Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) combined with renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers in chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 2~3 of IgA nephropathy. Methods 109 patients were randomized into the observation group and the control group. On the basis of taking RAS blockers, patients in the observation group received TwHF, and patients in the control group received methylprednisolone. The proteinuria, renal function and adverse effect were observed during treatment. Results At 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of treatment, proteinuria in the two groups was lower than the baseline(P <0.05). During follow-ups, there was no significant difference of eGFR between the two groups and baseline (P >0.05). Besides, there was no significant difference in terms of proteinuria, eGFR and effective rate in the two groups. The occurrence rate of adverse effects was 9.8% vs 27.4% and there was significant difference in the two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions TwHF combined with RAS blockers can decrease proteinuria, protect renal function and have less adverse effects, and it is a useful therapeutic options for CKD stages 2 ~ 3 of IgAN.

Objective To investigate the CT manifestations of gastric carcinoma invasion to lesser omentum and to assess the im-pact of lesser omentum on the spreading of gastric carcinoma.Methods We retrospectively reviewed CT findings in 48 patients with gastric carcinoma and lesser omentum involved for primary tumor and the lesser omentum abnormalities.The influence of lesser o-mentum on the extension of gastric carcinoma as well as the accompanied ascites were also analyzed.Results CT manifestations of lesser omentum involvement in gastric carcinoma included the following items:① direct infiltration (35.4%,1 7/48),which was mainly shown as increased density of fatty tissue and the development of mass within the lesser omentum,including spreading into the liver through the lesser omentum directly in two cases;② omental seeding (25.0%,12/48),including smudged appearance (1 1 cases)and omental caking (1 case);③ metastasis of lymph nodes (64.6%,31/48),including enlargement and increase of lymph nodes (27 cases)and cystic mass (4 cases).Ascites was found in 1 1 patients and fluid collection in the lesser sac was shown in 3 of these 1 1 patients.The lesser omentum forms the anterior wall of the lesser sac and separates the fluid collection in the lesser sac from the ascites in the greater peritoneal cavity.Ascites was associated with the omental seeding statistically.Conclusion CT scan is helpful for detecting lesser omentum invasion by gastric carcinoma.The imaging features consist of mass sign,enlargement of lymph nodes,smudged andcakingappearance,and so on.Lesser omentum may also play a certain role in both the extension of gastric carcinoma and the compartmentalization of ascites due to gastric carcinoma.

Objective To conduct a prospective,randomly controlled trial,evaluating the combination of tacrolimus,corticosteroids and entecavir for the treatment of adult patients with biopsyproven hepatitis B virus-associated membrane nephropathy (HBV-MN).Methods A total of 38 patients with biopsy-confirmed HBV-MN were randomized to the tacrolimus group (n=19) and the control group (n=19).Patients in tacrolimus group received combination therapy of tacrolimus (0.05 mg·kg-1 · d-1),corticosteroids (prednisone acetate,0.5 mg· kg-1 · d-1) and entecavir (0.5 mg/d),whereas patients in control group received entecavir mono-therapy (0.5 mg/d).The primary end point was the percentage of patients reaching complete remission (CR) or partial remission (PR).Results The probability of remission in the treatment group was 88.89％ and 94.44％ after 6 and 12 months,but only 38.89％ and 58.82％ in the control group,respectively.The decrease in proteinuria was significantly greater in the treatment group.Entecavir was used for the treatment of hepatitis in all patients,which caused the disappearance of serum hepatitis B viral DNA(HBV-DNA) and the normalization of ALT and AST levels in 3 months.Notably,two patients in the control group and one patient in the treatment group reached the secondary end point.One patient in the tacrolimus-treated group showed a relapse during the taper period.Conclusion This treatment protocol not only can control the replication of HBV-DNA but also can reduce proteinuria and preserve renal function,it is one of useful therapeutic options for patients with HBV-MN.

Metabolic acidosis is a prevalent complication in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis(MHD).The maintenance of acid-base balance in MHD patients primarily relies on the total alkali supply in the dialysate.Achieving an optimal concentration of dialysate bicarbonate(DBIC)is crucial to prevent metabolic acidosis before subsequent hemodialysis sessions while avoiding metabolic alkalosis after the current session.Inad-equate correction or overcorrection of pre-dialysis metabolic acidosis has been associated with unfavorable patient outcomes;however,there is currently a lack of guidelines or expert consensus regarding DBIC concentration.This study addresses the epidemiology of metabolic acidosis in MHD patients,explores the relationship between DBIC concentration and acid-base disorders,and discusses recent advancements in determining the ideal DBIC concentration,providing valuable insights for formulating scientifically sound and personalized DBIC dialysis prescriptions.

Objective:To evaluate the practical value of ultrasound, ultrasound new technologies (ultrasound elastography, contrast enhanced ultrasound) and computed tomography (CT) examination alone or the combination of both of the four in the clinical diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer by meta-analysis system.Methods:This study screened relevant literature on ultrasound, new ultrasound technologies, and CT in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer by searching Chinese and English databases from January 2006 to August 2023. Two scholars independently assessed the quality of the literatures and scored them using the QUADAS scale. Then, the diagnostic ratio of single and combined examinations was analyzed by Meta-Disc software, and the heterogeneity test and meta-analysis were performed to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic ratio, accuracy, and area under curve (AUC). Finally, the diagnostic efficacies of different diagnostic techniques and their combination in identifying lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer were assessed by calculating OR and P values by two-by-two comparisons. Results:Sixty-nine diagnostic studies totaling 30, 666 lesions were finally included. The meta-analysis study showed that contrast enhanced ultrasound had the highest sensitivity[0.83(0.77-0.87)], ultrasound specificity was the highest [0.84(0.79-0.88)], the highest AUC was for contrast enhanced ultrasound (0.90), and contrast enhanced ultrasound and ultrasound elastography had high accuracies (0.81, 0.80, respectively) both of them were higher than those of ultrasound (0.77) and CT (0.69). Contrast enhanced ultrasound and ultrasound elastography were both more sensitive than CT, with statistically significant differences between them ( P<0.01); contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography had the highest accuracy, while ultrasound + contrast enhanced ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography were both more sensitive, with no statistically significant differences between them ( P>0.05), but the latter had the highest specificity [0.90(0.88-0.92)], which were statistically significantly different from each other ( P<0.05), ultrasound+ contrast enhanced ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound+ ultrasound elastography had higher sensitivities than ultrasound+ CT, which were statistically different from each other ( P<0.05), and ultrasound+ CT had the lowest specificity [0.76(0.70-0.81)]. Conclusions:The diagnostic efficacy of thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis is highest with contrast enhanced ultrasound. The new ultrasound technique for diagnosing thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis has a higher diagnostic value than CT, and it can be used as a complementary examination to conventional ultrasound.When the two techniques are used in combination, contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography has the highest accuracy, contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography and ultrasound + contrast enhanced ultrasound both have high sensitivity and specificity, and the diagnostic performance of both is higher than that of ultrasound + ultrasound elastography and ultrasound + CT, and in actual clinical practice when ultrasound elastography combined with contrast enhanced ultrasound is limited in the examination, ultrasound combined with contrast enhanced ultrasound can effectively serve as an alternative means to provide a good diagnostic support.

Recent studies have shown that the occurrence and development of common liver diseases, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, are related to liver aging(LA). Therefore, to explore the effect and mechanism of Dahuang Zhechong Pills(DHZCP), a traditional classic prescription in improving LA with multiple targets, the present study randomly divided 24 rats into a normal group, a model group, a DHZCP group, and a vitamin E(VE) group, with six rats in each group. The LA model was induced by continuous intraperitoneal injection of D-galactose(D-gal) in rats. For the LA model rats, the general situation was evaluated by aging phenotype and body weight(BW). LA was assessed by the pathological characteristics of hepatocyte senescence, hepatic function indexes, the staining characteristics of phosphorylated histone family 2A variant(γ-H2AX), and the expression levels of cell cycle arrest proteins(P21, P53, P16) and senescence-associated secretory phenotype(SASP) in the liver. The activation of the reactive oxygen species(ROS)-mediated phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt)/forkhead box protein O4(FoxO4) signaling pathway was estimated by hepatic ROS expression feature and the protein expression levels of the key signaling molecules in the PI3K/Akt/FoxO4 signaling pathway. The results showed that after the treatment with DHZCP or VE for 12 weeks, for the DHZCP and VE groups, the characterized aging phenotype, BW, pathological characteristics of hepatocyte senescence, hepatic function indexes, relative expression of ROS in the liver, protein expression levels of key signaling molecules including p-PI3K, p-Akt, and FoxO4 in the liver, staining characteristics of γ-H2AX, and the protein expression levels of P16, P21, P53, interleukin-6(IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) in the liver were improved, and the effects of DHZCP and VE were similar. Based on the D-gal-induced LA model in rats, this study demonstrates that DHZCP can ameliorate LA with multiple targets in vivo, and its effects and mechanism are related to regulating the activation of the ROS-mediated PI3K/Akt/FoxO4 signaling pathway in the liver. These findings are expected to provide new pharmacological evidence for the treatment of DHZCP in aging-related liver diseases.
Animals ; Rats ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/genetics* ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics* ; Signal Transduction ; Liver ; Aging ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; Interleukin-6