns was analyzed using a restricted cubic spline model before and after adjusting covariates. A logistic regression model was adopted to analyze the relationship between the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization and the mortality risk of patients with extensive burns after adjusting covariates, with the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization as a continuous variable and a categorical variable, separately. Results:Compared with those in survival group, the total burn area, full-thickness burn area, and total surgical area of patients in death group were significantly increased, the preoperative APTT of the first surgery was significantly prolonged, the number of surgeries was significantly reduced, the total length of hospital stay was significantly shortened, the highest procalcitonin value during hospitalization was significantly increased, the lowest platelet count and hemoglobin values during hospitalization were significantly decreased, and the incidence proportion of sepsis during hospitalization was significantly increased (with Z values of -6.72, -5.40, -2.15, -2.99, -2.21, -7.84, -6.23, -7.03, and -3.43, respectively, χ2=161.95, P values all <0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the other clinical data of patients between the two groups ( P>0.05). There were statistically significant differences in mortality and incidence of sepsis during hospitalization, and mortality within 90 days after injury of patients among the four groups divided according to the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization (with χ2 values of 12.12, 15.93, and 10.62, respectively, P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the total length of hospital stay of patients among the four groups ( P>0.05). The restricted cubic spline model analysis revealed an approximately linear relationship between the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization and the mortality risk of patients with extensive burns before and after adjusting covariates (with χ2 values of 0.81 and 0.75, respectively, P>0.05). After adjusting covariates, the logistic regression model analysis showed that the mortality risk of patients with extensive burns increased with decreasing hemoglobin when the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization was analyzed as a continuous variable (with odds ratio of 0.96, with 95% confidence interval of 0.92 to 0.99, P<0.05). When using the median value of 75.5 g/L as the cut-off value for categorizing the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization, there was no statistically significant difference in the mortality risk between patients with hemoglobin <75.5 g/L and those with hemoglobin ≥75.5 g/L ( P>0.05). When the patients were divided into four groups based on the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization as above, using ≥85 g/L group as a reference, only patients in <65 g/L group had a significantly increased mortality risk (with odds ratio of 5.37, with 95% confidence interval of 1.57 to 18.29, P<0.05). Conclusions:There is an approximately linear correlation between the lowest hemoglobin value during hospitalization and the mortality risk of patients with extensive burns. When the hemoglobin level drops to 65 g/L or lower, the mortality risk of patients increases significantly, suggesting that a hemoglobin level of 65 g/L could serve as a warning threshold for blood transfusion in patients with extensive burns.

Infection is the most common complication following burn injury, while it is rare to induce immediately systemic infection after burn injury. Domestically, the burn patients especially the major burn patients are conventionally administered systemic antibiotics prophylactically during the shock phase after burn injury. However, the clinical evidences and all the international expert consensuses and guidelines on burn infections object strongly and clearly administration of systemic antibiotics prophylactically. The incidences of systemic infection and sepsis did not increase significantly after prohibiting prophylactical administration of systemic antibiotics routinely during the shock phase after burn injury based on the authors unit's clinical data of more than 100 major burn patients. Herein, we propose that the burn patients should not be routinely administered systemic antibiotics prophylactically during the burn shock phase.

Infection is the most common complication after burn injury and one of the leading causes of death in burn patients. Thus, how to effectively prevent the occurrence and development of infection is an important task in treating burns. Till now, there are still many controversies in the clinical definition, diagnosis, and treatment of infection, especially burn infection. The authors of this article put forward their opinions and views on this subject, hoping to deepen the readers' understanding of burn infection.

The 14 th Asia Pacific Burn Congress, the 18 th Chinese Symposium on Burn Medicine, and the 2023 Huaxia Burn Forum was held successfully in Chongqing from September 13 th to 16 th, 2023. More than 1 000 participants from more than 10 countries and regions attended the congress, including over 100 overseas experts. The theme of the congress was homage, heritage, and innovation, and three-day academic exchange was held in the form of academician forum, keynote forum, and seven thematic sub-forums focused on the hot spots and difficulties in the fields of burns, trauma, wound repair, and related fields. The congress was compact, comprehensive, in-depth, and fruitful, with warm atmosphere at the meeting site.

Objective:To investigate the influencing factors and their predictive value of skin graft survival after Meek grafting in severe burn patients.Methods:A retrospective case-control study was conducted in 115 severe burn patients (95 males, 20 females, aged 1-74 years) who met the inclusion criteria and received Meek grafting in the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University (the Third Military Medical University) from January 2013 to December 2019. The patients were divided into good skin graft survival group with skin graft survival rate≥70% (68 cases) and poor skin graft survival group with skin graft survival rate<70% (47 cases). The statistics of patients in the two groups were recorded during their first Meek grafting after admission including the gender, age, body mass index, full-thickness burn area, burn index, complication of inhalation injury, time from injury to operation, preoperative cystatin C level, preoperative albumin level, preoperative neutrophil, preoperative hemoglobin level, preoperative platelet count, and platelet count on the first, third, and fifth day after operation. The above indicators were statistically analyzed between the two groups with independent sample t test, Mann-Whitney U test, and chi-square test. A 1∶1 propensity score matching (PSM) of the gender, age, body mass index, full-thickness burn area, burn index, complication of inhalation injury, time from injury to operation of patients in the two groups were performed to eliminate the differences in baseline data, and then the above indicators of the remaining patients in the two groups were recorded and analyzed again. The indicators with statistically significant differences between the two groups after 1∶1 PSM were selected for multivariate logistic regression analysis to screen the independent risk factors affecting the skin graft survival after Meek grafting in severe burn patients. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of independent risk factors for predicting poor skin graft survival after Meek grafting in severe burn patients after 1∶1 PSM was drawn, and the area under the curve, the cut-off value, and the sensitivity and specificity under the cut-off value were calculated. The patients after 1∶1 PSM were divided into independent risk factor>the cut-off value group and independent risk factor≤the cut-off value group with the incidence of poor skin graft survival after Meek grafting compared using the chi-square test, and the relative risk of poor skin graft survival after Meek grafting was calculated. Results:Before 1∶1 PSM, there were no statistically significant differences in gender, age, body mass index, complication of inhalation injury, time from injury to operation, preoperative cystatin C level, preoperative albumin level, preoperative neutrophil, preoperative hemoglobin level of patients between the two groups ( P>0.05); the full-thickness burn area and burn index of patients in poor skin graft survival group were significantly higher than those in good skin graft survival group ( Z=-2.672, -2.882, P<0.01); the preoperative platelet count and the platelet count on the first, third, and fifth day after operation of patients in poor skin graft survival group were significantly lower than those in good skin graft survival group ( Z=-3.411, -3.050, -2.748, -2.686 , P<0.01). After 1∶1 PSM, 46 cases were remained in each group. There were no statistically significant differences in gender, age, body mass index, full-thickness burn area, burn index, complication of inhalation injury, time from injury to operation, preoperative cystatin C level, preoperative albumin level, preoperative neutrophil, preoperative hemoglobin level of remaining patients between the two groups ( P>0.05); the preoperative platelet count and the platelet count on the first, third, and fifth day after operation of patients in poor skin graft survival group were significantly lower than those in good skin graft survival group ( Z=-3.428, -2.940, t=-2.427, -2.316, P<0.05 or P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the preoperative platelet count was the only independent risk factor affecting the skin graft survival after Meek grafting in severe burn patients (odds ratio=0.994, 95% confidence interval=0.989-0.998, P<0.01). The area under the ROC curve of preoperative platelet count predicting poor skin graft survival after Meek grafting in 92 patients was 0.707 (95% confidence interval=0.603-0.798, P<0.01), and the cut-off value of preoperative platelet count was 98×10 9/L, with sensitivity of 54.3% and specificity of 78.3% under the cut-off value. The incidence of poor skin survival after Meek grafting of patients in preoperative platelet count≤98×10 9/L group was 71.4% (25/35), which was obviously higher than 36.8% (21/57) in preoperative platelet count>98×10 9/L group ( χ2=10.376, P<0.01). Compared with that in preoperative platelet count>98×10 9/L group, patients in preoperative platelet count≤98×10 9/L group had a relative risk of poor skin graft survival after Meek grafting of 2.211 (95% confidence interval=1.263-3.870). Conclusions:Preoperative platelet count is an independent risk factor affecting the skin graft survival after Meek grafting in severe burn patients and has a good predictive value. Meek grafting should be performed with caution when the preoperative platelet count of patients is≤98×10 9/L.

Objective:To analyze the clinical effect of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the treatment of burn patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Methods:The retrospective observational study and the systematic review were applied. From March 2014 to July 2020, five burn patients with ARDS received ECMO treatment in the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University (the Third Military Medical University). All the five patients were male, aged from 40 to 62 years. The average total burn surface area was 58.8% total body surface area (TBSA) and four cases had severe inhalation injury. Patient's ECMO starting time, duration and mode, and whether successfully weaned or the cause of death, and others. were recorded. Furthermore, the changes of oxygenation and infection before, during, and after utilizing ECMO were analyzed. PubMed and Web of Science from the establishment of each database to August 2021 were searched using "Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation", "ECMO", "burn", "inhalation" as the search terms and "Title/Abstract" as the field to retrieve the clinical articles that meet the selection criteria . Basic information were extracted from the articles, including sample size, gender, age, total burn area, inhalation injury, the indication of ECMO, the start and lasting time of ECMO, ECMO mode, rate of successful weaning, complications of ECMO, mortality, the combined application of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Results:Five patients started venovenous ECMO on an average of 10.2 days after injury and lasted an average of 180.4 hours. Three out of 5 patients were weaned successfully with one patient survived. Four patients died of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and septic shock. Compared with those before ECMO treatment, the arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO 2) and oxygen saturation in arterial blood (SaO 2) of three successfully weaned patients obviously increased during and after ECMO treatment. The fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO 2) decreased below 50% and PaO 2/FiO 2 ratio increased above 200 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) during and after ECMO. Furthermore, lactic acid and respiratory rate decreased, basically. Compared with those before ECMO, PaO 2 and SaO 2 in the other two patients during ECMO, who failed to be weaned, continuously decreased while lactic acid increased. Before and during ECMO, the PaO 2/FiO 2 ratios of unsuccessfullg weaned cases were less than 200 mmHg, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood (PaCO 2) were more than 40 mmHg. Compared with those before ECMO, there were no significant changes in body temperature during and after ECMO, which were less than 38 ℃. Compared with those before ECMO, the leucocyte number (the index without this in unsuccessfully weaned cases was omitted, the same as below) in four patients showed a significant decrease during ECMO, but rose after removal of ECMO. The proportion of neutrophils in three patients were slightly higher during ECMO than before ECMO, and did not change significantly after removal of ECMO. Compared with those before ECMO, platelet counts in three patients were significantly reduced during ECMO, and all five patients during ECMO were below normal levels. Compared with those before ECMO, the procalcitonin levels in four deaths were significantly increased during ECMO. Catheter culture of microorganism was performed in three successfully weaned patients, all of which were negative. A total of 13 literature were included, ranging from 1990 to 2019. The sample size in 6 studies was less than 10, and the sample size in 4 studies was between 10 and 20, and only 2 literatures had a sample size larger than 50. ECMO was applied in 295 burn patients with overall mortality of 48.8% (144/295), including 157 adults and 138 children. The most common indication of ECMO was severe ARDS. Among 157 adult burn patients (95 males and 65 females), 36 cases had inhalation injury. The average burn area was 27%-37%TBSA in 5 reported studies and was more than 50%TBSA in 2 reported studies. The most common mode was venovenous ECMO. ECMO treatment began 26.5 hours to 7.4 days after injury and lasted from 90 hours to 18 days, and the rate of successful weaning ranged from 50% to 100%. The most common complications were bleeding and infection. The mortality was 52.9% (83/157). MODS and sepsis were the leading causes of death. Among 138 pediatric burn patients (77 boys and 61 girls), 29 patients had inhalation injury. The average burn area was 17%-50.2%TBSA in 3 studies. ECMO treatment lasted from 165.2 hours to 324.4 hours. Bleeding was the most common complication. The mortality was 44.2% (61/138). Conclusions:ECMO is an effective strategy for the salvage treatment of burns complicated with ARDS. Furthermore, the prevention and treatment of bleeding, infection and organ dysfunction should be emphasized during the use of ECMO. More importantly, evidence-based guidelines for burns are urgently needed to further improve the clinical effect of ECMO.

The progressive deepening of burn wounds is one of the common clinical problems and difficulties in early burn treatment. At the present, it is believed that local ischemia and hypoxia, persistent inflammation, infection, unbalanced local microenvironment, cell necrosis, apoptosis, and autophagy are the main mechanisms of progressive deepening of burn wounds. In recent years, basic and clinical studies have proposed various new strategies for prevention and treatment of progressive deepening of burn wounds, mainly including correct cooling, improving blood perfusion of the wound, early debridement, improving the wound microenvironment, preventing and treating wound infection, reducing wound inflammation, and inhibiting the oxidative stress in the wound. This review focuses on the current progress of prevention and treatment strategies of burn wound progressive deepening, in order to provide references for the treatment of burn wounds.

2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is one of the beta coronaviruses and was identified as the pathogen of the severe "coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)" in 2019. China has formally included the 2019-nCoV in the statutory notification and control system for infectious diseases according to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases. Currently, the national defending actions on the 2019-nCoV in China is in a critical period. Burn Department is also confronted with risk of infection by the 2019-nCoV. According to the guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 (6^th trial edition), the latest relative literature at home and abroad, the features of the COVID-19, recommendations for the COVID-19 prevention and control issued by the National Health Commission of China, and management experience of diagnosis and treatment in the related disciplines, we put forward recommendations for the medical practices of burn treatment during the outbreak of the COVID-19 in outpatient and emergency treatment, inpatient treatment, operation and ward management, etc. We hope these recommendations could benefit the professionals of the same occupation as us and related hospital managers, improve the treatment of burn during the outbreak of the COVID-19, and avoid or reduce the risk of infection of medical staff .